Chapter Seventeen

"And then I told him, uh, no, sir, you don't call me honey. I ain't nobody's honey."

I smiled at Amenti's story as we walked through town, headed to the bar where we planned to meet with Holly, Keros, and a couple more of the infamous cousins. I was really excited to see Keros again. A part of me ached to be near him again, ached for another kiss. It was such an odd sensation, to want, to need. To lust. To... love? Maybe? Was that what this was? Was that where this was going?

It blew my fucking mind.

Just like the stories Amenti fed us of her daily life as a barista at her dad's coffee shop in town. What should be a boring mundane life was so lively and full of color when listening to Amenti talk about it. You met so many new people, some good, some bad. You learned how to make different drinks, the different components, things I'd never thought of before when it came to coffee. And of course, this all explained why Amenti herself smelled like roasted coffee beans.

"I'm a walking Starbucks," Amenti exclaimed laughingly. I had no idea what that was, but I guess it had to do with the coffee smell. It was pleasant. Amenti was pleasant. She was friendly and outgoing, super nice and accepting. She was just easy to be around.

Lumen was growing on me quickly too. She was also friendly and warm, and while Amenti did most of the talking, Lumen did a lot of listening and asking questions to continue Amenti's stories. She was curious and made hilarious jokes. I liked Lumen.

Hadrian... he was another story. I wasn't sure how I felt about him just yet. He was certainly weird. He did a lot of listening too, I think. It was hard to tell when he showed about as many facial expressions as a brick wall. When he did speak, it almost sounded rehearsed, like he practiced in front of the mirror a few times before he came back with it. Other times, his responses were just plain fucking rude, but Lumen and Amenti took them in stride.

My... cousins were a weird bunch, and I had a feeling it was only going to get weirder from here on out.

We finally reached the bar after about an hour and a half. It was what I expected from a bar, according to textbooks. It was a little hazy, thumping with music so people had to yell over it to be heard. The brick walls were painted bright green with dark red booths to contrast, wooden paneling on some of the walls, the smell of fried food and smoke filtering through the air. There were a lot of people too, so we had to kind of squeeze our way through the crowd with Amenti leading our group.

She took us to a booth in the corner of the bar, nice and spacious with drinks already lined up for us. Holly was the only one there and the moment she saw us, she squealed and leapt to her feet. She did a running jump into Amenti's arms, wrapping her legs around her waist and hanging onto her. Amenti spun her around for a moment before placing her on her feet again and they did a kiss thing on each of their cheeks.

"Hey, baby," Amenti greeted warmly, "Looks like you got started without us." Holly barked a laugh.

"If I tried to drink all these, I would actually die," she assured, getting a laugh from Amenti and Lumen, "Nah, I ordered all of our usuals. Ah, except I didn't know what to order for you, Sev, so I got you a mojito to start out. It's a popular Atlantean cocktail." I blinked, caught off guard by A) the nickname, and B) that she ordered me a drink too.

"Thanks," I said, then looked around, "Where's Keros?"

"He's on his way from work," Holly replied, then gave me a coy smile, "Don't worry, your boyfriend will be here soon." Amenti's eyes widened.

"I didn't know you two were dating," she said, turning to look at me. Heat climbed into my face.

"Ah, I..." I didn't know what to say. It felt wrong to say no we weren't dating, because... I mean, we'd gone on a couple dates, right? Did that make us boyfriends? Or was that rushing it? How the fuck did dating work and why did everyone have to know except me?

"Quit teasing him," Lumen scolded lightly as she took her seat.

"Oh hey! Floki! We're over here!" Holly shouted at someone behind us. I turned to see a tall leanly muscled male approaching us from the crowd. His hair was a mane of dark curls that fell to his shoulders, which he kept sweeping back with his hand, revealing blue painted fingernails. His dark eyes swept across our group quickly, pausing on me for a moment curiously, before his eyes went back to Holly and a wicked mischievous grin spread across his face.

"Holly!" He scooped her right off her feet and hoisted her up in the air in a hug, making Holly laugh and hit his shoulder before she hugged his head to her chest. Floki set her down on the floor again.

"You're in town! I could've sworn your mom went to visit the Grand Canyon in the mortal realm," Holly said, looking up at him. Floki shrugged.

"Mom went, I stayed, dad's in town too," he responded, "Plus, I've already seen the Grand Canyon."

"Weren't you banned from the mortal realm?" Amenti asked as she sat at the booth. She gestured to me to follow her in and I did. Floki grinned as he settled in by Holly and Lumen. Hadrian stayed standing, but reached over to grab one of the drinks to take a sip off it.

"Twice," Floki said, flashing his fingers.

"How do you get banned twice?" Holly asked with a laugh. Floki shrugged.

"Well, first time it was as me," he said, then paused, "Second time, it was my evil twin... Also named Floki." Holly and Amenti laughed while Lumen shook her head. Hadrian simply watched. I didn't quite get the joke, but just smiled at their play.

"So I see we got a newbie," Floki said, reaching across the table to grab a drink with one hand before holding his other out to me. I took it with a shake.

"I'm Seven," I said.

"He's Hannibal and Akin's kid," Amenti said, wiggling her brows. Floki choked on his drink, coughed a little, making me raise an eyebrow as he cleared his throat and looked at me in disbelief.

"Wait, like, Hannibal and Akin? Like, kings of Atlantis?" He asked.

"No, the other Hannibal and Akin we know from our childhood," Holly drawled sarcastically, earning a flick in the forehead from Floki, who then shook his head.

"That's... surprising. I didn't think they had any kids," he said, then said under his breath as he took a drink, "Or wanted any."

"It was a series of unfortunate circumstances," I replied dryly. Floki smirked, then looked up as he caught sight of someone over our heads behind us.

"Yo!" He rose to his feet and I looked up, my heart skipping a beat as Keros appeared from the crowd, approaching our table. He met Floki with a hard hug, both of them clapping each other on the back. A quick kiss on the cheek was exchanged before Floki took his seat again and Keros approached, pausing to look down at me with a slow smile. I smiled back and patted the seat beside me. Keros immediately plopped down.

"How are you? You doing okay?" He asked. I nodded.

"Just getting to know... the cousins," I responded. Keros smiled, or maybe it was a bit of a grimace, then he leaned in and surprised me with a kiss on the lips. It was quick, but fierce. It felt like he was claiming me in public, and all the cousins just stared. Heat rushed into my cheeks and I tried to hide it with a sip of my drink, not that it helped much with the embarrassment because I ended up choking on my drink.

"What is this?" I asked, clearing my throat as some of the cousins laughed.

"Mojito," Amenti said, "It's rum. Not a fan of rum?" I hesitated, licking my lips and eyeing the green mint leaves floating among the ice cubes.

"Ah, I've never had it," I admitted, earning a gasp from Amenti as she placed her hand over her heart. In fact, I realized, the only alcohol I'd ever drank was the wine on Mondays in honor of the Mother, and even then, it didn't happen often. I wasn't allowed to participate in most of the rituals and ceremonies in honor of the Mother. I was usually cast aside. Plus, the wine wasn't exactly strong. It tasted more like Kool Aid or something.

This rum, whatever it was, was strong. I could taste it under the tart lime juice of the drink.

"You've never gotten drunk?" Holly asked for confirmation. Keros glared at her. Hadrian's eyes gleamed.

"Ah, no," I admitted slowly, "We only ever drank wine back at... ah, where I'm from. And I wasn't allowed to drink it often, so... No, I've never been drunk."

"This must change," Holly announced loudly and she hopped to her feet, jostling Floki and Lumen around, "Server! We need the Four Horsemen here, stat!"

"No way," Keros exclaimed, "He just said he's never drank before. Start him off with something like a cocktail, not a fucking shot."

"At least not the Four Horsemen," Lumen murmured, "That tends to knock me flat on my ass in a few minutes. I haven't had anything to eat yet. At least let me get a burger." Holly rolled her eyes.

"Weak! The lot of you! And on the King's Consort's birthday celebration week! I should be ordering two shots for everyone!" Everyone groaned in response. I smiled behind my drink, this time taking a smaller sip. It was much easier to handle a small sip than a gulp.

"I heard something about shots," a voice said, and everyone looked up as someone approached the booth. He was a tall lanky looking guy with blonde hair swept back from his face where a well trimmed goatee took up residence. He was decked out in a leather jacket and torn jeans, said jacket coming off as he came around to wedge himself into the booth.

"Wren," Amenti exclaimed, then wiggled in her seat, "Move, I'm gonna go cram my ass in next to Wrenny."

"I told you not to call me that," Wren said dryly as Amenti managed to get out from behind Keros and I, and she hurried over to plop next to Wren, making him have to scoot further into the booth. There was something that flickered in Wren's dark eyes, though, the moment Amenti sat next to him. Almost like he couldn't be happier than she'd chosen to sit next to him. Something told me Wren liked Amenti a lot more than a regular cousin did.

"I'd call you honeybear, but I don't wanna die," Amenti said, earning a glare from Wren, which she shrugged off by reaching out to grab her drink and take a gulp, "What time did you and your parents get into town?"

"Last night around one," Wren replied, reaching over to the pool of drinks to fish one out and take a sip, "I'm exhausted, but I'm ready to drink. Bring on the shots."

"Where's Daphne May?" Holly asked as she took a drink.

"I heard she got held up in Inferi," Wren replied, "Something about an escaped prisoner or something, I don't know, but she said she'll try to come. She's on her own, though. Dads are staying in Tartarus, unfortunately, there's been a lot of noise down there lately."

"That sucks, hopefully not another Titan escape," Amenti muttered.

"Nah, just restlessness," Wren replied coolly, "It gets boring being tortured for eternity, and doing the torturing. Anyway, not here about torture. I heard you won another award, Hadrian." Hadrian looked up from his drink as the other cousins murmured in agreement.

"Yup," Lumen answered for him, because apparently he wasn't going to answer himself with more than a stare, "Fifth year in a row he's won the International Creativity Award for his pieces."

"His pieces?" I asked. Lumen nodded.

"Hadrian creates his own dances and the ICA basically rewards whoever had the most creative dance."

"That's really cool," I said, looking at Hadrian, who looked down at his drink and gave a light shrug. Amenti popped him on the hip and he didn't seem offended by the touch, just looked at Amenti, who grinned at him.

"Congrats, cuz. How about we do a quick toast, huh?" She held her glass up, and everyone followed suit.

"To Hadrian!" Our glasses clinked together and everyone finished off their drinks. At the same time, our server arrived with our shots. Which were apparently little glass cups with some kind of dark liquid inside. Hadrian passed out the shots.

"What is this?" I asked, looking at the liquid inside and cocking my head. I gave it a sniff, then grimaced, because it smelled like gasoline or something. Keros smiled grimly.

"Four Horsemen, it's four different whiskeys," he said, and at my curious stare, he continued, "Whiskey is a type of alcohol. Some people love it, some people hate it."

"And some people are just wrong," Holly said sternly, earning an eye roll from Keros, "Like Keros. Keros is wrong. Whiskey is great."

"It's not that I don't like whiskey," Keros said dryly, "I just don't like the whiskeys in a Four Horsemen."

"You're not supposed to like 'em," Amenti exclaimed, "You're just supposed to feel it."

"Good point," Wren murmured.

"Anyway," Holly continued, "Another toast! This time, to all of us! Good job this past year, sibs, we kicked ass, took names, made it count! Cheers!" Everyone tossed their heads back and took their shots. I did the same, and immediately choked until my eyes watered. I coughed and cleared my throat, rubbing at my throat. I could feel the searing burn of the alcohol rushing down my throat and into my stomach, pooling there like lava at the bottom of a volcano.

Everyone else seemed to do pretty fine with it, though Lumen did cough a little and Keros grimaced.

"Wow," Holly shouted, "That was great! So freeing!"

"Yeah, so freeing," Keros said dryly, then looked at me with concern, "Are you alright? How do you feel?"

"Pretty good," I admitted, clearing my throat again, "Just... takes some getting used to. Am I supposed to feel something?"

"Not yet," Keros replied, "It takes a little while to feel anything decent, but you'll be alright. Just drink slow. Let's order some food." He flagged down our server and ordered us a couple of burgers, Lumen also ordered one, and Wren and Amenti ordered cheese sticks to share. Floki ordered half the fucking menu.

"You still eat like a fucking cow," Holly drawled, to which Floki replied with a shrug.

"What can I say? I'm a growing baby boy," he said, then gave Holly a pout, which she responded to with a loud laugh. I smiled at their play, at everything honestly.

Everyone was so close here. So accepting and so friendly. Fuck, even Hadrian got along with them. He occasionally cracked a smile at someone's joke, actually spoke to Keros a little too. They were all so close, so together, it was so strange to be in the middle of it all, to have all of this in my life. I had always been on the outside looking in, never on the inside. So this was a pleasant change.

Another pleasant change was how I started to feel, literally. The world seemed to get a little warmer, little fuzzier, little funnier. I laughed more at Holly and Amenti's jokes, until I almost choked on my burger. I felt like I was shoveling fries into my face and gulping down my drinks faster.

"Slow down," Keros scolded me at some point, to which I responded with an eye roll, "I'm serious. You don't want to get alcohol poisoning."

"What's that?"

"When you drink too much. We're immortal, but we're not immune to everything. Alcohol can make you sick if you drink too much."

"He's not drinking too much," Holly drawled, "He's doing fine, quit babying him."

"Yeah," Amenti agreed, then sighed heavily, "Oh man, I am getting hot in here! I'm heading to the floor, who's comin' with?" Wren sighed.

"Do I have a choice?" He asked. Amenti grinned.

"No," she answered in a baby voice, then grabbed Wren's hand and whipped him out of his seat. Wren managed to throw his jacket off onto the booth before he was dragged out onto the dance floor where people were writhing and twirling to the music thumping from the speakers on the walls. Following close behind, stumbling a little, was Lumen and Floki.

"Hey," Hadrian said, surprising me as I licked the salt from my fries off my fingers, "You ever dance?" I paused to consider that, then shook my head.

"Nope. Never had the chance. Not much dancey music back at the compound," I replied. Hadrian gave me a curious look and Keros grimaced, then shook his head.

"I'm going to get us some water," he said, "Be right back." He got up to get our server. I watched him go, then turned to see Hadrian holding his hand out to me, having just set his own drink down. He smiled at me, surprising me.

"Wanna dance?" He asked. I nodded numbly, taking his hand and letting him pull me out of the booth.

Holy shit, the world twirled there for a minute. It took me a second to get my bearings, and Hadrian was completely patient with me as I stood there for a solid five minutes before I let him lead me out to the dance floor where everyone was dancing. I stood there, mostly just watching. Amenti and Wren were just to my left, moving in time with the music, moving extremely close together. Something about the way Amenti was sliding against Wren told me she knew exactly how he felt about her and she didn't seem to mind it too much. Or maybe I was just looking into it too hard.

It was hard to focus, I noted. I furrowed my brow to try and concentrate on what everyone around me was doing, but it was too hard and I just looked at Hadrian helplessly as he stood in front of me, a smile creeping back onto his lips.

"Move your hips like this," he said, reaching out and putting his hands on my hips. He was rolling them around, urging me to move, so I did. I did as he instructed and he nodded.

"Good, now your shoulders, loosen up and move your shoulders like this," he slid his hands along my sides, tickling me and making me laugh a little, until he reached my shoulders so he could start moving those. I followed his command, let him use me like a puppet, until I was moving with him and we were in sync.

"Good," Hadrian murmured, getting closer to me and dipping his head down near my ear, "Don't be afraid to let the music just sink into you." I nodded, looking down at my feet, but Hadrian's finger came up under my chin and forced me to look up at those eerie glowing blue eyes. They glowed, literally, just like Keros's. I stared at them, amazed.

"Your eyes glow," I murmured.

"Focus on your dancing," Hadrian answered softly, "Just move your hips... Yeah, good, just like that. Keep moving. Just let the music sink into you." I did as he said, focused on the music. I focused on the thumping bass, the lead singer taking control of the song as the instruments chimed in time with her voice. Her voice was incredible, sexy and lewd, despite her words coming out harsh and strong. She was singing about... about herself. She was singing about how badass she was and somehow, that was incredible to me.

Someone could use their creative power to sing about how great they are. To have that level of confidence was amazing. I'd never been that confident before, and I loved it; loved that someone could be so confident like her. I ached for that.

"Good," Hadrian purred, and it took me a moment to realize he was right up against me, his body guiding me, like riding a wave, "You're actually not bad."

"Coming from a professional that's really cool," I mumbled, then sighed as Hadrian reached up to tuck a lock of hair behind my ear, "Your hand is cold." Hadrian laughed a little. It was more like a puff of air coming from his nose and nothing more, but it was definitely a laugh, which made me smile.

"You should laugh more," I said, making him blink and look at me, "Your smile is pretty." Hadrian's eyes glowed brighter at that.

"I know," he answered.

"I want that," I said, making him cock his head as he continued to move up against me, "I want to feel that confident about myself. How do you do that?"

"Because I worked to get to where I am," Hadrian murmured, "I worked for this. And I'm proud of it... And frankly, genetics made it so I had no choice but to look this way."

"Genetics," I mumbled, "I have Hannibal's genetics."

"You do."

"He's... not pretty, but... He's attractive, right?"

"It'd be a lie to say he wasn't."

"And Akin. Akin is pretty."

"He is."

"Does that make me pretty?" I asked, looking up into Hadrian's blue eyes. Hadrian stared at me intensely. He didn't answer me, just studied my face for the longest time, and it was almost like he was getting closer and closer and I parted my lips, wanting to say something, but not sure what to say, so I closed my mouth at the same time a strong grip latched onto my arm and whipped me around.

A second later, I found myself slammed up against a hard muscular body. I grunted the moment I made impact, because holy shit. What a hard body. I immediately went to grope at those biceps around me, not particularly paying attention to the fact that Keros was the one holding me, and glaring at Hadrian, who raised an eyebrow at him.

"He's drunk," Keros told him sternly. Hadrian stared at him.

"So am I."

"Then this isn't okay."

"Why must everything be flirtatious," Hadrian said dryly, "Why can't we just do this platonically?" Keros averted his eyes for a moment, then eyed him warily.

"Because he's mine," he said, making Hadrian's eyes flicker, "And... And he doesn't understand what's going on, so there's that."

"I understand that you feel good," I mumbled, squeezing at his arms, "Holy shit, you are ripped as hell. That's really hot." Keros stared at me, then at Hadrian, who raised an eyebrow again, before a strange smile graced his lips. Hadrian inclined his head and backed up, heading back over to the booth. Keros watched him go, then looked down at me as I continued to squeeze at his arms, just fascinated as shit by how thick his arms were.

"You could smash my head open with these," I said, looking up at him. Keros stared at me.

"I wouldn't do that."

"That's good, I'm tired of getting beat up," I murmured, making Keros press his lips together firmly, "I don't want to get beat up anymore. I kinda just... want someone to hold me." Keros averted his eyes for a moment, studied the dance floor, then stepped back to hold me by the shoulders.

"How about we go outside for some air?" He asked. I nodded. He slid his hand down my arm and laced our fingers together, and I couldn't stop smiling as he led the way out of the bar and outside into the night air. It was cooler outside than in the bar, which was a huge relief, because I felt like I was overheating in there. I hadn't realized I was sweating until now. The cool night air was like a slap in the face, which kinda woke me up a little.

Keros took me aside so we weren't crowded by so many people at the entrance, who were smoking.

"Wow," I mumbled, "Huge difference out here." Keros smiled wearily.

"Yup. Much cooler, much... sober," he said. I blushed.

"Sorry, about that," I said, gesturing to the door of the bar, then shaking my head, "Ugh, that was so weird. I've never done that before. Dance. Or be that close to someone before without them trying to kill me."

"Never?" Keros asked, arching a brow. I blushed harder.

"Ah, I mean. With you... is different," I murmured. Keros smiled, reaching up to brush the hair back from my face. I closed my eyes, savoring the feel of his skin against mine. I sighed and found myself stepping into him, wrapping my arms around his waist. Keros seemed surprised for a moment, then much to my relief, he wrapped his arms around me. Having his huge solid arms around me made me melt against him. I pressed my cheek to his pecs, loving the feel of that thick pad of muscle against me.

"What are we?" I murmured. Keros blinked, then looked down at me.

"That depends... What do you want to be?"

"I want you to be my boyfriend," I heard myself say, surprised by my own confidence in my words, "I want you to hold me like this all the time. I want you to kiss me more. I like it. A lot." Keros smiled at that. He reached up to cup my face in his hand and I sighed, leaning my head against his hand.

"I like you, Seven," Keros murmured, stroking my cheek with his thumb and I looked up at him in amazement, "A lot. The moment I saw you... I had a dream about you."

"A dream?" I asked.

"I've had... so many dreams about you," Keros admitted softly, studying my face.

"I thought you only had the one," I mumbled. Keros stared at me, those blue eyes glowing passionately, stealing my breath away. While Hadrian's eyes had glowed and were certainly pretty, there was just something particularly special about Keros's. Something I liked more.

"I dreamt of you when I was a child," he said suddenly, making me blink in surprise, "I had a dream of someone I was supposed to meet. He was so... beautiful. So smart. So strong. So brave. I dreamt of you fighting, dreamt of you laying in the dark all alone. And the older I got, the more I dreamt of you, the more I saw. I saw you laying beneath me, writhing in pleasure, begging me for more. And I thought, yes... I'll give you whatever you want. Whatever you want from me, I'll give you. So if you want me to hold you, I'll hold you."

"Now?" I asked, not quite sure what he was saying. I had a feeling this was what drunk was. Not understanding what went on behind those words he was giving me.

"No," Keros said softly, brushing my lower lip with his thumb and making me moan softly, "Not like this. I want us both to be here for it. I want you to know that it's me touching you. That it's me taking you." I kissed his thumb, wasn't sure what possessed me to do so, and what possessed me to stick my tongue out and lick his thumb some more. Keros groaned.

"Seven..."

"I want to do it now."

"Not now," Keros said softly, making me pout, "Don't get me wrong, baby, I want to take you right here, right now, against this wall behind us, until you can't see straight, but... I want us to be sober for it. I want us to feel everything."

"But you want to do it then?" I asked. Keros nodded, then leaned down and touched his lips to my forehead firmly.

"I want to hold you in my arms all night long," he murmured, "Until you beg me to stop."

"Never stop," I returned quickly. Keros laughed softly, then kissed me one more time before he stepped back.

"I wanna take this further, but like I said, it's not okay when we're like this," he said softly, making me sigh, "I know. But maybe tomorrow... Tomorrow I'll take you out somewhere nice."

"Somewhere nice?"

"Yeah. Somewhere special."

"And then? Then will you hold me?"

"Yes. For as long as you want."

"Forever," I answered. Keros smiled at that, then took my hand. He opened his mouth to say something else, and I was on pins and needles to hear more, needing more, except the door to the bar burst open and Holly came stumbling out, laughing like a fucking hyena. Wren, Floki, Amenti, Lumen, and Hadrian came out after her. Someone slammed the door shut behind them.

"We just got kicked out," Holly laughed, bending over and holding her stomach. Hadrian glanced over at us. Lumen shook her head and Floki snorted.

"Only because you literally vomited on the floor, then asked for more," Floki said, earning more laughter from Holly while Keros grimaced.

"Do I owe anything?" He asked Lumen, who shook her head.

"No. The guy just told us to leave before he called the authorities," she answered.

"I am the authorities," Holly shouted, making people turn to stare at us.

"I'm the authorities," Keros said dryly, "Chill, Hol."

"Next bar," Holly announced, thrusting a finger at the air and striking a pose, "I say we hit up Ranch's on West Coral! Who's in?" Everyone kind of shared looks and shrugged. I took my phone out to check the time, noting I had at least two hours before I had to head back, so I nodded. Keros shrugged, but he kept his hand laced with mine as we headed to the next bar. I smiled, leaning against his arm as we walked.

"Hey, Keros?"

"Hm?"

"I love having cousins."

Keros smiled and squeezed my hand.

"They're not so bad."

"They're great."

We hit up the next bar, and the next, and the next, and before I knew it, Keros was leading me out the door with the reminder that it was time to head home before the King of Atlantis threw a fit. The thought made me laugh. Like he'd give a shit. He'd probably be grateful that I died on a night out. He wouldn't have to deal with me. Which he clearly didn't want to do, hence why he passed me off to that Menoetius guy.

"Hannibal's difficult to get to know," Lumen had told me over drinks at the last bar, "He doesn't show he cares, but he does. He really does. He cares a lot more than people give him credit for."

"He's really just a big sweetheart," Amenti agreed, "Just not everyone is privy to that side of him."

"Which makes sense. He's suffered a great deal," Floki chimed in, "His stories are recorded in holy texts now. The shit he went through is unbelievable. It's no wonder he's so hesitant to get to know people, especially new people, even us at first."

"Yeah, he wasn't our biggest fan," Holly murmured.

"Probably still isn't," Hadrian admitted.

"But he does love us," Wren pointed out, "Don't doubt that. He's saved all of our asses at least once."

"And no doubt he'd do it again if he had to," Keros agreed.

It was just hard to wrap my head around the fact that he gave a shit. The way he acted, he wanted me gone. It would be in his best interest if I were to die on a night out. Then he'd just have to worry about Thirteen and chances were he could take care of Thirteen a fuck load better than I could. I didn't have a job, no life, nothing to provide for him.

Hence, why it was best he stayed with Akin and Hannibal.

I just wasn't sure if I fit in quite right.

"It'll be alright," Keros told me gently as he walked me back to the house, "Things will start to balance and even out and you'll warm up to them, just like you warmed up to us tonight."

"I think the booze helped," I admitted, making Keros laugh.

"Probably. But something tells me we got to see a fun part of you tonight. Glad you allowed us to see that," he added, brushing the hair back from my face. I sighed, reaching up to capture his hand, placing it on my cheek.

"You say... all the right things," I murmured. Keros smiled at that, then looked up and saw something that made him clear his throat. I frowned and let go of him, turning to see that the King was standing at the front door, his arms folded over his chest, his eyes locked on us like a sniper rifle. I rolled my eyes and turned to Keros, who looked at me with an arched brow.

"G'night," I said, rising on my toes and kissing him, making him smile and kiss me back briefly, "I'll talk to you tomorrow. Or maybe later tonight. Depends. I'm kinda pretty wasted." Keros laughed softly and nodded.

"Whatever you can manage. Just be safe. Goodnight." He stepped away and vanished in an instant. I whistled at that, then turned to face the King.

"That vanishing trick you guys do is fucking amazing," I said, sauntering over and reaching up to brush the hair back from my face, "If I had magic, I'd be doing that shit all the time."

"Mm," the King answered, then turned and opened the door and gestured for me to go inside. I shrugged and ducked past him into the house.

"You know, you could say something like oh did you have fun or glad you're safe welcome back. Or am I too much of a stranger for that?" I asked. The King frowned, but didn't say anything. He just gestured for me to go down the hallway to my room. I rolled my eyes and followed his orders, unsure why I bothered in the first place. Normally I'd do the exact opposite, but I guess I was feeling compliant. I blamed the alcohol for that as I stumbled along the hallway to try and find my room.

"This place is fucking huge," I exclaimed, coming to a stop and turning to face the King, who pulled up short before he could bump into me, "Where's my room?" The King gave me a droll stare, then pointed to the door right next to me. I nodded and threw open the door, coming inside and flopping on the bed on my stomach. I grunted on impact, then sighed and closed my eyes, ready to just fall asleep.

The world was twirling more and more now that my eyes were closed, and it felt like someone was jostling me around, taking my shoes off.

"I need those," I grumbled without getting up, without moving, "Give 'em back." There was no answer, no return of my shoes. I rolled over with the intention to fight whoever took my shoes, only for a wave of nausea to surge up my throat. I groaned, reaching up to cover my mouth, but that wasn't going to stop what was coming up.

A second later, a bowl appeared in front of me. At the same time my mouth gave up the fight and I spilled the contents of my stomach into the bowl. I moaned at the burn in my throat, the horrid taste in my mouth. It only made me vomit more. Until there was nothing left in my stomach and I flopped back on the bed, smacking my lips. The bowl was taken away and the blankets were pulled out from under me. I went to reach for them, but my arm felt too heavy, so I gave up and just laid there, surprised to find someone pulling the blanket over me.

A pitcher of water appeared by the bedside and I rolled over, reaching for it blindly. It was picked up for me and brought to my mouth so I could chug as much as I could before I slumped back down on the bed, breathing out a long sigh that probably reeked of vomit.

"I had fun," I mumbled against my pillow, "I think I had fun for the first time in my life... I want to have more fun. I wonder if the King will let me..." My voice trailed as my vision darkened around the edges and I found myself passing out in my bed, unsure who had just pulled the blankets up to my cheek.