He loved his gifts from the fae. His clothes, which changed appearance and kept him clean, had been part of a set called Gentlemen Garments. He had gotten them during a visit to Éire Danu centuries ago. Keelan now wore one of the two pieces he received along with the washing towel which was now acting like a diaper. In addition to the garments, he had been given the infinitely useful Bag of Wishes; all were gifts from the fae queen herself.
The Bag of Wishes allowed him to store anything he wanted in his pouch, regardless of size and weight. He had tried to duplicate it's magic but could never get the mass equations correct. Shaking his head at the mysteriousness of fae magic, he never appreciated it more as his lab quickly began to take shape.
Once Aiden was able to provide him with the necklaces, he would be able to start testing the different types of magic that went into creating them, including tracking down the caster. When he did find the one responsible for his brother's condition, not even the Council would be able to keep the bastard alive for questioning. The second he knew a name, the witch was dead.
*****
Anne watched as Colton looked down at the four boxes and blinked. "Seriously? This is all you own?"
"Yup. One for schoolbooks, one for clothes, one for keepsakes, and one for knickknacks. Right before my father died, he told me to get rid of anything that could tie me down and run after my dreams. Since I had to move across country for school, it made sense to get rid of anything that I absolutely didn't need. It just became a habit after that." She failed to mention that her most prized possessions, her massive anime and book collections, were kept safe in digital format in cloud storage. She didn't even want to contemplate moving her collections if they had been in hard copy. They'd be here for weeks!
"What'd your landlord say?" Sascha asked, picking up two of the boxes.
Anne smiled. "Mr. Clemson has known me since I was in second grade; he didn't give me any grief over the lease. Besides it's a downtown location--well, as downtown as Madison gets anyway. He won't have any problem renting this out."
Not to be outdone, Colton picked up the two remaining boxes. "How'd Bart take the news of you quitting?" he asked, balancing the boxes carefully.
Anne let out a huge sigh. "He's a stubborn old goat! I had to threaten to call his wife before he settled down. He knew I appreciated his concern though; he has daughters, after all."
Colton nodded. "Bart is a wise man when it comes to females."
Sascha looked at him intently. "Truly?"
Colton grinned. "He has lived through having six daughters and a wife."
Sascha's eyes rounded. "I need to meet this man."
Quinn came in through the door. "I moved the SUV to the building entrance so we can carry her stuff down." He blinked as he saw Colton and Sascha with the four boxes. "Is that it?"
"Y'all are too much. Come on, let's head back; I want to check on Keelan."
That got the men moving. Within minutes, the boxes were loaded, and they were back on the road. She rode with Colton while Sascha and Quinn followed in her Honda CRV; it had been her only splurge while in college.
"What?" Colton asked out of the blue.
"What?" she asked in return surprised at his question.
"You're frowning."
"Oh. It's just strange, I guess. I've driven down this road thousands of times over the years, ever since I was a kid. But now, it feels different since I know where we're going."
"How are you really? It's a lot to take in, especially with Keelan being..."--Colton struggled to find the right word--"unavailable."
"Unavailable?" She couldn't help the giggle that escaped. "You make him sound like a doctor busy with a patient."
"I don't like the other terms; they're too depressing."
"I wish I had been brought into your lives for a happier reason, but I don't regret being in your world. It's scary, and I wish Keelan was awake to explain things to me, but everyone has been so supportive, even Meryn in her own way."
Colton chuckled. "She may come across as a bit kooky, but she has a huge heart and is very protective of the ones she loves."
"She seems very heartbroken about Keelan. Were they close?"
Colton stared at the road for a moment. "Yes, but not in the way you'd think. They didn't hang out together, but I think, despite his fear of an uncaffeinated Meryn, Keelan was one of the few people that got her. He understood her sci-fi references and liked the same type of movies. To Meryn, that was priceless. Even now, amongst family, we all love the little menace, but not many people really understand her. "
"I know how Meryn feels. Keelan was the first person I was able to relax around since my parents passed away. It's why I miss him so much now," Anne admitted.
Colton reached over and patted her arm. "We'll get him back. His brother is supposed to be some kind of magical genius. If anyone can get Keelan's soul back, it's Kendrick."
At the mention of his name, Anne began to remember her dreams. It had to be Keelan, not Kendrick who appeared to her at night. Otherwise, why would Keelan say she was his mate? Even telling herself this over and over again, she couldn't ignore the burning attraction she felt for Kendrick.
"Hey Colton, did you dream of Rheia before you found each other?"
"Sure did. Most were nice, but they got scarier the closer I got to meeting her. Some nights, I went without sleep because I didn't want to see her get hurt in my nightmares."
"That's how you knew you were mates? Because you dreamt of her?"
Colton nodded. "She dreamt of me, too. It really helped her accept our mating. Why do you ask? Did you dream of Keelan before you met him?"
"Yes, I did; that's why I was so flustered that night in the store."
Colton laughed. "It didn't help that we had him in a pull up."
Anne smiled at the memory. "His face was the color of a tomato when he walked up to explain what was going on."
Colton groaned. "I still feel awful about that."
"Don't feel bad. It actually made talking to him much easier. There was no way I could be intimidated by him after that. In fact, I think that entire episode made it so that we could talk to each other."
Colton turned to her. "Really? You're not just saying that to make me feel better?" He turned his attention back to the road.
"Really. Normally, I get nervous around people. I was ten years older than my classmates in college, so I was on my own for a long time, but it was impossible to be nervous around Keelan with the image of him wearing a pull up burned into my mind."
"Thanks, Anne. I hated the idea that I might have ruined his mating."
"You're really very sweet. Rheia is a lucky woman."
The tips of Colton's ears turned pink. "I'm a lethal wolf shifter. I am not sweet."
"You keep telling yourself that."
Colton growled and laughed. She ended up laughing with him. Thanks to Keelan, she was making new friends. If only he could be awake to see.
*****
Sascha and Colton carried her boxes up to the guest room closest to Keelan's bedroom. They said their goodbyes and headed downstairs to join up with Quinn before heading to some place called the Council Manor for their meeting. She stared at the boxes and felt no motivation whatsoever to unpack. So she decided to change into more comfortable clothes. She dug through her clothes box and picked out a pair of teal sweatpants, sherpa lined slippers, and her favorite sweatshirt that read, 'Anime...Crack would be cheaper.' Wanting to be closer to Keelan, she grabbed her backpack and pulled out her laptop and charger.
She knocked on Keelan's door and waited. Getting no response, she exhaled in relief. She wasn't sure how to act around Kendrick and the feelings he evoked. She walked in and immediately went over to the bed. She checked Keelan's feeding tube and IV bag; both still looked great. She plugged in her laptop, sat down in the recliner, and made herself comfortable. With her laptop nestled in her lap she fired up her favorite boy's love anime. Boy's love anime was her favorite. What was better than one gorgeous guy going through the ups and downs of falling in love? Two gorgeous men. She was so engrossed in her latest episode, she didn't notice Kendrick's return until he was standing over her.
"Ahh!" She accidentally inhaled her own spit and began to cough. She set her laptop to one side as Kendrick hurried over to the table and brought back his cup of tea. She took small sips still trying to clear her airway.
"Were you trying to kill me?" she demanded.
Kendrick shook his head, an amused expression on his face. "You were so entranced by Tezuka-san and Yuri-kun, you didn't hear me call out to you."
Anne blinked as she realized he knew exactly what she had been watching.
Kendrick leaned down. "You forgot that I don't need subtitles to know what's going on."
"Oh, my goodness!" Anne buried her face in her hands.
"What?" Kendrick asked, walking back to the long table that hadn't been in the room before she left to get her things.
"You must think I'm the biggest nerd in the whole universe for getting caught up in an anime like this."
"Is that what that's called? I was enjoying listening to the story. In fact, if you don't mind, I'd like to find out if Tezuka-san will ever admit his feelings for Yuri." Kendrick picked up a large, ancient-looking, leather-bound book and began to read from it.