“Basically, Tank’s life motto was,no obstacle is too big to get what you want.”
Nox laughed.
“You wouldn’t think it was funny if you’d had a three-foot pony bust down a door to steal your waffles.”
Nox kept laughing, and Luca poked him in the side.
“Sorry.” Nox held up his hands.
“No, you’re not.” A smile broke through Luca’s mask of frustration.
“Okay, you’re right. I’m not. But you can’t say something like that then tell me it wasn’t funny.”
“Well, it wasn’t. At least not to five-year-old Luca Suarez who didn’t even know he’d received a pony for Christmas until it pushed him out of his chair and took his breakfast.”
Nox barely held back.
“Now the day Tank trampled Easter? That was funny.”
Nox raised his eyebrows.
“Mom thought it would be a good idea to offer up Tank for pony rides when the local church set up a mini-Easter fair. I didn’t get to go because I was too sick, but I saw it on social media where someone recorded Tank running down the road, face covered in cake and dragging half a bouncy house.” Luca grinned. “Apparently, he really liked cake.”
“Sounds like it.”
The burning happiness in Luca’s eyes died down. “As much of a pain in the ass as he was, I still missed him when our parents sold the horses after Koda died.”
“Why did they do that?” If there’d been a time in Luca’s life he’d needed companionship, it would have been then.
“I was just getting through my second round of chemo, and I didn’t have the strength to take care of them, and our parents didn’t have the time.” He shrugged. “It was for the best. Saved me from having to worry about what to do with the horses after our parents died in the car crash.”
“How long ago was that?”
“Long enough for me to find out the cancer came back, and another round of treatment wasn’t an option.”
When the world almost lost a gift.
Then Nox would have lost the world.
Luca stepped closer and rested his wrists on Nox’s shoulders. Shorter, slighter, with lean muscles over a strong frame, Luca towered over Nox while at the same time looking up at him.
Nox dropped his head to reach Luca’s mouth and brushed his lips over his. This close, Nox’s world narrowed to the dark eyes of the man he loved and nothing else mattered.
Not even the pull of the Northern horizon.
Luca glanced past Nox, and he turned.
Seung’s silver wolf stood with its head down and hackles raised before turning and vanishing into the broken shadows cast by tall stalks of grass.
“Something’s wrong with Dr. Dante.” Luca ran and Nox followed.
As soon as they entered the kitchen, Dr. Dante said, “Curs.”
Seung stood in front of Dr. Dante. Sweat soaked his brow, and he held his scarred shoulder.
“They’re coming.” Fear illuminated his eyes. “I don’t know how many. I don’t know….” He looked at each of them. “I’m not lying.”
Luca joined Seung.