Page 16 of Our Haunted Omegas
“I wish. That happens to you but it’s never happened to me. I can see it now. We all fall asleep and then I wake up in the bed alone and everyone else is icing their eyes or noses or something,” Odie sighed. “Tonight and tomorrow night are going to suck donkey balls.”
“Poor donkey,” Cobalt sighed.
“Want me to set up the altar?” Ambry offered already sliding off my lap.
“What altar?” Cobalt asked before I could.
“Oh, it’s like ancestor work except for people who died closer to us generationally. My carrier. His parents and stepdad. Some of our schoolmates and stuff,” Ambry explained. “We always get it out this time of year. When Clarence announced the date for the annual festival I could’ve kicked him.”
“Why?” I asked.
“I’ll let Odie tell you when he wants to. Otherwise, you’ll just have to wait for the claiming vows. I’m guessing if Cobalt knows, so will you.”
“Maybe,” I said. “None of us have ever had our true-mates before. We’re not sure how that works.”
“I bet our link and theirs click together or something,” Cobalt yawned.
“You’re tired,” Odie frowned, and I waited for my brother’s hands to tremble again.
“How about I stay up and set the altar up and you two can go ahead and lay down,” Ambry offered. “And no, not because we’re sneaking off. Maybe if you fall asleep, we can figure out the best place to keep you from having nightmares. Maybe if we put you between the dragons your wolf will smell them and know you’re here because they weren’t around back then.”
“I’m only saying yes because he’s tired and maybe I want a moment alone with him,” Odie managed a small laugh that morphed into a yawn.
“None of that alone stuff until everyone pees on a stick tomorrow,” Ambry announced.
“Um… We’re not pregnant, mate of my brother,” Cobalt laughed.
“For the other things,” Ambry said narrowing his eyes on him.
“That’s a finger prick test, mate, but keep looking at him like that. It’s sort of hot that you want to eat him,” I said, and Ambry shot me a bird.
“I’ll have to prick that finger first according to your own rules, mate,” I said, fighting off the urge to pull him back into my lap and show him what a finger could do.
“Though, we test every week so…” Cobalt said.
I almost pointed out that I knew he’d been with someone since the last test but that wasn’t my business to spread around. What he told or didn’t tell his mate was between him and Odie. Some guys didn’t like to know what their mates got up to before them. Not everyone was as liberated or open as we were. Moonscale London still had its stuffier corners.
Odie hugged Ambry goodnight and Cobalt and I touched hands. No matter how many years age put on us some habits never died, and we had to touch each other at every parting. It made middle school hell until Teal headbutted one of the kids who said we were ‘too close’ for brothers. The implicationsof that statement horrified me. Not because the world thought weird things but because he wasn’t close enough to anyone in his family to want to hug them goodbye. You never knew when someone’s door would show up and that meant you should always give everyone a proper goodbye.
“Don’t you start catching it too,” Cobalt said over his shoulder as Odie led him down the apartments tiny hallway. He didn’t have to turn sideways to fit down it and I took that as a good sign.
“Are you catching Odie’s anxiety too?” Ambry asked, opening a closet on the farthest side of the living room.
“Not exactly. I was thinking about how the kids teased us for being close in middle school. It was just kid stuff but you never know when it’ll be the last time you see someone.”
“Wow. You do the same mental acrobatics as Odie,” Ambry laughed. “From teasing to death. Wait!” he turned to look at me. “You didn’t kill them for it, did you?”
“Teal headbutted one of them but no one died for teasing us,” I chuckled.
“Good. I’ll help you hide bodies but if you’re going to make me do extra manual labor make sure it’s for a good reason. Middle school bullying doesn’t qualify someone for the death penalty.”
“Do you need helping getting stuff out of the closet?” I offered, perching on the end of the sofa aching to be useful to him.
“I got it. It’s just a box. Mostly candles and stuff. Some photos. Not many survived the great flattening of London. Yeah, yeah. That’s not the proper name but as a kid that’s what it felt like. We’d all run underground and then some giant would come stopping through the streets flattening houses, ice cream shops, and schools.”
“Is that what— Never mind,” I stopped myself.
“Everyone except his dad. His dad died giving birth to him. That’s not really my thing to talk about either but he hates when people think he had a stepdad because his bio dad was a deadbeat,” Ambry frowned, kicking the door shut behind him and crossing the room. He sat down on the other side of their little, circular coffee table and started unloading things from the box.
