Bound to Earth

9: Do Not Make Me Decapitate You

"Token, how old are you?" Brynjar asked over more of his paperwork. Every job they had was recorded and reported down to the smallest, most unnecessary detail. Only one of their jobs had been falsely reported, the one with me in it.

"How old do you think I am?" Whatever he was thinking, I was old enough. And even if I wasn't, which was doubtful, I was still capable enough. My age shouldn't matter after 21.

"Four." Malachi chimed in, begging for me to fillet his tongue. He brushed off my glare with a small smirk. "You're so immature at times."

Brynjar shrugged, ignoring Malachi with a small sigh. Brynjar himself looked to be in his 30's but his eyes held the calm dominance of someone far older, a millennium of experience. Appearances were only an illusion. "20's? Maybe early 30's?"

Malachi chuckled to himself. Whatever amusement he found, I didn't want to know the horrors of. There wouldn't be anything scarier I could find from others after scouring through his fears and I rather enjoyed looking at other people's horrors. "If only you were older than Valentino, then he'd never live down being the baby of the group."

Both Alistar and Valentino had run off somewhere into the night, murdering without me. Fuckers left two of their brothers behind to keep me from destroying anything. Maybe I'd sneak off and catch up with them before the night was over. "And how old is Valentino?"

"He's almost 190," Brynjar said as if everyone lived to be that age. And Valentino was supposed to be the baby of the group. You'd be lucky to find someone who'd live to 150. Only the fae really had a longer life span, practically immortal.

"How old is Alistar?" It seemed like a simple enough question.

Malachi frowned, unsure himself. "I think he's somewhere in his 400's?"

"No, he's older than that." Brynjar pushed his work aside and sat back, thinking. "I found him around the 1500's, so he's at least 600." Not even Brynjar knew, and he seemed to know most everything.

"None of you know how old Alistar is? Do you even know what happened to him before you met?" I gawked at them. You'd think after spending centuries together, they'd at least know his age. I know I wouldn't have the patience to keep to myself.

"It's because we know what happened, we don't ask." Brynjar stretched, laying across my floor. His tone had made it clear that was the end of it, that if I wanted to know I'd have to ask Alistar himself.

An almost uncomfortable silence fell, their lack of knowledge on their brother bothering them too. Maybe I shouldn't have asked, changed their dynamics. They were perfect before I showed up. I toed the carpet. "You don't have to stay here, you know?"

Malachi snorted as if what I said was more absurd than asking Alistar's age. "Are you trying to kick us out?"

"No, you shit head. I'm saying if you're uncomfortable living here, you don't have to." Two of them slept on the floor of my living room every night, while the others took the couch or bed in my spare room. Valentino was usually in my spare room and they all refused to bunk with him. I had other rooms on the floor below me, where they could comfortably stay.

The air shifted in the room with a small breeze that dragged sugar and roses into my lungs. I took a subtle deep breath, letting myself revel in their scents for a second. I didn't have to look back to know Valentino and Alistar were back.

"You are trying to kick us out." Malachi teased, knowing exactly who stood behind us with no context. It was irritating me, like an itch that I wanted to beat the shit out of since scratching wasn't working.

Brynjar glanced at me and sighed, seeing all the annoyance twisting my face. "I'm not leaving."

"Wait, what? Who's leaving or getting kicked out?" Valentino exclaimed. He stood next to Alistar, arms crossed. His hair and clothes, clean and sharp as ever. The small metallic scent of his gun already fired the only marring.