Chapter 10 #2
“The one and only,” I confirmed a bit too eagerly. Me? Proud? Surely not. “Which means I know better than anyone how tricky you can be. It takes a lot of talent and creativity for someone to trap so many fae creatures in a way that keeps from harming them enough to hold a grudge.”
I almost added that he’d avoided several gruesome attempts on his life due to his restraint, but I didn’t want to give him any ideas. If his death was going to happen, it would be by my hands or nothing.
And I had no plans to end Echo’s life.
Death sang to him. It was impossible not to notice, but I didn’t care. If I had to, I’d become strong enough to defeat death itself. Until then, I would cover his ears to muffle the song.
I would give him things to live for. I would find things to entice him, to give him so many reasons to live that he would never ask me, or anyone else, to kill him again.
First on the list was giving him all the orgasms he could handle, so before we got out of the shower, I used the strongest healing magic I dared to use on him and then fucked him until he was clinging to the safety railing for dear life and screaming my name.
After that, we cleaned up once more. I considered having one more round to drive the lesson in, but as I was helping Echo towel off, Gareth’s voice came over the intercom.
“Now, Vale. Kill him or fuck him later. I don’t care which, just get your ass to the garage right now.”
“Your boss is bossy,” Echo informed me as he picked his tattered, bloody shirt up off the floor. He wrinkled his nose in distaste. “I don’t suppose you have a shirt in my size?”
I eyed his slim frame. He was too big to borrow clothes from the shorter members of the household, but he was smaller than the rest of us. “You can use something of mine for now. We don’t have time for anything else unless we want Gareth to drag us both to the garage.”
Echo shuddered. “Give me a shirt. I think if Gareth touched me, I’d pass out from fright.”
I rummaged through the closet in my lab. I had a lot of accidents happen that required new clothes, so having extra clothes around was a necessity.
I tossed Echo the softest sweater I owned, and he shrugged it on. It was loose on him, and the sleeves came past his fingertips. I allowed myself a tiny smile when he stroked the merino wool.
I would find everything in the world that made him happy and give it to him.
“Why is Gareth like that?” Echo asked.
“We don’t have time for the whole story, and it’s Gareth’s story to tell.
” I hesitated to continue because I wanted to tell Echo anything he wanted to know, even though the timing wasn’t right for that particular story.
Eventually, I settled on saying, “I can tell you that it was done to him, and it’s not a voluntary action. He can’t turn it on or off at will.”
Echo winced. “That sucks. He must have a hard time finding friends.”
I snorted. “Gareth doesn’t do friends. The man is a machine. Baz swears he caught him doing pushups in his sleep, and for once I’m inclined to believe him.”
“No friends? That’s so sad.” Echo looked down at his feet. “I don’t really have those either, I guess, so I’m not one to talk.”
I didn’t know how to respond to that. I was hardly one to offer comfort or advice on the subject of friends. I had colleagues I tolerated to varying degrees, and I had Wraith, who was with me whether I liked it or not, so it didn’t matter what I called him.
So, instead of offering useless words, I kissed Echo until he stopped looking sad.
It took long enough for Gareth to yell at us through the intercom again, but it was worth it.
“Time to go,” I said after flipping off the intercom. There weren’t any cameras in my lab, but I knew Gareth would know. Gareth always knew.
Echo was almost smiling by the time we reached the garage. He seemed to enjoy the happy chatter of Love, even if he wasn’t able to talk to her beyond echoing. It seemed that the honor of receiving his unfettered thoughts belonged only to me.
When the elevator doors opened, Gareth stood in front of them imposingly, and Echo fell to his hands and knees, shaking hard enough for his teeth to chatter.
“He’s not coming with us,” Gareth said flatly, giving Echo the once-over and seeming unimpressed with what he found.
“He’s coming,” I returned.
“Let him come, Gareth. Vale never brings friends home,” Vix shouted. He was perched on top of our smaller Humvee, tinkering with the retractable laser gun he’d affixed recently.
I was there when he’d told Paris it was so people could see us better. Paris said that he imagined it would be difficult for people to see us at all if they’d been disintegrated, thus showing that Paris was smarter than I’d ever given him credit for.
“He can’t come if he can’t even look at me,” Gareth called to Vix, but he was glaring at me when he said it. “He’ll get himself killed if he’s so scared of me that he’s incapacitated.”
Echo seemed to perk up at hearing that, and I changed my tune in an instant. “Maybe you shouldn’t come.”
“You’re not that scary, Gareth,” Vix shouted. “Don’t worry about him, Echo. Gareth is a big ole sweety when you get to know him.”
Echo tried to look at said big ole sweetie and went pale. I watched as he fought the primal fear Gareth inspired in most humans. It was admirable, but from his body language, I knew it was doing him more harm than good, so I stepped between Echo and Gareth.
Everyone in the collective was an anomaly when it came to Gareth. Baz was too stupid to be afraid of Gareth, and Vix was too single-minded to notice anything he wasn’t hyper-fixated on.
Adam didn’t seem to be fazed by anything due to the absolute shit-show his life had been before meeting his husband, Apple. Apple was scared of Gareth, but whatever the hell quirk of fate made him impossibly lucky mitigated Gareth’s fear aura enough for Apple to deal with it.
Paris was… I wasn’t sure what Paris was, to be honest. His aura had a faint touch of the fae, but it had a different flavor than I was used to. He was originally from Norway, so it was possible his family had dealings with European fae I was unaware of.
If I ever managed to stop disliking Paris, maybe I’d ask. I’d already transitioned from abject hatred to vague dislike, so progress was being made.
I pulled Echo from the ground and said, “Look at me. Don’t worry about him. Gareth isn’t going to hurt you, I promise.”
“Of course I’m not,” Gareth grumbled. He really hated being around civilians. They made it impossible for him to ignore what had been done to him.
Echo took several deep breaths and said to me, “Let me try again.”
I realized Echo was speaking to me, even with others around, and I was so proud of him that my heart ached. “Are you sure? You don’t need to prove yourself to anyone here.” I leveled a glare at Gareth, and he returned it to me threefold.
Echo nodded and motioned me to move aside.
I was doubtful but wanted to be supportive. That was what all the disgustingly sweet lovers in the house were like. Each pair was supportive to a fault, so I figured it was a good place to start.
Echo braced himself, looked Gareth directly in the eye, choked, and vomited all over the man’s boots.
It was possible I needed to experiment more with what being supportive should look like.
Instead of getting angry, Gareth said, “He’s not coming.” Then he stepped out of his boots and walked to a locker to grab another pair.
Vix hopped down from the Humvee and ran over to us. “It’s okay, Echo. A lot of people have that reaction to Gareth. It’s no one’s fault. Oh, and don’t worry about the mess. Love? Can you take care of it?”
“On it, boss,” Love said cheerfully.
“Great! I’m going to go talk to Gareth now.
He probably needs a hug.” Vix gave Echo a reassuring pat and skipped away to Gareth, who was stoically lacing up his new boots.
When he reached him, Vix threw his small body around Gareth’s back, saying.
“Paris said you’re allowed one emergency Vix hug as needed, and I think this qualifies. ”
Gareth didn’t reply, but his shoulders relaxed minutely, which was enthusiastic consent for him.
“Gareth is right. I don’t think I should go,” Echo said.
I nodded because he was clearly correct. I kicked myself mentally because I’d just done the opposite of giving Echo a new reason to live. Where had I gone wrong? Short of scientific discovery, or fucking Echo, what was more fun than getting a free pass on killing a large number of people?
“Don’t worry about me,” Echo said. “If you can get me outside, I can find my own way home. I doubt I’d be able to find my way out of this labyrinth of a house you’ve got going on here.”
“I can get him there, Vale,” Love said. “Gareth said he wanted boots and butts in the Humvee ten minutes ago.
I whistled softly. Gareth really was being lenient with Echo. Normally, he’d defend his beloved schedule with his last breath. If I had anyone I’d call a friend, it would probably be Gareth because he was the only person I knew who took my thoughts and feelings into consideration on occasion.
“Go with Love, Echo. She’ll guide you off the property and get you a ride home.”
Vix had made a driverless car in an attempt to gain more personal autonomy since he couldn’t be trusted to pay attention to the road enough to be safe, but he and Paris were up each other’s asses so much, it rarely got used. Love would know to send Echo home in it.
“I’ll see you soon,” I said, and I wondered if I should kiss Echo goodbye. I decided that it didn’t matter whether I should or not. I wanted to, so I would.
I leaned down, and Echo’s expression turned to horror. He covered his mouth, face bright red as he pointed to the floor where he’d vomited.
Right. Kissing could happen later. For now, there was killing to be done.
I watched Echo get back into the elevator, unhappy about being parted from him, but knowing I’d see him soon.