Page 13 of Miles's Pact
"Duckie, this is my older brother, Micah," Mateo introduced, waving toward the man in the skirt, "and this is one of his mates, Cam."
I blinked at Cam, then realized what he was. While Micah was a mage of some kind—why wasn't he a shifter like Miles and Mateo?—Cam was adragon.
"Hey, Duckie. It's nice to meet you," Micah said, giving me a soft smile, and I ducked my head in a nod, still half-hidden behind Mateo.
"Did you see Papa's texts?" Micah asked with a raised brow, and Mateo winced.
"How bad is it?"
Cam snorted, and I glanced at him, confused what they were talking about. Noticing me watching, Cam smiled. "Their papa, Gus, is a bit... dramatic. He's annoyed they didn't tell him the moment they met you. Uncle Raph announced it in the group before they could, so that made him more annoyed."
Oh, that made sense. I supposed I could understand that. As a father, he'd hoped he would be the first person his sons would call when they found their mate.
"What do we do?" Mateo asked, giving his brother a beseeching look, and it was clear to me how close they were. I wondered what my life would've been like if I'd had a sibling.Would things have been different that night? Would I have lost them too, or would we have survived together? Figured out a way to live instead of existing the way I had?
"He'll be fine. Invite the dads over to meet Duckie—if you're up for it, of course," he added as he glanced at me. "Once they meet him, they'll forget all about it."
"I hope you're right," Mateo mumbled, and Micah smiled.
"Trust me."
"What are you doing here anyway? I thought you had work today," Mateo asked, changing the subject, and they started talking about someone named Kezan and a shop calledWish For It.
I tuned them out as I glanced around the place, taking in the bare walls, the floor... wait. Was that a trapdoor?
"We're thinking of adding a slide under it," Cam said, and I realized he was talking to me. "Imagine. Someone's walking around, scared of what might pop out of the walls, and then bam! The floor disappears and they're sliding into complete darkness. Maybe there will be some spooky sounds, some cobwebs in their face, red paint dripping from the ceiling..."
"Fuck, that sounds epic!" Mateo jumped in, and I nodded in agreement. It sounded scary, but the good kind. The one where you knew it would be over the moment you got out of the house. The type where you knew it couldn'treallyhurt you.
A knock somewhere near the front of the house grabbed everyone's attention, and Micah tilted his head. "It's Miles. I'll get it."
I watched him go, curious how he'd known when even I couldn't tell. Our bond was too new for me to be able to sense Miles.
Micah is a telepath. Even when he isn't reading anyone's minds, he can sense the minds around him, and recognize them too if he's familiar with the person, Mateo explained in my head,and I blinked.Don't worry. He'll never read your mind, not unless you asked him to, he added, as if sensing my question.
Nodding, I peered at the doorway as Miles came in, followed by Micah, and he smiled when he spotted me, causing a weird twisting in my belly that I'd never felt before. Why were my reactions to Mateo and Miles so different?
With Mateo, I could relax, and hang out like I was spending time with a good friend, or maybe even a sibling. Not that I had any real experience with either.
But with Miles, I was… untethered. I couldn't speak to him, couldn't figure out what to say, and my heart went all wonky when he looked at me. I had to imagine it was because of the whole platonic/romantic thing, but I had no experience with that either.
"So, Duckie, what do you think? Would you like to help us with the haunted house?' Cam asked, and I glanced over at Mateo, who was watching me with gleaming eyes, then Miles, who had an open, encouraging look on his face.
Yes, please, I said through the bond, knowing one of them would translate.
"He says yes," Mateo announced with a grin, and Cam cheered.
"We don't have anything on the docket today. We came to measure a few things. But we're getting some supplies delivered the day after tomorrow, so you can come over then if you'd like."
I nodded without hesitation, getting smiles from everyone, and wondered if maybe this whole thing would be easier than I'd imagined. Maybe Icouldhave a life without having to shift.
