14. Thoren

Chapter fourteen

Thoren

(The cards are stupid)

I 'm such an embarrassment. Who tells the guy he hooked up with that he's not allowed to let anyone smell him? Me. That's who. I have zero chill.

"I wonder why you smell like my favorite memory," Dec ponders aloud, and that's the clincher for me.

I could have probably overlooked that his base scent is a reminder of passing into adulthood, when I raced the sun down the mountain, chasing the bevalan into the safety of the shade. It reminds me of finally catching it and sacrificing it on the altar of my youth. I fed our family, created tools from its bones, and wear its leather to this day. It was the happiest moment of my youth, and Dec smells like the memory of that day. However, I can't overlook that I smell like his favorite memory too.

"When did you notice that I smell like that to you?" I ask, curious if this has been an on-going thing I've ignored, or if it's a recent development, because I haven't gotten close enough to scent more than his most vivid responses until now.

My uncle's summons comes again. I've been ignoring it for the last forty minutes, and I need to go find him, but this conversation is important.

"Oh, a few days ago," Dec replies as I walk him into my closet.

I'm glad to know I'm not too far behind him; it would have been embarrassing if I'd been ignoring what was right in front of my nose. At least now I know we're pretty much in alignment.

I move to the back where I keep the shirts that I only wear when circumstances require me to and pull a soft cotton t-shirt from a hanger. It's black and boring and I would never wear it if I could get away with it, but it will cover Dec's nudity long enough for him to get back to his room. I'm going to have to buy clothing that will fit him to keep in my closet, because I fully intend to destroy every suit he owns. Hmm, I will also need to put some pretty things in my underwear drawer for him. This one time I'm going to let him walk out of here in a t-shirt, but next time he will have clothes that fit him.

I help him into the shirt and pull it all the way down. It hits him just above the knees and is decent enough that I'm not too worried about anyone seeing parts of him that should be for my eyes only. I take a step back.

"Turn around," I order.

A small, stupid part of my hindbrain grinds out a happy laugh when he immediately spins in place, showing me his back side.

The t-shirt covers him, but it's tight on his ass and his dimples are on display in it. The color helps hide them, but I can still see them.

"What are you doing?" he asks, looking at me over his shoulder.

I point to his ass. "I'm figuring out if I'm going to have to walk behind you all the way to your room or if I have something to cover your dimples."

Uncle's summons comes again with a note of warning.

I've got about a minute to leave my room before one of my brothers arrives to rouse me.

Dec turns, examining the clothes in my closet.

I don't always use glamour to clothe myself, but I have physical copies of all the clothing I'm seen in so that it's never questioned when I do. Also, glamour only works on humans if it's realistic, so the best glamour can't stand up to never having laundry. I have to own the clothes I'm seen in, otherwise the humans can't see my clothing at all. All of us were accidentally seen naked a few times when we first arrived on this planet; we've learned how to be successfully hidden since then.

Dec pulls a sweater off a hanger, wraps it around his waist, and ties the arms together in front. He takes a spin, showing me that his ass is perfectly covered, and I nod.

"Perfect," I approve, pulling him in close and kissing him again. Something in me needs to keep tasting him. "I have a meeting with Uncle now. I'll come see you when I return."

Dec pecks one last kiss to my lips. "Don't wake me up if I'm asleep. I will murder you if you do, and I know exactly where to hide the body where no one will find you."

"What I'm hearing is, sleep is important to you."

Dec smiles broadly and shakes his head. "No-no, awake Dec doesn't think sleep is all that important. Sleeping Dec thinks that anyone who tries to wake him up deserves a knife to the throat. I'm just trying to save your life, that's all."

I laugh. "I will be sure to disarm you before I attempt rousing you."

The door to my suite bursts open and Greeley walks in, booming, "Thoren! Get your ass uuuu—ooooh. Dec. How naughty of you. I've been looking for you for an hour, mate." Greeley adjusts the sword hanging from his belt, grinning lasciviously.

Dec turns a pretty pink. "Ah, apologies. I'll be ready in ten minutes. Where am I needed?"

Greeley laughs, a grating sound that means he's partially shifted to stone right now. He looks Dec up and down, enjoying the sight of his bare knees far too much. "You're not needed for anything specific. Mr. Simms was looking a bit forlorn without you, which set off a search for the elusive butler. I'll call off the rescue mission."

" Feun , if you don't walk out of here right now, I'm going to rip your wings off." The warning comes out of me as I wrap my wing around Dec, hiding him from my brother's view.

Greeley stares at me, surprised by the threat in my voice. "Aye. I'm gone. Uncle's called you a few times," he tells me, keeping his eye on me as he backs out of my room.

"I'll be there," I promise, watching him until he shuts the door to my room again.

It takes me a full ten seconds to release Dec from my wing because I have to convince myself that Greeley isn't going to come back.

As soon as I do, Dec turns to face me with narrowed eyes. "You just encased me in stone without my consent. If it was anyone but you, I would not be nearly as calm as I am right now. You don't do that. That's a line for me. Cross it and this is over."

Stone erupts on my arms and chest, but he's right and I bow low, ensuring my head is lower than his. "You're right. I apologize. I won't react that way to my brother's goading again."

Dec takes a deep breath and relaxes. "Ok, good. Thank you. I don't mind it when we're asleep as long as you wake up when I do, and of course that would be fine if there was a threat or someone's shooting at me or something. God, I hope that never happens."

I smile, reaching out and pulling him in close. "Thank you for clarifying your permissions," I say, dipping in close for a kiss. "I'll see you when I return."

Dec opens up for my kiss and responds as beautifully as before, tightening his grip on me and pulling in to press himself as close as he can. I soak myself in the taste of him, reaching under my shirt to squeeze his ass. The whimper that my hands on his butt elicits is music to my ears, and when I finally pull back and release him, the dazed look in his eyes makes me decide it's about time to take a few weeks off work.

Dec deserves my undivided attention.

I see him off, walking with him until our paths diverge, then I leave him, following my uncle's summons to the conference room, where all of my brothers have gathered. I'm the last to arrive, but no one says a word about it. Clearly Greeley has let them know I'm not taking shit about Dec yet.

As soon as Uncle sees me, he pulls up a holographic display of the solar system. It's a live representation of the system in a model that discounts the vast space between the planets unless we need it. He zooms in on the Kuiper Belt directly opposite of the Earth. "We've detected tinkral ships dropping out of FTL in the Kuiper belt. They aren't arriving en masse like they usually do, but we've detected four ships in the last week."

The tinkral use faster than light travel to come here all the time.

"That's a normal number of tinkral ships making stops in the Kuiper belt," Ethan points out.

Uncle runs his hand down the orange plaid weave suit he's wearing, frowning. "You're right, but they stop in the belt, gather a rock, and leave. These ones aren't leaving."

I grind my teeth together as I consider our next actions. "I can teleport over—" I stop mid thought as two more ships drop out of FTL in the same region as their compatriots.

We all watch the display as it analyzes the ships, coming back with the result of two invasion class carriers. Each of those ships carries ten million tinkral soldiers that they can deploy in under ten minutes.

"Fuck," Ethan rasps. "They're not mining."

"Those ships can be here in seconds. It's a tiny jump to get from there to here," I remind my brothers. There are not enough soldiers in both ships to take the entire planet without heavy losses, but they're likely not the only ships coming, and we're not going to let them get that close. "We need to talk to them, warn them that they're not going to get as close as they're hoping, and turn them away. If that doesn't work, we knock out their FTL drives and call a tow."

Uncle smiles at us. "There are six ships; one for each of you and someone to coordinate here with me. Thoren, which ship is yours?"

I scan the specs on each ship and point to one of the carriers. "That one." The mission leader is on that one, I guarantee it. It's slightly newer than the other, and the tinkral are strict about their best and brightest getting the newest and shiniest.

I pull my deck from the pouch I keep it in, shuffle it, and deal seven cards in two lines of three with one in the middle, then I deal a sideways card over each of them. I've dealt this formation exactly like this for every joint mission my brothers and I embark on. Each of the cards beneath represent my brothers, and without deviation for the last two hundred years, they've been in order of birth from top to bottom, youngest to oldest, with me in the middle: The Star for Faulkes, The Sun for Hawthorn, The Moon for Ethan, The World for Walker, The Magician for Greeley, Justice for Reeves, The Lovers for me, and at the last second I move my card up and deal another one below it for Maxime: The Empress.

The cards know what I'm doing, but I say it aloud to make sure we're on the same page. "Will we come home?"

I start dealing the response cards sideways over the other cards: Three of Swords, Five of Swords, Six of Swords, Seven, Eight, Nine...

I look up at the worried faces of my brothers, hesitating before dealing the response card over mine.

"Deal it," Reeves insists.

I put down the Five of Wands.

"Mine too," Uncle adds.

Seven of Wands.

Uncle is the first to recover from such a dire reading. "Shuffle them back up and redeal; ask them if a different plan will bring you all home."

I pick the cards up, shuffle the deck three times, and deal out the cards. The first cards are the same in the same order, as they always are. The second cards don't change. They're all negative, casting doom on the plan for everyone except me and Uncle.

I pick up the cards, shuffle them again, and deal one for me and one for Uncle. "Should I go alone?"

Five of Wands on The Lovers, Seven of Wands on the Empress.

The room erupts in shouts. My brothers do not like sending me into a possible enemy incursion vessel by myself with only Uncle for backup.

"You are not going in alone!"

"There are six vessels that have to be disabled altogether!"

"You're not fast enough to get in and out of them all before they jump to FTL!"

"No! No! You can't!" That shriek escapes Faulkes, and Reeves grabs him, pulling our brother into his lap and wrapping him up in the comfort of his wings.

Reeves holds up the hands on his wings to silence my brothers. "The cards have never led us astray." My brothers quiet themselves, and Reeves points to my cards. "Deal one more. Ask if anyone else can go with you. You need backup, no matter what they say, and no offense, Uncle, but you are not my preference."

Uncle Maxime smiles affectionately. "I know what I am, and while I am an excellent organizer, I am not a field agent."

I deal the cards again. Me, Maxime, and the third that comes up is The Fool.

I stall out at seeing that. "Oh, fuck no!"

My brothers look at me expectantly.

"Who's that?" Faulkes asks softly.

I deal out the other three cards: Five of Wands, Seven of Wands, Ace of Swords.

"That's a hell yes," Walker points out. "Who's The Fool?"

I shake my head. The cards are crazy if they think I'm taking Dec on a mission to stop a hostile invasion force. He's a butler, not a guardian trained specifically for this task. He can barely perceive magic. The tinkral might not be able to harness innate magic as a species but, they can at least see it and they excel at harnessing the magic of other species, not to mention they're among the most technologically advanced species in the known universe. It's too bad that in their rush for advancement they made their planet inhospitable for themselves, because we wouldn't be facing an invasion force if they had ever in all their history stopped to think that maybe making their planet inhospitable to themselves would be a long term problem.

"Thoren." Uncle's voice makes me wince, and I blow out a frustrated breath.

"That would be Dec," I respond with gravel in my voice. "He's been pulling The Fool since he arrived."

"The butler?" Hawthorn's dubious question reflects what everyone else is thinking. "He's barely more than human. What could he possibly do?"

"Well, tinkral are known for keeping pets. They really like cute things, right?" Faulkes offers with a shrug. "Maybe his cuteness will distract them?"

Tinkral would probably consider humans adorable pets, that's true, but I'm not willing to stake Dec's life on their tendency to adopt cute things. They're worse than humans in that, but no.

"Why don't we talk to the man himself? He might have more insight into what he can offer than we do," Uncle suggests, already typing on his phone.

I stand, gathering my cards, and head out to meet Dec at the elevator to escort him to the conference room. There's no way I'm taking Dec onto the ship of a hostile invasion force no matter what the cards say.