Chapter 5
AN EMBARRASSMENT OF FAILURE
Artur
Cesar sat me down on the sectional that ran in a giant “U-shape” in his living room.
His home was stunning. Like many dwellings in Puerto Vallarta, the outside didn’t reflect what was hidden within the interior.
The only tell-tale sign that Cesar’s home was more luxurious than most was the giant carved wooden doors, deeply set into an alcove from the street.
Cast iron bars and a massive lock deterred any would be ne’er-do-well from attempting to enter without permission. I suspected there were numerous wards and spells to keep out any unwanted supernatural beings.
Cesar’s place had all the modern amenities, including fancy appliances, stone countertops, an impressive dried herb collection in the kitchen, and bunches of said items hung upside down from a thick wooden beam.
From where I sat, the main floor was completely open.
Behind the island, a massive window opened accordion-style, giving a view of his central courtyard.
The space was lush and green, with flowering orchids, bougainvillea, and hibiscus.
There looked to be a waterfall there as well – not sure how that worked, but perhaps he had a dipping pool the water feature fed.
Vines crawled up the exterior brick wall.
The space pulled at me. I hoped I’d get to see it.
The cushions where I sat were numerous and luxuriant. Soft blankets had been draped over each corner, and the wooden furniture was all hand carved, upholstered expertly, and extremely comfortable.
I felt small and unworthy.
Never in all my years would I ever be able to afford such riches.
“Artur, would you like something to eat? I think that would help ground and center you.”
“Yes, that would be nice.” My stomach rumbled. It had been a couple of days since I’d had a substantial meal, so anything offered would be welcome.
Cesar returned to the living room with a tray full of food: assorted cheeses and fresh fruit, olives stuffed with almond slivers, pico de gallo, tortilla chips, and two glasses filled with ice and agua de jamaica.
“Oh, you don’t have to—” I started.
Cesar waved me off with his hand. “Artur, you still look a touch harsh. When was the last time you put some nourishment into yourself.”
“Ah, it’s been a couple of days.” Thinking back, I’d had a torta yesterday and a couple of thin gorditas the day before that, but my budget didn’t allow for anything substantial.
Cesar shook his head. “Please, eat.” He picked up a fork, stabbed a piece of cheese and an olive, then popped it into his mouth.
Everything he did was graceful, elegant, and refined.
I felt like such a troll.
I copied him. The cheese was mild, but creamy and delicious, while the olive added a brine to the palate, making the morsel even more enjoyable.
I took a sip of the drink.
Cold, tart, and a touch sweet. I closed my eyes and immediately started to feel better.
“See? I told you. Keep nibbling, I promise you’ll continue to recover. But while we munch, tell me: why aren’t you feeding yourself on a regular basis?” He squinted at me, studying my every move.
My mouth quirked down into a half frown, and I evaded his stare by glancing over at the enormous bookshelf filled with witchy things.
“Artur, please.” Cesar put his hand on my thigh. More sparks. Tiny electrical nips signaling our mutual attraction. I glanced at him and blushed. He smiled.
His bearded face held age, but I didn’t think he was more than ten years my senior. Still, kindness lay there. I wondered what it would be like to kiss him.
“You are too kind to me. You’ll end up on the wrong side of the community if anyone figures out you’ve got me here.”
“I don’t care what other people think,” Cesar said. “Quite frankly, what they think is none of my business.”
I chuckled. “Still. Everyone knows I’m bad news.”
“I’m not sure you’ve been given a fair shake.
But I confess, Elena is concerned about my reputation.
” He pulled out his cell phone and showed me a wall of text messages.
Cesar chuckled. “Never mind her. Love her to pieces but she can get a bit dramatic. I will say,”—Cesar picked up a couple of grapes and pushed them past his lips, letting them slide into his mouth— “I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone unleash that much telekinetic energy before. That’s a lot of power, young man.”
“Ha! Young? I’m not young anymore.” And I wasn’t.
Here I sat, surrounded by riches I’d never attain, in my mid-forties, with uncontrollable abilities, no solid income streams, and a string of years in which I’d been left ostracized by my own people.
Never mind sex, or relationships. That wouldn’t happen within the witch world.
No wonder folks stayed away from me. I was bad business.
“You’re younger than I am. Explain yourself, Artur. Very few people could have done what you did today, and that was under duress. Imagine what you could do with that kind of ability when you’re focused!”
“I wouldn’t know.”
“What do you mean? Your mentor would have—”
“I’ll stop you there. I was born into a mundane household.
My parents died when I was young, and I became a ward of the state.
Of course, that was all before the Revelation, so even though strange things happened around me all the time, all the foster homes I was placed in either ignored it or thought I was a devil child.
I’ve never had a mentor. But I have had more than one exorcism. ”
Cesar’s mouth dropped. “You’re kidding.”
I shook my head.
“Christians,” Cesar sighed, frowning and furrowing his brows.
“Artur, why haven’t you searched for a teacher?
You can’t…I mean…oh my goddess. I’m so, so sorry.
I had no idea. This explains everything.
I knew the community wasn’t treating you fairly, but someone should have reached out to you before now. We’ve all been assholes.”
“People don’t exactly sit me down, feed me, and ask me to tell my story.”
“Well, that settles it. I was right. Your bad rep is unfounded. People can be absolute cunts. Are you Obscurus or Illuminatus?”
There were two sides in the witch world: Light and Dark, Sun and moon. You were born into it, and the gods gave you a birthmark to make sure you were neatly tucked into one side or the other.
But it didn’t have any influence on your talents. A kitchen or green witch could be either, as could a bone or chaos witch. You’d have thought that abilities would line up in accordance to either shadow work or light. But magic just didn’t work that way.
You could be an absolute wizard with animals, and you could use that ability to control them—or you could nurture and foster trust and have the world’s beasts do your bidding because they wanted to please you. It was about intent.
And still, some folks born into the Moon path didn’t dress all in black and behave in despicable ways. It was possible they sought more arcane knowledge within their craft, finding ways to use the darkness and obscurity to help others, not destroy them.
Generally, though, those in the Obscurus clan were secretive, shadowy, and reclusive, while those in the Illuminatus clan were transparent, giving, and supportive.
“Obscurus,” I scowled. I had always wished I were the other.
“Where’s your mark?”
“On my inner thigh, of all places.” I rolled my eyes as Cesar chuckled. He knew the tradition, and what would come next. “What about you?”
“Also, Obscurus.”
We both stood. I undid the tie that cinched my summer pants at the waist and pulled them down so Cesar could bear witness that I had not lied.
Thankfully, I was wearing undergarments, though in this heat, I had opted for a slim cut brief.
Of course, getting this intimate with someone so handsome as Cesar was having an effect on certain nether regions.
“Oh, Artur, the gods graced you with a beautiful mark.”
It was true. I was rather proud of it, just not of its location. It was a slightly raised birthmark, clearly a crescent moon within a circle. A single red star graced the upper tip of the waxing moon’s point. “May I?” Cesar reached out his hand with one finger extended.
“Sure.” It wasn’t uncommon for a fellow witch to request a touch.
Somewhere in legend, it was said that the pull to touch one another’s mark solidified the exchange and recognition of those from the same clan.
Generally, those meetings and displays of the mark between opposite clans didn’t result in a need for contact.
The minute Cesar’s finger made contact, the blue sparks reappeared. This time, they tickled, and because it was so close to my groin, my cock stiffened.
Cesar glanced up to stare at me. “It’s a beautiful mark, and the rest of the package looks very inviting as well.” Cesar ran his finger up my thigh, lightly touching the side of my balls and the ridge of my rod. “Very pleasing indeed.” He winked.
I blushed hard. Heat blossomed across my neck, cheeks, and forehead.
Cesar chuckled again. I quickly retrieved my pants and pulled them up, then cinched the drawstrings together, tying them into a quick knot.
“Well, fair is fair.” Cesar released the sash that kept his robes together, and as they fell to the side, I was stunned to discover he wore nothing beneath them.
I must have had a look of pure shock on my face because Cesar deigned to explain, “It’s far too hot to have anything else on. But I hope you don’t mind.”
Mind? I barked out a laugh, born of sheer nervousness.
Cesar may have been a decade older than me, but you wouldn’t have known it from his body.
There wasn’t an ounce of fat anywhere. Rippling abs and meaty pectorals tempted me to reach out and touch everything.
His chest hair was trimmed, just like mine, but his was deliciously salt-and-pepper.
Even his nether regions had been shorn short, and his thick cock stood straight out.
Clearly, he was just as excited by all of this as I was.
Cesar turned to the side and pulled his robe even further back, displaying his moon mark. It was different from mine, but still a crescent. His moon lay on its side with both points facing up. A skull was superimposed over the base of the moon.
“May I?” I asked, extending my hand.
“You may.” Cesar stepped forward. Too close. Inches away. I could feel the heat of his exposed body, and it made me want to strip naked.
Instead, I brushed my index finger over his birthmark and bit my lips together to keep from giggling as the little blue sparks ignited and danced up the back of my hand.
Cesar placed his palm over my hand and pressed himself up against me.
I could feel his erect rod against my thigh as he leaned in and placed a hesitant kiss on my lips.
The kiss lasted mere seconds, but I could feel his beard against my stubbly chin. My head swam with wonder and confusion. Could this actually be happening to me?
Cesar pulled away, took a step back, and then pulled his robes together.
“Artur, you are a most sumptuous man. And I definitely want you in my bed at some point. You are far too handsome to pass up. Would you be willing to share a night together?”
“Dear gods, yes,” I whispered, my breath hitching.
He smiled. “Good.” Then Cesar winked at me.
“But right now, we have other things we need to figure out. I’m concerned that an undead beast visited you, and slightly more concerned that what you sold me belonged to him.
Do you remember where the black tourmaline crystal came from? How did you obtain it?”
I thought back, wondering where I’d picked up the rocks.
“If I’m not mistaken, I found the box of crystals near the garbage bins outside my apartment. People leave all kinds of quality items discarded in the back alleys. I often scrounge through them, looking for interesting pieces to sell on my table.”
“That’s risky. You don’t know where the objects have come from, what they were used for. You could be selling hexed or cursed things—clearly.”
Again, embarrassed by my failures, I flushed red again. I knew because I felt the heat.
“I can explain.” I glanced quickly at Cesar expecting to see judgement, but instead, his face conveyed patience, a non-judgmental serenity.
“Go on, then.”
“Cesar, I mean no one harm, but I have no other way to make a living. I take what I think I can sell, and even then, just as you said, some of my wares have come back to me with complaints of being faulty or dangerous, harmful magic. I don’t have any other choice.
I make so little I can’t be picky about where I get the items I set out on my table. ”
“And yet you let the local hoodlums steal from you.”
“They don’t come around that often, and I did what I had to do in order to protect you and me. They’ll take anything that’s convenient and easy. They don’t want to have to work for a payday, and truly, the rocks were worthless. They just looked interesting.”
“Your soul is filled with goodness. I’m surprised you’re Obscurus. Come, let’s go to my workshop and see if we can scry the crystal I bought from you. Maybe we can discover its secrets and why a wight would want it.”
Cesar wrapped his arm around my waist, guiding me toward a part of the house I couldn’t see from where we had noshed, touched, and kissed. “Then, after we’re done, perhaps we can have some fun before we go back to your sales table and await the deadly beast.”
Cesar’s grin left absolutely no doubt in my head that before the night was through, I’d get laid. Probably a good thing, as dealing with a wight could be deadly, and a good fuck before I died would be nice.
After all, it had been years since I had someone else touch me. Cesar’s interest had stoked some long-dead fires.