“I’m not sure. This is why I need your advice,” he ground out.
Kaz shook his head. Long black hair, thick and wavy, swept back and forth over the back of his beaten leather jacket. “I’m not mated, Cal. I wouldn’t know the first thing about it.”
“But you know people who are mated,” Cal pressed. “You know how it’s supposed to work.”
“I… Well, sure, I guess, but—”
Cal made a frustrated sound in the back of his throat. “Please, Kaz. I need help. You are my only friend. I trust you.”
“Ah, fuck,” the orc muttered, kicking a pebble at the tire of his parked car.
When he took too long to answer, Cal added, “She is all I’ve ever wanted. I can’t lose her, Kaz. I won’t survive it.”
“Shit. Picked a real fucking time to fall in love, fog man.” Kaz scrubbed his scarred knuckles over his jaw, his eyes on his brother’s back. Theodore was leaning down to talk to the small woman, one gloved hand wrapped around the back of her neck in a possessive hold even Cal recognized.
Arching his brows, Cal glanced around to find more elvish shadows moving around the street. Residents were being ushered back into their homes, and a clean up crew had already begun to wipe all evidence of the incident from the street. By morning, he guessed that even the damage done to the surrounding homes would be fixed. No evidence left behind.
His eyes swung back to the sovereign and the woman he held. She didn’t seem pleased to see him, but she wasn’t trying to free herself from his hold, either. Petite and breakable looking, she still managed to stare up at the sovereign boldly, her fists clenched at her sides. Whatever it was the Solbournes were up to, Cal had a feeling that the healer wouldn’t bend to their machinations easily.
“Fine.” Kaz sighed, drawing Cal’s attention back to important things. “But I’ll need your help with something in exchange. Deal?”
For Elise, Cal would do anything. No questions asked. “Deal.”
“Meet me at the bar. Midnight.”
Cal nodded. Their business done, he let the rest of his form dematerialize once more.
Finally, he thought, catching the air currents that led back to Elise, I’m going to get some answers.