Page 85 of Gates of Tartarus

Smith reaches out and grabs him by his collar, pulling him backwards off the porch. “Tomorrow, Reed,” he calls out over his shoulder. “Coming, Shotridge?”

“In a moment,” Jonah calls back softly, his smoky voice quiet in the night air. He looks over the porch, then walks off behind the house for a few moments. When he reappears, his arms are laden down with wood from the crib at the side of the cabin. He brings it up and refills the almost empty wood box by the front door, then smiles at me sweetly. Moving forward slowly, he comes to a stop right in front of me at the doorway, so close I can feel him breathing. I’d paused just inside the door to watch the men leave, and Jonah is standing just outside the door, still in the cold. Without looking over my shoulder into the room, keeping his eyes fixed steadily on mine, he leans over and rests his forehead against mine. I stand, frozen in place for a moment, unsure what is going on, but can’t resist relaxing forward slightly into Jonah’s warmth. His eyes are closed, but as I soften against him, the edges of his lips curl up slightly, and I feel him release a deep breath. “Have a good rest of your night, Kailani,” he whispers quietly, still leaning against me. Then slowly, so slowly I could have stopped him a hundred times in a hundred ways if I had really wanted to, he angles his face, intermingling our breath until his lips are a paper-thin space from mine. I don’t know why it is happening, or what prompted it, but my breath hitches unevenly as he pauses millimeters from my waiting mouth.

He waits, giving me time to make a decision I’m not sure I’m ready to make, and when I don’t pull away, he closes the distance between us, brushing his lips over mine gently, so gently I almost don’t feel them, like a butterfly’s wing against my skin. Unexpected fire races through me, and a feeling like the floor has dropped out from beneath me, and I’m falling. My legs are weak, and as he pulls back, I chase him for a moment, before catching myself. Opening his eyes and looking for something in my confused gaze, he waits until I focus on him. Then, finding whatever he is searching for, the small curve of his lips turns to a full-blown grin, and he gives a quick nod of his head towards the top of the doorframe.

“Mistletoe,” he says cheekily, then turns and jumps off the porch. Looking back over his shoulder, he meets my slightly stunned expression with an impish grin, mischief edged with triumph. “I love Christmas, Kai,” he calls. “Feel free to call me if you need any more help decorating.”

He turns to Smith and Walker, who are getting in a small rental, clearly packed in like sardines, and folds the passenger seat forward to climb in the back.

“Jonah!” I call, and he looks at me with candle-flame eyes, flickering in the evening light, entrancing me. “Uh… hang on.” Turning, I push past Lachy, grab my Mini’s keys, and head back out to the porch. “Here!” Throwing as hard as I can, the keys fly wildly off to the side, and only a valiant, diving catch by Jonah means they aren’t lost to the forest. “You can take my Mini.Is that okay?” I stage whisper to Lachy, who rolls his eyes and mutters, “It’syourcar, Suge.”

Nodding firmly, which causes me to sway, I say decisively, “You can take my Mini,butyou have to be careful!Verycareful!”

Jonah grins, full lips curving up invitingly, and says, “Thanks, Kai. I promise!”

Everyone looks disgruntled at the exchange, and Lachy reaches over my shoulder to shut the door, moving me gently out of the way. “Hmm,” he humphs, looking supremely annoyed. Shaking his head slightly, he focuses his attention back on me and smiles. “Want to get back to it?” he asks teasingly. “I’ll make you a hot whiskey, and we’ll bundle up, then go put those lights up outside?”

“Yeeeees!” I shout, then reach up to tug on his beard, making the small bells he had hastily hung jingle. “But only if you keep these in until you’re done.”

He rolls his eyes with faux exasperation but nods. “Deal,” he concedes, and then we stand there for a moment, just grinning at each other, two complete loons decorated like idiots for Christmas.

The sound of someone awkwardly clearing his throat breaks the spell between us. I startle, looking behind me, having completely forgotten that Hideo is still in my cabin.Jesus! Hideo is IN MY CABIN!He’s staring at the two of us with a strange expression on his face, so unexpected I instinctively reach out to do a quick read on him. All I’m picking up is mild concern and confusion, but his face looks stormy and almost jealous. Shuffling my feet a little as the silence grows, I feel supremely uncomfortable. Even the playlist pauses as it switches to a more gentle series of songs. Looking back and forth between the two men, my stomach starts turning somersaults as tension thickens the air. Lachy snaps out of it first, looking to me and softening his expression from distrust to curiosity. I can still feel the wariness rolling off of him, but it’s mixed with a sort of exasperation and frustration that I don’t understand, all topped off with that same happiness that has been glowing like coals all evening.

Hideo is unmoving, statue-like by the door, looking back and forth between Lachy and me with keen eyes. He clears his throat again and says, “So, Kai, this is… is this…” he begins stiffly. “I mean to say… is this your... friend? I’m sorry for interrupting your evening together.” Again I reach out, and again Hideo is nothing but that same blend of concern and confusion. Why is everything so uncomfortable? I shake my head a little, and then it hits me. Lachy and Hideo have never met and have only heard about each other. As two of the most important people in my life, it must be odd meeting someone you feel like you should know but don’t. That makes significantly more sense than the odd emotions chasing each other across their faces.

“Oh!” I exclaim. “Oh my gosh! Of course! Hideo, this is my Lachy! Lachy, this is my Hideo!”

The two men look at me with twin expressions of complete disbelief, warring with amusement and frustration. “You... I’ve told you guys about each other… so... this is who you are…” I explain badly, completely out of my depth with whatever is happening. My sweet bear of a man realizes how frazzled I am and steps towards Hideo, hand extended.

“Nice to meet you, Hideo. Sorry, it took me a minute. She normally refers to you as Tanaka, and I wasn’t expecting to see a work colleague of Kai’s here. At her home. While she’s on vacation.” He smiles politely, but it’s a more dangerous sort of smile than I’m used to seeing from him. It holds an almost challenging edge and is met by an equally polite, equally sharp smile from Hideo.

“Of course. Lachlainn, correct? Kai and I often spend time together outside of work, what with being training partners, and of course we get dinner in the city quite often, but yes, I’ve never been here before. She indicated that her landlord prefers privacy on his property, so I tried to respect that. It’s nice to make your acquaintance. Kai’s mentioned in the past what a goodlandlordshe has.”

Okay, what in God’s green earth is happening here? I mean, what in the actual fuck is going on? I float between them, uneasy and unsure of the dynamic in the room. Trying to figure out how to smooth the oddly tense meeting, I open my mouth to say something inane, but “White Christmas” comes on at that moment over the speaker, and I close my eyes for a second, swaying gently and smiling softly to the music. As it turns out, when you’re two bottles deep into wine, swaying gently with your eyes closed sometimes results in you falling over. Lachy and Hideo both shout with alarm as I topple, reaching out to try to prevent me from hitting the floor, but neither makes it in time, and I look up at them in total surprise and shock from my prone position.

“I fell!” I say, completely befuddled. They exchange a long, understanding look, shake their heads in unison, and each holds out an arm to help me up.

“Right, Suge,” says Lachy firmly. “You’re going to curl up on the couch and take a nap. I’ll work on the lights while you’re out, and when you’re up and feeling better we can hang them together.”

“We’ll,” adds Hideo tightly. I meet his eyes in confusion. “We’llwork on the lights while you’re asleep. I’d like to stay and make sure you’re okay.”

“Her shields are blown,” Lachy growls. “You can’t be here if you can’t control your emotions.”

“That won’t be a problem,” Hideo responds sharply. Despite his tone of voice, he isn’t broadcasting anything but a smooth focus. Nothing happy or sad, just a strained concentration that doesn’t affect me at all. I yawn loudly, almost unhinging my jaw.

“Okay,” I mumble blearily. “I’ll just curl up for five minutes, and then I’ll get back to it!”

Lachy nods seriously. “Of course,” he replies and tucks me in on the couch in front of the fireplace.

???

Minutes or hours later, I wake slowly, surfacing from my warm cocoon of blankets and heavy sleep. Unwilling to open my eyes, I lie still, lulled by the quiet, low voices in the background, just listening to the smooth, deep tones.

“How many lights does shehave?”

“I don’t think she even knows.”

There’s a long silence, just a soft twisting and scraping sound, broken only by occasional, under-the-breath curse words. Finally, someone speaks, frustration edging his tone.

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