Page 74 of The Paranormal Investigation Bureau
We had a whole feast prepared by the time the doorbell rang. I flung open the front door in excitement, with a huge grin from ear to ear. It was only fucking Arden.
“Oh.”
That asshole just smirked at me.
“Try not to look too disappointed. Nyx booted me out of her apartment for girl talk.”
I stepped back and let him inside.
“Nyx is pretty damned cool,” I said. “I still don’t know how or why she shrieked in my face like that, but I respect it.”
“It was pretty fucking funny,” Bevan said.
“No, it wasn’t.”
“Yes, it was,” Nicolai said.
“It was pretty hilarious,” Arden said. “Nyx is ACE. It wouldn’t have worked on her. But, please, don’t do it again, or she will shatter your eardrums.”
“I never do when they tell me not to,” I grumped.
“I see that now,” Arden said. “You two aren’t so bad.”
“And you don’t have a huge stick up your ass after all,” Nicolai said.
“I have my moments.”
“So, we’re cool?” I asked.
I needed him to be cool if we were going to be a harem. We all needed to chill and get over it. Arden had been relaxed and was smirking, but his entire mood just changed back to how he was when we didn’t like him.
“We’re cool, but we need to get something out on the table and make sure we’re all on the same page about it. Beyla is my mate, and Bevan ismine.She knows. She figured it out. She’s agreed to get to know me. I don’t need you two stepping in and ruining that.”
Man, fuck that. Nicolai and I knew better than to get between a gryphon and their mate, but still… we’d never felt this way about someone either. And what the shit was he talking about Bevan being his?
“Sorry, but Merlin and I both really like her too. We get she’s your mate, but she’s also a witch. Gryphons might not be into sharing, but witches are. It’s in her nature to form a coven. She’s already started. If she stays, she might want all of us. You could drive her back home by refusing to see that.”
“What do you meanI’m yours?”Bevan asked. “I was going to ask you about why you’re so protective of me after dinner.”
Arden didn’t shift and try to fight us. Instead, he just shrugged, and his eyes flashed gold.
“I don’t know, Bevan. This isn’t supposed to happen with gryphons. You aren’t my mate, Beyla is. I can’t explain it. You’re supposed to be with us, too. It’s all I can think about.”
Bevan started chewing on his lower lip then—he did that when he was thinking—and we were all pretty damn confused. We should have a pissed off gryphon trying to eat us all right now, but Arden was sitting there calmly chatting.
“I didn’t know you were bi.”
I don’t think any of us did. I knew he wasn’t gay. But, quite often, he’d pass by me at the studio, and I’d get waves off of him, like he’d gotten laid. Arden had a healthy sex life, even if he didn’t date within the company. I’d seen the rich women pawing at him at galas. You couldn’t fake that.
“I gravitate more towards women, but I’m not opposed to men. It’s more about the person. It’s more aboutyou.”
Nicolai and I were both nodding, like we were gryphons and totally understood that. If something was going to get fucked up with a gryphon mating bond and they wanted to bring someone else in, it just made sense it was Bevan. He was the best person on this entire planet. If I were bi or gay, I’d want to claim Bevan.
“I guess I understand that, even if it’s never happened before. But you do understand Beyla and I are both witches and it’s in our nature to build a coven for strength and protection, right? I’m not into Merlin and Nicolai that way… but Beyla might be. They are my friends, and I care about them, in a platonic way, so I’m fine with them being in this. Of course, we all want Beyla to stay, but I have a feeling that if this curse breaks and you start to get controlling about who she’s with, she’ll up and leave.”
Arden mopped his hand down his face and sighed.
“Iknowthat, which is why I haven’t killed them. Beyla told me a little bit about her mentors after discovering she was a witch. They were twin sisters, who built their covens from different husbands from various supernatural species. She babysat their kids. Beyla talks fondly of both of the families. I’m not stupid. I know she might want that.”
