10. Emrie

The next few days were eventful. I moved into the Clan lodge, and with Mateo guarding me, I finished Roarke's ocean table. Roarke moved into the lodge as well, and took a room just across from mine on the bottom floor. I didn't mind Roarke being there, of course, but I wasn't so keen on being on the bottom floor where all the hubbub happened in the lodge. If you think a house full of teenagers is loud, you should hear a house full of adult bear shifters.

They're worse than the cubs, because the cubs, after a gentle reminder, remember to modulate their voices. The guys...not so much. Let's put it this way—they'd probably get kicked out of every library in the nation. And Roarke sitting among them during dinners and game nights was like a big, grumpy, cuddly panda bear being in a room full of loud-mouthed hyenas. He didn't say much, but he still seemed to enjoy himself. I think he just wasn't used to being around so many people all the time. At least with his restaurants he could escape and go home. Here, he's stuck with all my goofy, over-exuberant Clan. I'm just waiting for him to torch them a little bit when they go too far one night.

It has yet to happen, but I'm keeping my eye out for it.

One thing I didn't mind was all the time I got to spend with him. Suddenly, we were living in the same house together, and we saw each other all. The. Time. In the morning when I opened my door, at meals, chilling in the evenings before I headed to bed. I saw him all the time. And unlike my Clan, I never wanted to smack him over the head with a phonebook, so I had a good feeling we could possibly make this mate thing work.

I'd never really needed space from him when we were friends, I don't know why I suddenly expected everything to change. I mean it had—it so had—but really, it was also the same. It just felt like we'd suddenly leveled up. And let me tell you, in the game of life, I would rather level up, then die in a pit of alligators. I'm just sayin'.

Roarke wasat one of his restaurants while Mateo and I headed to King Draven and Consort Mia's home to have a meeting about their new library. I'd taken a few days to draw up the plans, and we planned to go over them this evening and get them okayed so I could start ordering supplies.

I went to knock on the door of the villa, but to my surprise, it was already open a crack. My recent experiences had made me a little gun shy, so I was more than happy to let Mateo go in first to check it out. I didn't hear anything off as I hovered near the doorway—until a yowl split the silence and Mateo shouted something garbled. I gasped and bolted inside. "Kitty, don't hurt Mateo!" Honey badgers! What was the tiger's name? I couldn't remember it for the life of me.

Strangely, the tiger stopped tenderizing Mateo and looked at me with its large amber eyes. Umm, okay. Words, Emrie. Words are good here. The out loud kind.

"Zian? Your name's Zian, right? Good kitty. Nice kitty. Mateo here is just protecting me. The front door was open, you see." Great job, Emrie. He's eyeballing you like you're crazy. When the tiger thinks you're crazy, things are getting out of hand. I needed a staff member or the King or Consort Mia to save me, and Mateo too, I suspected. The cat still looked like he wanted to tenderize him some more.

I moved toward the very large feline and held out my hand, even though I got the sense he knew and remembered my scent from my previous visits. There wasn't much that tiger familiars missed. I'd looked them up in the Clan library. They were much smarter than the average tiger, and the average tiger's intelligence was nothing to sneeze at.

"We're not tasty. If fact, Mateo's probably gamey."

Mateo, who was hovering near me to see what the tiger would do, chortled under his breath.

Zian nuzzled my hand and chuffed. "Are you the new greeter?" I asked. He chuffed louder at my words, and I smiled. "You're excellent at it. Ten out of ten. I'm going to cover your ears for a moment. I know they're sensitive." Zian let me cover his ears, and Mateo did the same behind me—bears had sensitive hearing too—and I shouted for Consort Mia. I figured I was less likely to get my head chopped off if I shouted for Mia than King Draven. Where were the guards? The staff?

I cocked my head. "Do you hear that?"

Mateo and Zian were warily getting to know one another when he turned to me. "It sounds like a party?"

"Oh, man. I hope I didn't botch this and write the wrong date down. I've had a lot on my mind. Maybe we should leave?"

But Zian blocked the front door, grabbed my sleeve, and gently dragged me toward the raucous laughter and shouting. We arrived, at what I assumed, was a ballroom, but a ball was the farthest thing from what it was currently being used as.

"Mateo—what am I looking at?" I gaped around me. There were at least a hundred vampires in here, as well as many other types of paranormals. They were all wearing pajamas. Some were in casual pajamas—like pajama pants and a pajama shirt—but some were in funny or ridiculous pajamas—like onesies that looked like a chicken. One lady was even wearing what looked like an avocado onesie, and all I could think was that she really must love avocados.

And they were all doing...something. One group was in a corner doing rolley chair relays. Another group was doing what looked like rubber band archery. A few groups were using sharpened pencils as javelins and throwing them at a target, and another group was tossing paper plates and balls of wadded paper. I was going to take a wild guess and say they were attempting paper plate discus and shot put. The funniest and craziest by far was the side of the room attempting rhythmic gymnastics to Shake Your Groove Thing.

I put a hand over my mouth, trying to hide my wide smile and the giggles that kept spilling out. Oh. My. Honey badgers. They were forming a pyramid. Oh, nope, the pyramid fell. Bummer. Some die-hards were on the side, still doing the routine they'd obviously rehearsed, but then one of the office chairs in the relay race went wildly off course and crashed into them, and suddenly there was a pile of paranormals on the ground, cracking up laughing.

Consort Mia was walking the room with what looked like an expensive camera, taking action shots of everything, and trying to avoid the stray missiles and out of control rolley chairs. It took me a minute to find King Draven, but when I did, my eyes grew to probably three times their size and I gaped at Mateo, who gaped back at me.

King Draven was in pajama shorts that looked like an elephant—including elephant ears—and a heather-blue tee shirt that said I am ear for you. He was in a secluded area of the ballroom, fencing with another vampire with a pool noodle while several fans cheered them on.

"I must have mistook the day," I said inanely, watching the unfortunate opponent to the king get a beat down, pool noodle style. Perhaps the vampire had flirted with Consort Mia or something, because the vampire king showed no mercy as he pummeled him.

"I wish I could pull out my phone and record this for Roarke. He'd never believe me," I said, trying to hold back my irrepressible giggles.

"I'll corroborate your story," Mateo said, scratching his chin as he eyed the king take on another opponent in the pool noodle fencing arena.

"Should I let them know I'm here?" I wondered aloud, but I could see there would be no need. As I watched, Zian slunk into the room. Avoiding every obstacle in his path, he made his way to his mistress, and got her attention by rubbing up against her side in feline devotion. It almost knocked her over. I snorted and covered my mouth again.

Consort Mia laughed and rubbed Zian's fluffy ears, then she spotted Mateo and I and made her way carefully over to us. She was in bold, electric-blue leggings, and a dark grey sweatshirt that was made so that it had one shoulder cut out. It read Make My Day, Punk in glittery blue lettering.

"Love your sweatshirt," I said, thinking how ironic it was that I'd said those words just this week to a rooster on the warpath.

Consort Mia slung her camera over a shoulder and fixed her messy bun really quickly. "Aww, thanks, Emrie. I thought it was appropriate for our office olympics day."

"Is that what this is?" Mateo asked. "I think the bear Clan needs to do something like this. Work out all those winter jitters we get around this time."

Mia looked confused, so I helped her a little. "Bears usually hibernate for the winter. They stuff their bodies as full as they possibly can for the rest of the year, and then hibernate during the winter and survive off the stored fat. Even though we're bear shifters, we still have a tendency to get antsy during the winter months. Activity and physical exercise helps."

"Wouldn't it be better to actually hibernate?" Consort Mia asked.

I shook my head. "It's not in our makeup to be able to. We just have to tough it out. It's not too bad. I barely feel it most winters. I think the more dominant bears feel it more acutely," I said, eying Mateo carefully. "Are you feeling it, Mateo? Is it crazy strong?"

He shrugged. "Not much to be done about it."

Consort Mia turned to Mateo. "This might be an indelicate question..."

"Go ahead."

"But how dominant are you?" Mia finished.

King Draven came up beside Consort Mia with his pool noodle slung over one shoulder like a sword, and wrapped his free arm around his wife's shoulders. "He's extremely dominant, love. He just hides it well."

I'd never really stopped to think about it, because I'd grown up in my Clan and just accepted it without pondering it for any length of time, but Mateo was nearly as dominant as Alpha Riggs. The same power pulsed from his body, just with slightly less intensity.

"Holy honey badgers, Mateo. I never thought about it, but you're powerful!"

Mateo laughed and shook his head, as if he couldn't believe how blind I was. In my defense... Well, I had no defense. Other than just blindly accepting my Clan for who and what they were. Even Taco, who'd hid my favorite fuzzy socks just last night, and ate the last piece of chocolate cake that I had been saving for a midnight snack.

I'd not said anything, but Roarke must have because my fuzzy socks miraculously found themselves back in my drawer in the morning, and the only time he could have returned them was when I'd been taking a shower.

So, yeah, I accepted my Clan, cake-stealers and all.

I patted the tube slung over my shoulder with a strap. "I brought the blueprints. Do you both have a few minutes to go over them? I'm sorry, I must have gotten the time wrong that we were set to meet."

Consort Mia shook her head. "You didn't. We've actually run long. Everyone was having so much fun that no one wanted it to end."

"They'll get a chance to redeem themselves next quarter," King Draven said, smiling fondly at his wife. "And maybe I can get you out there playing next time instead of taking pictures."

"You want me to go toe-to-toe against vampires and other powerful paranormals?" She gaped at him. "I'll get pummeled."

Mateo shook his head.

"You disagree?" Consort Mia asked him, frowning.

Careful, Mateo. Don't tick off the Consort.

His snort echoed through our telepathic link.

"King Draven would impale them on a stick," Mateo said aloud. "I was watching your games for a few minutes. Everyone was very careful whenever you got near them. Several times there were rogue chairs or missiles that got close but were headed off or batted away by someone else before they made contact with you."

Consort Mia looked a little deflated. "And I thought I'd been avoiding them all so well."

King Draven kissed the side of her head, and she seemed to let it go quickly.

"Did Aiwin show you in?" King Draven asked.

I shook my head. "No, there was no one at the door, and it was cracked open a little bit. I hope you don't mind, but we showed ourselves in. We were concerned something had happened."

King Draven looked concerned as well, and started to excuse himself to check on his missing staff, but just as he was about to, Mateo nodded at the upper balconies above the ballroom floor. At least forty people were on the mezzanine, all leaning over the railing looking down at the games below them, and talking and laughing among themselves. It even looked like they had refreshments.

"I think they made it into a kind of movie night," Consort Mia said, laughing. "What a great idea!"

"Yes, love, and obviously I don't begrudge them their entertainment, but there should be at least one person manning the front door. And where are our guards?" King Draven said.

I shrugged my shoulders. "We haven't seen any."

"There's one," Mateo said, pointing with his chin.

"Oh, hey Mes," Mia said, waving like a loon. The guard in question, whom I'd seen several times in town and a few times here at the villa, rolled his eyes slightly. I could tell, though, that he adored Mia because his eyes brightened a bit, and his lips tilted up at the corners. These two probably had a history. I'm guessing Mesmer was probably her primary bodyguard. I'd even heard a story last year that he'd saved her from a bomb while they were driving over the Moonhaven Cove bridge. Scary, and completely amazing.

Gargoyles often took jobs in security. Their large bodies and nearly impenetrable alternate rock forms kind of lent themselves to working in the security business, but they were also really good at it. Most of them had the right temperament for it, and between that and their natural gargoyle skills and observations skills, most high profile paranormals hired them, and they usually ended up as the head bodyguard, in charge of all the other bodyguards.

I nodded to him as he joined us as we left the room, and I could see Mateo nod at him out of the corner of my eye.

"Mesmer, where are the guards?" King Draven asked.

"They're around," Mesmer said, in his gravelly, deep voice. "I asked them to run invisible today. We've got a lot of people in the villa because of the games, and I didn't want them to make anyone nervous. There are a few in the satellite office bunch who are nervous nellies."

"We didn't see anyone when we came in."

Mesmer nodded at me. "You were cleared to come in, and we saw you. I don't know why the door was open. I think Zian's been leaving it open."

"He can open the door?" Mateo asked, surprised.

Consort Mia laughed. "All the time. I think we need to get him a kitty door."

"They don't make them that big," Mesmer said.

Consort Mia shrugged, reaching for her hubby's hand. "Then we'll have it specially made."

I raised my hand a bit, like I was in school or something, and broke in, "I can add that to my list. I can prioritize that first, if you'd like?"

She beamed and hugged me. Her spontaneous hugs never failed to surprise the crud out of me. It was like a sneak attack, but cuddly.

King Draven led the way into a small conference room with an oval table and a large window on the north side of the room that let in natural light. The sun wasn't too bright today, considering we were at the end of January now, but the weak sunlight felt good on my skin. I probably needed more vitamin D.

Maybe Roarke and I could take a quick flight to somewhere warmer for a week or so when this library was finished. That might be a good time for us to consider planning our mating ceremony as well. I most likely wouldn't have the time to do that before then because I would be swamped.

Mesmer came in with us, but stayed on guard near the door's interior, while we spread out amongst the chairs. I laid out the blueprints so King Draven and Consort Mia could see them, and tried nodding Mateo to a chair, but he chose to stand guard by the window instead, which was probably wise of him.

Before I could get into any details, King Draven spoke up. "I suppose it's not really necessary to say this, but I'm going to say it anyway. While you're here, working in our home, you will have our full protection. I will make sure there are guards posted inside the library at all times, and you're welcome to bring your own guards on the property."

I nodded gratefully. "Thank you, King Draven. That would help tremendously. And I appreciate the added protection of your guards."

"Please, Emrie, just call me Draven."

"And please, for zany mushroom's sakes, call me Mia."

Draven chuckled. "That's a new one. I like it."

Mia blushed and laughed, looking a little sheepish.

"I will try," I told them both.

"Okay, I also worked up a computer graphic of what things should look like. You can follow along with that if you prefer. Here on the main floor, you have all of these lovely arches along the walls and so many alcoves that are perfect to create library sections. Based upon the dimensions of the bottom floor, I've outlined where I think each section should start and finish, how many materials we'll need for that section, and approximate times for completion."

"Along the north wall, you already have a wall of windows. I'd like to put in stained glass windows to the side, and a UV treated slider so you can access the porch I'd like to put in."

"Oooh, you want to build a porch off the library?"

I nodded. "I think a porch with a firepit and some cozy seating would be lovely for those days you want to stay close to the library, but get outside a little bit." I looked between Draven and Mia to see if this was something they would like, and they both nodded, smiling.

"Okay. Also, on the ground floor, there will be a few places for seating, some couches and chairs, a few tables, and a small office where you can store those books in your rarer collection that need to be kept in a temperature-controlled environment. There will be a small office, and an antechamber that will be temperature controlled."

Draven nodded. "I have a few of those. They're stored off property right now."

"What are they about?" Mia asked, looking at her husband in curiosity.

"They're just very old. If they were outside of a controlled environment, I'd worry they'd fall apart. A wizard is copying them into a new book with spell-treated binding and pages. Once that's finished, the books can be on any shelf in the library, but until then, they need special care. And he could use the office to do the copying. That would make it easier for him, I think."

I nodded. Most paranormals of ancient age tended to collect very valuable, breakable, or fragile possessions. Books were no exception. I was glad I'd prioritized space for that.

"Okay, moving on to the second level. since it's a rounded balcony, I was thinking of making that your main reading area. I'll set up a large conference room along the west wall with sofas and comfortable stuffed chairs. to go around your fireplace, and more seating and tables for studying scattered around the floor."

I glanced up at them. "What do you guys think of a fountain up there? I thought it might be soothing, but not everyone's a fan of them, and you already have one on the first floor, it just needs to be fixed."

"I like the idea," Mia said, "but a fountain so close to books sounds like we're asking for trouble. We were thinking of removing the fountain."

"The fountain I put down would be spelled, which at the very least, if there was an earthquake or natural disaster, would prevent the water from leaving a certain designated area until you guys can hire help to come clean it up. But if that sounds like too much for you, I'm open to adding something else as the main focal point on the second floor." I smiled. "I love client ideas. They can be so fun."

That night,after doing my nighttime stuff to get ready for bed, I put on a warm, velvety maroon sweater over my pajamas, even though I probably wouldn't need it, and made my way out to the fire pit where Roarke and my Clan were gathered.

The fire had been going for a while, and many of the Clan had come and gone, but my die-hards—those closest to me—had stayed, so as I came around the corner in the mid-winter night air, I found Roarke sitting in a comfortable cushy deck chair, manning two pie irons, while Riggs, Mateo, Mathan, Taco, Drew, Alastair, Zin, and Akeno cooked their ham and cheese pudgy sandwiches on their own pie irons with varying degrees of success. Taco's was cooking to perfection. Akeno's was on fire.

I sat next to Roarke, who gazed at me with a warmth that almost made me blush. I offered silently to take my pie iron from him so he could free up a hand, but he only smiled at me.

I knew that smile. It was his, you're-adorable-if-you-think-I'll-trust-you-not-to-burn-this-to-a-crisp smile. I thought about being offended, remembered the last time I'd attempted to heat tomato soup over the stove at my house, and kept my mouth shut.

I'd ended up with tomato soup so charred to the bottom of the pan that I'd had to throw the pan out, and it was also still stuck to my ceiling fan blade in my living room. I kept meaning to clean it...

"Akeno, your sandwich is on fire," Mateo said.

"I want it toasted."

"If you leave it in the fire any longer it will be char," I said, laughing.

Akeno sighed at us and took it out of the fire, opened the fire iron, and blew the charred bits off. It looked like a soot sandwich.

"You're going to eat that?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I like burned food."

"You should let me cook for the Clan more often then."

Roarke snorted next to me, and I elbowed him carefully. I didn't want my pudgy sandwich to be ruined, after all. He'd already somehow made his delicious apple crumble over the fire pit, and that was going to be paired with home churned vanilla ice cream Roarke and Sullivan had made earlier.

Riggs, Mateo, Mathan, and Alastair were all quiet, seemingly lost in their own thoughts as they stared at the fire, but Drew was talking a mile a minute to Taco. I let their conversation wash over me as I stared at the flames. Someone, probably Mathan, because he loved a good fire and liked to change things up, paid a witch chemist for a fire changer. The fire tonight was blue, purple, and black, with little pinpoint stars swirling through the flames.

"Good choice tonight, Mathan."

He nodded, his smile gentle.

Roarke plated my pudgy pie, and one of the others handed me my apple crumble with ice cream. Roarke and I finished around the same time, and he got up, pulling me up by my hand, and wrapped a muscled arm around my shoulders, pulling me close to him.

"Goodnight all. Sweet dreams."

"Goodnight," they all said in tandem.

I waved sleepily, and Roarke walked me to my room. It had been a busy day today, and I was wiped out. I was going to fall asleep the moment my head hit the pillow tonight.

Roarke and I hadn't kissed yet, and I remembered that fact the moment we stopped in front of my bedroom door. He looked down at me, his face set in gentle lines, his eyes tired, and I reached up and ran my fingers through the front of his hair, pushing it back a little bit off his face. It was growing out enough for me to run my fingers through it, and he'd told me the other night he was going to keep it longer for a while. I think he loved it when I messed with it.

"Goodnight," I said. "Sleep well."

Roarke cupped a palm to my face tenderly, and I thought this is it! He's going to kiss me! But a moment later, when his arms were wrapped around me in a warm hug, I let out a tiny sigh of relief. This might sound crazy, because I was in love with my best friend and had been for a while, but I didn't know if I was ready to kiss him yet. And Roarke being Roarke, seemed to sense this.

"I'm sorry," I whispered.

Still holding me close, he shook his head. "Waiting longer will make any intimacy better. You're doing us a favor."

"Well, then our first kiss should pretty much knock us comatose," I joked.

He chuckled and kissed the top of my head. "I can't wait. Goodnight, Emrie." He opened my door for me, waited until I went in, and then made his way across from me to his own room.

I brushed my teeth again, and then ran my hand through my honey-blonde hair. It was long and thick and took forever to dry, but the fire pit seemed to have helped. I blew the rest dry so I didn't wake up with it trying to point directions for rockets to the moon, and snuggled in my warm bed. I used the clicker next to me to turn the electric fireplace on low. I didn't need the warmth, but I certainly needed the comfort. I just hoped I didn't wake up sweaty. That was the worst.