Chapter 11 #3
With his eyes locked on the ghost, Winter took a step backward into the building and the ghost grew hazier before his eyes.
Sucking in a choked breath, Winter let the door close in front of him and he leaned heavily against the concrete wall.
His legs didn’t want to hold him up, but it didn’t matter.
Being near Fox was a gift. The most beautiful gift he’d ever received. Just his presence blocked Winter’s ability to see and hear the ghosts. He at long last found the peace he’d been searching for since he’d been a child. The silence was positively golden.
Dropping the knife on the floor with a loud clatter, Winter covered his face with both of his trembling hands, just trying to catch his breath.
He could hear only his racing heart and ragged breaths.
No more voices. No more demands and pathetic sobs or angry rants.
No more apparitions floating through his life, demanding his attention.
He’d waited so long. It was a taste of heaven.
But it meant keeping Fox at his side.
Lucky for him, being near Fox was no hardship. He liked the man. He was sweet, funny, and always entertaining. It didn’t hurt that he was adorably sexy. Winter would have been happy to maintain a friendship with Fox even without this extraordinary gift.
Fox couldn’t stay with him, though.
The witch had a life he needed to get back to. He had friends and dreams—all of it far away from the Variks.
Yes, leaving Fox would mean giving up this peace and quiet, but maybe he could find a way to make this permanent.
And if not, he’d find a way to treasure the small break he’d been given.
Wiping the tears away from his eyes, Winter drew in a fresh, shuddering breath and picked up the knife he’d dropped. He climbed the stairs to the loft and closed the front door behind him before moving to the second floor.
He hated how Fox’s fearful eyes dropped to the knife first and flinched. But when he looked closely at Winter’s face, he saw something to make the anger and terror drain away.
“Winter, what’s going on?” Fox asked. His voice was full of worry and urgency. “Please, just tell me. I can see you’re upset, and if I did something…”
Winter moved around the bed to the side where he’d tied Fox and sat on the edge.
Slowly he lowered the blade to the ropes and started sawing.
It was damn faster than trying to untie the knots.
The second he was free, Fox rolled away from him.
He jumped off the bed, putting as much space between them while still remaining in the room.
Turning the knife so that the handle was pointed toward Fox, he stretched across the bed and placed the blade on the other side of the bed, closest to Fox.
“What’s that for?” Fox snapped.
“For you. I don’t want you to feel helpless again. I don’t want you to be scared of me. I’m sorry for tying you up. Sorry for scaring you.”
Fox frowned at the knife for a second before making a disgusted noise in the back of his throat.
He picked it up, placed it on the nightstand, and crawled across the bed toward Winter.
Kneeling next to the vampire, he squished Winter’s cheeks between both hands.
“Tell me what the fuck is going on right this second. You look like shit.”
Winter closed his eyes, letting himself sink into Fox’s warmth for a moment.
He was honestly stunned that the man was willing to come near him again, let alone touch him.
“You…you have given me the most amazing gift. I was afraid to trust it. Afraid this might have something to do with the prophecy. I had to check.”
“I gave you a gift?” Fox repeated. “Then why do you look so bad? Talk to me. You’re scaring me.”
He couldn’t fight the urge any longer. Winter reached over and pulled Fox into his lap.
The witch went willingly, wrapping his arms and legs around Winter’s body like a sloth clinging to a tree branch.
Holding Fox in his arm, breathing in his scent—a haunting mix of soap, sleep, and Fox.
The anxious, joyous, fearful parts of him started to settle so he could think clearly again.
“It’s a long story,” Winter began. He dropped his forehead to rest on Fox’s shoulder.
It was easier to talk without meeting his gaze.
“The short of it is that I’ve heard voices since I was a child.
I never understood where they were coming from or even what they were talking about most of the time.
When I became a vampire, I could actually see the ghosts I’d been listening to all my life.
Even without going into the dead world. They were just always there, talking to me.
They wanted me to find their lost daughter.
They wanted to know why no one else could hear them.
Sometimes they just wanted to know when the next bus was going to arrive.
No matter what I did, they were always there. ”
“Until you met me,” Fox provided when Winter fell silent.
Winter nodded against his shoulder. “With all our focus on getting safely away from Damon, I didn’t notice that the ghosts were missing until this morning. I’ve gotten accustomed to just tuning them out as best I could.”
Fox’s fingers threaded through Winter’s hair in a gentle caress that brushed away more of the tension still humming through his body. “You were afraid it was some trick or spell I’d cast.”
“I’ve wanted the voices gone for so long, Fox.
Almost two hundred years.” Winter stopped when his voice wobbled.
He took a deep breath and focused on Fox’s fingers in his hair, only starting again when he felt steady.
“I wanted to be happy. It was a dream come true. But if this was a trick, some way of weakening me so I couldn’t protect my family, I couldn’t allow it. Couldn’t let you do this to me.”
The witch shifted in his arms, and Winter lifted his head to meet his gaze.
“I get it. I really do. Sometimes I’m really scared about trusting you, but we have got to remember that we’re in this together, right?
I don’t want to die, and you don’t want anything to happen to your family.
We work together, and we can keep that from happening. ”
An ugly mix of guilt and shame washed through Winter at Fox’s words, leaving him clinging to the slender man in his arms. He didn’t deserve Fox’s trust. Not after scaring him.
Not after tying him up when he’d so recently suffered a similar trauma at Damon’s hands.
But he was also grateful that it didn’t sound like Fox was willing to give up on him yet.
“You’re right. Thank you. I’m sorry about—”
“Shut up, Big Sexy,” Fox said warmly. He pulled him in for another tight hug. “It’s clear you’ve got major communication and trust issues.”
Winter chuckled softly as he hugged him. “Maybe.”
“So…you can’t see ghosts right now?”
“No.”
Fox’s arms tightened just a little bit. “Does that mean you need me to be wrapped around you like this to get a break from them?”
Winter snorted. Fox was snuggled close enough that he was practically a part of Winter. “No.”
“Don’t worry. I’m happy to stay wrapped around you at all times as your personal ghost force field.”
Winter snickered as he placed his hands on Fox’s waist with the intention of removing the man.
Now that he was calmer and thinking clearer, he was becoming aware of the wonderfulness of Fox’s body as it rubbed against his own.
It was going to become obvious in a matter of seconds that Winter’s interest was more than just about protecting Fox and the Variks.
Laughter exploded from Fox, and he quickly wiggled away. “Don’t!”
“You’re ticklish?” Winter asked as Fox pushed to the other side of the bed.
“A little, but I’m more interested in other things from you.”
Winter pushed to his feet, feeling a little steadier than he had. “I don’t wish to trouble you. I’m sure you’ll be relieved to know that I only need to be in your general proximity to banish the ghosts.”
Fox wrinkled his nose and flopped back on the pillows. “How close?”
“It looks like I’ve got a distance of a several hundred yards, at least. I made it nearly to the sidewalk before I saw the ghosts outside.”
The young man didn’t at all seem pleased by that announcement, and Winter found himself adding against his better judgment. “But this is just a rough estimate. I’m sure we’d need to conduct many more experiments to nail down the restrictions more clearly. Unless you wouldn’t be comfortable…”
A slow smile spread across Fox’s lips and he sat up. “No, I’d be happy to help. You know, in the name of science.”
Winter couldn’t help the shudder that ran through him. “Really, don’t say that.”
“What?”
“That anything we do is in the name of science.”
Fox looked at him like he’d lost his mind. “Why?”
“Bel is a scientist, and it’s his favorite excuse for torturing any of us.” Winter shook his head. “Too often, horrible things follow those famous words.”
Fox cackled, relaxing on the bed. His hair was flame bright against the white pillows, and his green eyes danced with amusement and mischief.
The man looked so tempting spread out there, but Winter kept his feet firmly planted.
It was far better if he maintained a safe distance between him and Fox, so he didn’t give in to that temptation.
“I promise to not mention anything about experiments to him. I have a feeling that whatever your brother cooks up won’t be nearly as fun as what I have in mind.
” Fox waggled his eyebrows at Winter as if he had no doubt in his mind as to the dirty things floating through his brain.
But his expression turned serious far too quickly.
“Speaking of your family, don’t you need to contact them? Ticking clock and all that.”
Winter groaned and scrubbed a hand over his face. That was very true. He could almost guarantee he was going to be summoned to Marcus’s home, but there wasn’t much point until they heard from Zelda or determined where the damn prophecy came from in the first place.
And right now, he wasn’t ready to share Fox with his brothers.