Chapter Sixteen

Bam! Landyn's words went in Hephaestus's ears, slapped him around the head, and then plunged down into his heart, punching that unused organ into life. "I…I love you, too." Hephaestus stuttered over the words, but he got them out. He'd never said them to a living being before, but he felt an instant calm knowing every syllable was true. "You're so brave. You never shy away from sharing your feelings, and in every word and gesture, you're always thinking of me. I can't think what I did to deserve you, but I'm so glad I did it."

"We deserve each other, remember? Perfect for each other." Landyn snuggled into his chest. "Now stop fretting about stuff that's not your fault. You've had a really hard day, doing all that hammering and making art. We should probably get you to bed."

"Not just yet." Hephaestus was physically tired, but Landyn's words of love energized him inside. "When we met, I was mean, because I just fit you into my life without ever asking if you had hopes and dreams of your own. Things you would like to try, do, or experience. Maybe things we could do together?"

"I used to dream of the silliest of things when I had a roof over my head and a job. You know, the sort of thing people would dream about if they'd won the lottery – going on a cruise, flying to far off lands I'd only seen in books. Then, in my dreams, when I'd tired of traveling I'd come back to a huge house with lots of land all around. I dreamed of keeping animals, growing my own food, being part of somewhere rural where the people were friendly." Landyn's voice was low.

"When I was on the streets, my dreams changed, and that was understandable. All I could think about was finding something to eat. But in a lot of ways, rough sleeping was an eye opener for me. It was hard getting through each day. I was cold and hungry, often scared. But because I kept moving, kept moving, kept moving on to the next town, the next area, just trying to stay ahead of the vampires, I got to see so many places.

"I didn't always stay in cities, you know. I had to get to them, and most of the time I was hitchhiking or walking, and there were times when I used to come across these smallest places – just a general store, a garage, and usually somewhere to eat. The people there were so friendly, always happy to give me a meal in exchange for me washing dishes or sweeping floors.

"There was this one place, a diner in the middle of nowhere, but it was so nice. It was run by a lady who insisted I call her Aunty Kate. She took me in and I stayed for three days, helping her out with the customers, taking orders, cleaning tables, and washing dishes. In between the customers she used to talk to me about the locals – they all sounded like so much fun. She said I reminded her of her son. I think he was dead, the way she spoke of him."

"Why didn't you keep staying with her if she was so nice?"

"The vampires. I didn't want anyone to hurt her to get to me, so I told her I had to get to the next town over…that's how I ended up in Chicago and then I met you, so that was a good thing."

Tilting his face up, Landyn smiled at him, that one look that never ceased to make Hephaestus feel special, making him feel reckless. "We could go on a cruise," Hephaestus said quickly – he didn't have an affinity with water. "Live on a farm, you could have a shop, or go back to school and study for something. Sweetling, we can do whatever you want. That's a positive part about having a god as a mate."

Landyn chuckled. "You didn't like the idea of the cruise. I could hear that in your voice."

"I'm trying to think if there was ever a time in my life when I'd been on a ship," Hephaestus admitted. "Water is more Poseidon's thing than mine."

"I've never been on a ship either. I only got the idea from the advertisements I'd see on the television when I had my own place. They always seemed to travel to exotic locations, and everyone was always dressed nicely, looking as though they were having such an amazing time."

"Was that the only reason cruise ships appealed to you?" Hephaestus suspected his cute mate might be leaving some details out.

"You got me." Landyn dissolved into embarrassed chuckles, burying his head on Hephaestus's chest. "They had buffet meals! Smorgasbord! Huge long tables with crisp white tablecloths and they would be piled high with platters and bowls full of delicious fresh foods. It looked so tempting especially on the Thursday nights before payday, when I was having noodles for dinner."

"Perhaps we could go on a culinary world tour," Hephaestus said as the idea started to take shape. "We could ignore the water bit, you know just in case you got seasick and then couldn't enjoy all that wonderful food. But we could zap from country to country, stay in new places and try all the different foods to see what you like. That could be a fun holiday."

"In case you get seasick, too." Landyn stroked over his chest. "I can't imagine how bad it would be if a god got an upset tummy. That all sounds like a dream, it really does, but Hephaestus, what about your work? You said the giants were doing promotions and everything – there'll probably be more orders when you go back in again tomorrow."

"Ah, thank you for the reminder. I'm not going in at all tomorrow." Hephaestus clicked his phone into his hand. It had been in his pocket, but he didn't want to dislodge his mate. Clicking on the relevant button, he said, "Paulie, can you pass on a message to Zeus's computer team for me, please?"

"Good evening, Hephaestus," Paulie said politely. "I can send a message through for you. Can I offer you congratulations on your mating?"

"Your phone knows about me?" Landyn sat up, a hand on his chest, his eyes wide.

"Paulie is the communication app for the gods to use, designed by Zeus, and named after Zeus's own mate. He is extremely helpful in a lot of ways." Hephaestus chuckled at Landyn's reaction. "You can introduce yourself if you like."

Peering at the phone screen, which just showed a glowing orb, Landyn said, "Er…hello, Paulie. My name is Landyn. I am a ferret shifter and Hephaestus is my mate."

"Congratulations on your mating, Landyn," Paulie said warmly. "I trust you recovered from falling off your bike?"

"He knows everything." Landyn pointed at the phone. "Yes, yes I did, thank you for asking, Paulie. Hephaestus found me and has been looking after me ever since. He's a wonderful mate."

"Zeus will be pleased to hear that update," Paulie said. "I understand prior to meeting your mate you were running from a vampire problem. Did you want the Zeus network to take care of it for you?"

Landyn's eyes couldn't get any bigger. "Mind blown. How did he know that?" he mouthed, waving his hands around his head. "Can you really do that for me, Paulie?" he said to the phone. "My mate and I want to travel sometime soon, and I don't want Hephaestus to get hurt by any vampires after me. Can you really stop them?"

"That is very commendable, Landyn, mate of Hephaestus," Paulie said, "and to answer your question, yes we can do that for you. The matter will be resolved by morning. You won't have problems with any vampires again. Consider it a mating gift from the Almighty Zeus."

"That is very generous of Zeus, thank you," Hephaestus said, when it seemed Landyn couldn't get his mouth to work. "Could you also ask the computer team to clear any images of my metalwork posted on social media platforms by the cyclops – especially in relation to special offers or sales they might be running to encourage mortals to place custom orders. If a way could be found to stop the giant's using social media platforms at all, at least in relation to soliciting orders in my name, that would be appreciated."

"Consider it done, Hephaestus. Congratulations on your mating. All hail the Almighty Zeus and his beloved mate, Paulie." The swirling orb on the screen darkened and Hephaestus put his phone on the coffee table.

"Did what I think happened just happen?" Landyn couldn't stop side glancing at Hephaestus's phone. "Can Paulie still see and hear us?"

Chuckling Hephaestus flicked his finger at his phone and sent it into his bedroom, stashed in a drawer. "In theory, gods can see and hear everything if they wanted to. But can you imagine how overwhelming that could be? Paulie is an app and responds when spoken to. Zeus has an extremely efficient command center, so I'm told, that has a huge wall covered in computer screens, looking in on various situations on Earth. But even then, it would be impossible to see everything."

"It's amazing he gets anything done in a day, if he spends all his time watching screens," Landyn mused. But then he frowned. "Hang on a minute. Is the Zeus we're talking about your father Zeus? The one I still have to bite for kicking you off the mountain and damaging your leg even more than it was?"

Hephaestus nodded, trying to hide his grin. The way his mate's mind worked fascinated him.

"Well, that gives me mixed feelings now." Landyn huffed. "In my head that Zeus of yours was the worst stinker ever for causing you pain, but now he's doing something nice - taking care of the vampires and stopping your giants from taking any more orders for your works of art, giving them away at cut-rate prices. I'm all confused now."

"Sweetling, gods live forever. You'll find in that context, it's easier to not hold grudges and just keep living life. When it comes down to it, before Zeus claimed his mate, he was just a lonely bitter god living among his computer screens."

"So he's powerful, a stinker, and yet I should feel sorry for him because he was lonely and bitter before he met Paulie." Landyn sighed. "I've been mortal for all of twenty-five years. It could take me a while to adjust my way of thinking."

"We've got all the time in the world, sweetling." Stroking his hand down Landyn's back, Hephaestus added, "Are you about ready for bed now?"

"Are you going to let me rub your aching leg when we get there?"

Hephaestus was getting better at keeping his wince to himself at Landyn's suggestion. Landyn loved on his mangled foot the same way he did any other part of his body, but old habits were still difficult to break. "You can, if you let me rub your cute ass while you're doing it," he teased.

"Oh, am I ready for the next size of toy?" Landyn's wiggle showed his excitement.

Three days into their mating, Hephaestus had bought a range of toys in various sizes, when Landyn let him know how badly he wanted to join with his mate in what he called the "shifter way". Hephaestus had to ask Paulie in a private moment what that meant and blushed when Paulie explained that shifters didn't consider themselves fully claimed unless they smelled of their mate from the inside out. Or their mate smelled of them. Either way, Hephaestus was grateful for the toys.

"The next one up is the biggest one," he warned. "Are you ready for that?"

"Let's get to bed and see. Zap me, my mate."