Chapter 7
The next day, Aggie made her way down to breakfast. Luckily it was easy enough to find since no one bothered to give her a tour the day before. Walking in, she wasn’t surprised that all the guys had beat her there.
“Thanks for coming and getting me this morning. I’m just glad this place isn’t hard to navigate.” Sarcasm was her best defense and today she needed shields at full strength. She was already at a deficit because her sleeping habits weren’t what they should have been. Between her conversation with Mathius and her impromptu make-out session with Kyrel her REM cycle was definitely damaged.
“We weren’t sure when you were ready to see any of us and didn’t want to press you.” Mathius spoke up first and everyone else simply glanced up or nodded. Kyrel chose not to look up.
Deciding coffee was needed more than conversation, Aggie made her way to the breakfast bar. The amount of food set up was a dream. Anything she could have dreamed up and a few unidentified things were on display. It was as though she had died and gone to food heaven. The first to draw her attention was the pyramid of coffee cups and her hands wrapped around the top one before she could take another breath. Coffee was a lifestyle and part of her morning must-haves. That morning would be no different. Pulling the lever on the carafe, the liquid that came out was lighter than she expected. Turning to face the guys, a scowl marred her face as she sniffed the offending liquid. “WHAT. IS. THIS?” Each word was punctuated and the last letter practically spat at them.
“Tea.” Mitchell simply responded smirking slightly at her obvious distaste.
“Are you serious? Haven’t you guys heard of a little something called, coffee? If we are going to be spending time together, I’m going to need a cup of coffee. Is that going to be possible or am I going to have to make a quick jaunt through the gateway every morning to get what I need in order to function?”
“That stuff isn’t worth drinking, it is disgusting and I don’t know how you drink that drivel. Can’t you just drink what is provided or are you too much of a princess to be a gracious guest?” Mitchell was on a roll and wasn’t backing down, but little did he know was Aggie was more than capable in her current coffee-less state to keep up.
“I’ll have you know that coffee is considered a delicacy in many countries. If I can’t have a caffeine boost in the morning, my brain isn’t going to fire on all cylinders. I didn’t ask for any special treatment. Honestly the only thing I need in order to cope is coffee. Everything else is an afterthought, and while I’m very grateful for them, they’re just not necessary. Coffee is necessary!” Aggie was practically screaming by the time she finished her monologue.
“Calm down, woman!” Xavier stood and made his way toward her. “Even if they didn’t have coffee, which they do, Gryson can conjure anything we need on a whim. Mitchell is just being an ass because he could smell your personal activities last night. He’s likely just fighting a case of blue balls and is none too happy about it.” Xavier’s face looked bored but Mitchell’s face was red with anger. Aggie was pleased with the turn of events. While she should have been embarrassed by the comment about her activities, he flipped it back and made Mitchell the butt of the joke. Then she thought harder about the words he used.
“What do you mean smell?” She turned her attention to Kyrel, “I thought you were the only one who could sense such things.”
“I didn’t say he sensed you. I said he smelled you. I imagine given that you are our mate it was even harder for him to resist, but especially for the shifters who have an exceptional sense of smell, it was like you were upwind and teasing them.” Xavier sat ramrod straight and hardly moved as he spoke. He took a sip from his goblet and Aggie could only assume as to its contents.
“Isn’t it a little early for day drinking? We have a lot to do and given your word vomit now and the fact that I haven’t heard you speak much at all, I’d say you’ve had enough.” Reaching her hand to take the cup from him, Xavier smiled then without question, passed her the vessel. Aggie wrapped her fingers around the stem and cupped the bottom and tipped it toward her. The liquid didn’t move like alcohol. It was thicker than anything she had ever drunk before but was still too dark to make out the exact color. Raising the goblet to her nose, Aggie inhaled and instantly her nose curled at the metallic smell.
Sticking her finger in the mysterious drink, her finger emerged coated with a reddish substance. “What is this?” Holding her finger to Xavier’s face. To her surprise, he simply leaned forward and wrapped his lips around her finger, sucking the substance off. Her lips rose in disgust, “That doesn’t answer my question, but now I have so many more.”
“Are you sure you want to know?” Xavier’s rich voice caressed her skin and made her wish it was more than just his voice. The power of the timber, left her feeling in want and need of him.
“I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t want to know. I tend to be very direct and to the point most days. I don’t like to beat around the bush for anything.” Aggie leaned back, but Xavier still held her hand in his grasp. She noticed that his touch was different to Mathius or Kyrel. His touch was cool as though he had been outside this morning without gloves. The buzzing that raged through her with Mathius was more of a flutter like thousands of bees buzzing around her heart with Xavier. Jerking her hand back, the sensations stopped instantly. It was getting hard to fathom all the changes that have been happening the past couple days. With her Gran’s passing and now the discovery of this new world, Aggie didn’t know how much stranger this could get.
Xavier’s eyes narrowed at her abrupt change and Aggie was sure his eyes took on a reddish glow. Now she wasn’t sure what to think as he licked his lips and inhaled the air around her as though he were tasting but appeared to be more like a snake smelling the air. Blinking quickly, he came back to the present. Xavier shook his head slightly as though clearing his thoughts. Aggie wondered where he had gone for that split second.
“O Negative, it is my preference for breakfast. It tends to blend well with anything that I might still have on my stomach from the night before. Lunchtime I go for something a little richer, perhaps an AB Negative. Then for dinner I prefer something more refined and rare, like an RH Null. I have a pristine palette and I don’t let much stop my cravings for the finer things in life.” Aggie felt her jaw fall open at his words, but had a hard time formulating a sensical sentence.
Glancing back and forth between the other guys at the table as she gathered her thoughts. Ren seemed to be holding back his laughter at their exchange but his brother Mitchell seemed to be more interested in consuming as many calories as humanly possible. How many calories does a shifter need to consume on a regular basis? Aggie’s passing thought was a minor distraction to the current brain dilemma. Xavier had really thrown her for a loop with his description of his dietary needs. The rest of the guys were distracted by this or that and only sparing her and Xavier a passing glance between bites.
“Are you telling me that you’re drinking blood right now?” Aggie finally found her words and dared ask what seemed like an insane question, but with everything she had recently experienced in the past day or so it was becoming easier to grasp. Xavier simply sipped from his chalice closing his eyes. His head bobbed in a subtle nod that Aggie would have missed had she not been completely locked on his actions. “What does that make you, some kind of vampire or something?” Her tone gave a hint to her scoffing that she only partially believed the words that she spoke. Surely vampires were still a myth even though she had been told that shifters, elves and demons existed. There was still minimal evidence that couldn’t be explained away if someone tried hard enough. Unfortunately, Aggie didn’t have the knowledge or wherewithal to explain things away with any sort of skill. That left her with the most obvious explanations and hoped against hope that she was wrong.
“What else would I be? Do you know of another being who survives on this particular elixir?” Xavier sounded like he was speaking down to her. Aggie was starting to get the impression that Xavier thought he was better than anyone else. So instead of answering him she ignored his question.
Turning her attention to Mathius, “Since I don’t know that I can grow accustomed to hot tea in lieu of coffee in one day, would it be possible to get a cup of coffee or would that be too much trouble?” Her eyes were pleading and she hoped he would take pity on her.
Although it wasn’t Mathius who responded. With a flick of his wrist Gryson caused a steaming cup of her favorite morning brew to appear in front of her. Hesitantly, she reached her hand out and gingerly touched the rim. As her fingers connected she jerked her hand back, startled by the connection with an actual glass. The heat of the steam wafted over her and Aggie caressed her fingers across each other. Tentatively, she lifted the cup in her hands and raised it to her lips. As the liquid sluiced down her throat she stifled a moan. “Thank you Gryson, this is perfect! It is the same coffee I have at home. How did you know that?
“I asked the brownies.” Gryson answered simply. Aggie looked over her shoulder. Running her eyes back and forth, Aggie searched for any desserts.
“Brownies? Why are you having conversations with the desserts? Also, if there are desserts, why didn’t I get chocolate added to my breakfast menu?” Aggie had no clue what he was talking about but now that he mentioned chocolate she really wished he had conjured up some of that as well.
“No, the brownies in your house that handle all the cleaning up. Who knows why but they actually enjoy it.” Ren thought he was actually clarifying but Aggie was pushed farther into a state of uncertainty that it didn’t help in the least.
To her surprise it was Eldon who took pity on her and clarified, “A brownie is a being similar to a sprite. They move very quickly and usually in between planes. This allows them to stay hidden from most, almost as one would stay in the shadows. They have a knack for helping but can cause their own chaos when they deem it necessary. They can help or hinder on a whim and you never want to upset one or your life could go from easy and blissful, to crazy and panicked in a matter of moments.” His voice lulled her into a state of complacency because of its lyrical story-like grace. Aggie knew she could listen to him speak of the most boring topic and she would be captivated.
Aggie was so caught up in his words she didn’t realize he had stopped and she sat there with a look of adoration plastered on her face. Ren, in usual form, snickered and that brought her back to the present. Quickly Aggie shook off her entranced spell from Eldon’s voice and attempted to save face, realizing that everyone was looking at her and waiting for her response. “So, you’re saying my Gran hasn’t kept house for as long as I’ve been there and the entire time I was growing up I didn’t have to actually keep my room clean?” Aggie was full of mixed emotions. First, she was still upset that her Gran was gone forever, but now a secondary emotion was brewing. She was livid that as a child she was grounded a time or two for not keeping her room clean when her own Gran didn’t actually clean any part of the rest of the house.
“I’m sure she was just trying to do her job. It was her responsibility to keep the Gateway hidden from the real world. It was also her job to keep it from you until the time came for you to fill your role. Unfortunately, she passed before she could tell you about it.” Gryson supplied only putting a small damper on the flames of her temper that they had stoked by sharing this information. She knew it wasn’t logical for her to be mad at her Gran, but there was so much she didn’t know and it would have been easier to take the news from someone she knew and trusted than eight strangers who just appeared in a magic room one day.
Latching on to this new information, Aggie’s thought drifted to a time many years ago when she was still just a whiny teenager with life challenges of another nature.
“Gran, I have to be there in fifteen minutes. If I don’t leave now, I’ll be late.” Aggie stomped her foot to emphasize her frustration.
“Then I guess you should have cleaned up that mess before it got this late. Now you are just going to have to settle for being late and clean it up quickly or be much later than necessary and risk missing the time with your friends.” Gran was always calm and never raised her voice to Aggie, but her tone left no room for argument. With a huff, Aggie turned toward the kitchen to clean up the dishes and clean up the mess from her baking earlier. If only she hadn’t promised her friends she would bring her famous chocolate chip cookies and sugar cookies for movie night. She should have just waited for it to be her turn to host. Stepping into the kitchen Aggie was startled to find that everything was back where it needed to be and there was even shine on the counters and the stove. Each of her cookies was placed in the Tupperware container neatly and sealed tight, ready to be transported. Her jaw went slack and she blinked in disbelief. She didn’t know why Gran had played it off that she would be late if Gran herself had already done the work. Instead of overthinking it, she ran to the sitting room and threw her arms around her precious Gran.
“Thank you so much!” Aggie squeezed her one last time and noticed Gran’s confused face, but she didn’t say a word. Aggie grabbed her cookies and ran out the back door.
Understanding dawned on Aggie’s face as she came back to the present. That mess, all those years ago, wasn’t cleaned up by Gran, but by these elusive Brownies. Taking another drink of her coffee Aggie allowed her mind to settle. She wasn’t actually angry with her Gran, but it was an easier emotion than questioning all the new things she was being introduced to recently.
“So, an elf, a demon, two shifters, a mage, an incubus demon and now a vampire. Does anyone else want to enlighten me as to their history of origin before we discuss my newest piece of information and how I’ve decided to handle it?” Aggie lifted an eyebrow in Eldon’s direction and her coffee to her lips and took a long sip and relished in the familiar flavor. For a moment she thought he was going to ignore her in favor of his silent reverie he has kept. Up until last night, Eldon hadn’t said much of anything. He and Xavier had kept their voices minimal and only speaking when things were of the utmost importance. Xavier’s conversation this morning while enlightening was the most words he had spoken since she was introduced to him. Then when she was about to give up hope that he would be forthcoming and willingly offer up the information Aggie had asked for, Eldon cleared his throat and spoke softly. His lyrical voice bounced through the room even with that minimal sound.
“You might have a hard time understanding what I am.” His musical notes were almost inaudible as he chose to give up his self-imposed vow of silence.
“I can’t imagine it would be any worse than anyone else in this room. Seeing as two of you can literally change shape and one of you drinks blood for sustenance and one of you, maybe two, can actually transport themselves by mere use of thought.” Aggie fought an eyeroll and waited for Eldon to continue.
“Not so much that you wouldn’t believe me but you might have a misconstrued idea of what I am. I am of Fae decent and that means different things to modern people than what is factual.” Aggie’s eyes grew large as she took in this information. Her fingers itched to see his power take shape.
“Fae? As in fairy? Oh, do you have wings? Can I see them? Do you live in a tree?” Eldon gave her a withering look that instantly muted her interrogation. It was so instant that she feared his powers included the ability to take someone’s voice. The look that was still pasted on his face kept her in fear of testing her theory just yet.
“This is what I meant, humans have ruined the reputation of the Fae. Making us more like pixies, flitting from tree branch to flower bringing in the seasons.” His words were laced with such disdain that Aggie glanced up at him expecting an eyeroll then again, she couldn’t see someone like him stooping so low. “I am Fae, born of magic interlaced in the earth. While I’m connected to the trees and plants I am in no way controlling them. My powers are connected and drawn from the power of the earth. I do have wings, but they are more glorious than any miniscule pixie’s wings.” Aggie halfheartedly hoped that he would show her, but after a moment she realized that wasn’t going to happen.
“I’m sure you’re a sight to behold in all your glory.” Aggie’s words held a hint of awe as she envisioned this creature in a new light. Moving on quickly she addressed the elephant in the room. “Now as for this discussion about my potential within this group of misfits.” Her choice of words got a couple snarls and some laughter. She didn’t pinpoint the exact owners of each sound but she was sure Mitchell was one of those who didn’t like being referred to as a misfit given his Alpha status within his own circle.
“Do you have questions?” Mathius piped up reiterating what he had started the night before.
“Not necessarily questions, as perhaps some ground rules. After the new discoveries I’ve now been made aware of,” Aggie let her attention fall on Kyrel for a split second before continuing, “I think there need to be some stipulations and boundaries. I completely understand that you have been incomplete for many years and I’m more than happy to help where I can to get these kids back, but I’m not just going to fall in bed with eight men just because you say I’m supposed to. “
“No one ever expected you to do that, Agatha.” Liel chimed in and Aggie fought her natural sarcastic reaction. He was always so methodical and in this, while she knew he spoke the truth, what else could they have expected? They have found their ninth link and after so long they surely wouldn’t want to prolong it further, would they?
“Of course not, Liel. I just wanted to say it out loud making it clear for everyone. While I don’t know the best way to go about this as it was just sprung upon me last night. I just want you all to be aware that I’m willing to try, but I’d like to take the time to get to know each of you rather than just create a schedule of sex to complete some bond that isn’t even apparent naturally. I would like to make sure we have a connection before we start discussing the horizontal tango or the meetings between the sheets.” Of course, Ren started laughing at that with a boisterous enthusiasm Aggie paused wondering if he was going to be able to regain control of himself. After a minute or so, he finally calmed and Aggie realized she needed to ask a very pointed question. “Come to think of it, am I at risk of getting pregnant by any of you? I’m on regular birth control but given that none of you are exactly regular yourselves I’m going to bet I’m going to need to make new arrangements.” Rubbing her belly absentmindedly, not that she didn’t want kids, but she definitely didn’t want them right now. Halting her maternal distractions, Aggie looked around in hopes someone had an answer for her. Gryson was at her side before she made the full sweep of the room with her eyes.
“You have nothing to worry about. I can give you something that will ward off pregnancy until you take the, let’s call it a counter-potion. That is easier to explain in your current understanding, but that is getting ahead of ourselves and won’t be needed right away.” His words could have been offensive, but the way he said them and the look in his eye was one of compassion and understanding. Placing a hand on her shoulder, Gryson pulled her against him. Now that she didn’t have the conflicting feelings of a gateway door pulling at her she realized that his touch was electric. Stronger than the buzzing she felt with Mathius. She felt like the synapses of her brain were vibrating. His touch was different as she noticed they all were. Since she knew what was causing the sensation she didn’t pull away. Aggie let him linger and she closed her eyes to the feeling to see where it would go. Unfortunately, or under different circumstances would be more like fortunate, it shot from her brain straight to her core. With a gasp, Aggie jerked her body away from his touch. Eyes wide she turned to face him, his brown eyes were glowing almost a lavender color that simmered back to his brown as soon as they met Aggie’s hazel ones.
“Did you feel that? Do any of you feel that?” Aggie started the question directed at Gryson, but quickly expanded it to the rest of them. Even though she had only made contact with a few of them, the question was still open to them all.
Gryson leaned down but didn’t make direct contact with her, but she felt the words as he spoke and his breath caught across her ear, “I feel your touch to my very soul, dearest Aggie.” A chill ran through her and goosebumps ran down her arm as his breath carried down farther than she could actually feel it. She resisted the urge to rub the feeling away.