Redeemed (House of Night #12)(50)

“Something happened up there,” Aurox said, moonstone eyes shining.

“Yeah.” I sniffed and wiped my face with the back of my sleeve. “Skylar chose you. You guys belong to each other now.”

Aurox gazed down at Skylar, petting the cat in long, loving strokes. Skylar never opened his eyes. Except for the fact that he was purring like crazy, he looked like he’d fallen asleep.

“Zo, he’s awesome!”

I smiled through my tears. “Yep, he sure is.”

Aurox glanced at me. Then he automatically reached into his jeans pocket and handed me the Kleenex. “You’re snotting again.”

“Yep, I sure am,” I said.

His eyes met mine. He looked away fast, but not before I saw the rawness of his expression.

“I am sorry. I should not call you Zo.”

“You can call me that if you want to,” I said.

His gaze met mine then, and I saw anger flash through his expression. “Do not be nice to me because you think I’m Heath.”

“Damn it, Aurox, I’m being nice to you because I like you! You saved my grandma. You’re cuddling a super-mean cat you just saved. YOU ARE A NICE GUY!” I paused, getting my voice under control before I finished. “That’s why I’m nice to you.”

“I wish that was the truth,” he said.

“Aurox, I promise you that I am only going to tell you the truth. I have way too much personal crap to deal with to add lying to the list.”

“You mean that, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I do.” I wiped my face and sniffled. “Thanks for the Kleenex.”

“You are welcome.”

“Do you have cat stuff in your room?”

He hesitated and then said softly, “I don’t really have a room.”

“Where’ve you been sleeping?”

“I don’t sleep.”

Goddess! He’s not even human! I felt the shock of it, and the memory of what he looked like when he morphed into the bull creature played through my mind. Purposefully, I pushed the image away.

“Well, you’re gonna need a room now. That cat needs a place to sleep and eat and, um, do you know anything about litter boxes?”

“What’s litter?”

I smiled at him. “Come on. Kalona doesn’t sleep either. Let’s find him. He can set you up with a room, cat food, and a litter box.” I kitty-kittyed Nala, and she actually came to me, jumping up into my arms. I noticed then that all the other cats had disappeared.

“Do you think Kalona knows things about cats?” Aurox asked me as we walked side by side.

“I’d bet on it. He used to be Nyx’s Warrior, and cats are a big part of the Otherworld. The Goddess loves them.”

Aurox’s expression went blank and he said, “Zo, do you think Skylar choosing me might mean Nyx cares about me? Just a little?”

“I’d bet on it,” was all I could say before my throat closed with tears and Aurox had to hand me another Kleenex.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Kalona

“Okay, I have to tell ya, that seemed really strange to me. Did it seem strange to you, too?” Detective Marx asked Kalona. He’d fallen in to step beside the winged immortal as they left the boys’ dormitory and walked out into the bright, beautiful midday sunshine.

Kalona raised his brows and gave a sideways glance at the detective. He was unused to conversing easily with anyone—especially anyone human. But Marx wasn’t awed by him. Nor did he judge him a monster because of his past. He treats me as if we are comrades-in-arms, Kalona realized with a small, unusual start of surprise.

It was with another start of surprise that the winged immortal realized he actually enjoyed the detective’s company.

“Strange? Having a mad, immortal vampyre’s cat choose a creature created out of Old Magick to be a weapon of Darkness, and then have to explain to the creature, who looks exactly like a confused boy, how to feed it and clean its litter box?” Kalona snorted. “Detective, I believe strange isn’t a strong enough descriptive word.”

“Glad to hear you say it!”

The detective smacked Kalona’s shoulder in a gesture that was filled with esprit de corps. Kalona had to grit his teeth against the stab of pain that shot through his body as Marx’s innocent gesture opened an unhealed wound. Kalona made certain his grunt reflected agreement and not discomfort.

Unaware of anything except their conversation, Marx chuckled and continued, “Yeah, there was a moment in there when the kid was scratching that damn giant cat under its chin that I was sure his eyes started to glow.”

“The cat’s or the kid’s?” Kalona joked mildly, ignoring the lingering pain.

“The kid’s. Can the cat’s eyes glow, too?” Marx shook his head. “No, don’t tell me. Now I understand why my sister says some vampyre things are off-limits to humans. It’s not good for our minds—might make us lose them.”

Kalona chuckled. “I think that has more to do with the strangeness of our times than the ability of humans to comprehend the abnormal.”

“You may have a point. These are definitely some weird-assed times.”

They walked on together without speaking, though Kalona didn’t feel the silence was awkward. They were just two men going about the business of protecting those who were important to them.