The duelist 9, p.4
The Duelist 9, page 4
Rylan nodded and pushed Jenner onto me so he could stand up. A moment later, he was CanterRy, and I carefully slung Jenner across his back like a bedroll.
“I’ll meet you guys back in the real world,” I said. “Jenner, make sure you keep a strong hold of Rylan, okay. I don’t know what’ll happen to your mind if you fall off.”
Jenner nodded, but he didn’t seem quite capable of speech in that moment. It was fair enough. This place would be a strain on anyone’s mind even if they hadn’t just had a curse removed from their head.
CanterRy whinnied and then spread his wings and soared upwards, so high and so fast it was almost like he vanished between one blink and the next. I gazed up at the too-tall trees and the fathomless sky for a moment before I sat down, crossed my legs, and prepared to meditate myself back to the ship, my three wives, my lover, and my friends.
I was just beginning to feel that tug, the coil that would pull me back, when I heard someone call my name.
Chapter 3
When I opened my eyes, I fully expected to see one or more of my wives nervously leaning over me, with my name on their lips. After all, who would have cause to call me with such intensity that I heard them in the Dark Realm?
Instead, I just saw Shay sitting in one of the other chairs and looking slightly surprised as she stared at me.
“Is something wrong?” I asked her.
“No, not at all,” she said. “You just… weren’t gone for very long. I thought it would take longer.”
I frowned a little. It had seemed like a fair chunk of time in the Dark Realm, between chasing down Jenner, fighting that not-bear, and getting the curse marble out of the koala-man’s head. Time obviously worked a little differently there, like in dreams.
But then again, I already knew the Dark Realm was connected to dreams in some manner.
“Did someone call my name?” I asked as I glanced between my wife and Anwaar. “Zoie or Amaya, out in the hallway?”
Shay shook her head. “We were just sitting here in silence. I didn’t hear anything from the hallway.”
“Why?” Anwaar then asked. “What did you hear, Alex?”
“It doesn’t matter right now,” I muttered and waved a hand. “Let’s focus on Jenner.”
“Jenner… Did it work?” Shay asked as she hesitantly glanced at the still sleeping koala-man.
I could see her hands twitch in her lap, like she had the urge to raise them and let her healing magic flow through her fingers, even though she didn’t know where or even if it was needed yet.
“I think it did.” I smiled at her. “We got the curse out. Now, all we have to worry about is his mind getting out of the Dark Realm.”
“You didn’t bring him with you?” my phoenix-wife asked me.
“I left him in safe hands,” I promised her. “Well, hooves. Rylan took him.”
I looked over at the still-sleeping forms of my son and my friend. Rylan’s head was tipped forwards, with his chin resting on his chest like a kid who’d fallen asleep in the back of the car, but a moment later, he stirred and raised his head to meet my gaze.
“Dad…?” he said groggily.
“Hey, there, Ry.” I smiled. “You alright? Everyone get out okay?”
Before Rylan could answer, Jenner stirred, too, and a moment later his eyes opened before he sat up on his bed.
“Mercedes!” he yelped suddenly enough to make Shay, Rylan, and even the normally composed Anwaar startle.
Jenner looked around at the room with a confused and disoriented expression, but then he saw Rylan and me, and he grinned.
“Alex!” he said delightedly. “Rylan!”
“You’re awake!” Rylan cried out, and he leaned forward to scoop Jenner into a tight hug.
I joined a moment later, with one of my arms around Rylan’s skinny shoulders and the other resting on top of Jenner’s furry head.
“It’s good to have you back, Cornelius,” I said. “How does your head feel?”
“Quite alright, as a matter of fact,” Jenner answered as we parted, and he habitually began to polish the monocle he pulled out of his pocket on the hem of his shirt. “My head feels clearer than it has in weeks. Rylan managed to get my mind out of the Dark Realm with no problems!”
“So, you don’t require healing?” Shay asked him.
Jenner looked over at her and Anwaar like he was only now realizing they were in the room, and he smiled at her genially.
“I don’t think so, my dear, but your concern is appreciated,” he said, and he reached out to pat Shay’s arm. “I hope I didn’t cause too much trouble for you all.”
“You really didn’t, Jenner,” I said. “You’re part of our family. Of course we’re gonna be concerned for you. And aside from showing your more dangerous side in the Dark Realm, it was fine. We were just worried about you.”
“Well, it feels like you don’t have anything to be worried about anymore,” he said and rubbed at his temples. “My mind feels clear, and my head doesn’t hurt. How is Miss Vel-Rala?”
“She’s here,” I said. “I haven’t seen her in a while, though. We’ve been busy.”
I realized then that half the Crew actually didn’t know what was-- or rather, what had been-- going on. The last I’d seen Vela, I’d been in peak Asshole Asher mode, and as far as I knew, she might be thinking the power had finally gone to my head.
“Bring the others in, I’m sure they’re dying of curiosity out in the hallway,” I said to Anwaar.
The ibex-woman moved over to the doors, threw them open, and allowed my wives and friends to spill into the room. Horus immediately pulled Anwaar into a hug, and I heard him asking her if she was alright while Zoie rushed toward me and Jenner.
“Jenner!” she cried out, and she pulled the koala-man into a tight embrace as she began to purr happily. “You’re awake! You look healthy!”
Jenner returned her hug eagerly, and then he patted her arm when she pulled away.
“Thanks to Alex and Rylan, I am,” he told her. “I’m so sorry to have worried you. But I feel fine now.”
“Good,” I said as Zoie moved to hug me, and she was joined by Amaya and Shay a moment later.
Having all three of them in my arms always felt like a relief, like coming home, even if the last time I’d done it was scarcely an hour ago. I’d never really believed that old yarn about loving someone so much you thought your heart would burst, but here, with them, I understood it.
“Sister,” Anwaar then said, and Amaya turned away from our hug to look over at the ibex-mage, who wore an expression of longing. I guess Anwaar, too, wanted to share in the joy of this occasion with her sister, plus she was probably still reluctant to be separated from her augur-partner for too long.
Horus was looking at Shay with a similar expression, and both Shay and Amaya grinned happily as they went to hug their respective siblings, which left me alone with Zoie.
“We have to tell the others what’s been going on,” I said as I tapped the tip of her nose with my finger, and I grinned when she scrunched it up and wiggled it. “Vela and that lot. They’ll be confused.”
“They will be,” Zoie agreed. “And they’re part of our Crew, so they deserve to know. However, I was hoping to steal you away for myself for a moment, first.”
My interest was piqued.
“Oh?” I asked as a sly grin spread across my face. “And why does my ravishing wife want to do that?”
“Believe it or not, it does pertain to ravishing,” she said with a wry, cat-like smile. Then my wife led me by the hand toward the doors, and everyone else was so busy fawning over Jenner and congratulating Rylan on navigating out of the Dark Realm successfully that none of them noticed Zoie and me slip out of the room.
In our own room, the first thing I thought when I saw the bed was we might have to get a bigger one, now that Amaya had officially joined our little family. But right now it was just me and Zoie, and my cat-wife deserved every ounce of my attention, so I gave it to her and made a mental note to fuss over the bed later.
As soon as the doors were closed behind me, Zoie melted into my arms and kissed me like she needed me to breathe. I kissed her back eagerly, and my hands ran up the curve of her hips and back as I pulled her close. She always fit so perfectly against me, all lean limbs and corded muscle, but she was still soft and utterly huggable.
She went willingly when I walked her back toward the bed, and we both tumbled onto it, with her pinned beneath me. I heard her purring faintly in the back of her throat as I kissed her again, and I trailed my lips over the bridge of her nose, along her jaw, and down the column of her neck. The soft little moans she made were addictive, and they sent little bolts of excitement and arousal straight to my crotch.
“Alex…” she murmured, and I had to grin against her skin because I loved the way she said my name. “Not that I-- oh, Mercedes, yes… Not that I don’t like this… but I did actually have something to tell you.”
“You can tell me now,” I muttered, even as my lips began questing down her collarbone and toward her breasts. “I’m listening.”
My cat-wife let out a huffy little laugh that made me laugh, too, and I felt her hands rake lightly down my back in a plea to continue. Her body was working against her mind, it would seem.
“This is important, husband,” she told me.
“I’m listening closely, then,” I chuckled. “Tell me, love. Is something bothering you?”
“Not at all,” she swore. “In fact, it’s good news. Very good news.”
I tipped my chin up and rested it on her sternum so I could look in her magnificently blue eyes. “Oh, yeah? What is it, then?”
In answer, Zoie took one of my hands and laced out fingers together, and I felt her squeeze my hand affectionately before she moved it to rest on her stomach and then let go.
I blinked in confusion and held her gaze, hoping for more information, but she just smiled at me patiently.
Then it hit me.
“Fuck,” I muttered, and I felt my eyes go wide. “I… fuck. Holy shit. Mercedes be. What the-- what the fuck?”
Zoie laughed. A great peal of laughter that rang through the air, clear as a bell.
“Not quite the reaction I’d expected!” she gasped out between giggles, but I stopped her laughter by taking her face in both my hands and pulling her lips to mine.
“You… you’re really…” I muttered between frantic kisses. “You’re sure? You know?”
“I do,” she said, and she cupped my face in her own hands and kissed me back just as eagerly. “I’m pregnant. With your kits.”
“Holy shit…” I breathed as my heart swelled in my chest and threatened to break through my ribcage. “I… I love you so much, Zoie.”
“I love you, too,” she purred and kissed me again. Then she wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me down on top of her again, and every curve of her body fit so perfectly against mine.
A few months ago, I would’ve been terrified of something like this, of having a pregnant wife and seeing fatherhood looming on the horizon. But with Zoie, I knew everything would turn out just fine.
Not to mention, with Rylan, I’d already had a decent amount of practice with the whole parenthood thing. And we were one big family. We had this.
“You’re incredible,” I kept telling my cat-wife between kisses. “You’re so incredible. I love you so much.”
Our touches had turned more urgent, but no less reverent. My hands skated over her skin while squeezing and pinching at her soft flesh, and she was moaning openly into my mouth now.
Just as things were beginning to get interesting, however, there was a knock at the door, and a moment later, Shay and Amaya walked in.
They both smiled when they saw Zoie and I, and we both stared up at them, surprised to have been interrupted, but I had to smile at the blushes that painted themselves across Shay and Amaya’s pale cheeks.
“Don’t stop on my account,” Shay teased. “However, Horus was hoping we could inform the others of what has been going on. Bring everyone up to speed.”
“That’s a good idea,” I admitted, if a little reluctantly, and I gave Zoie one last kiss before I climbed off her and went to kiss Shay, then Amaya. Then, while still looking at my other wives, I addressed Zoie. “Do you want to tell them, or shall I?”
“Tell us what?” Amaya asked, and her pale eyebrows rose in curiosity.
Zoie sat in the center of the bed, with her legs folded beneath her, and she looked like one of those ravished maidens on the covers of romance novels. The fact she was still flushed from all our kissing only added to her allure, as well as the fact that she was blushing delightedly when she broke the news.
“I’m pregnant.”
Shay’s jaw dropped, and Amaya clapped her hands over her mouth. For a moment, they both just stared at Zoie, but then their brains seemed to kick back in, and they both let out a loud, high-pitched squeal.
“Oh, Mercedes!” Amaya smiled as Shay practically jumped onto the bed to pull Zoie into a hug. Amaya followed a moment later, and they formed a Zoie-sandwich.
“Oh, I’m so happy for you, my love!” the phoenix-woman wailed, and already happy tears were trailing down her cheeks. “My darling! You’re going to be a wonderful mother!”
“As are you!” Zoie replied and hugged the redhead back tightly. “You’re part of our family, both of you. Never forget that.”
Shay finally pulled back from Zoie, and then she and Amaya beckoned me over to the bed so they could hug me, too. We sat there, the four of us, and for a moment nothing in the outside world mattered.
“I truly don’t think I’ve ever been happier,” I murmured as I kissed each of them on the forehead in turn.
“This is a happy occasion,” Amaya said. “I… I never really got the chance to entertain being a mother. Until recently, it had always been so clearly not a path I would be able to take. I’m so excited for you, Zoie.”
“I’m excited, too,” Zoie purred, and she was still grinning with that sheer, nervous excitement. “When I was young, I… I worried about this sort of thing. That I would be tied into a loveless marriage, used to… to simply be bred to provide heirs to a sire who didn’t care about me. But this? A family? A husband and two wives whom I adore? I never dared dream of such a thing.”
“Neither did I,” Shay admitted, and she raised a hand to stroke Zoie’s cheek fondly. “I cannot wait to meet our children. Our little kits.”
“Oh, yeah.” I frowned as a thought occurred to me. “I… meant to ask. I don’t really know a lot about Aventoll’s, uh… pregnancies. Are you definitely having more than one?”
“Why, are you afraid you won’t be able to keep up?” Shay teased.
“If I have the three of you to count on, I’m very sure.” I smirked. “I’m just curious. Where I’m from, a litter of kits can be, like, ten.”
“Ten?” Zoie gasped, and her cat ears pinned back against her head. “Mercedes, no! Varthan births tend to be twins or triplets. Very occasionally there will be a single birth, or one of more than triplets, but that’s highly unusual.”
“So, do you have a twin sibling?” I asked with a grin.
“A sister.” Zoie smiled, though it carried a hint of sadness. “Though I haven’t seen her in a very long time. I should try to write to her, though. She will be excited to hear of my news. And that I’m married to a wonderful, kind Asher, the Incarnate, and a powerful augur.”
“And eventually a Lakuna,” Shay said as she shot me a teasing smile. “Though it might take a while to explain the concept of an Asher marriage to Nova.”
“You really lucked out on the spouse front,” I agreed. “As did I!”
Amaya giggled and nuzzled my shoulder, but she was careful not to let her oryx horns poke me.
“Not to break up this happy moment,” she said, “but I think my dear sister and Horus will be getting nervous. They want to see this handled.”
“As they should, this does need handling,” I admitted. I wasn’t about to leave any of our Crew in the dark. We were a unit, a family, and needed to be open and honest with one another. How else would we be able to trust and survive in this world? “Do you want to tell them about our news, Zoie?”
“I don’t mind leaving it for now.” Zoie smiled. “We can tell them when we have a quiet moment. I don’t want to worry them.”
“Or maybe you’re just worried Jenner will make you stop doing your Varthan warrior training exercises,” Shay said dryly.
Zoie’s ears flattened against her skull, and she hissed half-heartedly at the phoenix-woman, which of course meant Shay was spot-on.
Downstairs, we found Horus had gathered the others and was just finishing telling them about how Jenner and I were perfectly back to normal and that none of them had anything to worry about. As soon as we entered the room, Vela half-ran, half-bounced over to Zoie and swept her into a hug.
“Congratulations!” she said, and before Zoie had even had time to react and hug Vela back, the cockatoo-woman pulled away, with her hands resting on Zoie’s shoulders. “A thousand happy blessings upon you!”
“What?” Horus asked blankly, and I rolled my eyes.
“So much for keeping it quiet,” I laughed. I supposed I should have accounted for that when we had a Prophetess living with us. “Zoie?”
My cat-wife took my hand in one of her own and pressed the other over her stomach. It was still flat and toned for now, obviously, but I still somehow managed to convince myself that there was the tiniest bulge to it, the faintest hint of the life-- lives-- growing within.
“I’m pregnant,” she told the others.
There was the expected uproar. Horus pulled me into a hearty hug with lots of back-pattering, then Zoie into a considerably gentler one. Rylan excitedly asked if that meant he was going to be a big brother, if he could hold the babies, and if Zoie knew if they would be boys or girls. Jenner played the part of the elderly grandpa as he patted Zoie’s hands and congratulated her over and over, and he inquired about her health as well as how excited she was.
