18. Chapter 18
Chapter eighteen
LUCA
A disheveled Wonder Woman stood in the doorway of the tavern shaking off the chill from the spell on the door. Her brown eyes scanned the group, passing over me but darting back to the man I still had tucked against my chest. Sage had buried his face in his hands, but Wonder Woman still spotted him and her eyebrows shot up.
“Well, well Sagey. Now I see why you didn’t want to come home,” Wonder Woman said.
“Chase, couldn’t you have changed before you tracked me down?” Sage groaned, stepping out of my arms.
“Didn’t get a chance. Do you know how hard this place was to find? I had to ask like a million people if they knew you.”
“I gave you directions hours ago,” August said stiffly.
Chase’s face lit up when he recognized the powerful sorcerer he’d apparently met already. “Hey, it’s you! Yeah, somehow I ended up in completely the wrong place! So weird. Anyway, I’m here now!” He rushed forward surprisingly steadily in his heeled boots and threw himself into Sage’s arms, which knocked them both back into me since Chase was significantly taller and Sage was already about to drop from exhaustion.
The human pulled off his unusual outfit shockingly well. He was tall and thin, but his bare arms and legs were toned and tan. He had bright brown eyes, a sharp jawline, and a disarming smile. In short, he was gorgeous, and something unpleasant stirred inside me when Sage sank into his arms.
In the next second, I was pulled into the hug by Chase, his long arms squeezing me as hard as he had Sage.
“It’s nice to meet you, Sage’s new boyfriend. Thanks for taking care of him all this time, god knows mmpfh!”
Whatever else he was going to say was cut off by Sage’s hand over his mouth, which was used to push Chase off of me.
“Stop talking.”
Chase straightened, but his eyes were laughing. “Ooh, am I not allowed to touch this one?” He gave me another once over. “He is pretty. Exactly your type.”
That didn’t make me feel better considering Chase was a hundred times prettier than I was. And friendlier. More likeable in general. He seemed to have a kind of magnetic personality. His smile was almost contagious. Plus, he seemed to genuinely care about Sage.
Why did it all make me so depressed? Probably because he was a far better choice for Sage. Maybe before… but what was the sense in thinking about who I was before? That hero cop who was so quick with a smile — the one who could flash his dimples and get anything he wanted? He’d disappeared with my human side. I wasn’t sure I even knew how to be that person anymore.
“Chase, I appreciate that you were worried about me, but you can see that I’m fine, so go home. I’m too busy to entertain you right now.”
“No way! There’s a meet-up nearby this week, and then a big convention coming up in Vegas. You’ve gotta come with me!”
“You seem to have lost the ability to comprehend words,” Sage grumbled as he rubbed his eyes again.
“Yeah, you too. What does the word ‘fine’ mean? Because whatever your definition is, this is not it,” he said, circling a finger in Sage’s face.
Sage smacked Chase’s hand away. “I’m just tired at the moment.”
“Great! Get some sleep and then we’ll go. We’ve got to get there early, there’s this druid I’ve been talking to and I want to meet her friends. She’s got a wizard and a sorcerer, so you and I can round out the group since you never care about your role anyway.”
Chase snagged Sage’s hand and headed for the door, but he froze mid-step. The smell of magic tickled my nose and I realized it was August who’d stopped them.
Chase struggled, confused by why he couldn’t move forward. “What the…?”
Sage’s eyes widened in horror. “What did you do?”
August stepped forward, his expression glacial. “We allowed you to live because of your bloodlines, but this one is human. Exposing him to our world is unacceptable!”
“Then why did you just use magic right in front of him, idiot?” Sage yelled back, so infuriated he apparently no longer valued his life.
Not many people could get away with calling a council rep names, but it was too late to get those words back now. I inched closer, ready to grab Sage and run if we had to.
Leo snickered. “This is a rather entertaining town, isn’t it?”
August tensed further at his brother’s comment. The younger sorcerer really seemed to unsettle him. Maybe that was why he made such a huge mistake.
“Magic?” Chase finally said, looking down at his frozen body. Surprisingly, his face lit up with excitement. “Whoa, really? Who…?” his eyes wandered until they landed on a very confused August. “This is so awesome! How’d you do it?”
“But… you said you knew a druid and a sorcerer and a wizard.”
“Hm? Oh, you mean for the RPG meet-up? Do you play? You should come with us!”
“RPG?”
“Role play games,” Sage snapped. “A very human hobby where they create characters to play a fantasy game. He’s dressed as a comic book character and has been talking about nothing but conventions. He’s not a threat, he’s a fucking nerd. This is your fault, release us right now!”
Surprisingly, August did release them and Chase stumbled for a second before stepping closer to the council rep. His eyes were bright with excitement.
“What was that? Can you show me magic?”
Sage snagged his arm before he could make it very far. “Are you stupid? Keep your mouth shut before you make this worse.”
August stepped closer and Sage smacked his hands over Chase’s eyes.
“Don’t you dare even think about messing with his memory. I’m not going to let you damage my friend’s brain because of your fuck up!”
“Mmm, good point,” Leo chimed in, thoroughly amused by his brother’s mistake. “What are you going to do now? The favorite Lancaster heir can’t have a blemish like this on his impeccable record. My gods, what would Grandfather say if his perfect, obedient namesake bent the rules? Surely the heavens would crumble. The very earth would tremble under the weight of his disappointment!”
August tensed as his brother laughed. His regal air had all but fallen away and it was nothing but his little brother’s presence that had rattled him so badly. Exactly how much of a threat was the younger Lancaster?
“This was my error,” August finally admitted. “But what’s done is done and the council must be made aware. I will take him back with me.”
“Absolutely not,” Sage argued. “This was your fuck up, any consequences are yours alone. Leave Chase out of it.”
August stepped closer again and I matched his distance. “I… apologize for my mistake,” he bit out. “But exposure threats must be brought before the council.”
“Apparently you are the exposure threat,“ Ollie chimed in, offering her support to Sage. “You know, since you’re the one who used magic in front of a human.”
“Yes. And I will accept whatever punishment the council deems necessary, but I must return with the human.”
“Not. Happening,” Sage bit out, pushing Chase behind him.
Seeing that he was going to stand against the council, I moved to stand at his side and a few of the others joined us. In truth, between August and his brother and the demon, they might have been able to take us all on. They were from one of the most powerful sorcerer families in the world and I got the impression their demons would be just as impressive. But for some reason, Leo seemed far too entertained by the situation to bother, and August seemed almost reluctant to fight us.
“A contract, then,” August finally conceded. “He must sign a silencing contract until I can deal with the issue and the council has made a determination. But he must remain here. Do not attempt to fly him overseas to escape our reach. I will know if he attempts to leave the state.”
“Oh, I’m not allowed on planes anymore,” Chase chimed in happily. “And the game is here in Virginia, so no worries there!”
Sage pinched the bridge of his nose. “Fine, a silencing contract. But Ollie and I will write it up, not you.”
August gave a nod. “It must prevent him from speaking of any non-human secrets to any human.” He paused. “You will have to write in an exception clause that allows him to discuss fantasy elements related to human fables so that he may attend his game without issue.”
“Not my first rodeo,” Ollie said, pulling a magic contract out of her bag and smoothing it out on the table.
By the time things were smoothed over, Sage looked twice as exhausted as when we started. Everyone dispersed and I drove Sage and Chase back to his townhouse where his mother was waiting.
“I knew it!” Chase said the moment he stepped inside and looked around. “When’s the last time you ate something that didn’t come out of a takeout box?”
“A few hours ago,” Sage snapped back while resolutely avoiding my stare.
I wasn’t about to call him out in front of his friend, but I bet he was happy I forced him to eat now. Though, he only narrowly avoided the takeout box with that one. Before I’d been turned, I cooked often and actually enjoyed it, but I hadn’t picked up a spatula since that night. Despite how much I’d once loved food, it was just another thing I’d lost. But maybe there was reason to try again…
“If it’s all on your computer, why is it all over the walls?” Hazel demanded waving a hand at his wall of maps and photos and notes. “I can’t even make heads or tails of this mess, but it looks like you’re stalking these people. If the cops ever bust in here, they’re going to think you’re planning something terrible!”
Sage rubbed his temples. “I need to be able to see it. It’s not bothering you, just ignore it.”
“Why are you trying so hard to keep up with these people? You don’t need to do this,” she said a little more gently, giving the impression that she was actually able to follow some of what he was tracking. “I think you should come home with me.”
“Not happening,” Sage said stubbornly.
“That’s our Sage. Nothing motivates him like fear of missing out,” Chase teased as he scooped up empty beer bottles. “Geez, look at this mess!”
“Then go stay at a hotel!”
Hazel crossed her arms over her chest. “Like I had a choice, you’ve only got one bed and I’m not even going to talk about what’s going on in your second bedroom. I’m staying at a hotel, but where is Chase going to sleep?”
“It’s okay! I can just sleep in the bed with Sage!” Chase called from the kitchen.
My shoulders went stiff and Sage’s fell.
“His husband doesn’t like that idea,” Hazel said dryly.
Something crashed in the kitchen. “Husband? Sage, if you got married and didn’t invite me—!”
“He’s not my husband!” Sage growled.
“Let’s talk about this tomorrow,” I decided, taking Sage by the hand and leading him back out the door. “You can have the bed to yourself.”
Sage didn’t protest at all as he jumped in my car. “Thanks for the rescue.”
“Are you going to stay and recover this time? Last time you ran away the first chance you got.”
“There’s nothing to recover from. I’m fine, I’ve just got a ton of work and too many distractions.”
“Sage, you’re exhausted. You look like you’re about to fall over.”
“Trust me, I’ve gone way longer with barely any sleep. It’s all the stress in my personal life piling up that I don’t have time for.”
“Fine, then I’ll help you destress and get some rest.”
Sage arched an eyebrow. “I’m listening.”
“Doing okay? Do you need anything?” I asked through the bathroom door where Sage was soaking in the bath.
“I do, can you come in here?”
I hesitated before giving in and poking my head in the door. “What’s up?”
“Ah, no, I was being literal.” He pointed at the water. “In here.”
It was a big tub and there was plenty of room, but I wasn't sure that was what Sage really needed. “You need rest.”
“It’ll be much more rested if you come in and rub my legs for me.”
Giving in, I started to kneel at the side of the tub, but he scooted away in the water.
“Nope, you have to come in.”
“Sage.”
“Luca. Please don’t treat me like I’m fragile or broken right now.”
Giving in, I stripped and sank into the water on the opposite side of the tub. “I would never think that.”
Sage's eyes ran over my body hungrily as I slid my hands up his calves and squeezed.
“You don’t actually have to — Oh my god , never mind, keep going.”
Even after everything, he could still make me laugh. I massaged his legs until he was a puddle about to slip under the water completely. He relaxed under my touch as I worked my way up, but a different part of his anatomy was experiencing the opposite effect.
At some point he’d shifted so his legs were on either side of my waist and the higher I worked, the more he squirmed, looking for relief. A soft groan escaped his throat as my knuckles brushed the inside of his thigh and he apparently reached his limit.
Sage sat up and threw myself into my lap, crushing his mouth to mine. Part of me knew this was just a distraction for him, but if that was what he needed from me right now, I could live with that. After all, it was me he'd chosen to stay with when he needed to escape, that had to mean something, didn't it?
Sage sank down over top of me and I crushed him against me, sealing my mouth over his as a fire burned in my chest. It was a little surprising how much I'd wanted to be the person he turned to, but the fact that he'd chosen me over Chase tonight had me feeling a little possessive.
No, if I was being honest, those feelings surfaced long before that. He'd chipped away at the distance I'd put between us in a hundred different ways, and made me feel things I didn't even realize I was still capable of feeling.
Sage had been with me at every turn and I'd been too afraid of myself to accept it, but maybe ending up with the man in my arms had been inevitable all along.