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I gawked at Mateo and the casual way he’d said it. “Because you were a manticore? How did she not know that’s what you’d be?”
He shrugged. “My sperm donor never told her, I suppose. I guess she was human, and had me in secret. Even The Wall, as strong as it was back then, couldn’t hide the nature of a baby from its mother. One of the firefighters recognized that I was a monster because he was one, too. He brought me to the right people. I grew up in a group home for monsters and other unwanted magical children.”
I looked around his home. “Well, you certainly did very well for yourself despite your rocky start.”
“Thanks. But I owe all this to Desmon. I came out of the system on a clear course for trouble. The group home got paid for every kid they took in. We were just paychecks for them; they didn’t bother setting us up for success. I survived by being a bully and a menace to everyone. But no one stopped me, because no one really cared.”
I stroked his forearm as I listened to his story, glad for something to distract me from my own troubles, but at the same time sad that he’d had such a tough childhood.
“They cared just as little about their staff as they did about the kids they took in. Everyone was underpaid, and they didn’t have the training on how to give us the care we needed. The turnover rate was so high we’d make bets on how long each new hire would last. I think I made quite a few of them quit.”
“So you were a big, bad bully?”
“Yeah. I was.”
Chapter 23
Mateo
I’d never spoken about my childhood to anyone before. It wasn’t something a monster like me did. I was the tough guy. The stoic guard who watched over part of the dragon’s hoard. I didn’t talk about the past.
But Eva appeared genuinely interested in my life, and if I wanted her to stick around after all this was over, I owed her at least this much.
“I threw my weight around because I thought it was the only way I could get a leg up. The second I turned eighteen, they kicked me out of the group home, and I immediately started getting into trouble. Got into a lot of fights. Did some work for some scary people. It was just a matter of time before I ended up in jail.”
“But you managed to turn your life around. How did you end up working for Desmon?” Eva asked. “And the EA, too. How did that happen?” She put her hand softly on my forearm. “I hope I’m not being too nosy. I just want to know more about you. But you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”
“I don’t mind, as long as this stays between us.”
“Of course. I’ve got no one to tell except Sriracha, and he’s already listening.”
Sure enough, the cat was on the arm of the couch, looking bored.
“Since I relied so much on my size and my muscle mass for what I did, I needed to eat a lot, meat especially, and food costs money. Being the muscle for an unscrupulous loan shark didn’t pay much, or consistently. Plus, it wasn’t what I imagined doing for the rest of my life. Any Joe Schmoe with a weapon can intimidate someone who owed money, you know?
“But Desmon paid well. It took him a while to trust me, and in the beginning, I just took the occasional job with him, an extra guard during the Darlington Birthday Parade, or at the Magic and Monsters Gala, stuff like that. After he got to know me and trust me, I started guarding his home.
“After a few years, I got curious about what else was out there and took a job as an enforcer with the EA. Desmon wasn’t angry; he understood I needed to stretch my wings. But I didn’t last long at the Enforcement Agency. I kept being written up for not following protocol and procedure.”
“Ah yes, those pesky rules.” Eva’s lips lifted a little at the corners.
“Yeah. I’m not too good with those. And even worse with paperwork, which doubled after The Wall fell and we had to start working with the police. I quit before they could fire me. Desmon just happened to be looking for a new head of security at the museum, so I took that. He doesn’t make me do paperwork.”
“I’m glad you did. I’d never have met you otherwise.”
I checked her face to see if she was being genuine. She was.
“Even after I invaded your home and kidnapped you in the middle of the night?”
He smiled. “I’d say you made up for that already by offering me a place to stay and protecting me.” Then, after a few seconds, she added, “You’re still not off the hook for those dinners, though.”
“Of course not,” I chuckled, nuzzling the top of her head. “Eight proper dates. Or was it nine now?”
“Oh, they’re dates now, are they?”
I grinned. “Sure are.”
“Well, I guess we did skip all the preliminaries and went straight to cohabitating, at least for a little while.”
