Chapter 21 #3
“Hey, son,” Lore said as Mace stepped through the front door of his parents’ Italian villa. He’d grown up here, among the clementine groves and vineyards. Had learned to appreciate good food, good wine, and good friends.
And right now, his good friends were in trouble.
“Hi, Pops.” He gave his dad a hug and had to hide a wince at the way Lore unintentionally squashed Mace’s pulverized shoulder. He’d taken several crushing blows from blunt weapons on that side of his body. Not that the other side was much better.
“You okay? You look beat.” Lore peered closer. “Is that a black eye?”
“Yup.” It was mostly healed, barely a shadowy crescent now, but his dad noticed everything.
At least Mace had gone home, showered, and changed, so he didn’t look like he’d been dragged through a slaughterhouse anymore.
He’d also gotten in half an hour with Masumi, but he’d been too exhausted to do anything but lie there while she did all the work.
And during the entire thing, all he could think about was Scotty doing that to Blade, which pissed him off and gave him the energy to come talk to his dad.
“Where’s Mom?”
“She’s at the hospital.”
“Working?”
Lore nodded. “She’s looking for a spirit that’s been evading her for days.”
Well, good. Mace wasn’t sure he wanted his mom to hear this. “Is Wraith here yet?”
“He’s out back.” Lore gestured with his gloved hand toward the open glass doors behind him. Mace could only recall seeing his dad’s bare right hand a few times in his entire life, which was fine. The glove kept everyone safe.
It must suck to have to wear the thing all the time, though.
That, and the faded dermoire on his right arm had to be a constant reminder that he was a half-breed Seminus demon with all the things that went wonky when a Sem bred with a human.
Lore and his twin sister, Sin, were anomalies.
Demon DNA gone wrong. But they’d gotten beyond their dark and twisted past, finding respectable jobs, mates, and family.
Pretty cool. Mace had always admired their strength.
Outside on the stone patio next to the fire, Wraith was waiting, his blond hair rustling in a smoky, citrus breeze. “Hey, kid,” he said as Mace took a seat at the round table. “What’s up?”
Lore grabbed a couple of beers from the outdoor mini-fridge and handed them out. “You okay?”
The bottle hissed as Mace wrenched off the top of his brew, crafted by Stryke’s company to allow Seminus demons to get a buzz. There really wasn’t anything StryTech didn’t have its fingers in. “I need some advice, and you both come at things differently.” He paused, unsure how to broach the topic.
“Female trouble, guaranteed,” Wraith tapped his bottle against Lore’s as they exchanged knowing looks.
Mace peered down at his own beer and blew out a long breath. Fuck. “You know how I’ve been best friends with Blade and Scotty since we were kids, right?”
“Obviously,” Lore said.
Wraith took a swig of his beer. “I still don’t know how you and Blade have kept it platonic with her.”
“We made a pact.”
“Really?” Wraith studied him for a second, and then one corner of his mouth raised in a knowing smirk. “You want to break it, don’t you?”
Mace stared into the longneck, wishing it promised a trip back in time instead of an alcohol high. Why wasn’t Stryke working on time travel instead of space travel?
He’d be willing to bet that Blade was having similar thoughts.
“It’s already broken,” he rasped. “It was Blade.”
“Ah, shit,” Lore muttered.
Wraith drained his beer and reached for another. “Is your shiner part of the story?”
Mace tested the tender tissue beneath his eye with a finger. Still hurt. “In a way.”
“What the hell?” Lore chucked his bottle cap into the trash. “How could they do that to you?”
“It’s not like that,” Mace said, hating that he had to defend Blade. “It wasn’t intentional.”
Wraith snorted. “What, Blade accidentally fell on her while they were both naked?”
That was not a vision Mace needed in his head right now. “They were trapped together on a mission, and he didn’t have his suppressant.”
“Nuh-uh. No way. How did he not have his injector pen?” Wraith demanded.
That was a sticking point for Mace, as well. Pun not intended.
How could Blade have been so careless? “He says he took his backpack off for just a minute. Some sort of flood happened or something, and he lost it.”
“Do you believe him?” Lore asked, but Wraith was clearly in the skepticism camp.
“Of course, I believe him.” Of course. Blade had never lied to him.
Except when he kept what had happened between him and Scotty from Mace.
Lore seemed to consider that. “So, are they together now? Are they a couple?”
“They said they aren’t.” Mace forced himself to unclench his jaw. “They swear it won’t happen again.”
Amused, Wraith tossed a piece of wood on the fire. “Yeah, right.”
“It won’t,” Mace insisted.
Lore arched an eyebrow. “If you believe that, then what’s bothering you?”
“Things are weird now.” Mace toyed with the label on his empty beer bottle. “And I know Blade’s in love with Scotty. He has been for a while. He sucks at hiding shit.”
“What about you?” Wraith asked.
“I’m great at hiding shit.”
Lore tossed him another beer and took the empty. “You know what Wraith meant. Do you love her?”
As Mace set the new bottle on the table, he focused on the tightness in his chest. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “I love her like a friend. I always have.”
“But?” This time, it was Lore coaxing more information from Mace.
“But…it just…I don’t know. It seems like things have changed.
We did that mission to Stryke’s oil rig, and after that, everything felt different.
I knew Blade had a thing for Scotty, but it didn’t really bother me because of our pact.
” He threw his head back and focused on a lone cloud in the night sky, its wispy extensions forming arms and legs.
Looked like a damned wendigo. “And then that fucking Alaska assignment. I wish we’d never gone. ”
“Have you guys talked about it?”
“Yeah. And I thought I was fine. I thought we were all cool.” He took a swig of his beer, relishing the cold liquid soothing his raw throat.
“But I guess not. Blade acts like I’m a dumbass for letting it bother me, but I can’t help it.
Everything was cool between us, and now it’s all broken.
It’s affecting our job too. We fucked up a huge mission, so Kynan is making us train with Ares until we get past this. ”
“What about Kynan and Ares?” Wraith asked. “Do they know what happened between Scotty and Blade?”
“Gods, I hope not.” Mace tried not to think about the possibility. “But Ares will eventually beat it out of us. We need to get our shit together before that happens.”
“Sounds like you guys need to talk it out,” Lore said, but Wraith scoffed.
“Talk? Fuck that. You need to fight it out.”
“Don’t listen to him.” Lore kicked his booted feet up onto the brick planter holding Idess’s prized lemon tree. She babied that sucker, spritzing the leaves and bringing it inside during storms. “Pummeling each other won’t help anything.”
“Hey,” Wraith said, “you parent your way, and I’ll parent mine. Talon turned out great.”
Lore laughed. “Only because of Serena.”
Wraith tossed his empty bottle into the bin next to the door. “You’re probably not wrong.”
“Come on,” Mace said tiredly. “I need real advice. No one is pummeling anyone, and talking hasn’t gotten us anywhere.”
“Maybe you guys need a break from each other. Let things cool down,” Lore suggested. “Give it some time and perspective.”
Not a terrible idea. “How long of a break?” They’d not been apart for more than a couple of days, and even then, they’d kept in near constant contact.
Lore shrugged. “A month or two, maybe?”
Months? They were a work team. There was no way they could avoid each other for that long.
Wraith looked up at a moth circling overhead. “Or you could do the obvious.”
“I know you’re not going to tell him to eliminate the competition,” Lore drawled.
“What?” Wraith looked scandalized. “Blade’s family. A broken nose and fractured jaw?” He shrugged. “No big. But killing him? That’s a little extreme.”
“Then what’s the obvious thing?” Mace asked.
Wraith looked at him like he was an idiot. “Sleep with Scotty.”
Mace nearly choked on his beer.
Lore gave Wraith an are-you-kidding-me look. “That’s insane.”
“Completely bonkers.” Mace coughed again, blinking his watering eyes.
“Why?” Wraith lounged in his chair, his new beer settled on his abs. “You and Blade would be on equal footing. Balance restored.”
Yep. Bonkers.
Or was it?
Hmm. Both his dads had presented totally different bits of advice. Lore’s was probably the best. But Wraith’s was…intriguing.
It was also unrealistic. Blade would go ballistic if Mace suggested it, and who knew how Scotty would react? She’d probably laugh in his face. Or punch him in said face. Said face that had already been beaten into a pulp.
He blew out a resigned breath. “I think Dad’s right,” he said. “We should stay in our separate spaces for a little while. I’ll talk to them after training tomorrow.”
Of course, that was assuming they were in any shape to talk.