At that, I perk up, and the ache I feel over what Zane did softens.
Everest manages something like a smile. “I think you’ll love it. It overlooks Lake Michigan. There’s a huge deck, and a path to the beach.”
I let out a small, happy trill. The lake was the first time Dante told me he loved me. The first time I felt that I was truly where I was meant to be.
I wish to experience that again, but with my friends and my brothers.
“Saaafe?” I ask. “For my broooothers?”
“Yes,” Everest assures me quickly. “Eissa says he has news about that, but he won’t be able to come back for a little while since he’s getting Luca settled.”
At the sound of his name, Everest and I both wince.
Then he takes a breath. “Anyway, I sent a text to Dante. We ah…we have a surprise for you, so we’re going to meet this weekend, okay? And everyone will have a key to the house so we can all come and go any time we need to get away.”
This is a human concept, the need to get away. Vacations. Taking time off. But it is also a concept that more Vyastil should get to know. It took me so much time to allow myself moments during the day when I do nothing.
The urge to work, to be useful, to not be a drain is overwhelming sometimes. But I am allowing myself to understand and embrace peace.
And quiet.
In the distance, I hear the front door open. “Dante,” I tell Everest.
He nods. “Yeah. Go see him. He’s going to need you right now, and I’ll see you Saturday.”
I nod, then hit the button to end the call. Walking to the corner where Niaus has her favorite little hammock, I drop her in it and wait for her to curl up against her small, animal-shaped stuffed toy.
Her eyes stay closed, so I flick the light off, then find Dante sitting on the edge of the couch with his hands over his face. He is not crying, but I can feel the pain radiating off him in waves.
It takes me no time at all to close the distance and curl my arms around him. He stiffens, but only for a moment, and then he curls up against me. In my arms, I adjust us both so I’m lying across the cushions, and he presses his ear to my chest, listening to the steady beats of my hearts.
“I don’t think they bought it,” he eventually says. I wish I could see his face, but I know he is taking comfort in me as he rubs his nose along my sternum. “I think they know something’s up, and Gia’s suspicious. If we can’t fix this soon, I’m going to have to tell her the truth. They won’t stop until they feel sure they have every detail.”
I let out a distressed hum. That would put them in danger, but I know Dante understands this. I can feel through our bond that he is torn between protecting them and his fear of losing them.
“They will never abandon you,”I send him.
He lets out a shaking breath, then turns his face and props his chin up. It digs into my nipple, making the scar there twinge from where my piercings once were.
I feel the urge to dip my hand past his shirt and touch his nipples. I want to pierce them, too—to see that mark on his body. To let the world know that he is everything to me.
But I do not know if he would understand the significance of that ritual.
Everest allowed Rathyn to pierce him, but even now I think he believes it as a mark of possession. It was done without ceremony and out of necessity. At the time, Rathyn was too afraid to admit to himself that Everest was more than a supplier of cum. More than a companion.
I wonder if he will pierce Everest again, this time with the reverence, audience, and ritual that act deserves.
“What are you thinking?” Dante asks.
I shake my head. I will approach the topic later. For now, Dante needs to feel his pain so he can begin to heal from it. My chest thrymms, the vibrations soothing him, and eventually he relaxes against me.
“This weekend,” he says, his voice sleep-thick and heavy, “plans.”
“Yes,” I tell him. I rake claws through his hair. The pain in me is still great, but with Dante’s body pressed against mine, it does not feel as bad.
And I know that so long as he wishes to keep me—and so long as I am able to keep him—I will survive anything.
We meet Everest that Saturday, his surprise waiting for us. I do not know what this is, but I eagerly await. I want to makeEverest happy again. I have seen Rathyn since speaking with my friend, and he seemed upset at how poorly Everest is faring in the wake of his best
