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AFTER BREAKFAST, TERRA, BRAVA, RUNE, AND ARIES STEPPED OUT INTO THE DRY HEAT.
The morning sun glistened in the sky overhead as they walked down the sidewalk to Aries’ house. Their mortal mate threw open the gate and led them up to the front door.
Aries fit his house key into the lock before letting the three of them inside.
Brava waited downstairs as Rune, Terra, and Aries went upstairs.
Once they climbed the stairs, Aries showed them into a small bedroom with plain white walls and a single light. Terra was surprised to find the room mostly barren, spare for a few pieces of furniture and a bed.
“Ignore the emptiness,” Aries said with a dismissive shrug and a cute smile. “I spend most of my time in my office and only come here to change clothes or sleep.”
Aries opened a closet door and retrieved a backpack. He tossed it onto the bed and gathered every article of clothing hanging within the closet. Carefully, Aries began stuffing clothes inside.
When he finished packing his clothes, he led them around the corner to his office. The space was a bit bigger than the bedroom, but still paled compared to what Terra was used to. Still, Aries was one of his mates. The angel wanted to know everything about him—human charm and all. Knowing what kind of life his mate lived made Terra feel closer to him.
The room had bookcases filled to the brim with all kinds of books. The curious angel couldn’t stop himself from scouring the shelves with his eyes. He found the language difficult to process, however, and turned back to see what the others were doing.
Aries forced several extra items into his overstuffed backpack. One of them refused to go in any further than halfway. The rectangular object stubbornly stuck out of the top no matter how hard Aries pushed.
“What is that?” Terra asked.
“This?” Aries asked, pointing at the metal object. “It’s my laptop.”
“Laptop?”
“A uh... portable computer. Wait, you probably don’t know what a computer is, do you?”
Terra shook his head.
“I’ll explain later.”
Aries gave up on trying to stuff the laptop into his backpack. Instead, he stacked it on top of several notebooks and carried it in his arms.
“I think I have everything I need,” he announced.
Rune looked around wistfully. “We should return another time—once things have calmed down,” he suggested.
“Does our mate’s home interest you?” Terra teased.
Aries blushed at his words and busied himself with zipping up his bag. Once he slung it over his shoulder, the three of them descended the stairs.
Near the bottom, Terra froze and swung his arm back to stop his mates from proceeding.
“Do you sense that?” he whispered to Rune.
The Magi nodded. “Something is approaching...”
Brava looked back at them from where he stood. The front door was only a few steps away from him. A sinister energy grew bigger and bigger on the other side of it.
Then they heard a knock at the door.
“Should I open it?” Brava asked softly, his body rigid.
Terra murmured an incantation under his breath. Golden bubbles appeared, surrounding each one of his mates. “Go ahead—the barrier will protect you,” he told Brava.
The door creaked as Brava opened it.
Standing on Aries’ doorstep was an elderly man with a disheveled face. His silver hair stuck up wildly in all directions, and a long beard hung down to his waist. His skin was covered with dirt and he smelled like he hadn’t bathed in several days.
Aries, who’d poked his head out to see what was happening, gasped. “It’s Mr. Mayweather...”
Just as he said the man’s name, Mr. Mayweather’s head snapped toward Aries’ voice. His eyes squinted as he glared toward the staircase. Then, a sickly smile spread across the old man’s dry lips.
What happened next confirmed Terra’s decision to summon his protective bubbles.
Just like with Mrs. Mayweather, the man exploded. Instead of ash, however, he self-combusted.
The explosion blew the house apart as fire spread rapidly among the debris.
Fortunately, Terra could grab hold of Aries and pull him to safety. His other mates—Rune and Brava—also escaped uninjured.
They looked back at the burning rubble from the sidewalk.
Rune flicked his wand repeatedly at the wreckage, but his magic did little good. The Magi cursed and stuffed his wand inside of his coat. “It’s no use. The fire’s enchanted. I can’t put it out.”
Next door, Shen burst out into the fresh air and rushed to their side.
“What happened?” the shiza demanded.
“Round two happened,” Brava growled. “Who would have thought that old bat had a mate, too...”
Shen’s sapphire-blue eyes widened. He looked toward the flames and shook his head. “We must put a stop to this.”
Aries crumbled to his knees as his home, and everything in it was consumed by flames. He squeezed the laptop and notebooks against his chest, his knuckles turning white.
Terra bent down next to him and rubbed his back. “I’m sorry. I wish there was more we could do...”
But Aries just showed him a sad smiled and said, “I think this is the fourth time I’ve been saved by one of you.”
All around them, residents who had been home that morning stepped out into their front yards to get a look at the blazing fire. Soon, the wail of sires echoed off the houses. A cohort of white vehicles with red and blue flashing lights parked across the street. Several men in black uniforms stepped out and approached them.
As they crossed the street, a large red truck positioned itself on the dead-end street. More humans, wearing strange, yellow outfits, jumped out and detached several objects from the side of the vehicle. One of them attached the hose to a strange device that soon filled it with water.
“Some men in black are walking our way,” Brava muttered.
Aries stood up as they approached.
“Hello, officers,” he greeted them, sounding exhausted.
“Everyone all right?” one officer asked.
“Yes, everyone got out uninjured.”
The five of them followed the officers out to where they’d parked. Once they were out of the way, the humans in yellow coats held a long hose and worked to put out the fire.
Terra watched them tame the flames.
Despite their weak appearance, humans weren’t as incapable as he first thought. The men made quick work of putting the fire out and clambered back into their metal monstrosity. Terra watched them drive away.
The officers stuck around a while afterwards. They asked Aries many questions and took records of the incident. At their mate’s insistence, they attributed the fire to a faulty outlet and went on their way.
Terra and his mates returned to their warded home, their hearts heavy with worry.
They had saved Aries twice—but if the culprit struck a third time, would they be so lucky? He could only hope.