CAIDEN WAS ONLY vaguely aware of Marianne and Tom helping him into Marianne’s car. Later, he wouldn’t remember the return drive as Marianne took him home. All he knew was pain—this, he thought, was what heartbreak really felt like, not what he’d experienced with his first crush, Andrew, so long ago. It was nothing like the movies or romance novels made it out to be. It hurt, hurt worse than a cracked rib had. He felt as if everything had been ripped out of him, and he was a shell, empty and void of all happiness and hope. Not even his selkie half could comfort him, and Caiden didn’t protest when, upon arriving home, Marianne yelled out for their aunt, and the two women helped him out of the car and into the house.
Inside, he sat down on the sofa, unprotesting, not seeing what was around him. He was entirely focused on the shock of the knowledge that Gray was gone. From the looks of things—and what he had been told—Caiden assumed that Gray was gone for good.
With a low groan of despair, Caiden buried his face in his hands. He did not weep; he had no tears, he found. Instead, he closed his eyes and simply breathed, drawing his pain around him like a blanket. He heard but didn’t register the concern of his family, ignored the questions directed at him, and instead reached into himself for his selkie.
He drifted off into his thoughts. He seemed to float, unaware of what was going on around him until Bluey arrived, and then he felt his friend shake him, heard Bluey’s gruff voice speaking to him. He grunted at his friend, not wanting to talk.
He ignored the food that was handed him at dinnertime, ignored the glass of iced water. Some hours after dinner—he didn’t know how many—Marianne and Bluey helped him to his room. He sat on his bed and waited for them to leave him alone, his heart beginning to pound, as he knew escape and salvation from his pain wasn’t far away.
Eventually, they left him alone, Marianne closing the bedroom door behind her with a soft click, and Caiden got to his feet.
He felt a shock as he gazed at the window, a surge of betrayal. He hadn’t noticed it, but at some point in that afternoon, someone had put bars over the window. Angry, Caiden crossed the room and examined them. The bars were welded onto the steel frame of the screen beyond the glass, and it was a good, solid job. It had to have been Bluey who’d done that, he thought. None of his other friends or family knew how to use a welder and none of them would have access to the tools required to cut the steel bars to the right length.
Dejected and defeated, Caiden returned to his bed and sat down, buried his head in his hands and wept.
“I DON’T KNOW what to do,” Auntie Lou said.
Caiden listened to the conversation from where he hid in the darkness of the corridor, concealed by the wall between it and the living room.
“I bet he had no idea I could hear him muttering to himself.” Bluey’s voice was grim. “That was the only reason I put the bars on the bloody window—he was rambling about going to the sea and becoming a seal, letting the selkie take him over. I heard him when I shook him.”
“He’s lost someone very important to him,” said Auntie Lou, and Caiden snorted to himself. No shit, Sherlock!
“More important than that guy—what was his name? Andrew or something? That guy he had a huge crush on years ago,” Bluey said. “Though really, that wasn’t love, that was just . . . what did you call it? Misplaced affection. Isn’t that right, Mari?”
“Yeah,” Marianne said. “Oh, there’s been a few one night stands, a few holiday flings with visitors from the city or interstate or overseas, but nothing serious like this. For ages, he didn’t even like the aliens. Not that he really knew much about them, he was just being a dick and reacting to their differences as people react to the differences between them and mythica. He got over that though.
“Fucking hell, I hate sentient life forms sometimes!” Marianne huffed loudly before continuing. “What? I can’t just say it’s humans who act like this, because it isn’t. Mythica are different, yeah, but we can hate just as well as humans.” She hesitated a moment. “Caiden’s always been a bit dramatic, and I wouldn’t put it past him to take this rejection and decide he’s going to go and live the life of a seal forever. But more realistically, he’s had a lot of shocks. First, he got smashed by a poisoned minotaur and had his ribs banged about. Then he started falling for Gray, who’s one of the aliens he’s always resented, and now being rejected. I know him, and I know that’s a lot to digest on a good day.”
There was a long silence. Finally, it was broken by Auntie Lou giving voice to a loud sigh. “He’s going to be very angry when he realises you put bars on all the windows, Bluey.”
“Good! Maybe anger will get him out of this mood he’s in now.” Bluey said.
“He is a very good boy, and this is hard for him,” Auntie Lou said.
Marianne sighed. “I hate seeing him like this. I’ve never seen him like this. I had no idea he felt so much for Gray. I knew he liked him, but this? This is like full-on, head-over-heels, soul-bonding love.”
“Cai’s private,” Bluey said. “He wouldn’t tell any of us this, you know that. I had a feeling he had more than lust going on for Gray. Gray’s a really sweet bloke, you know? I can see how that mixture of wisdom and innocence he has would appeal to Caiden. Caiden is pretty cynical, you have to admit.”
There was a murmur of agreement at that, and Caiden snorted to himself once more, this time more amused than anything. Bluey had a pretty good understanding of him, he thought. They all did. The sorrow lifted a little as he realised that these people sitting in his living room, talking about him, loved him. It was a heartening thought, and Caiden felt cheered by it. Perhaps things wouldn’t be so bad, after all. Perhaps he was just being overly dramatic.
And then he thought of Gray, his face wreathed in passion, his lips parted, and his eyes hazy and completely silver with his lust. The way his muscles flexed and his body trembled as Caiden kissed him, sucked him, touched him. The way Gray touched Caiden in return, the way Gray looked at him and said his name. The grief surged up new and fresh, hot and sour, and Caiden had to swallow several times.
“Have you tried finding out what happened to Gray?” Auntie Lou was asking.
“I did,” Marianne said. “I didn’t get anywhere though. Just that he’s dealing with an emergency.”
“All right, let’s look at this logically,” Bluey said. Caiden heard the creak of furniture and then floorboards and realised Bluey had stood up and was beginning to pace the room. “One: we know Gray’s a good sort, a reliable, responsible bloke. We know that because he’d have to be to have the job he does. Two: there’s an emergency. Well, duh, we know that, because of this fucked-up poison thing. And the Free Earth wankers. Three: logic suggests that this emergency and Free Earth are somehow related to each other. Wouldn’t it make sense that Gray’s dealing with this in some capacity, and the reason we—most importantly, Caiden—can’t be told anything about it is because that’s what he’s dealing with and Caiden’s mythica? It could compromise Gray in helping solve a situation that is an international concern.”
Caiden blinked. He hadn’t even considered that. Worry began to gnaw at him, an entirely different sort of worry. What if Gray was in trouble? What if he’d been hurt? Could a sy’lph be hurt? What if he’d been kidnapped? A legion of scenarios, each one more frightening than the last, marched through his head.
“Shit,” he muttered. He squared his shoulders, took a deep breath and went into the living room.
The reaction to his appearance was almost comical. Marianne and Auntie Lou leapt to their feet, crying out his name, as Bluey took a few steps towards him and then stopped. “You can all stop discussing me like I’m going to die,” Caiden said. “I’m not. No thanks to your stupid bars, Bluey.”
“Hey, we didn’t want you doing anything stupid, like deciding to take up a full-time existence as a seal,” Bluey retorted.
Caiden flushed at that.
“Oh shit, you were going to do that?” Bluey looked aghast. “What the fuck, man? What about your sister and your aunt? How would they cope? That’s fucking selfish, that is.”
“Do you mind?” Caiden demanded.
“No, actually, I don’t. You fucking scared us all, and I’m pissed. So Gray vanished. These things happen. Look at the bigger picture, you knob head. Something’s going on and likely, it has next to nothing to do with you. Don’t you reckon he’s off doing whatever it is and worrying about you and how you’re doing? Don’t make things harder for everyone by deciding that living as a seal is better than fighting for what’s right.”
Caiden gaped at him. “Sorry,” he muttered after a moment.
“Not me you need to apologize to, mate,” Bluey said. “Fucking hell. Honestly.”
Caiden looked at his aunt and his sister. He felt foolish now, as well as worried, and he was still unhappy with Gray’s departure, but he decided to be brave about the latter. If Bluey was right, then that would mean that Gray would eventually come back. Or call. Something. Caiden grabbed hold of that thought and clung to it like a lifeline.
“I’m sorry, Auntie Lou, Mari. I really am. I just . . . I don’t know. I never meant to hurt you guys, I swear.”
Marianne crossed the room and hugged him. She was shaking, and Caiden could hear the tiny hitches of her breath, which told him she was crying. He held her tight, burying his face in her thick auburn curls as she clung tight to him.
“Don’t do that again,” she whispered. “I was so scared for you, Cai. We’ve lost Mum and Dad . . . I couldn’t bear to lose you too.”
Caiden felt even worse about his behaviour with her whispered plea. He tightened his hold on her as he whispered back, “I’m sorry, Mari. So, so sorry.”
After several minutes of clinging, she let him go and stepped back, wiping at her eyes with the back of her hand. “You better not get like that again, Mister,” she said.
Caiden held up his hands in a placating gesture. “I won’t. I can’t promise that I won’t feel sad and depressed, because if I did, that’d be a lie. I miss Gray like you wouldn’t believe, and I’m fucking worried about him. I really want to talk to him, but . . . until I hear him say that whatever this is between us is over, I’ll put a hold on my emotions. Well,” he added, with a slight cough, “I’ll try and put a hold on my emotions.”
“Try is better than not,” Marianne said and hugged him again. This time, it was a brief touch, and he gave her a small smile.
“Oh, Caiden,” Auntie Lou said, and Caiden moved to her, hugging her tight. She rubbed his back and murmured soothing nonsense, just as she had when he had been a child and had fallen over or had one of his toy sailboats vanish in the sea.
“I’m sorry, Auntie Lou.”
“It’s all right, dear. These things happen. Are you all right?”
“Not really. But I can function, so there’s that.”
“That’s better than nothing,” Auntie Lou said. “Are you hungry? Thirsty?”
Caiden considered it. He had to admit that he was ravenous. “Yeah, I am. Both hungry and thirsty.”
“I’ll go heat something up for you,” she said.
“Thank you, Auntie Lou,” Caiden said. “For everything. Everything you’ve done for Mari and me.”
She ruffled his short, spikey dark-brown hair, reaching up and standing almost on her tiptoes. Caiden smiled at her, and she kissed his cheek and stepped back.
“I’ll go get you something to eat,” she said and left the room.
Caiden made his way over to the sofa and sat down. Marianne joined him and sat close. Caiden didn’t know what to say. He looked around the little group. “And thanks, guys. Though, no thanks for the bars on the windows, Bluey. Those things are butt ugly.”
Everyone laughed at that.
“I’m not taking them down until we’re sure you’re in the clear,” Bluey said. “Matter of fact, I might put more up around the house, just in case. We don’t want some fucker from Free Earth deciding to break in and hurt you or Marianne.”
“That’s an excellent idea,” Auntie Lou said.
“Right then. I’ll give Hien a call and get him to come and give me a hand.” Bluey pulled his mobile phone from his jeans pocket and made the call. It didn’t take him long, and Caiden gathered from what little Bluey said—a brief mention of security from Free Earth and not much else except for Hien to hurry the fuck up—that Hien was on his way. Sure enough, fifteen minutes later, Hien was standing in the kitchen, looking around at them all.
“Something happened, huh?” Hien asked. “Bluey can fill me in while we’re being metalworkers. You two look like hell,” he nodded at Caiden and Marianne. “C’mon mate,” he turned to Bluey. “Let’s put up the extra security.”
Bluey laughed. “Okay. Well, let’s get to work.” The two of them left the room.
Caiden sighed and leant back in the sofa. He was tired now, almost bone weary. Too many emotions in too short a time, he thought, as he closed his eyes. His internal panic about Gray had lessened, subsiding to a dull thrum, and he was able to ignore it for the most part. The selkie within him grumbled petulantly at not being allowed to take over and live as a seal, but soon it too subsided, and Caiden was just left feeling exhausted and hungry.
Auntie Lou came in then, holding a plate with fish and some mashed potato on it and a can of lemonade. He sat forward and took them from her, thanking her quickly, as he got down to the business of eating. He was hungrier than he’d thought, and he practically inhaled his food, and he could hear the banter from his friends wafting in from outside, where they worked on installing the bars on the windows.
“What are they doing?” Auntie Lou asked as she sat down.
“Putting bars on the other windows to keep Free Earth fuckers out,” Marianne said.
“Oh, I see.” Auntie Lou looked thoughtful. “I think that’s a good idea.”
“Me too,” Marianne said. “Hien and Bluey are still staying here though.”
“Good.”