Chapter 10

Cairo

"Hey! Hey, buddy."

I closed my eyes and silently cursed. Why the shit did everyone show up when I was under a car? This time it was a twenty-year-old sedan—belonging to one of Karnak's elderly neighbors--which needed a few patches in the exhaust system to pass inspection.

Easy-peasy, but it meant I was stuck lying here, no way to hide from Mr. Cheesy Smiles himself.

"Hey Cairo, can you hear me?" This time, the asshole nudged the side of my knee with his foot.

"Don't kick me," I snarled.

"Then come out here and give me a hug," Luxor shot back.

Cursing under my breath, I wriggled my way out and sent him a glare.

"Cairo!" Lux beamed; his arms open. "Good to see you!"

Slowly, I wiped my hands on a rag. "Hi, Lux. You're looking good."

He did. The years had given him a lot more meat than I remembered. He used to be a skinny kid who'd trailed us all, hopelessly optimistic after his surgery. Now he looked like a linebacker from American football, which had always appealed to my orcish sensibilities.

Must have something to do with the yelling, running at people, and ripping their heads off.

The big goofball was still standing there with his arms open. "Is that any way to greet your cousin?"

He wanted a hug, didn't he?

"Come on," Lux coaxed. "It's been nine years!"

Eight and a half.But I sighed and stepped forward so he could hug me. "Hi, Lux!" I repeated, infusing false cheer into my voice.

I was certain he could hear it, but Luxor chuckled, probably thinking it was a joke—he thought everything was a joke. He wrapped his arms around me and squeezed, actually lifting me off the ground!

"Okay, okay," I muttered. But when he put me down, I realized I was reluctantly smiling. "What have you been up to?"

Lux rocked back on his heels, and I realized he was wearing a sharp pair of trousers and button-up shirt. Looked like he'd been taking lessons from Sakkara on how to dress.

"Well, I've been in Newport News with Giza for the last few years, and I guess it's nice enough, but you know me." He shrugged, and I made a noise that pretended I did know him, and it hadn't been years since I'd seen him. "It bugged me that I wasn't really a part of anything. So I got Sakkara's call, and I put an offer on a house over on Blobfish Lane."

My brows rose as I shoved the rag into my back pocket. "You bought a house without seeing Eastshore?"

Another shrug. "I trust Sakkara. And I'm seeing it now." He gestured around him with a big smile. "And I love it. Already feels like home!"

To my surprise, I didn't hate the idea of living on the same small island as Lux, who used to drive me crazy with his stupid questions and constant cheer. Maybe he'd matured.

Maybe I'd matured.

Maybe it had to do with Tanis and Karnak and Sakkara—and maybe soon Giza—living here too.

"Hey, man, you want a drink?" I asked belatedly, remembering to be cordial.

But Lux shook his head, still smiling. Of course. "Not yet, but thanks. I'm under orders to drag you and your Mate to dinner tonight at the Waterfront Restaurant. We're all meeting there. Sakkara said your Mate would be home soon, and I should talk your ear off until then." He glanced around. "Where is she? Your Mate? I'm excited to meet her."

He was excited about everything. But the thought of another male around my Mate made my hackles rise. I didn't realize I was growling until Luxor swung back around to stare wide-eyed.

"Whoa!"

I scowled. "What?"

"Look, I'm not an expert on Mating, clearly, but you, my friend, are far from relaxed and sated." He winced sympathetically. "Giza mentioned the Heat—"

"Fuck," I growled. "He told everyone?"

Lux winced again. "Still no luck with her?"

I sighed and scrubbed my hand over my face, only to realize I might've just smeared grease everywhere. "Come inside," I offered, and I realized I was going to tell him. Luxor might have the attention span of a dazed puppy, but he cared, dammit, just like Sakkara.

A half hour later, I was freshly scrubbed, in a clean t-shirt, drying my hair as Lux rooted through my fridge. "You want a beer?" he called over his shoulder. "I'm taking a beer."

I found myself smiling again.

He cracked open the top and leaned his hip against the counter. "So you going to tell me what's going on with…Maddie? Mandy?"

"Meli," I corrected. "Melinda. She owns that pink bake shop on Main Street, makes the world's best cupcakes. I've been going in there a while."

"Because she's your Mate?"

"I didn't know that," I growled. Sensing my irritation, Lux tossed me a beer, which I opened without looking at it. "I just thought of her as a baker, you know?"

"So what changed?" he prompted.

I rolled the cold bottle between my palms. "Her family showed up and tried to hook her up with someone else." Even now, the thought of her dating someone else made me uncomfortably warm. "She panicked and claimed she had a boyfriend. I was there."

Lux gaped. "So you're—what? Her pretend boyfriend? She does realize you're an orc?"

I found myself smirking. "She doesn't seem to mind," I said as I lifted the bottle to my lips.

Lux broke out laughing. "You lucky bastard. So she's living here with you now, and you're her actual boyfriend? No wait, if that was the case, there wouldn't be a Heat, you'd be Mated. Right?"

Sighing, I stared down at the bottle. "I dunno," I admitted. "We're not dating, but we are…" I wasn't going to admit what had happened last night. That had been—frankly—magical, and it belonged to me. "This thing is just temporary. Just until next week, when her family goes back to the mainland for good."

"Is it?" Lux murmured. The little asshole.

I didn't answer him.

Last night…I hadn't expected to fuck her. No, not fuck. That hadn't been a fuck. That had been something different. Something special. And after, she'd fallen asleep in my arms, and that had been special too. I'd had time to listen to her breathing even out and wonder what the hell had just happened to me.

Because if I'd thought masturbating while thinking of Meli had been intense, actual sex was even better. It had drained me—not just my balls, but me. My chest, my mind, my soul had poured into her, and after, I wasn't even certain who I was anymore.

Intensedidn't begin to describe it.

But this morning, I still felt…edgy. Itchy. As if something wasn't right.

After she left for work, I checked the mirror, and my eyes were still green.

The Heat, Giza had called it.

I'd claimed Meli, but she still wasn't my Mate.

And I wasn't certain what I should do.

Meli

I hadn't expectedto be ambushed by a bubbly orc—who stood even taller than Cairo!—when I got back home, but Luxor was a refreshing delight.

While I was accepting a hug from him, and listening to Cairo's adorable warning growl, I realized I'd thought of Cairo's house as home.

Actually, with my mom and sister catching this morning's ferry to the mainland to visit Harper's fiancé's family, theoretically, I had my apartment to myself. I'd actually even popped up there to tidy a bit, in between cookie batches.

But I convinced myself that it would make more sense to leave my apartment as it was, in case Mom and Harper needed to use it next week when they returned with Simon and Dad. I mean, I know they had reservations at the BB, but just in case…

You know you're lying to yourself, just looking for excuses to spend another night with Cairo.

Um, another night? How about All The Nights?

Last night…last night had been wow.

Once, Jess had told me that Karnak could smell her arousal. I thought it was weird when she'd told me, but I had noticed recently that Cairo would do that little nostril-flare and get all possessive right around the time I was thinking something horny.

Like now.

Suddenly, he was there, ripping Luxor away from me, wrapping his arm around my shoulder, and tucking me up against him. It should've been irritating to see him so primally possessive.

It wasn't.

I snuggled closer and smiled at Luxor. "So you're visiting Eastshore?"

"Nope, I'm here to stay. Already chose a house and everything, one street over from Sakkara." He seemed adorable, smiling at the world from under hair cut as short as Sakkara's himself. "He sent me to bring both of you to the Waterfront for dinner tonight. Giza is meeting us."

"Will Emmy be there?" I asked, excited. I'd heard all about the little half-orc who'd be starting second grade at Eastshore Elementary, and I couldn't wait to meet her.

But Luxor shrugged. "I didn't ask questions. I just follow orders."

I smiled and nudged Cairo to loosen his hold. "Let me grab my sweater, they always keep the AC blasting in there."

"Why?" asked Luxor.

"I think because the manager—he's a jerk—likes to make the waitresses' nipples hard," I joked.

Cairo growled. "I like your nipples hard," and I blushed, another rush of liquid desire pooling between my thighs. He made a noise low in his throat, and Luxor clapped his hands together.

"Okay, with that, I'm leaving. Hope to see you there, bye!" he called overly loudly on his way out the door.

And I was laughing as I pulled Cairo after him.

The Waterfront had the best flounder sandwiches on the island, and when I said that—and Jess backed me up—everyone ordered that. Except Sakkara ordered fried mozzarella sticks for his daughter, Emmy.

I was thrilled for any opportunity to hang out with Jess, of course. Since her marriage and kitten-acquiring, her life had become hectic. We'd hugged, and now were tucked up beside one another on one of the long benches along the wall, with Cairo beside me and Karnak on her other side.

Sakkara sat on the other side of the table to one side, so Emmy could sit beside him at the head. She'd brought an e-reader, which really impressed me. Wasn't the kid only like eight? I think I was reading See Spot Run at age eight.

When Sakkara had introduced her to me, Emmy lifted her head to stare with her dark eyes, so like her Dad's, at me, for a long moment. She blinked, then went back to her book. I wasn't even sure she understood.

Sakkara merely smiled sadly and offered his hand for an introduction.

Luxor was exactly the way Jess had described him: big, not too bright, and thrilled with the world. Giza, the older orc who sat across from us, was an unknown, but he soon had us chuckling with stories about his last years in coastal Virginia.

"Geez is our storyteller," Sakkara offered in between bites of sweet potato fries. "He has an incredible memory and holds the stories of our people."

The older orc inclined his head gravely. His arms and even his cheeks were covered in interesting tattoos—swirled lines and dots. I wondered if that had to do with his storytelling.

"Well, maybe he can answer a question for me," I hesitantly offered. "What's up with your names? Cairo? Giza? Even Tanis. They're next door to one another, along the Nile, right? Is it just a coincidence orc names sound like Egyptian cities?"

"You could've asked me," grumbled Cairo, and I swung on him, surprised to see him sulking.

I realized I should have asked him but hadn't known how to bring it up. "I'm sorry," I whispered.

Giza cleared his throat. "It's no secret, pretty little human." At the compliment, I blushed, and Cairo threw his arm over my shoulder. "All of us are named after archaeological sites from ancient Egypt in your world along the Nile. The scientists named us."

"Scientists?" I repeated.

Cairo sighed. "She doesn't know any of this, guys."

"Other than what Jess told me," I was quick to point out.

His arm tightened around me. "Okay, recap. Our world was dying. A lower female population meant males couldn't Mate, fewer kits were being born. Our generation made the decision to finally reach out to the humans, and we volunteered."

"Sakkara volunteered," Karnak corrected quietly. "The rest of us followed."

"Not me," Luxor announced cheerfully. "The elders made me go because of my broken body."

He didn't look broken, but I was soon too distracted by the rest of the story to ask about him.

"The humans were understandably shocked," Sakkara explained. "We'd expected that. They had no idea our world had existed alongside theirs for so long. The military got involved—"

"As if our spears could do anything against their tanks," Luxor snorted.

"And when they realized there were more of us—enough to make trouble if we were harmed—we were turned over to the scientists," Sakkara finished.

Cairo grunted. "Experiments, poking and prodding, all sorts of doctors…" His breath fanned my hair as he leaned closer. "It took them a year. At the beginning, we were Specimen One, Specimen Two sort of thing."

Giza's deep voice took up the story. "But in orcish, Sakkara's name really did sound like Sakkara. That's what the scientists began to call him. He can make friends with a brick wall."

Sakkara grinned, his tusks seeming less intimidating somehow. "I can be quite charming."

"So he became Sakkara. Our names are, honestly, unpronounceable in the human tongue," Giza admitted. "It was the scientists' little joke to give us all names that were also sites along the Nile. Sakkara is the necropolis of Memphis. I've actually been lucky enough to visit the pyramids of Giza and have decided I'm pleased to be named after something so majestic."

They'd been…renamed?

I shifted on the bench, uncomfortable. This was sounding like something my mother would do; assign a new name because she couldn't pronounce the names they'd been born with.

Jess put her hand on my arm. "It really is okay, Meli. They're proud of their names."

Karnak nodded. "When we left our world, we knew we wouldn't be returning. In our clan, an orc male might have four different names in his life; the one he is born with, the one he earns as a young male, the one his Mate gives him, and perhaps even another as he grows old. It is common for us to change our names when our lives change and coming into the human world was a big change."

"The biggest," Luxor agreed. "I don't even remember my birth name."

"I do," said Giza quietly, his attention on his food. "I remember it all."

I turned to Cairo. "What's your name? Your real name, the one you went by before you came here a decade ago?"

He stared at me, the green in his eyes so muted, the fire so banked, they were almost black once more.

I didn't think he'd answer me, but finally, his lips parted.

"Mt'ap-kplan."

They were right; it was unpronounceable.

But I tried. "Muhtapkahplin?"

Something green flashed in his eyes, something that looked like possession, a moment before his lips captured mine.

I decided to take that as Well done, Meli, good enough attempt at pronunciation, et cetera.

Luxor's laughter broke us apart, and when I slowly blinked back to reality, Sakkara was beaming at me, as if I'd done something he was proud of.

"After the scientists were done with us, the government realized we couldn't quietly disappear," he explained, shooting a glance at his daughter. "We'd made first contact with plenty of attention, you see, on purpose. The media had been asking about us non-stop. So we were given plump severance packages and sent out into your world to make our own way."

Karnak offered, "I found Eastshore Isle first, and Cairo followed the following year. I think Tanis joined us, what, two years later?"

"I found it," growled Cairo. "And he followed us three years later. Remember, he stayed in Denver for a while? He was friends with one of the scientists."

But I was stuck on something Sakkara had said. "Severance? Like…you'd been fired?"

"Getting tortured wasn't a job," grumbled Cairo.

Tortured?

Giza said, "Turns out Sakkara is a natural accountant, as well as being a leader." He nodded to the well-dressed orc at the end of the table. "He'd learned all about investments from the humans, and when he offered to take care of our money, most of us took him up on it."

"Wow," I breathed, "you really trusted him, huh?"

The older orc shrugged. "We had no concept of compound interest or the Internet or even paper money, to tell the truth. And yes, we trusted him."

"He's made us all very rich," Karnak pointed out.

I swung to Cairo once more. "You're rich? How rich?"

He named a number that almost made me slide off my bench. "What? Why do you fix cars if you're rich?"

He shrugged, almost dislodging me. "I like to fix cars."

"We all need to stay busy, Meli," Sakkara reminded me gently. "Cairo is good at what he does, and it brings us joy to see his Mate accepting him."

Mate?

My lips formed the word as I glanced at Cairo, remembering what they'd said about Mates. It was impossible not to hear the capital letter when they spoke of it so reverently. Jess had told me Karnak considered her his Mate, while she considered him her husband.

It was kinda sweet.

But Cairo and I…we weren't Mated.

Oh.

Oh shit.

First, we'd pretended to be dating for my family.

Now were we pretending to be Mated for his family? That's who these guys were, right? His family?

"Yep!" I said overly brightly, smiling back at Sakkara. "Definitely Mated. Definitely accepting my Mate."

He made a noise at my side, but before I could follow up on that, the waitress bustled up with a tray and another round of beers. She was tall and elegant, her expression set in a distracted, no-nonsense sort of way.

I didn't know her well, but we'd chatted a few times when I'd come in for dinner or drinks, but then again, I chatted with everyone. Um…Chloe? No, Zoe!

"And a Shirley Temple for the little lady," she said with a slight smile after distributing the adult drinks, setting the red drink in front of Emmy. The little girl glanced up but said nothing.

"A goddess!" Luxor declared, reaching for one of her beers as he smiled goofily at Zoe. "A goddess who brings us libations!"

"Alright, mister, do I need to cut you off?" She planted one hand on her hip and frowned at him, her halo of tight black curls bouncing around her head.

Luxor smiled up at her adoringly.

"He's not drunk," Cairo growled. "He's always like this."

"I really am," sighed Luxor, still gazing rapturously.

As Zoe rolled her eyes and hurried away after another call, I realized our table wasn't the only one with non-humans. Eastshore really had become a haven for orcs and fae and monsters and others who wanted a place to belong, and Jess's program to reach them had only just begun.

Luxor, meanwhile, had twisted in his seat to follow the waitress with his gaze.

Giza smacked his arm. "What are you doing?"

"Looking at her nipples. Would you say they're hard?"

I muffled my giggle in my palm and wondered if I needed to introduce him to Zoe officially. She didn't strike me as the type to spontaneously show off her nipples, but maybe Luxor would get lucky if he asked sweetly?

Sakkara cleared his throat and lifted one of the new bottles. "To new beginnings."

Karnak lifted his. "To the future in a place where we can belong."

And Cairo lifted his as the rest of us joined. "And to old friends."