Chapter Five
Atlas
Atlas stared at the large table that had been decorated for a full dinner party. Oh! That was a lot of plates.
“I did warn you,” Bel said kindly. “The dinner parties always end in chaos.”
“This is going to be awesome!” Cary said as he hugged the young man next to him.
Atlas winced. Between the flickers, Atlas could see that Gage was Cary’s complete opposite. Black hair, dark brown eyes, they were the same height, and appeared to be the same age, but Gage wasn’t as carefree as Cary. There was suspicion in his gaze.
“Are you okay?” Bel asked, rubbing his back.
“Yeah.” Atlas couldn’t look at Gage. “Sorry, Gage.”
“I can shift,” Gage offered quietly. “I don’t want to cause you pain.”
Atlas shook his head. “This is your home. I couldn’t ask that of you.”
“You’re not asking,” Gage argued. “I offered.”
“It will be okay as long as I don’t stare right at you.” At least Atlas hoped. His fight or flight was totally kicking in. “I’d like to talk to you. Get to know you better.”
“Let me know if you need a break then. I can shift after we eat or something,” Gage told him.
“Thank you. I appreciate you working around this…whatever it is.”
“We’ll find you answers,” Bel promised.
“Yes, we will. I already told Seb and Ari. Those two are pleased to have a new mystery. They’ve been working on matings for so long that they need the break,” Lucifer said, joining them.
“I appreciate that,” Atlas said sincerely.
“You are one of ours. We’ll figure this out,” Lucifer said.
“Speaking of being one of yours,” Atlas said, glancing at Cary then away quickly as the flickers picked up. “We have news!”
Cary squealed. “Already?”
“Baby, let Atlas speak,” Lucifer admonished softly.
“Sorry!” Cary told him.
Atlas had that feeling that he was missing something again. He’d ask Bel later.
“Tell him our news,” Bel ordered Atlas.
“I’m staying!” Atlas announced proudly. “Bel asked me to be his assistant. I accepted.”
“Assistant?” Cary repeated.
“Yes, I’ll work with Bel as we try to figure out about my flickers. But since I’ll be staying here, I’ll be able to get to know you all better.”
“Yay!” Cary cheered. “I knew we were going to be friends.”
“That’s great,” Gage said.
“Congratulations you two. I’m sure it will be a great partnership,” Lucifer added.
“I agree.” Bel pulled Atlas to his side.
Atlas did not mind being held close to the demon prince. He grinned up at Bel.
“Atlas’s mind is going to be very valuable to my team.”
“I’m sure it will,” Lucifer agreed. “Mal and Adam are here.”
The announcement came a moment before they were joined by two more men. Although, man might be pushing it as Atlas took in the huge demon that cradled a smaller human against his chest.
“Adam! Mal!” Cary shouted. “Come meet Atlas. He is going to be such good friend to us.”
“Hi!” Adam waved. “I’m not sure if we can stay. Lucifer warned us about some sort of issue with shifters?”
“I get what I’ve always called flickers. Like flashes of your human form and your other. Yours is different though. You’re…not a shifter. But not human,” Atlas said.
“Half dryad and half fae,” Adam replied.
Atlas nodded before averting his gaze. “It’s amazing, really.”
“Are you seeing Adam through the flickers?” Bel asked.
“Yes. Sorry.”
“I can take my mate home,” Mal offered. His voice was deep but kind. “We don’t want to cause the young man harm.”
“Not yet. Please excuse the rudeness of not being able to look at you as we speak,” Atlas offered.
“I won’t hold it against you. And I’ll give you my phone number. We can call and text until we figure this out,” Adam offered.
He nodded. Disappointment filled him. It was going to be hard to make friends when he couldn’t even look at them.
“I’m sorry,” Bel told him quietly.
Atlas turned and buried his face in Bel’s chest. “It’s fine.”
Bel held him close as he rocked Atlas. “I know you wanted to make friends with them.”
“Yeah. Going to be hard when I can’t even look at them,” Atlas shared. Who would want to be friends with a weirdo like him? It hurt Atlas’s heart really.
“May I approach?” Lucifer asked quietly.
“Would that be okay?” Bel asked. “Lucifer won’t hurt you.”
Tilting his head back, Atlas peered up at the demon prince. Atlas trusted Bel. Could see in the big demon’s eyes protectiveness and…affection maybe. He nodded. “Okay.”
Atlas tracked Lucifer from the corner of his eye as he moved closer.
“If you wouldn’t mind, I’d like to try something,” Lucifer said.
“What?” Atlas asked.
“As much as my young mate talks about the magic in this realm, and it is powerful,” Lucifer said, “I carry the strongest magic. I’d like to see if I can put a temporary barrier up. To allow you some peace for a few hours. It won’t last long.”
“Long enough for the dinner party?” Atlas questioned.
“That is my hope. Nothing would be permanent,” Lucifer assured him.
“Okay.” Atlas gripped Bel’s sides. “Will it hurt?”
“No,” Lucifer said. “You won’t feel a thing. Just close your eyes.”
Atlas closed his eyes.
“I’ve got you,” Bel whispered. “You are safe.”
Warmth filled him as Lucifer cupped the back of his head. “You have a beautiful aura,” Lucifer said. “You are strong, smart, with a good heart, and a need to protect.”
“Uh, thank you,” Atlas said.
“You recently suffered a great loss. I’m sorry about that,” Lucifer said quietly.
Atlas stiffened. He didn’t want to think about that.
“You aren’t fully human,” Lucifer said surprised.
“What?” Atlas shouted.
“Are you sure?” Bel asked.
“Yes. Not fully human,” Lucifer replied sounding surprised. He drew back.
Atlas turned. “If I’m not human, what…”
Lucifer smiled at him. “You are part of my line. A quarter demon. I think that might be why you see through glamour. Or get the flickers. It’s your demon blood. Demons see through all glamours.”
“I’m a demon?” Atlas asked even as his legs went weak.
Bel slipped an arm around his waist before lifting Atlas off his feet. A moment later, they were sitting on a couch with Bel cradling Atlas to his chest. Bel’s office. The large fireplace warming them. How did they get back? Oh! Of course. Magic.
“It’s okay,” Bel soothed.
Atlas laughed. He fisted Bel’s shirt in his hand and lifted his eyes. “I’m a demon.”
Bel shrugged. “A quarter. That’s not so bad, is it?”
“Bad?” Did Bel think that this was bad news? “I don’t think this is bad. I think it’s great.”
“You do?” Bel asked him. “Atlas, you went pale. White. All the blood drained from your face. I thought you were going to faint.”
No wonder Bel had transported Atlas out of the dinner party. Atlas shook his head. He had to push the words out through his tight throat. “I’m not crazy.”
He wasn’t crazy.
For his entire life Atlas had known there was something wrong with him. The flickers weren’t normal. He shouldn’t see animal faces when he looked at people. No one else did.
“I’m not crazy,” he said again, steadier.
“Atlas—”
Tears pooled in his eyes. “I’m not crazy.”
“No, you’re not.” Bel kissed the middle of his forehead. The gesture was sweet. Warm.
“I don’t care if I’m a quarter demon, half, or full. I’m not crazy.”
Bel grasped the back of his head, tucking Atlas’s face against his chest. “You are perfect just the way you are.”
Atlas let the tears fall. He’d honestly thought that he was crazy. That it had been his fault that they’d been attacked. The night that he’d lost everyone that mattered to him.
He sobbed into Bel’s shirt. Atlas had been alone for so long. He was tired. Tired of running. Tired of chasing his need for revenge. Exhausted down to his bones. But the one thing that he wasn’t was crazy.
“I’ve got you. Let it out. Let it all out,” Bel whispered while rocking him.
Atlas cried until he didn’t have anything left in him.
When he quieted down, Bel lifted a glass to his lips. “Drink. Just sip.”
Lifting his head, Atlas followed the command. Ice-cold water. Oh! That was good. He took a few sips before laying his head back down.
“Feel better?” Bel asked gently.
Atlas tugged on where his hand was still fisted in Bel’s shirt. He was most likely wrinkling the garment but he couldn’t force himself to let go. He needed the connection. Atlas had a confession to make.
“As I got older, I became more and more curious about the flickers and what they revealed to me,” Atlas shared. “My grandma told me to stay away from them. My parents didn’t believe me. They tried to medicate me, sure that I had a mental illness. I couldn’t stop though. I wanted answers.”
“I’m sorry, Atlas,” Bel said.
“Me too. Maybe if I hadn’t been so obsessed with them—”
“Tell me what happened,” Bel urged.
“There was a house across the railroad tracks from our house. I wasn’t supposed to go into that part of town since it wasn’t safe.” Atlas had stalked that house for weeks. “There were at least three of them that lived there. Or so I thought. There was more.”
“A pack,” Bel said.
“Must be. I would sit and watch that house for hours. Try to figure out why…what the flickers were telling me. I suspected they could shift. Transform. I never saw it for myself. I was reading a lot of supernatural books. I even went to the library to look up old myths and legends.”
“You tried to make sense of everything,” Bel said.
“They must have seen me. I made some kind of mistake,” Atlas told him. “They came after me. Except I wasn’t home.”
“Your family,” Bel whispered.
“I came home from work and…they had been…torn apart.” He barely managed to get the words out. It had been horrible. Atlas still saw that scene when he closed his eyes.
Bel hissed.
“My parents didn’t make it out of the bedroom,” Atlas said. “But my grandma, she ran, they caught up to her in the backyard.” Just remembering what he found made Atlas want to vomit.
“Shh.” Bel held up the glass again. “Drink more water.”
Atlas sipped as he thought. Remembered. The scene currently as fresh in his mind as the night he’d returned to that horror.
“Good boy,” Bel praised.