Page 14 of Miles's Pact
Five
Miles
By the time we left the haunted house, it was lunchtime, and since neither of us was in the mood to cook, we headed to an Indian restaurant nearby. While the food was good, it wasn't as good as it'd been when Trick, a human clan member, had worked there as the head chef. He had his own food truck now, and while he served during the day on weekdays, weekends were evening-only, so we'd have to settle for this.
The few humans who still lived or worked here were used to strange pets and stranger people by now, and no one gave Duckie a second look as he padded in between Mateo and me. We picked a booth in the corner that offered some privacy, and Duckie stood on the curved bench seat between us.
Once we'd placed our order, Mateo turned to Duckie.Are you having a good time?
I am. The people we met today, they were all so... good, Duckie said through the link, sounding almost awed by the fact. I could understand his surprise. Before we came to Mistvale, I'd thought everyone was out to get you in some way. That I couldn't trust anyone except Mateo.
Now? Now I had a contacts list full of people I knew I could trust with my life. WithMateo'slife, and now with Duckie's too.
Right? We thought the same when we first got here, Mateo said, and Duckie tilted his head.
You've said that before. Have you not lived here long?he asked, and I blinked, then realized we hadn't told him much about ourselves.
Not exactly,I said, and he turned his head to look at me, his small dark eyes focusing on me with an intensity that looked strange on his duck face.Our fathers, Cassian and Gus, adopted us when we were ten. We'd been orphans, and then we'd been abducted by these dark witches who wanted to use our blood for dark magic. We were rescued by a man named Maximus, and he brought us to Mistvale along with the other kids who'd been held with us. Our dads adopted us, while Raphael and Jai adopted three siblings, and Cam's dads adopted Amelia, the oldest of us.
Duckie stared at me in silence for a long moment, which was understandable. It was a lot to unpack, and I'd give him the Cliff's Notes version, leaving out the whole horrible experience before Maximus had found us, or the coin he'd given us to summon him and how long we'd clung to it before we felt safe enough to stash it away in a drawer.
I wanted Duckie to know that we understood whatever he was going through, and we didn't need details to empathize with him.
The server appeared with our food, and since he was a supe, he didn't care in the least as he placed the dish in front of Duckie.Once he'd left, Duckie spoke, even though the supe wouldn't have heard him anyway.
That sounds terrifying. I'm glad you were rescued.
So are we, Mateo chimed in with a smile.Okay, enough with the serious talk. Let's dig in. Duckie, are you okay meeting our dads? You can say no. They'll understand.
I want to. They sound like wonderful people.
They are,I said, smiling at the thought of the men who'd raised me.
Are there a lot of queer people in this town?Duckie asked as he slurped some of his curry.I mean, there's your dads, Raphael and his mates, your brother and his mates... and the woman at the shelter, Rebba, she has a wife.
Mateo snorted, sharing an amused glance with me.Uncle Raph's daughter came out as straight. That should tell you everything.
Wow. Yeah, okay. That's awesome.
The depths of Duckie's knowledge was fascinating. While he'd spent most of his life in his duck form, it was clear he hadn't let that stop him from learning. He was clueless about some things, but he also knew a lot, and I was curious to learn how he'd gained all his knowledge.
I think Fate has a hand in this. There's no way so many queer people could be drawn here without anything to draw them in,I said, and Mateo hummed.
What if Fate is queer too?Duckie asked, and I blinked. I hadn't thought about that, but why not? Fate could be queer. Hell, it was our assumption that she was a woman, but for all we knew she was nonbinary. Or trans. Or a gay man.
That would be awesome, Mateo chimed in, and I nodded.
We chatted about inane things as we ate. Why was it easier to talk to Duckie when it wasn't the two of us? Mateo made thingseasier, like he always had. Fate no doubt knew how useless I would be without him.
After our lunch, we drove back home, Mateo and Duckie joining me in the car instead of flying back.
Mateo asked to borrow my phone to call our dads, and I handed it over with zero hesitation, eager to dodge that particular bullet.
I listened in as Papa ripped him a new one, with love, of course. Our papa was a 500-plus-year-old vampire, and yet he'd never gotten over his dramatic-teen phase. He would've been right at home in a Shakespearean play.
"The three of you should come over for dinner instead," Papa suggested when Mateo asked them to come over, and I glanced at Duckie in the backseat, sure he could hear the conversation.
I don't mind, he said through our bond, and Mateo passed the message along, which mollified Papa a bit.
