"You'll be a huge help. Sit up with me and I'll explain, since you need to know what will happen, may happen, and the risks. And yes, as with anything involving magic, there are risks." He let her settle in under his arm and gave her a squeeze. "As I mentioned, I contacted a few friends who will help me. I am fairly young in comparison to many of the races, so I've not yet fully reached my magic potential. They will know better than I what we are looking for, even though none of us know exactly what to expect."
"I trust you," Lilly admitted honestly. "I really do. No matter what, I trust you. If you feel that someone else should help get me out of whatever this is, then I trust you in that. But I really and truly do believe that no matter what we will do what's necessary because we really do both want the same things. Happiness and joy, right?"
"I do and yes, we will have happiness and joy, too." He smiled down at her. Pressing a kiss to her cheek, Gavriel checked his watch. "Come on, darling, let's get you a snack and some water, and then we need to get out of here. We're heading over to Artaxias's place for more sleep, and then the others will meet us there tomorrow after breakfast. Just a warning, they are a little … " Gav paused and seemed to be searching for a word. "Well, I'll just say, they are a little weird."
"Okay, what do you mean?" Now Lilly was very, very curious. She wanted to know just what he was thinking now, because he had said that. "I'm really not sure what you mean when you say that. I don't think that I can handle more strangeness in life." She had signed on for this, she really had, but seriously? She wasn't certain just how this was going to work.
"Well"-he drew the word out, really drew it out-"Spirytes are eccentric to begin with. Something in our genetic makeup or maybe the magic, or a combination, who knows? But the older you are, the longer you've been around the magic, the weirder you tend to get. You know how people with ADD tend to get distracted or off topic or jump topic to topic? Yeah, they're like that but so, so much more."
"Wonderful," Lilly said with a shrug. "So that's what I have to look forward to?" she asked with a smile. "You becoming eccentric and strange?" Looking up at him, she smiled happily. "And you know, oddly enough, I don't find anything wrong with that. I look forward to you becoming that way. I guess that makes me strange, too, huh?"
"I'm guessing yes, I'll likely become like they are. Hopefully not as fast, as I'll have a mate to take up some of the time I'd spend going nuts. That and you'll be giving me balance, too," he said softly. "I just pray it's not too soon, or Ax will likely finally give into that primal urge of his and kill me."
She rolled her eyes and grinned. "Oh, honey, believe me when I tell you that I will be right there with you. I've only just met you but I like you, a lot. I happen to very much adore being able to spend some time with you. I think that this is going to be a very good thing that we have going here."
"Good." He reached out and a second later passed her a bottle of water and a snack bar. "Eat and drink, and then we will head to his place." Gavriel leaned back and gave her a little space to have her snack.
"On the other side of the Veil?" She swallowed, hard. "I've never been over there," she admitted. "What if I freak out? What if whatever is wrong with me translates to something bad out there? Over there?"
"No love, his place here, he doesn't … " Gav stopped dead in his tracks and thought of what to tell her. "Ah hell," he muttered. "He doesn't have a home on the other side. It's one of the reasons he never returns, or I should say, rarely returns. When he does go back, it's usually to visit an associate or check in with a contact. His home, the place he was born, was destroyed by the lord of those lands. He doesn't even know what happened to the woman who gave him life. I'd say mother, but from what he's shared, that bitch was no mother. Mine is a suffocating female that drives me insane, but she is the polar opposite of that female."
"Oh God, seriously?" she asked softly. "That poor man," she whispered. "Well he has us now, right? That's what matters. What matters is that we will all be able to move on and we will be happy. Somehow and someway, we will give him the happiness and life that he deserves."
"He has a good life here, he has roots here. As long as this world doesn't erupt into another war, he'll always have a home here, with you and I. He no longer needs to trade his skill set out to have a place to sleep or for food to fill his belly. Though, your people do have issues with his main dietary need, because of some moron that got it all wrong anyway."
"Do you think that he will want to take from me?" She had never thought that she would be willing to be a donor, but for Artaxias she would. Gladly. "Or do you even think that he would ever ask me if I would be willing to do just that for him?"
"He will when we bond with you, complete the mating. It's his way but other than that, I doubt he ever would ask. He doesn't feed from the source anymore. He always drinks bagged blood, we have had that in the realms beyond the Veil for centuries before you did here. But you could suggest it to him," Gavriel said with a grin. "Especially when he's making love to you, when we make love to you."
Lilly shivered and smiled. "And how do you know what would feel good to me?" Her tone was clear. That thought enticed her greatly. "And what about you? How will you bond with me? If he does so via blood, how will you?"
"Not entirely sure. It has to do with the magic, that much I know. I just don't know exactly how it works," he said, looking uncomfortable. "It's not something discussed in my realm. Unlike the Vhampires and Luhpynes which is easy to determine, those of the Spirytes and Ahnjels don't exactly discuss such things. Especially with their kids." He made a face. "So not discussing sex with my mother."
"Well, you are going to have to find out something from someone, Gav, so that we can bond. I'm not saying that it has to happen today, but I think that I would want that eventually. Right now, I want to get to know you. I have to tell you, however, that I'm already so drawn to both of you that it honestly kind of wigs me out a little bit."
"Why?" He frowned at her. "I mean the wigging out part," he said, waving a hand slightly. "What's to wig out about, Lilly? You're our destined mate, the one chosen for us and us for you in return. There should be no reason for you to wig, as you so quaintly put it. Is there?"
"Because I feel so very much so very soon. I've never had anything like this before in my life, and frankly, it's a little terrifying. To feel so very much, to want so very much. Yes, I've felt attraction before, but never anything like this. Ever."
"We're fated to be, Lilly," he said, like that was the answer to everything. Gavriel reached out and took her hand in his. "I know that this is all scary to you, little mate. Hell, it's terrifying for me, too. I know, shouldn't say that, but it's the truth. This is the most important thing to ever happen to us, this mating. It should be scary, but it is also wondrous and exciting as well."
"It is all of the above, but it's also more than a little scary. I've been alone for a very long time. I never dreamed that I would have something as right as this, as perfect as a mating. Good lord, I didn't even know about them until I met you guys. Well, I take that back. I knew the basics of it, of course, but it wasn't until you guys explained it all to me that I got just how big this is."
"It's only as big as you make it. If it eases your mind in some way, think of it as a marriage. A multiple marriage, yes, but still a marriage. We will be completing our lives by including one another for all time. Mating sounds scary, though I have to say, your human vows do have it right in that whole ‘till death' part."
"Marriage terrifies me. I would rather think of the mating. It feels more loving than the coldness that can be found in so very many marriages." It was clear in her tone of voice that marriage was something she had seen done and failed far more oftentimes than not.
"Well, mating is anything but cold." He chuckled. Lifting her hand, he pressed a kiss to her palm. "It's a melding of souls, three becoming one and yet still their own person. We will be joined on a level that only those who are mated can ever truly understand. We will know where one another is nearly at all times, the state of mind and emotion. It's a joining that ensures we are never alone again."