“But,” I decided it was time to get to the point of Leo’s visit, “the reason I went through with this now, accepting Ambrose’s help, is I wasn’t willing to let him be friends with me without dealing with some people from my past.  People who would hurt him if they ever found out he was connected to me.”  Leo, I knew, would understand my concerns on that front.  He didn’t want Ambrose hurt any more than I did.

Briefly, I ran through what had happened 35 years ago, then explained about Alessia – which clearly surprised him – Bob, and the plans for the nightwing and centaur.

“Alessia’s been practicing her magic, seeing if she can’t make arrows precise and, well, a lot of them.  She says she wants to make it rain arrows.”  I rolled my eyes.  “There’s a satyr at her gym who might be willing to lend a hand, but Alessia isn’t sure she wants to deal with the amount of talking that we’d have to put up if we recruited him.  He might be a good distraction, though, with all the talking.”  I’d met him, once, to sort of see if I could tell how he might feel about helping us.  Good news, I was pretty sure he would be on board, but bad news, if Alessia didn’t punch him after a couple hours with the guy, I probably would, so I really wasn’t sure he was a good option.  “He talks a lot,” I added.  “A lot a lot.  I can usually tolerate any personality, at least for a while, but he’d be a challenge.”

Leo was nodding along, thoughtfully, while he listened.  “I cannot claim to be as proficient in combat as either a demon or a naga, but I have some experience.  Ambrose hasn’t needed protection since he distanced himself from his parents, but I have endeavored to be able to fulfill that role should it ever be required.”

“It’d be helpful,” I admitted honestly.  “At least I know you can handle yourself reasonably well and you get why we’re doing this – and I presume, want the same thing.”

Leo actually smiled, for once.  “Ambrose was quite delighted when he stumbled across you, he made it very clear he intended to find you again and wouldn’t let you escape.  Knowing why you wish to have this issue handled, yes, I can agree, I would want the same thing.  Ambrose is happiest with you, and if these people are a barrier to that happening, because they would threaten his safety if they knew you were involved with each other, then we will simply have to end that threat.”  He seemed pretty calm about it.  To Leo, his brother’s safety was always the top priority, even if it involved other people dying in the process.

“Are you aware that he’s, well, interested in me?”  As soon as I said the words, I wondered if I should have.  If Ambrose hadn’t told him, this might turn things awkward.

Apparently, I shouldn’t have underestimated Ambrose’s enthusiasm.

“He was quite adamant on that subject, too.”  Leo looked thoughtful, though, not concerned like I might have guessed.  “I admit, I appreciate that you asked him to think through his feelings and see if he could sift out whether he was getting his fond memories mixed up for real attraction to the current you.  He attempted to talk it through with me, several times, but kept coming back to being convinced he really does like you.  To be quite honest, the idea didn’t surprise me.  I’d seen hints back before the fight that he was potentially starting to become attracted to you, but he was barely understanding himself at that age or what attraction was.  Of course, there can be complications with fond memories and reencountering the person, so I am grateful that you recognized that and made him think through his feelings.  I am not certain he would listen to anyone but you, at least on that topic.  He often comes to me for advice, but when it comes to matters of the heart, Ambrose is not inclined to listen to what others’ opinions might be.”

“And it doesn’t bother you?”  I asked, hesitantly.  It wasn’t like I necessarily needed the approval of anyone else, but Leo was the only family Ambrose had, and he’d stuck with him for longer than anyone else in his life.  It was one thing for Leo to know Ambrose wanted me around as a friend, another to know he wanted me as a partner.

Leo took a few moments to think through his answer.  “You have always held Ambrose’s interests and well-being in high regard.  You never had inappropriate actions towards him, of course, but it was quite clear to me that you cared about him, beyond simple job responsibilities.  You took time to understand what he was thinking and what was important to him and took time to make sure he was confident in his ability to protect himself.  I think that confidence has spread to other areas, as well.  I think you may be the reason he was so willing to start life on his own, when he was barely 21, rather than relying on his parents.  He felt capable of handling himself and knew who he was and what he wanted.  Granted, some of that may be simple stubbornness,” he had the faintest of smiles, “but I like to think that you gave him confidence to just be who he wanted to be.  I suppose for you, it could be disorienting to think of the child you once knew as a potential partner, but as far as I am concerned, you have always indicated a concern for Ambrose over yourself, even.  You risked your life despite immense danger for him, and even now, you’re attempting to deal with dangerous shadows from your past in order to protect Ambrose – not yourself.  So as far as a potential partner for him is concerned, you are one I would approve of.  But what about you?”  His eyes were piercing.  “How do you feel on that subject?”

It was my turn to pause before responding.  “I never thought of him like that when he was younger.  Not at all.  When I first saw him again, I could recognize he was handsome, of course, but that was still not a thought that occurred to me until he put it there.  It kind of surprised me at first, but intrigued me at the same time.  Ambrose has always been a special person to me, so there’s some curiosity about how the boy I once knew would be as a man, and as a lover.”  I leaned my hip against the counter.  “He’s doing his best at flirting, and I’m kind of willing to let him try.  I think once this is over, I’d be glad to explore that possibility with him.  No guarantees, of course, for whether it would work long-term, but I’d like to see.”

“Fair enough.”  Leo actually seemed pleased with my response.  “He will be delighted, once you decide to tell him that.”

I was kind of grateful he wasn’t going to repeat it, because I strongly doubted Ambrose would be able to hold himself back if he found that out now.  He’d probably show up at the club, eyes sparkling, and just stare at me with it written all across his face.

Yeah, probably best to avoid that particular outcome.

I decided to turn my attention away from the slightly embarrassing – but also kind of captivating – thought of a bright eyed Ambrose not trying to hide his feelings.

“Can I ask about what kind of shifter you are?  Anything useful?”

“Ah.  Unfortunately, no.”  Leo grimaced, then sighed.  “My mother, she was a good woman, but poor.  From what I picked up from her, Roland only attempted to sleep with supernaturals, although I am not clear on whether that was because he believed himself too good for humans or because he thought somehow it was less complicated with supernaturals, since at least a supernatural, if it had a kid with him, would know what to do if the child were a pegasus, while a human would not.  I am actually not inclined to think that he considered the issue of children, however, because he certainly didn’t plan for nor desire my existence.”  Leo seemed unbothered by that blunt statement, however.  “But my mother…she had the misfortune of being a young girl in love with a man who would never look at her again.  She kept pining after him, hoping that he might notice her again whenever he stopped by to provide financial aid to us, but he never did.  He barely looked at either of us any time he stopped by.  She never gave up loving him, and I think that contributed to her early demise.  She simply…pined away, I suppose.  That was shortly before I ended up going to live with him.  He made some comment at the time, that it was unfortunate I was a shifter like my mother and not a pegasus like him, which made me wonder if he would have acknowledged me had I been a pegasus, but no matter.”  His expression turned thoughtful.  “I was glad, in a way, that my mother did not live to see him marry Miranda.  I think it would have broken her heart even more had she seen him with another woman, let alone one as shallow and self-centered as Miranda.”

Okay, that gave me a lot of info about his mother that I didn’t expect, but still didn’t explain what kind of shifter he was.

“So…not a helpful shifter?”  I asked after a moment, when it became clear he wasn’t going to continue.  “For combat, anyway?  I mean, any shifter type can be helpful, in different contexts.”

“Regrettably, I am a raccoon shifter,” Leo informed me.  “It is dreadfully unhelpful for combat, but I may be able to assist in spying on the people involved to learn more information about them, depending on where they live and whether it is an area where a raccoon might be expected to appear.”

A raccoon.  That would not be the animal I would associate with the extremely formal Leo, and somehow I suspected his raccoon impersonation would not be the most natural.  Chances were, he’d act more like a little butler than a little bandit.

“Right,” I agreed hastily, “we’ll think about that, but I want to say they both live in town, and I don’t want them to notice a shifter watching them, so it’s probably safest if you don’t spy on them.  And you’re right, I’m guessing your human form will be more helpful for combat.”  I paused, then decided to ask his advice.  “What do you think about including the satyr?”

“You are more familiar with combat, as is the demon,” Leo responded slowly, thinking it through.  “My first inclination would be that numbers could work in our favor, particularly if the two of them are skilled in combat.  On the other hand, if the satyr were to become a distraction, it could backfire on us.”

Honestly, though, I was just grateful he was agreeing to help.  For one thing, that meant there would be three of us, four if we included the satyr, and that helped tip the odds in our favor.

After all, we still had the possibility that our targets might have friends with them.  Considering that, it probably was best to include the satyr.  Leo was certainly right about one thing – numbers could work in our advantage.  Better safe than sorry, right?

I grimaced to myself as I reluctantly came to the conclusion that we were going to have to involve the satyr.  I just hoped we could survive him for that long.

~~~~~

“Okay, okay, okay,” the satyr, Lance, was talking about 100 miles a minute.  Or thereabouts.  “Alessia told me you wanted me to help with some supernatural fight thing and I was like ‘oh cool, that would be awesome!’  Because you guys are, like, tough and stuff, and I don’t normally get to do that.  People think of us like party people and we are, because parties are great and all, but I want to be more than that, you know?  I like boxing, I can flit around people fast, and that’s kind of fun all in its own thing, because it’s like this dance almost, where we’re both doing dance steps and adjusting based on what they do and them wham!  Someone gets knocked out.  It’s pretty awesome, if you think about it.”

Alessia’s smile was tight and her hands clenched like she wanted to strangle him, while I was still several words behind his rant because I could swear he could talk faster than most people could think.

“Are you agreeing to help us?”  I interrupted.  I honestly couldn’t tell if he’d said that in amongst everything else.

“Oh for sure!  For sure!  It’ll be fun, and I can put my boxing dance skills to the test!  I know, don’t worry – I know it’s dangerous and Alessia already explained that, and said I shouldn’t take anything for granted and these guys are tough, but she also said it’s to protect a friend and a friend of a friend or something, I’m not sure, but yeah, yeah, I’ll help!  I never challenged a centaur before, but I kinda think it would be fun, for realsies.  They’re half horse and we’re half goat and if we got into it, it’s hooves against hooves, and I’d be curious to see who comes out on top, but I’d bet good money on me.  I mean, horse bodies are just longer, you know?  More feet to worry about.  I’m fast and can get behind one and they can’t get around that fast.  I guess they could kick me,” he didn’t even pause for a second, “but I still think I could avoid it.  I’m really good at avoiding that kind of stuff.  You have to be, in a satyr family.  When we play sports sometimes, we play in our real forms and people will kick at each other with their hooves.  They can cause some serious damage if they collide, so you gotta be careful and quick to avoid them.  Got a friend who didn’t, and got a bad bruise down to his bone as a result.  Limped for like half a semester until he finished healing.”

I tuned him out and turned to look at Alessia, my eyes a bit glazed over.  “I’m guessing he never stops?”

“Nope,” she grumbled.  “You know why I assign him to one of my other coaches, now, right?”

Leo was listening politely to all of this, but even he seemed to be starting to get drowned in the onslaught of words being hurled at us.