Chapter 3
Chapter Three
Byron
“When do you leave for your honeymoon?” Acheron asked Damyr as he joined us at the table.
Aleksey, Vlad, Bishop and I were having a late breakfast following yesterday’s celebration, and I seemed to be the only one without a sore head.
I wasn’t a big drinker, but I’d also been distracted for a few hours yesterday.
Apparently, I’d missed all the fun with the others whilst watching over Wilder.
My little witch hadn’t shown up yet, and it bothered me. I wanted to know he was okay, to see him with my own eyes. Whatever happened yesterday was still playing on my mind. Usually, things didn’t bother me, but this did.
Did anyone else know about the visions? I wasn’t convinced they were visions. They weren’t like anything I’d come across before and I’d seen a lot.
“We’ve decided to leave the honeymoon until after Christmas,” Damyr said before taking a sip of his coffee. His eyes focussed on something over my shoulder and his entire face lit up.
“Good morning, husband,” Benji said cheerfully as he dropped into Damyr’s lap and placed a kiss on his cheek.
“Good morning, little bird,” I chirped, just to piss Damyr off.
“Byron,” Damyr growled. “Pack it in. Benjamin is off limits.”
I knew that, I just liked to get under Damyr’s skin every once in a while, to remind him that I could.
“Damyr, ignore him. It’s what I do,” Benji threw over his shoulder with a cocky little grin.
Looking at the newlyweds was like looking at day and night. Two opposites that shouldn’t work together but somehow did. Damyr was all dark features and temperament, but Benji was blonde curls and sunshine, pretty and fragile.
“Don’t listen to him,” Bishop said around a mouthful of scrambled eggs. “He’s just pissed that Wilder doesn’t want him.”
Damyr’s eyes narrowed as he looked at me. “I told you to stay away from him.”
“I did,” I replied. “Up until he blacked out. No one else seemed to notice something was wrong with him.”
Which in hindsight, pissed me off a little. Why was I the only one who had noticed?
Bishop lowered his fork. “Is he okay?”
I nodded. “He was when he left.”
Vlad wiped his mouth with his napkin. “What happened?”
I recounted the incident to the others, but I left out the kiss. Somehow that felt… private. The kiss was ours and I didn’t want to share it.
Interesting.
I also didn’t mention that for one brief, earth shattering second, I felt something I couldn’t place.
It tasted sour and felt sharp and jagged, like broken glass ricocheting around my chest, but it had appeared and gone in a flash.
I was partly still trying to convince myself I’d imagined the whole thing. It unsettled me.
Unnerved me.
“You held magic?” Benji asked, excitement sparkling in his green eyes. “Is that even possible for a human?”
“It shouldn’t be.” Damyr rested his chin on Benji’s shoulder as he spoke, a frown pulling at his dark brows. “Any lingering aftereffects?”
“Nope.” I didn’t think saying that my obsession had intensified was going to cut it.
“Maybe we should consult Dara,” Vlad said as he looked towards Damyr. “She might have come across this.”
“Wilder said it was unheard of.” I leant forward, propping my elbows on the table.
“Dara has been around a lot longer,” Aleksey offered.
Damyr nodded. “True. I’ll reach out.”
“No,” I said firmly.
“Excuse me?” Damyr’s voice was low and threatening.
“I think Wilder should do this on his own.” I don’t know why I said that, but it felt right. The thought of the Morozov Mafia getting all up in Wilder’s business made me feel… unsettled.
“What?” Bishop asked, a dumbfounded look creasing his face. “Why?”
I pursed my lips, struggling to find the right words to convey what was going through my head.
It was so rare that I felt anything for anyone other than my twin that whatever this was with Wilder had my thoughts all twisted.
“I kind of want to keep him but also… play with him? And support him and help him.”
“Play with him?” Aleksey sputtered.
Bishop leant closer and placed the back of his hand on my forehead. “Are you feeling okay?”
I batted his hand away. “Yes. Look, I think there is something more happening here than just visions and it centres around Wilder. I want to help him discover what it is and doing it for him, Damyr, isn’t going to help.”
Damyr stared at me intently and silence descended upon our little group.
“Fine,” he said eventually. “You can take him to Dara. He’s your problem, but if anything happens to him, it’s your head that I’ll deliver to Dara.”
My cold heart lurched violently. I was being ordered to spend time with him. How utterly fucking perfect.
Bishop grabbed my hand, threading his fingers through mine, and squeezed it. “Are you sure you want to pursue this?”
I looked him dead in the eyes. “As sure as I’ve been of anything.”
“This is going to change us,” he said softly, too many emotions swirling in his eyes for me to decipher.
“I know,” I replied. I wasn’t sure how I felt about what would happen to our dynamic by introducing Wilder in between us. We were just going to figure it all out because there was no way I was letting Wilder go.
My twin seemed to look into my eyes for a long time, searching for something. I knew we had an unusual dynamic. Hell, I’d stalked my twin since we’d separated at sixteen then pretty much forced him to come back with me after an intense weekend on my private island.
“Okay,” he finally said. “We will talk about this together when we’re alone, but I’m not sure how I feel about you holding magic. Surely that’s dangerous?”
I shrugged. “I’ll find some answers with Wilder.”
My little witch was going to hate that I was officially now his shadow, but I didn’t care. I was about to invade every second of his life, whether he liked it or not. I already knew where he lived, but I needed to stop by for a visit.
“Why Wilder?” Bishop asked, his brow cocked in curiosity.
I dragged my bottom lip between my teeth, taking a minute to find the right words. “He’s pretty and soft. Vulnerable. And he smells good.”
“You’re so fucking weird,” Aleksey groaned.
Benji shivered in Damyr’s lap and grimaced. “He smells good?”
I nodded. “Yes, like a thunderstorm. Impossible to predict and all that power in something so fleeting is intriguing. I also want to slide under his skin just to be a part of him.”
Bishop choked on his coffee, Vlad froze with his fork halfway to his mouth, and the newlyweds shared a concerned look.
“Maybe don’t tell him that,” Benji said with a wry chuckle.
“This isn’t going to end well,” Aleksey sighed.
“Why?” I asked him. “He already knows what I am and I know all about witches and the supernatural. What’s the worst that could happen?”
“You end up killing him,” Aleksey said.
“No, he won’t,” Benji said with a smile. “Look at him. He’s all dopey and practically has love hearts in his eyes. When have you ever seen him this animated?”
“When he’s torturing someone?” Damyr snorted.
“Or talking about those picture book he likes,” Vlad added.
“Hey. They’re not picture books,” I snapped. “They’re graphic novels.”
Bishop swatted my chest and chuckled. “They’re teasing you, asshat.”
I knew that, but I was already wound up about Wilder and something about the teasing was plucking at my stability.
“Just be careful,” Vlad said softly. “I think Wilder is more fragile than he portrays and you aren’t exactly known for being gentle.”
“I’ll only break him if he asks me to,” I replied.
Then I’d put the pieces back together and make him stronger, if that’s what he wanted.
I didn’t think these guys were understanding how much power Wilder had over me.
I’d currently do anything for him if he just asked.
If he didn’t ask, well, I’d just take what I wanted from him.
And that thought sparked something inside me and made me feel all warm and… gooey.
Would Wilder bend and break for me? Would he trust me to put him back together again afterwards?
“I think you’re right, Benjamin,” Damyr said, his voice a dark whisper. “He’s besotted.”
Benji snorted. “And to think, I was worried he’d developed an obsession with me, but this is something else. His eyes are all glassy and unfocused. This is weird.”
“I can hear you, you know,” I shot at them.
Vlad let out a chuckle filled with mirth, and I had a hard time keeping my hands relaxed. I was seconds away from punching someone in the face.
“Doesn’t anyone else think this is dangerous?
” Aleksey asked but everybody just blinked at him.
“Oh, come on. Byron finds torturing people amusing and is happiest taking out targets. He doesn’t pay attention to anyone or anything that bores him because he finds it beneath him, so he only focuses on like five percent of the world.
Wilder is either going to end up mad or in pieces.
I mean, do you even have anything in common? ”
I grinned. “I can hold his magic without exploding. Does that count?”
Aleksey pinched the bridge of his nose and muttered something under his breath before standing from the table. “Well, this is about as much weirdness as I can handle for the day. I’m done.”
“We’re off too,” Benji said as he stood from Damyr’s lap. “My husband is taking me out for the day.”
“More shopping?” Bishop asked.
“Nope,” Benji replied, a mischievous grin in his face. “We’re going to talk to our event planners about the Christmas party.”
“Don’t remind me,” Damyr groaned, but he had a warm smile curling the edges of his mouth.
“It won’t be that bad,” Benji said as he kissed Damyr softly. “We only need to go over the final details. Don’t worry, you won’t have to make any decisions.”
It still surprised me that there was going to be a Christmas party. Damyr wasn’t one to celebrate human festivities, but I guess love really could change a person. I’m glad I couldn’t fall in love. I was pretty fucking perfect as I was.
“Straight into planning another event?” Vlad asked Benji. “Don’t you want to take a break?”
The little ray of sunshine smiled wide and shook his head. “I really enjoy this and it’ll be the last event I do before I start my new job at Misthaven hospital in the New Year.”
I wasn’t sure that was going to work. A vampire in the emergency department? Sounded like madness to me but Benji was keen to try it and Damyr was irresponsibly indulgent.
“I expect all of you to be there and dressed in your best Christmas outfits,” Benji said as he stared at me sternly.
“I don’t do Christmas.” There was no way I was going anywhere near glitter or baubles.
I might go near some mistletoe if I could get Wilder underneath it.
Benji’s face sank a little at my reluctance and Damyr placed a kiss on his temple that instantly brought his smile back.
Urgh, they were impossibly sweet.
“You’ll do this Christmas. That’s an order,” Damyr said before heading out of the room, dragging Benji behind him. “Vlad, keep things moving.”
“Yes, boss,” Vlad shouted after Damyr as he left. The tank then fixed me with a cool stare. “See if Wilder will accompany you to the Rowan Coven tomorrow. I need you to run a few errands for me today.”
“Sure thing. Text them to me and I’ll get them done.” Normally, running errands would annoy me but doing them today would give me plenty of time to think about Wilder. I was already contemplating how I was going to see him again and I wasn’t sure I could wait until tomorrow.
I stood up from my chair, ignoring the worried look in my twin’s eyes as I left. It was time to pay my little witch another visit, but I wasn’t going to give him a chance to run away.
So first, I needed to see a guy about breaking some protective wards.