Chapter 5 Vyslan
Suggested Listening: Him and I (But it hits different) by Eiden XII
As noon arrives, the blackout curtains drift back, bathing the room in a warm glow.
I’ve never encountered a sentient home before. Quite frankly, I know the so-called house is nothing of the sort. What she is remains to be discovered.
At first, Hausé was quite the novelty. Over the last week, I’ve grown to appreciate her little assistances.
Whenever we need something, after a few moments we turn around and it’s there.
There’s no need to remember where things are because she knows where it all is.
That still begs the question: what is she?
It’s something we’ll need to investigate. But at another time.
Reaching over, I gently stroke my fingers down the side of Gracie’s face. We shared a bowl of witchweed earlier, followed by a massage. She passed out, but not before mumbling things I’d like to discuss in-depth later.
As much as I want to rush into this conflict with the vampire to bring Ezra home, I know where all of our priorities lie. It’s something Ezra and I have discussed. I don’t need to talk to the others to know they would agree with our decisions.
Gracie is the priority. Above Ezra or me, she is what matters. Her safety and well-being must come before our own.
What I share with Ezra is new and potentially complicated.
But he’s been in love with Gracie from the moment he first laid eyes on her.
I don’t fault him for his priorities. I respect him for understanding himself to that degree.
It’s why I know he would want us to take this rescue at her pace.
And ultimately, leave her out of it if we must.
I have a few suspicions about my vampire.
It says something that Ezra was able to so handily manage the situation for this long without arousing more suspicion than he has.
Luciu’s intel helped solidify those thoughts.
But nothing good will come from airing my theories.
In fact, it might be dangerous to voice these thoughts at all, though I suspect Puck has begun to connect the dots.
Gracie sucks in a breath and stretches. Her hand flops out on her other side, where Ezra should be. She fists the material and opens her eyes while her feet move restlessly under the purple blankets.
“He’s not home yet,” I say gently. “Feeling better?”
“I feel like I have mud for blood.”
I pick up the tumbler with the flip straw on it and hold it out to her. “This should help with that.”
“What is it?”
“A little something Darius and I collaborated on.”
That gets her interest. She sits up and leans back against the headboard before drinking deeply. “Oh, that’s good. You’ll have to share it with Poppy.”
I beam at her. Despite the tense times, I’m eager to explore this relationship in a permanent sense. I’ve got my own beef with Treznor in regards to stealing what should have been a monumental evening with my witch and vampire.
This is not my first dance with love, but it is the first time I’ve been free to care for equals. And that is a gift.
“Glad you approve,” I say.
She takes another long drink while studying me. I’ve let the disguise go for now, so I’m all horns, tail, and flames.
“How’s it going out there? Any fights?” she asks.
“Not a one.” And that’s the truth. I was rather surprised myself with how focused everyone has been. “It helps that we are united behind a common goal.”
I had suspected and anticipated some conflict with Puck.
Fae and demons don’t exactly get along. We’re too similar for the most part.
Complicated history between our realms. But the man has a singular focus.
It’s admirable. I don’t agree with his choices, but I understand them more than Gracie can.
It helps that I’ve walked a similar path and ultimately chose to pave my own way. Much like Puck and Darius are now.
“How are you doing?” she asks and links our fingers together.
“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?”
“I’m…” She stares up at the ceiling. “Determined to kick some ass.”
“And I’m determined to hold them by the hips for you to kick.”
Her lips quirk up, and I rather like the murderous glint in her eye.
The moment is sweet, but brief.
She sets the cup aside and rubs at her face. “I meant… How are you with everything else? We went from a thrupple to… I don’t even know what to call this disaster.”
Her complexion is better. The dark circles aren’t gone, but she does look groggily refreshed.
I grin and reach over, smoothing a stray hair off her nose. “I’m unconcerned with adding more members to your harem.”
She gasps, rolls her eyes, then smacks my shoulder. I catch her hand and kiss her knuckles. “I am not building a harem.”
I chuckle, and the tension eases in me a little. If she can make light of things, that means there is still hope. “Then what do you call this?”
She links her fingers with mine and lifts the cup to take another sip. The silence is thoughtful, and I’m content to wait for her answer.
“Family?” she asks.
“That’s a good word. I also don’t mind harem. You’ve got quite the eye candy.”
She rolls her eyes and tries to shake out of my grip, but I refuse to let her go.
There’s a knock at the door. I turn and glance over my shoulder, calling out, “Come in.”
Our hands are still flopping around like a fish out of water.
The door swings open, courtesy of Hausé. Luciu stands on the other side, holding a black bag in one hand and a burger in the other.
“Oh, that just…” He peers at the door, then us. “Okay then. Thanks, uh, Hausé.”
I crook my finger at Luciu. “Come here, you.”
He changed clothes earlier and is wearing ripped jeans with a white button-down. At some point, he rolled the sleeves up, revealing more tattoos.
Demon likey very much.
I’m curious about his mother, considering the boy has the loveliest bedroom eyes that make me want to smoosh him between Ezra and me. With the way he looks at me when he thinks I’m not paying attention, I have some strong inklings about his flexibility.
“Back to what we were saying, sweet witch. I call it like I see it. I’m good with whatever you want, but I’m not willing to step back. I won’t give up either you or Ezra. So long as everyone is willing to respect that, I am content.”
She glances at me with a bit of alarm. As if she wants to hide this personal and very relevant conversation from Luciu.
“Sorry, am I interrupting?” he asks.
“No.” I sit up, crossing my legs, and pat the bed in front of us. “Get those shoes off and climb up here. This is excellent timing.”
“Vys,” Gracie mutters.
Luciu looks at her for direction instead of taking my word for it.
Good man.
She nods and waves him up. “Is there a burger for me by any chance?”
“That’s what I came to deliver.” Luciu kicks off his shoes, then bounds up onto the bed with the bag. He sits cross-legged, shoves the burger into his mouth, then reaches into the black back and produces two white bags I recognize from a local burger joint run by shifters.
I finally let go of her hand, freeing Gracie up to reach for the food with both hands. “Oh, bless you.”
“Gracie and I were just touching base on all of the changes in the last twenty-four hours. As I told you earlier, my relationship with Gracie and Ezra is still quite new. But I’m not willing to give this up. What do you think about all of this, Luc?”
Gracie has mentally abandoned us in favor of unwrapping her burger and taking several large bites.
“Oh…” He blinks a few times and looks between the two of us.
“Um, honestly? I’m just thrilled to be alive.
I’m realizing now that I was pretty stupid to approach the coven the way I did, and I’m pretty lucky to be in the position I am.
It could have been a lot worse. But Gracie seems…
I’m too nervous to think of a good enough word right now.
Consider me thankful. Very thankful. Very enthusiastic to be here. And ready to kick some vampire ass.”
“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry they took advantage of you like that. The coven, I mean,” Gracie says from behind her hand. “It was stupid, though.”
He hangs his head. “Yeah. I know.”
“What do you think about sharing?” I ask, curious about what he’ll say.
Luciu’s head pops up, and he gapes at me. “Uh… Like I said. I’m just happy to be here.”
“That was quite the kiss earlier.” I grin at them. “You should know I’m an incubus.”
His face is slowly turning bright red, the color bleeding up to his ears and down his neck. He coughs and looks down. “Is that right?”
There is something delightfully innocent about him. I’ve got a good feeling where he’s concerned. “Luciu, may I offer a little friendly advice?”
“Yeah, man.”
“You are bound, body and soul, to Gracie by your own doing. Given that you are now her witch husband, shouldn’t you give your wife some honesty?”
His eyes go wide. “Wife?”
“Do you call it something else?” I glance at Gracie and find she’s watching us.
“Oh, um. I just… I didn’t want to presume, you know?” He clears his throat and sets his burger down. “I’m feeling like a total heel. Like I really fucked things up. And I’m just grateful you guys are cool with me being around. I didn’t want to, you know, presume what my place would be.”
He’s going to make me drag this out of him, the poor boy. “How do you feel about being bound to Gracie?”
Luciu blinks at me, then turns his attention to Gracie. His face is still flushed, and his fingers pick at the comforter, betraying his nerves. “Really fucking lucky.”
“Vys?” Gracie pins me with a befuddled look. “Even I don’t understand what you’re digging for here, and I thought I was getting pretty good at demon reading.”