Page 8 of The Centaur
There was a wheelchair already waiting by the exit, along with the leather gloves I wore to hide my metal arm when I went out, and Keoni unstrapped his cart and slid into the wheelchair smoothly after handing me the gloves, like he'd been practicing.
Leaving the Sanctuary didn't sit well with me, but it was clear Keoni wouldn't be dissuaded. With a sigh, I slid the gloves on, then opened the door, and he wheeled forward, glancing back to make sure I followed.
I helped him down the ramp—I was afraid he'd roll too fast, like he tended to do in his cart—then walked beside him as he led the way.
I wasn't sure what this was. Were we on a date? We hadn't really talked about the mate bond except for Keoni assuring me he'd been an adult since the day we met. I didn't know how he felt about the bond. Was he happy that we were mates? Indifferent? Did he wish for someone who wasn't as much of a mess as I was?
"Oh, this is not a date, by the way," Keoni said, as if he'd read my mind. He beamed up at me, his baby blues crinkling at the corners. "I just wanted to get you out of the Sanctuary so you could relax a little. When we go on a date, you'llknowwe're on a date."
"Do youwantto go on a date with me?" I asked hesitantly, flexing my fingers as I resisted the urge to curl them into a fist.
"Of course I do," Keoni replied, shooting me a smile before he focused on the path ahead. "But you're already so busy right now, and I don't want to add to it. Once things calm down a little, I intend to do things properly."
"Are you just saying this to push me to accept Nolan's help?" I joked, and he huffed.
"No. I just don't want to add to the dark circles under your eyes," he grumbled, and I sighed. He wasn't wrong. I barely had time to eat regular meals these days. Even if we started dating, I wouldn't be able to give Keoni all the time and attention he deserved.
We walked in silence for a while, and I realized we were walking in the direction of Liam's comic book store.
"Do you want to go see Khush and Dustin?" Keoni asked, and I nodded. As much as it had been the right decision for them, I hated that they'd had to move out of the Sanctuary because of my incompetence. When I first brought Khush home, I'd promised he would be safe there, and I'd failed to keep that promise.
Liam and Haruto were both at Sanctum of Geeks when we got there. While Liam was the owner of the store, Haruto was his mate, and they both lived at the Sanctuary. Liam was human, and Haruto was a jorogumo. Liam had lived in an apartment above the store before he moved in with Haruto, and that was where Khush and Dustin were now staying.
"Headmaster!" Liam exclaimed in surprise, coming out from behind the counter to glance from me to Keoni. Haruto was curled up in a beanbag beside the counter with a comic book, and he waved at us before dropping his gaze back to his comic book.
"Hey, Liam. We came to see Dustin and Khush," Keoni said, and Liam nodded.
"Shall I fetch them?" he asked, and I realized Keoni wouldn't be able to get up the stairs. How was Khush doing it? Why hadn't I checked in with them before?
"Is there somewhere I can set up a temporary portal to upstairs?" I asked, and Liam led me to a small office.
"Are you okay to make the portal? Touya told me you had to expend a lot of magic this morning," Keoni murmured when it was just us in the office, and I shook my head.
"I'm okay."
Portals were easy, especially over such a short distance, and it barely took me a thought to set it up.
I went in first to make sure it was working properly, and Keoni followed soon after. We were in the living room, and he called out Khush's name as I closed the portal.
Khush slithered out of the bedroom, the green scales of his lower half gleaming in the sunlight that filtered through the windows. He brightened the moment he spotted Keoni.
"Hey, K! It's been a while. Hey, Headmaster," he said as he turned to me, and I nodded in greeting.
Even after all these years, I still wasn't certain where that title had come from. None of them could decide who'd first come up with it, but it certainly hadn't been me. I'd tried to get them to call me Zephyr, but they refused.
"Khush, how have you been?" I asked, scanning his face. I knew better than most how strong his claustrophobia was. In the Sanctuary, his bedroom had no ceiling, and the walls were transparent on one side so he'd never feel trapped. But now he was living in a small apartment that he rarely left, all for the sake of his mate and his unborn child.
"I'm okay. Come on in. Dustin's not allowed to leave the bed, so you'll have to see him in the bedroom."
Keoni
Dustin looked tired. He was still beautiful as ever, but I could tell he was ready for the baby to come out. Still, he hid his feelingswell as he laughed and chatted with us, his blue eyes bright as ever, and I told him about everything he'd missed.
Zephyr was mostly quiet, but Khush and he talked in low voices. They were talking about the Sanctuary, and about how the due date wasn't too far away. Maybe coming here had been a bad idea. I didn't want Khush to add more stress on Zephyr. This was supposed to help him relax, not add more pressure on him.
Thankfully, Dustin dragged Zephyr into the conversation before long, and we spent the next few hours chatting amiably. We took our leave when Dustin's energy started to flag, and Zephyr offered to leave the portal open for Khush, but he declined. His wheelchair was kept downstairs, and he usually just went down in his true form since the stairs weren't open to the public area. Unlike me, he could move around without assistance in his half-human, half-snake form.
Once we were outside, we decided to just stroll for a while. Zephyr was silent, and I didn't try to fill the quiet with inane chatter like I usually would.
