chapter 22

"What? Was that a secret?!" Kitty asked nervously, thinking Metis looked mad because Erebus told her something she should not know.

"Kind of. Actually, our very existence needs to remain a secret to human." Erebus continued smoothly with her misunderstanding.

"I'm sorry... I won't tell anyone!" Kitty stood her hand up as if taking an oath.

"Haha, I told you BECAUSE I trust you. Don't worry about it." Erebus chuckled at her "oath" and pulled the chair out for her, "You WILL know more anyways as you spending more time with us, it's okay."

Before Kitty can say anything more, the door opened again. This time everyone was surprised, because the five people in the room should be all the guest for tonight's dinner.

"Theia?! Why are you here?!" Metis exclaimed with her eyes shifting to the steak in front of her. The image of the steak Theia made last time was still vivid in their heads.

"Nothing! Hey, you are having steaks!" Theia sit herself down at the table, holding Tartarus's hand, who was the only one that finished Theia's steak last time...

"Tartarus..." Erebus sighed.

"My Lord." Tartarus just replied two tame words. Erebus knew he came only because Theia couldn't miss this fun.

"Like I said yesterday, what you are looking for is not going to happen very fast--" Erebus started talking, and was again cut off by the open of the door:

"Drink night!" Oceanus's voice came through the door from behind Dionysus, who probably was lured here only by the promised drink. He was not the gossipy type.

"Anyone else?" There's a danger hiding in Erebus tone as every of his loyal Dim Patronus seemed hell bent on exposing his secret.

"Is this a bad time?" Themis asked nervously standing by the door, not knowing what was going on.

Erebus: "..."

The kitchen seemed a bit small now after a dozen of people suddenly poured in. With all kinds of agenda on their minds, the only thing they had in common was a shred of nervous for the rage coming from their Lord. They didn't expect to meet so many alike minds either.

Erebus looked at them, holding his arm in front of his chest with a mischief look on his face, determined to not let them off the hook easily. After all, what they are risking IS his life-time love, who knows how Kitty would react if she knew--

"Hahaha..." Kitty burst into laughter and robbed her head against Erebus arm like a kitten, "They really do love you, so much!"

And the shred of anger Erebus felt was then nowhere to be found.

Not even his sigh of defeat could hide the fact that he was cheered up by the slight intimacy he had with Kitty. His happiness came so easily after he met her.

"Fine, call the rest of the team, and let's have a drink night." Erebus said to Metis, who already had her phone in hand with Pallas's number on the screen. There were only 3 of his Dim Patronus missing, no reason to let them miss all the fun.

The whole kitchen was now noisy and crowded with all the cooking and laughing...

"OMG!!! It's really good! Think it's almost as good as mine!" Theia exclaimed, taking a bite of a steak Kitty just made, and Metis shook her head, laughing. Theia has no self-consciousness when it comes to cooking.

"Awww thanksss, haven't cooked it for a while. We used to cook together like this before." Kitty returned a smile, pouring more oil into the pot for the next steak.

Erebus sit by the table, with his gaze safely landed on Kitty, who at that moment was surrounded by girls and too busy to notice his attention. It was not as good as holding her in his arms, but having her under his wing safe and sound was happy enough for him now.

"What's the occasion?" Pallas stuck his head in the kitchen, and got only a roll of his eyes from Erebus. Poor Pallas, it was not his fault at all, but forgive Erebus for feeling sour of that question because all the drama earlier.

"Haha, just get in!" Menoetius laughed as he dragged Pallas into the room. The whole night's surprise on Erebus had given Menoetius his whole year's worth of fun already.

All food is up, and all heads are down. In a circle they prayed in front of their meal, and then--

All eyes were on Erebus, waiting for him to say something special. Their eyes went back and forth from Erebus to Kitty, almost tied them together with the eagerness in their stare.

Erebus put down his hands and squinted his eyes at his loyal puppies for a while with mischief on his face, and with a serious tone he said: "You have all done good this time. You honored your title and your oath, and I'm pleased. Tonight belongs to you, and you can have all the fun you can."

They all cheered and grabbed the forks and knives when Erebus added: "And tomorrow, I have a special training day prepared for you all."

Twelve wolves froze in their action and started howling as Erebus turned to Kitty with an innocent smile: "Let's eat! I cannot wait to try your cooking!"

Kitty giggled as she put a bite in her mouth, amazed at how they deal with the mysterious jobs in the world, but could still have so innocent fun at the same time. Their world is so different from the "adult world" at the orphanage where real darkness lingers.

Tartarus and Pallas stayed behind to clean after the huge dinner, and the rest went to sit in the bar around their usual table. Except this time, they were all focusing on the bar instead of their casual talk because Erebus was teaching Kitty to make cocktails.

"So, these are the five base wines. You can take a sip of every one of them, but with light lemonade sips in between so you won't mix the taste up. Try to appreciate the differences." Erebus poured five shots and lined them in front of Kitty, with a cup of lemonade by the side.

"What's their names?" Kitty took up the first shot. It was poured from a crystal bottle with white liquor in it.

"I'll tell you the names later. I don't want unnecessary information to cloud your judgement." Erebus took her arm in his hand and added, "Just a sip."

Kitty gave him a big smile at his constantly worrying about her: "I'm not a kid anymoreeee." She took a small sip of the clear liquor and made a face.

"Haha, liquor is not all fun, KIDDO." Seeing her frowning at the taste, Erebus burst into laughter as he stressed on the "kiddo", satisfied to see her pouting her lips at him.

"It's because this one taste bad. I had too high an expectation." Kitty stared at the shot in her hand with a bothered look.

"Absolutely." Erebus chuckled and drank the rest of her shot, "Have some lemonade, it would wash off the taste."

"Thanks..." Kitty lowered her head with a pair of red ears. Sharing the shot with Erebus somehow made her feel like she was boiling inside. Where does this mixture of excitement, satisfaction and nervous came from?!

"This one would be Whisky." Erebus shook the empty shot before he put it in the sink.

"I'll remember to avoid it." Kitty took another sip out of the second shot, "It's smooth and a bit sweet."

"Like it?" Erebus took the shot over, "Smooth is correct. They don't differ just on the flavor but also on texture."

"Hmmm, it's not too bad..." Kitty thought about it for a bit, "But I guess I am not really into sweetness."

"Try this one." Erebus picked a shot out of order for her after she took another swallow of the lemonade, "and try to feel the difference."

"Wow! It's bitter AND rough!" Kitty frowned at the new shot.

"Hahaha..." Erebus laughed at her face, amazed at how he never thought it could be so much fun making cocktails before. "This is Rum. And the smooth and sweet one would be Brandy."

"I don't hate it actually, I like Rum better than Brandy." Savoring the aftertaste of the drink, Kitty made a conclusion.

"Interesting." Erebus rose his brow as a hint of surprised, "Take your pick then."

Kitty looked down at the two left shots, and then rested her hand on her hip, looking up at Erebus again with a pretend angry face: "They look exactly the same..."

"Haha..." Erebus burst into laughter, "My apologies, my princess. It IS a bit hard to tell."

Kitty quickly looked down and picked up the shot closer to her and mumbled: "I'm not a princess..."

She swallowed the whole shot, feeling embarrassed by the title AND her own reaction. She knew he meant well, and he had been nothing but nice and kind to her. But somehow that word just reminded her of the fact that she was only a stray cat that was nowhere near a princess.

"Sorry if I offended you." His clear blue eyes fixed on her, as if he could see through her soul. Kitty just wanted to drown in those beautiful eyes, but she knew it was just too good a dream to be real.

"No you didn't, I'm just...a stray cat." The last three words slip off her tongue before she could stop herself. Realized what she just said, she shot up her head to look at him in panic, only to find the whole world was all spinning with this sudden move. "I--"

"Wow..." Erebus caught her by her waist, stroke a finger gently down the bridge of her nose: "Only sips, kiddo."

Kitty fell on his chest, still trying to grasp what was wrong with the world: "But you took three shots... Why can't I have one?"

"Sense" is not a word in the dictionary of the drunk.

"Alright, let's call it a night--"

"What? No! I still have one more drink to..." Kitty jumped backwards trying to put some distance between her and Erebus, "I'm okay!"

"You are drunk, kiddo." Erebus chuckled at her perplexed face and took her up into his arms, "The drink will be here tomorrow, relax."

"I... I like the last one..." Kitty lost all the strength to struggle when she felt the firm but warm chest that was now her pillow and fell asleep right there in Erebus arms.

Walking to the stairs with Kitty in his arms, Erebus heard the burst of laughter coming from his good old Dim Patronus. He didn't even turn to look, amazed to realize that he couldn't care less about what others think when he had her there in his arms, finally with no more torturing distance between them...