Page 79 of All That Has Flown Beyond
Ahmik frowned at the banister. “Okay. Maybe it’s a little wobbly,” he conceded with what was most decidedly a pout. Kaiyo snorted.
“Ask Lars to help you. He has an uncanny ability to make everything look ten times better,” Kaiyo suggested.
Instead of arguing, Ahmik just nodded. “I wanted to check up on him anyway.”
Kaiyo smiled at him, nodding in return. The holidays were obviously overwhelming for Lars. He’d hesitantly asked Ahmik for permission to be fully initiated into the pack, and Kaiyo had agreed to perform the ritual on the night after the first new moon of the year.
The pack made sure to envelop Lars completely in the celebrations. Kaiyo and his mom joined them on Christmas Eve, and Kaiyo got to watch Lars’s wide, stunned eyes as Amaya broughtæbleskiverto the party. Round cakes made of pancake dough covered in powdered sugar, they were set on the dessert table with a big pot of strawberry jam, a traditional Danish holiday food.
“Are they good?” Amaya asked as Lars bit into one. He nodded, savouring the treat carefully, his eyes closing for a moment before looking at Amaya with such a profound look of gratitude that it moved even Kaiyo.
“Thank you,” he said simply, as if he had no more words to give.
During the opening of presents, everybody looked at Lars subtly, watching him as he unwrapped them slowly, making sure not to rip the paper. Nobody hurried him along, infected by his sense of awe.
The night dissolved into early morning as the spiked eggnog was passed around, the alcohol content for the werewolf batch strong enough to battle their high metabolisms. The adults ended up tipsy and happy, the music jingling from the stereo almost drowned out by their laughter and talk.
“That’s ridiculous. I’m a werewolf. A were-wolf!” Ahmik enunciated condescendingly.
“Oooh, I’m a werewolf!” Kaiyo imitated in a dainty voice before glaring at Ahmik. “I can beat your ass any day of the week, month, year, decade, buddy. Bring it on!” Kaiyo jumped to his feet, stumbling only slightly on his way to a clear piece of grass. “I’m about to karate-chop your ass!” he called out to the night.
Ahmik followed, shaking his head. “Don’t expect me to go easy on you,” he said.
Kaiyo whipped around, pointing a finger at, or near, at least, Ahmik’s face. “Imma. Karate. Chop. Your. Ass.”
“Bring. It,” Ahmik said, copying Kaiyo’s tone.
“What are they doing?” Isla asked, walking out of the house with her mom, who was carrying a tray of mugs filled with hot chocolate towards the rest of the adults sitting near the fire and watching Ahmik and Kaiyo squabble nearby.
“Apparently, they’re going to karate-chop each other’s asses,” Emil said with an amused roll of his eyes.
“Kinky,” Amaya drawled.
“Amaya! Not in front of the C-H-I-L-D-R-E-N,” Thea hissed. Isla rolled her eyes.
“Okay,” Kaiyo was saying, “whoever pins the other for three seconds wins.”
“Do I get anything when I win?” Ahmik smirked.
Kaiyo snorted. “Oh, buddy. You are in for quite the surprise.”
“Sure, Slim Jim. Sure.”
“On the count of three. One. Two. Three.”
Ahmik lunged forwards at once, putting his werewolf speed to good use. In theory, Ahmik had every right to be confident. Faster, stronger, with better eyesight for movement, and an enhanced sense of smell, werewolves made formidable opponents when facing humans.
Kaiyo, however, wasn’t only a human. He was shaman of the lands they stood on. He had fought beast and man and had the scars to prove it.
Kaiyo barely had to use his eyes. He let the land inform him. Ahmik’s blundering form was projecting his intentions loud and clear, both physically and through his Ousía. As Ahmik stumbled to a stop when Kaiyo avoided his lunge by sidestepping neatly, Kaiyo elbowed him sharply at the small of his back. Ahmik grunted, and Kaiyo took advantage of the surprise to bring his leg up, using the momentum created by his body as he swung his leg in a high circle, landing it with force in the same spot his elbow had just jabbed.
Ahmik’s knees collapsed, pitching him forward. Ahmik rolled over to his back immediately, posed to jump up again, but Kaiyo reached out to his Ousía, not expelling energy to harm, but simply to press against Ahmik.
Ahmik paused at the sudden sensation, of suddenly being allowed to feel Kaiyo, the essence of him. He looked up at the sky, dazed, as Kaiyo straddled his chest, pressing his knees to Ahmik’s shoulders. Ahmik blinked, his hands coming up to hold Kaiyo’s hips but not moving him.
“One. Two. Three,” Kaiyo said, looking down at Ahmik. Ahmik stared back with wide eyes.
The moment stretched, tensing. The fight had taken less than thirty seconds, but he could feel Ahmik panting underneath him. The heat of him in the winter cold. The way the caramel of his skin turned liquid and rippling in the flicker of the fire. His bottomless eyes and the curve of his lip, which Kaiyo had once known so well.
