Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
C live
A massive dark silver snake man was standing in his living room.
It was so damn tall its head nearly brushed the ceiling. It had a man’s shoulders, arms, and chest, but that narrowed into a thick snake body that stretched out into a long tail. The scales were actually gorgeous, though it shocked the hell out him that he’d even noticed that. Nearly gray, the shadowed silver had streaks and shapes of black throughout, which made the silver shimmer in the overhead lighting. Fangs glistened in the stretched mouth, and slitted gold eyes stared at him in obvious alarm. How the hell could a snake’s eyes show emotion? He had no idea, but they did.
He knew those eyes.
“Bain?” His voice shook.
Right in front of him, Bain’s body began to change. The long body and tail disappeared, bones shifting and rearranging. The sound made Clive wince and shrink back, especially when his bodyguard stood naked in front of him.
“I can explain,” Bain said, lifting his hands.
Clive took another step back, partly out of sheer shock, but also because despite his scrambled brain from what he’d just watched, he needed to move away from that very naked body. Bain was gorgeous. Ripped. Strong biceps and abs to die for. His long legs were corded with muscles. And yet a moment ago, he’d looked so very different.
He hadn’t been a man at all.
Familiar fear slammed into Clive, turning his legs to jelly. Years of worry, a lifetime of seeing unusual beings, it all swarmed in his chest, and he grew dizzy from the power of all that emotion. The swirling mass of mixed responses to both the…magic…of what he’d watched, and the absolute power of that very naked, strong body.
He backed up more, until his spine hit the counter and he gripped it hard, trying to stay on his feet. He’d spent most of his day and night in his office thinking about Bain’s strange eyes, but this was more than he could fathom. His gaze darted around his kitchen, taking in the splatters of blood, the dent in his refrigerator.
Had he finally given up on this reality all together and stepped into one of his imagination?
Bain walked slowly closer, holding out his hands. “Don’t be afraid, Clive. I’m still me. This is just a part of what I am. I knew you saw through the glamour when I took off my glasses, but I’m sorry you had to see me that way without warning.”
“I’ve cracked,” Clive whispered, voice breaking on the word. “Finally and truly cracked.”
“No, you haven’t.” Bain shook his head, long, shining hair swinging around his face. “It’s why you mostly stay home, isn’t it? Because you see things you can’t explain. How long have you seen us, Clive?”
It took him a few moments to gather enough saliva in his bone-dry mouth to speak. “My whole life. Everyone told me I was crazy.”
“You’re not. There’s a whole other world mixed in with the human one. Beings like me, among all of you.”
Beings. Like him. Like the horned musician, the winged bird man, the woman he’d seen at five years old who’d smiled at him, showing sharp, pointed fangs. “What are you?” he whispered.
“I’m a basilisk,” Bain said softly. “I have two forms. The only things that don’t change are my eyes. You’re not crazy. You’re just special because you can see through the magic most of us use to blend in.”
“Special?” Clive was coherent enough to see true worry in Bain’s wild but strangely beautiful eyes.
“Somewhere in your family’s history, there is a preternatural like me. It gave you a kind of gift.”
“I wouldn’t call it a gift,” he muttered. “More like a curse.”
“No, it’s not.”
Clive looked at the body on his floor. “What was that?”
“A wendigo. Sent here to kill you, which is why it didn’t bother with a glamour. Whoever is after you is serious and very, very dangerous. I had no choice but to kill it.”
Clive was reeling. Though he’d come to realize today that this was all real, seeing it in such a…blatant way brought it completely home. He stared at the body, the hooves, the claws, the long, gnarled antlers. That creature had been sent here to kill him.
If Bain hadn’t been here, he’d be dead.
His legs gave out, and he slid to the floor, staring at the streaks of blood around him.
It was time to figure out who was after him.
“You okay, Clive?” Bain asked.
His gaze flicked back up to his bodyguard, and again, he took in how very naked Bain was. Naked and fucking stunning. Lean muscles rippled all over his long body. And his dick… Clive’s mouth went dry. Even soft, its length and girth were impressive. He tried to force himself to look away and he just couldn’t. Not until he heard Bain’s soft chuckle.
“Like what you see?” Bain asked as the corner of his mouth twitched.
His already heated skin went molten. “Sorry. You’re just so…naked. It’s impossible not to look.”
“You’re welcome to look all you like. Stay right there, okay?” Bain walked back toward the hall. “I’ll throw on some clothes, then I’ll explain more about my world, okay?”
“Yes. Please.”
He stayed still as Bain rummaged in the guest room but before he came back out, there was a knock on the front door. He didn’t want to walk past the dead creature on his floor, but he scrambled to his feet, still having to hold onto the edge of the counter.
“I got this,” Bain said as he swept back into the room, this time in his plain jeans and a black T-shirt. For some reason, Clive suddenly missed Bain’s usually colorful clothes. Kind of like he needed them for any of this to feel normal.
Bain answered the door. Two men, also in jeans and black T-shirts, came into the house. They looked like brothers with identical brown hair and features so similar, they could be twins. But one had blue eyes, while the other had brown. The one with brown eyes had a wicked-looking scar down the side of his cheek.
They glanced around the room, nodded at Bain, then walked to the wendigo. One pulled out a vial and sprinkled a shimmering, golden powder over the body. Then it felt like all the air was suddenly sucked out of the room.
Clive raised a hand to his throat. Opened his mouth to breathe, but couldn’t. Every hair on his body stood on end as if electricity had chased away the air. The room blurred before going so bright, he had to squint. No way was he closing his eyes with all this happening.
It was a good thing, too, because watching the wendigo’s corpse just…disintegrate was wild. Not only that, all the blood coating everything disappeared. His books were still on the floor, but they were all clean again. His refrigerator still held the huge dent, but no longer the signs of the fight that had happened here.
Without a word, the two men left. They never even acknowledged either of them outside of that one nod to Bain.
Clive couldn’t stop himself from walking with shaky legs to where the body had been. It was gone, along with all the blood. He cleared his throat. “Well, that’s handy.”
“They never speak. Xavier must have told them you know about us, though, since they didn’t mess with your memories.”
He shot a look to Bain. “That’s what they’d normally do?”
“Ever watch the movie Men in Black ?”
Clive nodded.
“They use a spell that does the same thing that little memory eraser did. It’s part of how we stay hidden.”
“Why do you stay hidden? Why not just tell the world about you?”
Bain crossed his arms over his chest. “Because humans aren’t ready.”
“But how do you know that?”
“Because we tried in the past, and wars happened. Maybe someday we’ll all live together in harmony, but now isn’t that time.” He dropped his arms and started picking up Clive’s books and putting them back on the shelf. But not in order. Clive nearly stopped him but halted. He could fix them later. This conversation was too important.
“Tell me about what you are. Is your whole family, um, basilisks?”
Bain paused where he’d knelt to gather a stack of books. “They are. But I don’t know them. My kind release our young around the time we hit puberty. We only keep children until the first shift.”
“Release your young? You mean your family kicked you out when you were, what, twelve?” Hell, at least Clive’s parents had waited until he was fully grown.
“Yes. But basilisk children are rare, so don’t worry. There aren’t a lot of us out roaming the streets as children. And I got lucky. Was found by a preternatural family so I wasn’t on the streets long.”
“I’m so sorry. Do you miss your mother and father?”
“I did at first, but I always knew that’s what would happen. It’s the way of the basilisks.”
“So if you have children, you’ll do that?”
Bain set the stack of books on the shelf. “No, I wouldn’t. I don’t follow the old traditions. But I’m more drawn to men, so I doubt there will be children in my future.”
Clive frowned, surprised by the bodyguard’s words. “I’m a gay man, and I hope for them.”
“You do?”
He nodded. “Very much so. But because I worried I was losing my mind, I didn’t plan to have them. Now though, everything’s changed. I’m not crazy.”
Bain’s smile was kind. “No, Clive, you’re not.”
Clive looked at that massive dent in his refrigerator again. He could have been here alone when that creature had come for him. He would have died. “I need to figure out who’s after me and fast.”
“Because of what they sent after you, I’d say you’re dealing with a preternatural. Did you happen to notice anything different about any of your clients?”
“No, but a lot of people hire me online.” He couldn’t help himself; he walked over to adjust a couple of the books on the shelf. He caught Bain’s grin out of the corner of his eye. That grin wasn’t the feral one that had so turned him on in the grocery store—no, it was one of pure amusement and affection.
Which reminded him of what they’d been doing when the wendigo showed up. He’d been completely lost in that kiss.
He’d been making out with someone who wasn’t human. A snake man.
Shockingly, it didn’t bother him as much as it should have. Because it had been…amazing. Clive had never felt desire like that, and frankly, he wasn’t willing to let it go.
Not yet.
But he needed time to think. To put his mind back in order. Problem was, he still had too many questions. He walked around his couch, inspecting it for blood, and after finding none, he sat. “So.” He brought his legs up and wrapped his arms around them. “Since those men came to remove the body, I take it you aren’t the only, um…”
“Preternatural. That’s what we call ourselves.” Bain moved to sit in the chair he always picked.
“At your company?”
“All of us are.”
“They’re all basilisks?”
This time, the smile was pure kindness. “No. I’m the only one of those. There’s an elf, mages, demons. We even have an ogre.”
Clive raised his eyebrows. “Demons? Like from hell?”
“No. There’s no hell. Demons are just a different species.”
“No hell. So no heaven either?”
“Not that I’m aware of. We believe our souls move on to another realm. Or some believe they just go out like candles. Preternaturals live very long lives.”
“How old are you?”
“Two hundred and twelve.”
“Years?” Clive’s mouth dropped open.
“I’m nowhere near the oldest among my friends and coworkers.”
“And all of you use magic to blend in?”
Bain nodded. “Glamour spells. Xavier, our boss, is a very powerful sorcerer. He’s older than us all but will never admit just how much older.”
“Wow.”
“It’s a lot to take in.” Bain leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Tell me, did you ever tell anyone about the things you see?”
Clive nodded. “My parents took me to mental health professionals. A lot of them. They tried putting me on medication. I even told my first boyfriend, who dropped me right away.”
“I’m sorry. You aren’t alone, if that makes you feel any better. There are others who can see us, too.”
“That actually does make me feel better.” He lowered his legs and scrubbed his hands over his face. “If the person after me is one of you, what do I do?”
“You continued to let me protect you while you figure it out. Xavier is working on it, too. He has people going through your list of clients. Probably your files as well.”
“Wait, what? My files? How?”
“He has his ways.” Bain chuckled. “Why? Do you have some personal things in there? If it’s porn, don’t worry. We all have that.”
“I’m not worried about the porn.” Clive felt his cheeks warm because he definitely had that in his files. “I was thinking more of my clients. I promise complete confidentiality.”
“You can trust anyone in my company. You can trust Xavier. And Clive, you can trust me.”
Clive stared at him as he dug deep inside to figure out how he really felt, and the answer was easy. “For some reason, I do.”
“Then listen. I really feel, and Xavier agrees, that we should move you to a safe house.”
Alarm shot into Clive, and he started shaking his head. “No.”
“If you had hired a human bodyguard, he wouldn’t have been able to fight a wendigo. They’ll send more. And probably something more powerful.”
That did scare him.
But so did leaving his home. Years of a certain behavior weren’t going to be erased that quickly. Not even knowing what he did now.
But his home no longer felt safe either.
“Where would we go?” he quietly asked.
“We have a bunch of safe houses. And they’re all warded so nothing could just walk in.”
“Couldn’t we ward this place?”
“We could. But it would take time we don’t have. Your life has been threatened three times now. Whoever this is, they’re serious. It’d rather take you to a heavily warded house.”
After a moment, Clive sighed and nodded. “Okay. You know best.”
Bain stood. “Good. Pack a bag, and I’ll take care of everything else.” He paused and gave Clive another kind smile. “It’s going to be okay. Don’t forget your teas.”