Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
A jax
The fans had called the cops, so they’d had to hustle Finn into the house to wash off all the blood. Ajax told the police that some dogs had somehow gotten into the compound, but they’d chased them away. He had no idea what the preternaturals had done with the hell hounds’ bodies. The whole time he answered questions, he burned to be inside with Finn. To see for himself that clear, healed skin when all the blood was washed away.
Once everyone was gone and Dax was on patrol duty, Ajax crawled into his bed with Finn where he inspected the jinn thoroughly, which led to them making love long into the early morning hours.
He was about to finally drift off when his phone started up a persistent buzzing. He tried to ignore it, but it kept going on and he snatched it up off the table to squint at the screen.
It was Matt.
“What’s so important you’re calling me at”—he glanced at the clock on the phone—“two in the morning?”
“I’m at the gate. Let me in. It’s important.”
“Okay,” he agreed before hanging up. He glanced over at Finn who was tugging on a pair of jeans beside the bed.
“I heard. I’ll let Dax know he’s coming.”
Ajax pulled on his sweatpants and padded into the living room to open the front doors. What he wasn’t expecting was for Matt to shove Thorn through the doorway and kick him to the hardwood floor.
“Tell him,” he growled. “Tell Ajax what you did.”
Thorn rubbed the knee that had hit the floor and glared at Matt.
“Okay, I will,” Matt said. “Thorn here set hellhounds on you. His measly little mind somehow came to the conclusion that your death would earn the rest of the band publicity and sympathy. That then, bringing in a new vocalist would be accepted.”
Utter shock made his breath freeze. “You tried to have me killed, Thorn? Killed ?”
Thorn scowled up at him. “Better that than you leaving us. Humiliating us.”
Matt shook his head. “It’s because you’re good, Ajax. The new stuff will hit, and he knows it. We were all worried, but damn, to me and Barry, you’re a best friend.”
“Some friend,” Thorn snarled.
Matt slapped him upside the head, then looked at Ajax. “What do you want to do?”
Finn couldn’t wrap his mind around this. He’d known out of all of them, Thorn had taken his sabbatical the worst, but to actually try and have him killed! The betrayal was like a knife through the chest. Thorn had been in the band since close to the beginning. They’d had their differences over the years, but he’d thought him a friend. “We’ll call the police yet again, though I don’t know how we’ll explain hellhounds. How did you even do that? Or know about them?”
“You’re the one who told me about the monsters. You pretend all the songs about them are metaphors, but I could tell there was more to it. All it took was some digging online.”
Ajax shook his head. “I’ve learned they’re not all monsters, just like not all humans are. But this? What you did?” He threw up his hands. “Who’s the real monster here, Thorn?”
“You were going to run everything! Just go selfishly off when we’ve all worked so hard to make it.”
“I wasn’t leaving the band. I just took a sabbatical.”
“If your solo stuff takes off, why wouldn’t you?”
“Because I love BTC, and I still love the music we make. Why is that so hard to understand? It’s possible to do both. There are other popular bands where members have more than one project. Hell, look at Maynard James Keenan. How could killing me possibly help?”
“A new lead wouldn’t come off as us pathetically trying to replace someone who went off to find better.”
“Again, I can name bands that took a new frontman and thrived. But I’m not leaving BTC. Looks like you’re the one who will be doing that.”
Thorn’s mouth fell open, and his skin turned ashen.
“Seriously?” Ajax asked. “You think after this any of us would keep you around?” He narrowed his eyes. “Are you the one who put up three hundred thousand on my head?”
Thorn didn’t respond, but the instant flush in his cheeks was all the answer Ajax needed.
Finn growled and strode forward to haul Thorn up off the floor. “You have no idea of the mistake you made.” He started to shake him.
“Finn,” Ajax said softly, trying to calm his man down by stroking one hand over his forearm. “Put him down. We’ll let the cops deal with him. Why don’t you call that computer guy you told me about and see if he can match Thorn to that first hitman request?”
Finn stared at him as he swallowed heavily, scowled, then dropped Thorn back to the floor. Hard. Thorn cried out as his knees hit the hardwood again.
“Was Barry a part of this?” Ajax asked Matt. “And how did you figure this out?”
“Barry has no idea what’s going on. I got suspicious because Thorn was talking crazy. So I broke into his place and went through his laptop. He didn’t bother to hide his trail on the hell hounds. He paid a shitload of money to the wizard who controls them.” Matt grimaced. “I’m really sorry, Ajax. I knew he was upset, but I didn’t know his stupid plan. We’ve all been kind of talking shit about you, but it was out of fear, you know? I never wanted you to actually get hurt.”
Ajax looked at Finn. “What about the wizard? If he was paid, will he send something else after me?”
“We’ll take care of him. Don’t worry about that. And I’ll get Daniel on the phone now. We’ll truss Thorn up nice and tight until the police come get him.” Finn bared his teeth at Thorn, who looked like he wanted to crawl through the floor.
“I can’t believe you did this,” Ajax told him before addressing Matt again. “Thanks for figuring this out. I really hadn’t thought it would be someone I thought a friend. As for talking shit, I suppose I can understand that. But I was serious about BTC. I love our band and the music we make, and I don’t want that to change. Well, aside from a new bassist, that is.”
“I’m just sorry I didn’t know ahead of time,” Matt said, still looking contrite. “Was anyone hurt?”
“Yes, not me, but luckily the company Finn works for has an elf who can heal.”
“Good. I’m glad you weren’t hurt.”
Matt stuck around while they dealt with the police. Finn’s tech guy easily found the proof of what Thorn had done, but they only turned over the hitman information since they couldn’t explain hell hounds to the cops. By the time it was all wrapped up and Matt had left, the sun was already rising, throwing soft light into the living room.
Exhausted, Ajax walked to Finn and sank against his big body. He liked that this man was strong and that he could lean on him and absorb some of that strength. “Well, at least that part is over.”
Finn held him close, nuzzling his hair. “You can focus on finishing your solo album now.”
“That and us.” He looked up at him, thankful that the faint sadness seemed to have left Finn’s expression for good. “That whole time, you knew what I was to you, and you were planning to not bond with me. You kept getting this look in your eyes—it was worrying me.”
“I was planning to love you as long as I could then walk away. Your fame is a huge part of who you are, and I happen to be in love with who you are, Ajax.”
“I was thinking. If this glamour thing works, I can just go on doing my thing.” He paused and patted Finn’s chest. “But I’m not really into the idea of a long-distance relationship. Not really into the idea of you accumulating frequent flier miles.”
“If we’re truly going to be together, that won’t happen. I need to be with you.”
He bit his bottom lip a moment, then plunged into what he really wanted to ask. “I do have a permanent bodyguard position open. Would you leave your company to travel with me?”
Finn didn’t even hesitate. “Yes.”
“Don’t have to think about it?” Ajax grinned.
Finn framed his face with his hands. “Ajax, I want to be with you, and this is what you do. It’s way easier for me to change my life. Yes, I have good friends here, but I won’t lose them. We can still visit and later, who knows? We could settle again here at some point when you’re reinventing yourself. I love my job, but I love you so very much more.”
“We still have a few months here, though I’m tempted to find a different house. I like this one, though. It would have been nice to have had privacy longer. I still don’t know who spilled the beans on me being here, but my guess that was Thorn as well.” That deep feeling of betrayal still burned. “I still can’t believe he tried to have me killed.”
“I don’t think he’s playing with a full deck.”
Ajax would have laughed at that, but he was feeling too raw over the whole ordeal. “His arrest will hit the news fast. This is going to be a complete shit show.”
Finn kissed him. “I’ll be with you. You’ll get through it because you’re strong.” He laid his hand on Ajax’s chest. “You have a good heart. One I plan to keep as mine for the rest of our lives. And just think of all the music you’ll be able to write with so many years.”
Ajax wrapped his arms around Finn’s neck. “That’ll be nice, yes, but Finn, it’s knowing that I’ll be with you that’s the best part.” He hugged him tight. “It’s just knowing that we’ll be together.”
Those strong arms tightened around him as Finn kissed his ear and whispered into it, “Together forever.”