Page 16 of Keeper of All

Ekon tilted his head and shrugged. “I don’t know why you’re here.”

Which was a fair enough comment. “We’ll get to that,” Mao promised, although his intentions were clearly subject to change because of his mate. He had a feeling that even if he did his job the way he was asked to, it had just become twenty-thousand times more complicated than it was before.

“You said that you kidnapped Ben back when he was being an ass, and yes, I can say that about him because he is my brother. That would have to mean, you’re one of Marvin’s lost boys.”

“I know exactly where I am,” Ekon snapped. “There’s nothing lost about me.”

There was a bit of spine there too, which Mao was pleased to see. His brothers often complained he was a grump, and he was short with them. Mao was pleased to hear his mate speak up for himself.

“I didn’t mean to use the word ‘lost’ as a derogatory term,” he explained quietly. “I apologize if I’ve caused offense. ‘Lost boys’ is the term that the Thalassas gave to the young men who had a connection, or who were the same as Marvin. The term was easier to say than ‘children who were stolen, experimented on, tortured, and then turned into assassins that worked under the council’s orders’.”

Mao felt his cat rising as he thought about it. His claws came out on one hand, and as he tried to close his jaw, his fangs dropped. It took a few moments of deep breathing before he could get himself under control.

Ekon watched him silently with those intriguing eyes. “This upsets you,” he replied. “The thought of what I’ve been through… bothers you.”

“It would bother anyone with a pulse and half a conscience,” Mao snapped and then immediately regretted taking his temper out on Ekon who didn’t deserve it. He inhaled, let the breath out slowly, and then added, “It upsets me you and your kin, the other boys like you, had to go through that for reasons I still don’t understand.” Another fucking issue that annoyed the crap out of him.

Unfortunately, as Mao had found when he’d tried to dig into the who, what, and why after Ben found his mates, getting straight answers from anybody was virtually impossible. Some people wanted the experiments, and the lost boys buried under the rug, while others felt that a well-placed explosion would solve all their problems and make the issue disappear. The Thalassa brothers wanted something different. It didn’t make any of it right.

“I thought I heard”—trying to take his mind off where his thoughts were going—“you made some mention to the deceased being that he had been tormenting your thoughts, or your dreams… something like that.”

“I’ve been hearing voices.” Ekon shrugged indifferently and took another bite. Somehow, he ate beef stew, macaroni cheese, and the rice all together in one mouthful, and it didn’t seem to bother him.

But then Mao considered that if Ekon had spent a lot of time simply trying to survive, food was food, and clearly his mate ate what he could when he could. Mao took another forkful from his plate while he waited for an answer. Just macaroni cheese on his. Mao preferred his foods to have some separation if possible.

“I came here to find out who I am,” Ekon admitted finally. “I’m not mad. I’m not crazy. I’ve been hearing a voice in my head. Someone calling out for me, telling me I needed to come home. I didn’t understand it. And I felt the way to understand what it was meant I had to find out who I was.”

He flicked his hair back over his shoulder and pointed toward the bunker. “My records have to be in there. There’s nowhere else they could be. I know, from seeing the ones at the krakens’ house, that my record will tell me where I came from and who I am.”

Mao felt a lump of lead start to develop in his gut. “I can’t even begin to understand what you must be thinking or feeling,” he said quietly. “Our bond is still new, and I know we’ll become more attuned to each other in time. While I’ve always known who I am and where I came from, I do understand your need to know the same. To me, it’s a basic right.

“But it would seem, from what I saw when I arrived, and what has happened since, the situation has developed beyond just finding your records and hoofing it out of here. Am I right?”

“I’m not sure.” Ekon shook his head, blond locks shifting over his naked shoulders. God’s he was beautiful. “He said… he said he was sick, dying because of the records that were taken. I’m unclear what that means, but I know the Thalassas have those other records. They aren’t lost.”

Mao nodded. He already knew that.

“Apparently when they were taken, it was as if it reduced the power levels in the eternal fae—that’s what he called himself. He said he was an eternal fae who was the keeper of all. I assume he was referring to the records. Like they were his life force, maybe.” He shrugged looking perplexed. “It’s possible that when some of those records were taken, his powers declined to where he could no longer carry on living. Or that’s my take on it.” He sounded almost shy.

“In a weird, sort of roundabout way, I can understand that.” Mao reassured. “If somebody’s power is infused because of certain items or relics or even wards, and then some of those are broken or removed, it makes sense that it would reduce the level of power that individual might have.”

“You’re a logistical one, aren’t you?” Ekon chuckled, scraping his plate clean.

Mao also noted the gorgeous smile. “I read a lot and I do my best to act responsibly in all things,” Mao muttered self-consciously. “What I don’t understand is, if taking those records was going to cause so much harm, then how and why did the record keeper allow it?

“Nobody was aware that there was someone physically here, we’re they?”—Ekon shook his head—“My job was to make sure no one was hanging around when I got here, before getting down to business. If we set that aside, the question remains. Why didn’t he use his power back then to protect the records if they were that important?”

Ekon sucked that delicious plump lower lip between his teeth, frowning. “I don’t know. Perhaps he couldn’t stop the records being taken because… they belonged to the assassins. Were about the assassins, Marvin and Duron. Perhaps the fae couldn’t stop them being taken by the person the record was about. It’s not like the fae was sticking around long enough to actually have a conversation with someone who might turn up, that we know of.” Ekon wore a thoughtful look as he stared at his empty plate.

When he glanced up Mao felt the kick of emotional turmoil between them. “I’ll admit, by the time I got here, I was pissed off. My thoughts and dreams were invaded when I was on the plane coming here. I’ve barely slept in weeks, and when I got within spitting distance of the bunker, I felt the magic here like a sledgehammer to my gut.” Ekon pinched the bridge of his nose.

Mao got the impression there was more he wasn’t saying, but after carefully putting his plate aside, Ekon added, “I’m not used to all this magic stuff. It’s not who I am. It’s enough that I have my animal sides, and yes that’s plural, but that’s common among assassins. I always knew I was slightly different, even from my kin, as you call them, and I never understood why. I thought that the voice could give me the answers I’ve been looking for. Instead, he was being all cryptic before he turned into a puff of fucking dust when I’d barely been here five minutes.”

“And somehow infusing you with all the remaining power he had left, if our earlier flying session was any indication.” Mao chuckled, recalling exactly how high they’d been off the ground. “Did I get that right?”

“It looks that way. The thing is, I don’t know what that means for the future. All I want is to find my records and know where I come from. Now, for some fucking reason I don’t understand, these records are now mine to protect. Which leads me to a question for you.” He looked up and met Mao’s eyes once more, revealing vulnerability. “You never said why you were here. I know why I’m here, but you have family and connections. You know where you come from, so what are you doing here if not searching for answers?”

Mao swallowed hard enough his throat clicked. He really didn’t want to say, not without learning a hell of a lot more about his mate first. Being mates meant being honest, though, and Mao had never backed down from doing anything unpleasant before. “I was sent here to bomb the bunker,” he uttered slowly. “Apparently the orders came from the krakens and the council—at least according to my brother, Ben.”