Chapter 21 Ezra #2
For some reason, the fact that Luciu gets Vyslan like that irritates me.
Is it possible I’m jealous and possessive of my demon?
With Gracie, I sort of knew there was the expectation that she would have more partners in her life.
I might be adjusting to it. But where Vyslan is concerned, I’m feeling strangely possessive.
“Are we certain he’s an incubus and not some chaos demon?” Luciu asks.
“Can confirm, very much an incubus.”
“Oh. Oh! Sorry, that was…” He sighs and hooks his thumbs into his pockets. He’s wearing skinny, ripped jeans and some sort of band T-shirt. Honestly? He looks like he fits with Gracie, while I’m just a sore thumb. “I’m going to stop before I put my foot in my mouth.”
Vyslan pops out from behind a pole. Like a two-inch pole that somehow hid him from view. He winks at Luciu. “That’s not all you want to stick in your mouth.”
Luciu sputters, and his face flushes pink. “You are literally the worst, you know that?”
Did…? Did my demon fuck the warlock?
Before I can process that question or the molten feeling in my chest, Vyslan slings his arms around the both of us and hauls us forward to the curved corner steps of the antique ship. “I am the best at being the worst.”
What the heck does that mean?
The door jangles, and the scent of peppermints bursts the bubble of anger rising in me. It’s hard to feel angry when I’m surrounded by the scent of wood polish, old books, and tea.
A curvy woman pops around the corner. I think her name is Tabitha? One of the great-however-many-granddaughters. Her smile widens,, and she rolls her eyes when she recognizes us.
“Oh, it’s just you! Feel free to head up.” Her cheeks plump with her grin, and her eyes twinkle with mischief. “There’s a bit of a spat, you see. Best not to get involved. Will you be around, Ezra? We might need you.”
“Uh, sure,” I mutter and smile.
“Hi, I’m Luciu.” The warlock offers his hand. “Gracie said I might be helping you with security at some point in the future?”
Tabitha’s eyes and mouth go round. “You’re the warlock! Ohmygosh, yes! And congrats, by the way.”
“Oh, uh… Thanks?” Luciu practically scuffs his toe on the ground doing a perfect, aw shucks, moment. There’s something endearing about him, yet obnoxious.
He’s taking the attention of the people I love most. How much will be left for me?
I turn around. “Isn’t there a rear entrance?”
“Actually, there’s a street entrance. You just have to know where to look. It’s hidden.” She gestures at the door we just came through. “I’ll show you.”
True to her word, there is an exterior entrance.
It looks like an extension of the shop front.
The bottom half of the door is green wood, and the top is a mix of cream, opaque, and painted stained glass.
The door lets onto a cream-colored staircase with decorative iron stairs.
There’s a chairlift that I assume is in good working order.
Green pendant lights hang from the ceiling, keeping the place lit and cheery.
“This place is gorgeous,” Luciu says from the rear. “My mother is going to flip when she sees this place.”
“You still on good terms with your parents?” I ask and immediately regret it. I can hear the bitterness in my own ears.
Vyslan definitely hears it because he pinches my ass, making me stumble and almost faceplant on the stairs.
“Oh, just with my mum. No idea who my sperm donor is, and I don’t care to find out.” He says it all so easily, like it’s a complete nonissue. Not to mention he and Gracie have that in common.
As I reach the top stairs, I glance back at Vyslan, who is doing artistic things with his eyebrows. Almost like he’s trying to communicate with them. I’m not sure I want to understand him right now. If they fucked…
Frustrated, I turn and keep going. Gracie gave me the rundown of the space, and I’ve been up here a time or two, so I know the layout.
The stairs give way to a small landing with a door on the left and right. If I were Luciu, I’d want the office with a better view of Witchweed, so I turn right.
“If you pick this space, you’ll be able to see the shop,” I say and let us into the office.
There’s a small area that could, in theory, contain a desk. Maybe put a wardrobe against the wall and make it a sort of mudroom or coat closet. The floor is black and white tile, so easy to clean up.
A tall doorway transitions the floor to espresso-stained wood. I can still smell the last layer of polyurethane on the wood.
The central space is big, with three doors leading off it.
I gesture at the doorways and rattle off the details to keep from asking the questions nagging at the back of my mind. “These two are offices. That is your bathroom. It’s a full bath. I’m guessing they didn’t see the need to get rid of that when remodeling.”
Luciu walks deeper into the space, his gaze trailing up to the ceiling. It’s like a checkerboard of domes, making the ceiling feel impossibly tall. I don’t even know how the ceiling works with the building’s exterior, but I’m not asking questions.
“This is a nice space, Luc.” Vyslan crosses to the windows and immediately tugs one up, letting a bit of a breeze in.
“Shit,” Luciu mutters. “What’s the rent like?”
“Uh…” I try to think back. “Gracie never said.”
“This is fucking grand.” He turns in a circle again. “What are the offices like?”
“Only one has windows.”
“That’s even better!” He aims straight for the windowless office.
“Better?” I parrot back.
He opens the door and steps in. “Yeah. Let’s say Gracie’s working, having a bad day. We could set a daybed up here or something for her to take a break. That sofa in the office doesn’t look very comfortable.”
I hate that he’s right, and that I didn’t think of this first. I follow him into the room, seeing it with new eyes. “You’re right. I’ve got a bed at my place we could bring here. Maybe set up some sort of folding partition so that when you open the door, the light doesn’t beam her in the eyes.”
“Yeah,” Luciu says with naked enthusiasm.
He’s already prioritizing her needs.
I can’t be angry about that.
“Luciu?” Vyslan calls out.
I follow them and stand back while they start speaking in half sentences. The short time they’ve spent together has them on the same wavelength. But not me.
“This is amazing,” Luciu says.
They both turn toward me. And I have to face the fact I’ve been mired in my own muck rather than paying them any mind.
“Sorry, what?” I ask.
Vyslan smacks his hands together. “We need to have a mate chat, I think.”
“A what?” Luciu asks slowly.
Inwardly, I’m bracing for the news I’m being left behind.
Instead, Vyslan slings his arm around me and plants a kiss on my cheek.
“A mate chat. Sort things out between the three of us,” he says. “Darius is going to go with the flow. Puck, well, he says he wants to try, but… That’s a lot of ego. He’s going to take time to come around. But the three of us? Well, I think we need to be our own little team-within-the-team.”
I can’t help but groan. “Vys…”
I do not want to do this.
“Oh, come now, Ezra.” Vyslan jostles me, but won’t release me. “You’re in a pretty pissy mood. Where’s my sexy, easygoing vampire Puppy Daddy, hm?”
Okay, so maybe I am being sullen. I can’t make myself look at either of them. I don’t know what they’ve been doing. But I also know there’s a jealous part of me that I’m ignoring. So I stare across at the white wall and say nothing.
“Did…? Did I do something?” Luciu asks.
“Ezra?” Vyslan says slowly, his tone teasing but his intent clear. He wants to clear the air.
“What?” I snap.
Vyslan wraps both his arms around me and lifts me so my toes barely touch the ground. “Is someone feeling extra-damsel today?”
“Put me down.”
“You’re so cute when you pout.” He smacks his lips against my cheek.
I’m angry, and now I feel ridiculous. I don’t like any of this.
Vyslan suddenly lets go. His hands clap against my cheeks, and he forces me to look at him. The smile is gone. The good-natured ribbing has dried up. He’s all stern, intimidating demon, and if I’m honest? I kind of want to punch him.
“Ezra, you aren’t being replaced. You aren’t being pushed aside. You are still a valuable member of this family. Just because it’s expanding doesn’t mean you’re devalued in any way. Whatever is going on in your head, you need to get it out. Don’t let it fester.”
Part of me feels foolish, but I can’t shake the one thought eating away at me. So I blurt out, “Did you two fuck?”
The words thunder out of me, sounding loud and volatile. So very unlike me.
“No,” Vyslan says simply. “Would you like to check? You know what my cum smells like. I couldn’t hide that from you if I’d orgasmed lately.”
I can literally hear Luciu’s heart hammering against his ribs. It’s like rocks pelting a tin roof.
Vyslan’s hands drop to the waistband of his athletic shorts.
“No—”
Before I can stop him, he shoves the shorts down and wiggles his hips from side to side, dick swaying.
“Pull your pants up,” I hiss.
“Just a little whiff,” he says.
“No.”
“You can’t accuse me of something then refuse the evidence, mate. Come on.”
“Will you stop?”
“What? Too good to have my cock in your face now that we have an audience?”
I roll my eyes and wish the floor would open up and swallow me.
He’s made an excellent point. I’ve always been able to smell his cum. It’s a distinct smoky scent. If he and Luciu fucked, they’d both reek of it.
“It’s cute that you’re jealous.” Vyslan pinches my side, and I slap his hands away. “Adorable, really.”
“Will you pull your pants up?”
“Nope.”
“Vyslan,” I growl, the sound coming from deep in my throat.
“Oh, going to go all Daddy on me now, huh?” His grin widens. “The only people in this world who have touched my cock are you and Gracie. I might be an incubus, but I’m not a cheat. If I were interested in someone else, I’d run it by you.”
“I am bi,” Luciu blurts out.
I glance over at him then at Vyslan. I don’t like how I’m feeling. I don’t like how fast everything has changed. I don’t like that I’m jealous. It’s just a lot all at once.
“Not that it means anything, I just… In the spirit of being open…” His hands move as he speaks, and I find myself watching them more than his face. The way he gestures with open palms, like he’s offering a bit of himself. “I’ll shut up now.”
I bend down and grab the shorts, giving Vyslan’s junk a delicate sniff along the way, and pull them back up. I even tuck him in with a little squeeze while my mind reorients itself.
Fuck.
I turn, leaning against the wall, and stare at the darkly stained wood. “I’ve got… Issues.”
It’s quiet for a moment.
Luciu’s hand flops at his side. “We all do. This isn’t a normal situation. We’re all going to have moments where we don’t like what’s happening. Sorry all this got sprung on you.”
“I wouldn’t feel like such a piece of shit if you weren’t so fucking nice all the time,” I mutter.
Luciu laughs and shrugs. “Uh, should I be a dick?”
“No.” I chuckle then blow out a breath. “I had a fiancé. She left me because I was clingy. I… I had shitty parents, and they left me with some abandonment issues…”
“If we ever figure out, even accidentally, who my dad is? He’ll probably try and kill me,” Luciu says casually, like we’re talking about what kind of burgers we prefer.
“Sorry—what?” I say.
Vyslan plops down on the tile, back to the radiator under the windows.
I suppose this is what we’re doing now.
Luciu follows suit, settling across the room from Vyslan. The warlock explains his family’s history, Lilith’s Lounge, and who his mother is. Apparently, the others heard this story while I was being held by Treznor.
“And!” Vyslan interjects when it seems that Luciu has finished. “He was bullied by a half-demon kid. Never thought to mention that when we devised our plan, this morning for me to go with him. Poor guy was about to piss himself whenever I smiled at him.”
I drag my hand over my face and groan. “And then I accuse you two of fucking… Sorry, Luc. I’m—”
“It’s fine.”
He grins. It’s this easy, kind of dopey grin that’s adorable with his curls. The tattoos, at first glance, give him a hard appearance. But even a little time spent in his presence reveals a much more empathetic soul.
“So, Vys?” I lean my head back against the wall and look at him. “You’ve got us here. What is your plan?”
“There was no plan,” he says.
I quirk a brow at him.
“Alright. Fine. As the three with more flexible sexuality, I thought we should bond. Spend some time together.”
I look at each of them and it really hits me.
I’m going to spend the rest of my life with them.
They’re family. They aren’t taking Gracie away from me.
They’re with me, too. Maybe not romantically, but these are the connections that are going to support my life moving forward.
I don’t have to rely on just Gracie or Vyslan to support me on my bad days.
I’ve got Luciu and Darius, too. And Puck is there if I ever lose control.
When I think about it like that? I don’t mind having more in the mix. There’s more to family than sex. It’s time spent painting. Watching bad TV. Cooking and cleaning. And listening to each other. Gracie might be how we got here, but she doesn’t have to be the reason for everything.
I shamble over and lean against the window beside Vyslan.
“You okay?” he asks. “It kind of looks like you’re having a moment.”
“I think I just realized what an ass I’ve been all day today,” I mutter.
“That’s alright.” He shoves my knee. “You’ve got a cute ass. Doesn’t he, Luc?”
“Uh… Yeah. Yeah, I suppose he does.”
“Right.” Vyslan claps his hands together. “Bro squad, we good? We can wang swing Darius in later. That man is a pro at going with the flow.”
I sputter and laugh. How is this my life?
Luciu laughs, and his brow furrows. He hasn’t begun to expect the unexpected from Vyslan. He’ll catch up, eventually. “Wang what?”
Thick arms wrap around me, and I’m dragged across the room. Poor Luciu is hauled into the bear hug with me. I get one arm free, but the only place for it to really go is around Luciu. So, I sling my arm around his hips.
He is the reason the others found me, after all. Without them showing up, I’d have rolled over and let Treznor do whatever he wanted. But because I saw the people I loved at risk, I finally stood up for myself.
I look at Luciu. Our faces are all extremely close. I can smell the tangy scent of anxiety coming off him, but given what Vyslan said about his bully, it makes sense. That shit takes time to work through.
“This is all your fault, you know?” I say as Luciu blinks up at me, his eyes owlishly large behind the glasses. He really is cute. “Thank you.”