Chapter 5
Chapter Five
Hack
My eyes pop open from the most vivid dream I’ve ever had just as my body falls off the bed and onto the floor.
It’s been a week since Sage’s dreamwalking visit, and just like the first time, I’ve had to shake the fog from my head and adjust to being back in the real world on her second visit.
With my hands over my head and my elbows on my bent knees, I take in deep breaths, as I sit on the carpeted floor of my guest bedroom. I still can’t sleep in ours, not without Sage snuggled against my chest.
Soon, though. I fucking promise. It’s not like I’ve been sitting on my hands since last I saw her, but the information that she gave me hasn’t helped much and it’s fucking killing me. No matter how hard I try to find her, every lead is a dead end.
Not to mention that waking up from this shit fucks with my mind. It’s real but it’s not. It’s true but it’s ethereal. It’s in my head yet here I am, naked and hard, as if I could still feel her body pressed against mine.
It’s a mindfuck for sure but I’ll take whatever time with her I can get. Hell, if this is how we live out our eternity it’s better than nothing at all. Except, I don’t accept that. This is not how our story ends.
As the fog begins to clear, I stand, pull on my boxer briefs, then run my hands through my nearly shaved head.
That’s when the memories of our dream encounter begin seeping into my conscious mind.
Last week, it was all new and almost disturbing, but this time I’m ready. Walking to the desk across the room, I pick up the pen and continue jotting down the new information, adding it to last week's nuggets.
In a cave - mountains.
A dreamwalking faerie
A ward to hide the location.
Sister harpies.
Hekate is her mother, not BY. Holy shit to that.
My lucid brain is running faster than my hand can write with last night’s precious information.
Something about the djinn. Sidenote: any relation to the one eyed djinn from the pub?
Faerie princess / big family / been missing for years.
I don’t bother recounting the way her body felt against mine, the way her mouth tasted sweet and dangerous at the same time.
How sliding inside her pussy was like coming home after a century of erring on Earth.
Those details are only for me, for my memories late at night when I call to her, begging her to come back to me.
Reading over my notes, I rack my brain to make sure I’m not forgetting anything, then blow out a frustrated breath.
Why is it so fucking hard? We’re fated. That’s it. It should be easy, effortless even. Yet here I am, fighting for this love and doing so for the last two thousand years.
Few things are crueler than this emotional upheaval.
Without hesitation, I swipe my phone from the bedside table and jog my way downstairs to the kitchen for a drink. From the corner of my eye I see the red and gold bag of single dose coffee that Sage would kill for without a second thought. Witch Coffee, the real kind.
Just like last week, I can still feel her inside me. Around me, even. It’s like her scent has followed me to the real world and is teasing every breath I take. The best way to honor that link between us and make it last longer is to brew one of her coffees.
As I go through the motions, I punch in Pierce’s number and put the phone on speaker. It rings so many times I’m afraid he won’t answer, but that would be ridiculous. Everyone knows we can always count on our resident good guy.
“The fuck, Hack? It’s three in the morning.” Is it? With a frown, I look at the clock and cringe.
“Right. Sorry, didn’t notice.” But this is too important to get hung up on something as inconsequential as the time of day. “I’m calling a brother’s emergency meeting.” Slash is going to punch my balls for this.
I’m about to hang up so I can call Slash when I hear murmuring on the other end of the line.
“You’re not alone.” It’s not a question. And to be honest, it’s shocking. Pierce never brings women to his home.
Unless…
“Where are you?” I don’t know why there’s an accusing tone to my question. Pierce is an adult, he can fuck who and where he chooses.
“The Shade.” Then he clears his throat and the rustling of clothes tells me he’s most likely getting dressed and putting our brotherhood before anything else. Even sex. “I’m on my way.”
He really is the best of us.
“Thanks, brother.” We hang up and I finish prepping my coffee while the phone rings for Slash.
“This better be fucking important. And I mean, end of the fucking world, the Apocalypse called and it’s our time to shine kind of important.” The drama is strong in this one.
“Good morning, brother.” I squeeze the coffee out of the pouch and throw it out.
“No, it really isn’t. It’s the middle of the fucking night.” Yeah, he’s a little upset.
“Emergency meeting. Pierce is on his way.” I take a tentative sip and almost moan.
“Of fucking course he is. Did I mention the Apocalypse? Come on, Hack. I’ve got four females here and they have a stellar imagination.” I almost feel bad for him, like he’s borderline in tears at the thought of leaving behind his little fuckfest.
“See you in a bit. Take a fucking shower.” I hang up before he can argue, knowing that he’ll be here no matter what, even if he’s bitching the whole time.
Next is Slay and I’m not sure what his reaction will be. Either he’s asleep and his response is frosty at best, or he’s still awake and he’ll appreciate the interruption from his own plaguing thoughts.
Demon roulette.
I sigh in relief when he answers on the first ring. Broody Slay for the win.
“What’s going on?” He’s wide awake, not a trace of sleep in his voice.
“I need an emergency meeting. Sage just visited me again and I have to work on strategy.” Slay and Sage have always had a sibling kind of bond that I could never explain.
He’s moody and acts like a ninety-year-old anthros who's tired and bored of human kyn, but for Sage, he’d slaughter the masses without so much as flinching.
Much in the same way as I would, no regret in sight.
“Be there in ten.” Of the three, I’m willing to bet that Slay is the only one here in Georgia.
“Thanks.” He hangs up, and while I wait for them, I make three other coffees.
As promised, ten minutes later, Slay is the first to arrive, followed by Pierce just five minutes behind. Slash took his sweet old time, his way of rebelling against my request.
Emergency meetings can’t be ignored. No questions asked, we drop everything we’re doing and come together.
Could my meeting have waited for them to be available or simply awake? Sure. In the grand scheme of things, having the meeting at four in the morning or five hours later when everyone is functioning amounts to the same thing. In my defense, I didn’t register the time until Pierce pointed it out.
“This better be good.” Slash flops down on the couch like a petulant child then holds out his hand in the guise of asking for his coffee. He’s lucky I made a fresh cup since he decided to take the scenic route to get here.
“Sage came back into my dreams. I woke up and called you all right away.” Taking a sip of my coffee—my second cup—I’m anticipating a string of happy thoughts and well-wishes but all I get are fucking crickets.
“I spoke to Sage.” Narrowing my eyes, I repeat myself in case they’re not awake enough to grasp the urgency of the moment.
Slash snorts. “Spoke? Is that what we’re calling it these days?
” This time, my narrowed gaze is aimed strictly at Slash but he doesn’t even give it a second thought.
“More importantly, how is this an emergency?” It’s his turn to drink from his cup and the sound he makes when he swallows is reminiscent of Sage’s orgasm last night.
At least she was able to get some pleasure before being pulled away from me. Quite the improvement from the first time.
“With the information she gave me, I think I should ask for an audience with Hekate.” I’m met with blank stares so I add, “And Samhain, too. I’m going to need you three with me while we search for Sage, which means I need his blessing.”
“No question we’ll be by your side, Hack. You can always count on us but…” Pierce pauses, looking away like he’s searching for his words and too afraid he’ll stomp on the proverbial eggshells and cause me to melt down…again. “Do we have enough clues to find her or is this a fishing expedition?”
Pursing my lips, I take in a deep breath and gulp down the rest of my coffee before answering him.
“As of right now, it’s a fishing expedition, but I’m confident that Hekate will be able to part the seas and show us the right path.
So to speak.” The goddess of witches would have my head if she knew I’d just equated her to a scene in one of the anthros’ holy books. She is not a fan.
“I hear she’s smokin’.” Slash lets loose his bad boy grin that gets him laid so fast it’s disturbing.
“Focus.” This comes from Slay, who’s been silent and concentrated this whole time. “It’s a solid plan. Tell us what we know.”
Nodding, I take a seat in one of the high-backed chairs and rest my elbows on my knees. We’re sitting around the coffee table, in a makeshift circle, and despite the early hour, everyone is listening like our lives depend on each word that I say.
Because one of our lives, is all of our lives.
It took a couple of days for Hekate to summon us.
Samhain, with all his faults and lack of any empathy, is a fair leader and seeks out justice.
Anthros often equate him to the Devil, with his evil ideas and need for mayhem, but in reality, Samhain is all about balance.
Good cannot exist without the bad. Light has no meaning if not for the darkness.
The balance between the two is what allows us to cohabitate.
Cross the line and punishment is inevitable.
I’ve paid the price for my actions and now he believes I deserve the light, and in this case, it’s Sage.