Chapter Twelve

Hephaestus wasn't one of the original gods, but when so much time had passed between inception and modern day, he might just as well have been one of the first beings around. But the point of that thought was that there wasn't much he hadn't dealt with before.

Unlike some of his family members in the Greek pantheon, Hephaestus was never known for going off half-cocked, fully cocked, or cocked up in any way – his uncle Poseidon was one case in point, and Zeus wasn't much better. Hephaestus was always a behind the scenes person – he made the tools that his pantheon fought with. He was the one that kept the forge fires burning.

But the anger that he felt, hearing Landyn's story, was hotter than the fires of his forge – and that thing never went out. As soon as he heard what Landyn had been through, he was struck by how twisted everything was. The worst of it being that the faceless vampire, Michael, probably forgot about his sweet precious mate a month after Landyn escaped.

Yes, vampires could get possessive over donors. Yes, Hephaestus knew of some situations, historically, where donors were kept in slavish conditions that were truly appalling. As far as Hephaestus was concerned, it was something he always hated about the non-interference laws he had to live by, especially if he had come across cases like that.

But times had changed for vampires drastically. Blood bags were now available with the right connections – something easy for a vampire to attain. And with the way a meme of a sneezing cat could travel from one side of the world to the other in five minutes thanks to social media, many vampires who didn't have solid relationships with their donors preferred not to deal with live donors at all.

In other words, nothing Landyn said made sense. A vampire wouldn't stalk a man, especially someone who was nothing more than a casual donor. Especially across cities, the way Landyn had been hounded. And for so damned long.

"You're brooding." Landyn touched his arm and Hephaestus glanced at his mate, blown away as he always was by the man's smile. They were in the truck, on their way to the studio, and yes, his mate was right.

"I can't help it," he admitted. "Do you think people do things for a reason? Like, if they commit time and effort, resources, or money to something, there is usually an end goal in sight?"

Landyn always scrunched up his nose when he was thinking. I'm allowed to think that's cute if the person I'm thinking about is my mate.

"Does that apply to people who just live in the moment, too, do you think?" Landyn asked. "If someone randomly decided to go somewhere fun for a day, or just decided to cook a fun meal for people they care about? Oh. Oh. I get what you're saying though. The meal, or the place where a person might go, would still be the end goal, and the reason doesn't have to be like for a business or to make them money or anything else. The reason could be anything at all and so could the goal. Is that what you meant?"

It wasn't anything like what Hephaestus was thinking, but he nodded. "Thinking about reasons and goals, and time investment and things like that. Sweetling, do you have any reason at all why Michael pursued you all that time or why?"

"He was hungry?" Landyn's face shuttered and Hephaestus hated that his words caused that but there were still part of the narrative that didn't make sense, and for Hephaestus to give Landyn any resolution to his vampire pest, he had to know more.

"When the other vampires jumped out at you, none of them were Michael, were they?"

Landyn shook his head.

"Had you seen any of the other vampires before?"

Another headshake. Seeing his turn coming up, Hephaestus turned into his parking lot and parked his truck, turning the engine off and applying the brake.

Twisting in his seat, he rested his arm across the back of Landyn's seat. "This is really important, and I promise I'll never ask again because I know this isn't easy for you, but did any of the vampires who jumped out at you – the ones who scared you – did they hurt you in any way? Did they try and stop you leaving, try biting you, or anything else like that?"

"No." Landyn turned his head away, looking out his side window. "They were just the messengers, letting me know I would never be safe." His head snapped back, and Hephaestus realized his mate was angry. "Wasn't that enough? Should I have just ignored the first one and lived my life as if I didn't have a psychotic vampire after my blood?"

"No, sweetling…"

"They were all so big!" Landyn lifted his arms above his head, his fingers splayed. "One of the first ones grabbed me, and he was looming over me, leaning close so I could smell the blood on his breath. Two. Three. Four. Five…All of them so big, with their gangster suits and their black glasses as if that made them cool or something. I was terrified."

And that right there was the reason – fear. Hephaestus was almost certain that the whole ordeal that Landyn had been through was nothing more than a game for a vampire who had contacts with covens in every city Landyn ended up in. His anger grew, but he tamped it down. His mate didn't need a reason to fear him.

"It won't happen to you again. No one will ever make you feel unsafe again – not the cyclops, demented vampires, or anyone else who takes affront at your cuteness. Wherever we go or whatever we do, you will be safe." There wasn't much else Hephaestus could say, but as far as he was concerned, those words were a vow. Even if Landyn grew to hate him, and Hephaestus was fast coming to trust that wouldn't happen, he would make sure his little ferret was safe.

"We should go inside." Landyn sniffed and Hephaestus realized his mate was trying not to cry. "You wanted to show me things that you'd made. This is your studio, right?"

Hephaestus was thinking they should probably head back home, but then he realized that might give Landyn the impression he couldn't look after him or keep him safe, and Landyn deserved to feel safe anywhere. "Yes, this is it. Let me get your door for you and we can head inside."

Less than two minutes later he was regretting that decision as he saw the three cyclops all lounging around the large table that took up one-quarter of his warehouse space.

"What's this?" Bronte sneered, although he stayed in his seat. "Bring your boy to work day?"

"I'm showing my mate around," Hephaestus said firmly. He really didn't want another fight. "He has as much right to be here as you do."

"I sure do, because I'm the god's mate, not you." Landyn surprised him by moving around the showroom part of the space. "See, I'm looking at pretty things. Oh, Hephaestus your work is just incredible." He carefully picked up a small bird Hephaestus had made once just to see it fly. "You are so clever."

"So what do you do, mate?" Bronte called across the floor. "You can see how talented our god is now. What can you do?"

"Stock shelves," Landyn said brightly as he put the small bird down and moved along the shelves. "I'm great at delivering goods when I have a bike, and my customer service skills are second to none according to the last reference I got." He flicked a cheeky glance over his shoulder and Hephaestus had never been so proud when he said, "Being able to get along with all types of people is a rare skill to have, you know."

"Did that pipsqueak just insult me?" Bronte turned to his brothers. "He did, didn't he. He insulted me."

"Just shush," Steropes said sharply. "He wasn't insulting you, he was answering your question."

"Yeah, Bronte, you said you'd behave," Arges chimed in. "The mate is part of Hephaestus's life now and…"

"You're taking his side?" Bronte was on his feet and Hephaestus grimaced. He was still none the wiser as to why his friend was acting as if he had a boil on his ass, but Bronte was going to have to accept their new reality or leave them the hell alone.

"I wasn't insulting you," Landyn said in a cheery tone, skipping across the floor, and resting his hands on two cupboard door handles. "I'm exercising my right to be here, as my mate's mate. Look, I can open cupboards and…woah. I thought there would be tools and things in here." He backed away from the cupboard.

"They are automatons," Hephaestus said quickly. "They won't hurt you. They can be useful for a variety of tasks. I built them to be completely indestructible. They can follow complex instructions, even change their form if it makes the tasks easier, and yet they can react as any living being might when they are given those orders."

"Incredible. You are so incredible." Landyn shook his head as he moved close to them again, gently reaching out and touching the metal. "You had three giants in your kitchen, and six golden people in your studio cupboards. Look at the detail in those faces. It's like any moment they'll just open their eyes and start talking to me."

"They can…"

"They won't respond to you, runt." Bronte barely flinched when Steropes smacked him around the head. "What? They won't. He's just a tiny mortal who…"

"You know, it really gets my goat when people keep harping on about my size like it means something," Landyn said loudly, his smile gone. "Size doesn't mean anything when it comes to instilling fear – it's evil that does that. Evil intent. And I've had the pants scared off me a dozen times by people a lot smaller than you, Giant."

"Er…Landyn?" Hephaestus wasn't sure what his mate's point was, although he'd defend Landyn's right to say anything he damned well pleased until the sun fell from the sky.

"No, it's all right, my lovely mate, I do know what I'm saying." Landyn's smile was back. "You see, if I do this…" he tapped on the chest of the nearest automaton. "Hi Charlie, wake up. You too, Bertie, and you can open your eyes, Cleo. There you go. Come out of the cupboard please."

"What the fuck, Hephaestus? You're doing this. Cut it out." Bronte looked worried and for good cause. The giants couldn't put a dent on Hephaestus's creations.

"I'm not doing this." Hephaestus grinned.

"Do you know what looming is?" Landyn lifted his arms, much like he'd done when he was describing the vampires. All three automatons lifted their arms the same way and Landyn clapped and grinned. "Now, mean faces. Put on your meanest looking face." He frowned and scrunched up his lips in what was probably meant to be a scowl. Hephaestus thought it was adorable, especially when the automatons did it too.

"Awesome, you're doing a great job. Now go and loom over the three giants. Be as big as you can and loom over the giants, scaring them. Don't let them talk or move from their seats until I tell you to stop."

The automatons could move quickly when they were instructed to, growing to double their height and width as they kept the post Landyn instructed them on, stopping the giants from getting out of their chairs. Hephaestus quickly warded around his companions so they couldn't just translocate. Landyn was having fun – he couldn't be expected to remember that cyclops had some magical powers, too.

"Did you want the other three to do anything else, my sweet mate?"

Landyn turned to him and shook his head. "I was going to ask the other three to point their fingers and laugh at the cyclops, but you know, that would be just mean, and I'm not like that. But I don't think it's fair that three of them have to stay in the cupboard while the other ones are having fun. Hi Georgia, hello Simon, and good day to you Sarah." The three automatons all woke up. "How would you like to go over and sit at the other end of the table and play a game of Go Fish. It's a card game. When your friends have been doing their looming for ten minutes, you can swap places with them. Is that all right?"

"Do you have playing cards, mate of Hephaestus?" Georgia asked, and Hephaestus noticed the automaton had taken on a female tone.

"My mate will supply them, won't you Hephaestus?"

"They're already on the table for you." Hephaestus pointed his finger at the table and cards appeared. "All set."

"Thank you." Landyn came skipping over and taking Hephaestus's hand. "Show me what else you have here. I'm fascinated already."

"Hephaestus, sire, you can't allow this continue," Bronte blustered, trying to duck around the looming automaton who was doing a good job of blocking his vision. "This is humiliating. You know we can't fight back against the tin cans."

"Every time you talk, I'll add another five minutes," Landyn sang back happily. "My mom used to do that to us when she'd put us in time out," he added more quietly to Hephaestus.

Time out? Hephaestus wasn't sure if he'd ever understand how Landyn's mind worked, but that didn't matter. "You heard my mate, Bronte. Every time you talk you'll have to sit there five minutes longer. Landyn, come into my office. I'll show you my website. It has a gallery on it of some of the pieces that have been commissioned or bought by some people who collect my work."

"Ooh, more pretty things." Landyn skipped by his side. "You amaze me more every time I see something new."

"You amaze me more."