CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
I walked down the hallway to the intimate conference room in Finn’s home where everyone was. But I stopped short to tie the pants Finn had gifted me. They continued to untie no matter how tight I made it.
It was like the pants knew Finn would take them off me later and were giving him a preemptive helping hand.
“Can we please stay on track?” Poppy’s voice filtered loudly through the air, her irritation and frustration apparent.
“No!” Mr. King practically roared. “He still hasn’t handed over that fucker to me.”
“And I’m not going to,” Theron stated patiently.
“He lied to me about Poppy!” Mr. King growled. “Jonathan deserves a burial with the fishes.”
“He’s my man. You don’t get to touch him.”
“The hell I don’t!”
“If Finn had lied to me about my own mate like that, would you hand him over?” Theron snickered as the silence drew out. “I didn’t think so.”
“Big man, just let it go,” Poppy grumbled.
Mr. King snarled, “I don’t want to let—”
I knocked on the door. Hard.
Then I peeked inside, as the beautiful silence extended in the room, cutting off the arguing as I had hoped. My gaze zeroed in on the hottest man in the room, his white hair and blue eyes breathtaking with the glass windows displaying the trees and lake behind him. I explained my interruption, “The delivery person’s here. I’d pay, but my bracelet isn’t powered up yet.”
Theron jumped out of his chair, ready to leave the room for a few minutes. “I’ll go with you to pay.”
The Ancient wasn’t exactly who I wanted with me, but he would have to do. “Thank you. I appreciate that.”
At least, I didn’t about fall to a knee this time.
I tried not to eye his apparel too much. He had changed from his workout clothes from this morning to an outfit reminiscent of a stuffed teddy bear. There was even a hood with a cute bear face on top of it. But I had to know why he was wearing it.
I questioned, "Theron, are you going to a children’s party after this?”
“Something like that. I offered to read to the children at New City Library. Had I known that bastard was going to attack today, I wouldn’t have offered. I’m not in a wonderful frame of mind to be what’s needed for children right now.”
This was the most civil I had ever seen him.
Perhaps he was wrong and the battle had centered him. He was almost normal right now, no mood swapping occurring.
I asked to be considerate, “Would you like me to go instead for you? I adore children.”
Finn shouted from far, far into the house. “That’s not happening, Mina!”
Theron’s head cocked, as if he were listening to something, then he spoke in a normal tone. “It’s no problem, Finn. I understand.”
I blinked. “He said something I couldn’t hear, didn’t he?”
“Yes. Where’s the pizza from? I always eat Kreeger’s Pizza. It’s wonderful.”
My shoulders sagged. “I bought it from the closest place to here, so you guys could get it sooner. It’s not Kreeger’s Pizza.”
“At my age, trying new things is a miracle.”
I perked up. “I hope you enjoy it then.”
“I’m sure I will.”
I walked next to a man who was over two thousand years old. Something so obvious finally occurred to me as we traveled down the stairs to the foyer. “Theron, feel free to tell me no on this, but would you enjoy coming to my classroom at the university and speaking about any particular part of history that you loved? The civilizations and people. We could pretend like you’re an expert on that topic.”
His eyes narrowed. “What’s history to you…was my life. I’m not sure if I’d want to act as if it weren’t. Every action I’ve done, the places I’ve lived, the societies I’ve seen crumble only to be rebuilt, it all deserves meaning, not to be denied as if it doesn’t apply to a few young individuals who aren’t even a blip on my long-lived radar.”
My breath caught. “My apologies. I am so sorry. I didn’t even think of that. It was incredibly inconsiderate of me to ask that of you. I tend to get excited about my students—and myself—learning something new.”
He patted the air. “Calm down, Mina. I’ll think about speaking with them and contact you when I decide. But only because so many texts on history were destroyed in this last war.”
“Thank you,” I stated, my entire being humbled.
“You’re welcome.”
We turned around yet another corner.
Only five more until the kitchen.
Abruptly, he stopped in his tracks.
I stopped with him, probing, “Is something wrong?”
The Ancient tilted his head back and sniffed the air.
His brows lifted in interest and his eyes closed.
Theron stood there for a full minute, just sniffing at the air, appearing as if he were peacefully asleep. Then he spoke, his voice dreamy, “That’s something I would kill to taste.”
I blinked and pointed toward the kitchen at the back of the house. “Well, I got all types of pizza because I had no clue what kind you wanted. I’m glad you’re happy with one of them.”
The ancient beautiful dark eyes opened. He peered down at his outfit, even lifting his hands that had enormous paw gloves on them. His attention snapped to me. “Help me out of this thing.”
I blinked. There was the Theron I knew.
“Okay,” I whispered. I rolled a finger in the air. “If you would turn around, I’ll get the zipper for you.”
He pivoted and presented his back to me.
While I unzipped the costume, my fingers holding steady, he yanked off the paw gloves. I inquired, “Why are you—”
“No questions right now, Mina. Just help me.”
“Helping it is.”
Together we pulled the furry attire off him.
Then he stood in his boxer briefs. And nothing else.
I kept my eyes studiously on his face. “If you want to remove any further clothing, I would ask that you find a bedroom for privacy.”