Midsummer Phoenixes (Phoenix Immortal)

10. Soyer Makes a Friend and Scares the Children

Soyer Makes a Friend and Scares the Children

CHAPTER ONE

June 15

I sighed, taking my time washing the batter bowl in the sink, then doing the same with the pan I’d fried the French toast in, then Amory’s and my plates.

There were a few strawberries left over, also some cream. The berries hadn’t been enough to seduce my lover back to bed, and any fantasy I’d entertained involving cream and juicy fruit hadn’t happened either.

I sighed once more.

It was six o’clock, and Amory had left forty-five minutes ago, saying he wanted to be early, for one reason of stupid dutifulness or another, and before that, he’d wanted to stop by his old place.

His determination had left me alone, all alone, with nothing to do but finish the strawberries and cream with my fingers, imagining I was licking something else.

And there was nothing in the whole apartment left to clean but these dishes, nothing. I’d made the bed, had wiped down the bathroom, and that was it.

Worse, my new batch of fitted sheets hadn’t arrived yet, so I couldn’t even do laundry and torture the baby Star-Garbed downstairs with a request to fold it, not that torturing him would work all that well. He knew I was always going to give in to Amory, and those Star-Garbed weren’t above using that against me. Or against my plans to use fitted sheets as an instrument of domestic torture.

But I did have a plan for today, in a manner of speaking. I smiled as I scrubbed the pan with renewed vigor. Yes, I would be doing some gentle scrubbing over at St. Auguste as well.

CHAPTER TWO

I got out of the 47-cab right in front of the school gates. St. Auguste was beautiful in that way you only ever got if you had too much money to spend and an architect who liked to think in superlatives exclusively.

I didn’t know that architect, but I knew Valentin had invested massive sums when the school had first been built, though these days, it was financed just as much by donors as by Hawthorne itself.

St. Auguste was an elitist place, with obligatory uniforms for the lower grades that included ties for all genders. That was despicable, and on top of that, knowing how they’d let slide Ella’s lacking cursive skills—I couldn’t abide.

The most impressive feature of the entire place had to be the school walls of course, high and tipped with iron. The wrought iron gate was locked now and only open when school was in session. Two “volunteers” would help funnel the young students in from the street each morning. The volunteers weren’t that but paid guards who made sure no random humans walked onto the grounds.

Some of the students entered through the secret underground, those who couldn’t pass, and I’d considered taking that route. But people would have seen me, and I wanted to make a splash in front of the principal’s office when I conferred with them about the school’s stance on general educational goals.

And so, after giving the cab time to speed away, I didn’t go for the front gate and the panel there that would connect me to a security person. Instead, I made for a side entrance down the street, hidden around a corner. I knew the smaller entrance there would be open for evening classes. It was, the metal knob turning easily, the door itself opening on well-oiled hinges.

This entrance point was video surveilled, but there were no guards in constant attendance. Those who were here for evening classes walked into the main building through a small courtyard walled off from the main one, that brought them to a basement entrance that was still inviting with a beautifully carved stone lintel and glass sliding doors.

I went through those and came to an information hub foyer-type deal. A lot of the old universities in Europe looked like this too, historic and massive on the outside where the weight of time and reputation had given the school both name and gravitas, and on the inside, updated with all that juicy funding money.

In this well-funded info-foyer, I hadn’t really expected to run into anyone, but lo and behold, there was a human there, looking at some art display. Finger paintings by the preschoolers maybe, mounted neatly by overpaid staff.

The man saw me, and his features lit up. He waved and made a beeline toward me.

“Hi! I’m glad I’m not the only one who’s early. Are you here for the”—he lowered his voice to a whisper—”the Cultural Awareness Program? You know, where we learn about the”—his voice got even more secretive—”the supernaturals.”

I opened my mouth to tell him my improv version of fuck you very much, but the words froze on my tongue.

I looked him over. Youngish. Amory’s age. Smaller, and didn’t have Amory’s muscle distribution, so not someone physically active. He wore sneakers, jeans, a neat tee, and an expensive bag with room enough for a laptop and a fancy water bottle. Maybe a student.

And the thing was, that might be interesting. Not that man, not what he did for a living, but what he thought of our world, one he was clearly new to. He might give me insights into some of what Amory was going through or thought about my kind, even if Amory, too, was now a part of my world, after he had burned for me.

This man with his laptop bag and fancy water could be a lab rat in the labyrinth that was Amory’s journey of entering the supernatural world he’d barely even glimpsed yet. And I was going to talk to this human and find out how he was liking it in this labyrinth.

I smiled like he had just said something insulting about ties. “Sure.”

He beamed. “Oh, great. I had a seminar—I’m a TA. It ended early, and I was excited.” He cleared his throat. “It’s my roommate. He, uh. There was this one time where he hugged me, and then I looked into his eyes, and I could tell, and—it’s a long story. How about you?”

I shrugged. “My boyfriend.”

“Oh. I see. Can I—what’s that like?”

I didn’t like talking about Amory to other people. He was mine. Everyone knew, and the Star-Garbed had smelled the proof often enough to confirm it if anyone called it in doubt, but I had to remember that this man was my lab rat for the day.

“It’s the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to me in the entirety of my existence.” He gave me a look that let me know honesty was not appreciated, so I shrugged yet again. “It’s nice, you know.”

“Ooooh. I think I know what you’re saying. It’s complicated?”

I already wanted to slap him. “Sure. How about you? Fucking that roommate?”

He flushed and looked at me with the kind of shock that told me he’d damn well thought about fucking his roommate.

“No! We’re really just roommates. He pays rent, I pay rent. An arranged living situation. Selective cohabitation.”

“Uh-huh.”

He cleared his throat. “How about I show you around a bit? I went to one session—it was really good—and a volunteer gave me a tour of the grounds. One of the live-in students I think. They have a cafeteria here that is just the best. I was going to grab something, but then these distracted me.”

He pointed at the paintings, and fine. They were done by the final year’s AP art course, and not at all that bad. One in particular was striking, done in gouache in hues of pinks and reds, it showed a gorgon, her snakes captured in their movement.

It was a vibrant piece, stunning, and according to the description, a self-portrait. I read on. All of them were, some showing more merit than others, but not one of them bad.

“They make a distracting display.”

The guy nodded. “They do. Oh, I’m Tate by the way.”

He held out his hand, so I shook. “Bennet.”

“Nice to meet you, Bennet. Ready for a little tour?”

“Sure, Tate. Lead the way.”

Tate seemed eager. Amory hadn’t been that eager, or had he? I’d fed him beignets when I’d given him a choice, when I hadn’t been sure which I’d want him to choose. It had been the morning after our first night together, his scent had lingered on my skin, and I’d have liked nothing more than to keep him comfortable on that tiny couch of his, in that apartment he’d worked so hard for, that home he had built from nothing.

A small laugh escaped me when I realized that Amory, my Amory, had risen from the despair he’d been plunged into to a man I could only dream of winning, a true firebird shaking ashes off his feathers even before he’d met me.

Tate looked at me as he led me along the corridor with helpful signage indicating the cafeteria, library, and a number of lecture halls.

“You alright, Bennet? I know this all seems weird because this place looks normal and all. I mean, everything here is normal. Everyone is.” He winked. “Although they do sometimes make jokes about eating you.”

“Oh? What about woodchipper jokes?”

“Huh?”

“Nothing. So you’re not scared at all, being here, meeting the students of Freak High?”

Tate stopped in his tracks and gave me a shocked look. “I don’t think you want to call anyone here a freak? I mean, you wouldn’t want to call anyone a freak to their face, right?”

I pretended to consider that. “Right. The next time I see a proud supernatural calling themselves a freak, I’ll tell them that’s insensitive.”

Tate paled a little, his eyes going wide. My little rat, confronted with a dead end.

“No, I mean, uh, if you put it like that, I mean, it’s just that I thought…” He cracked a smile. “As you can see, I’m still super new to this. I guess it’s easier, understanding this world if your boyfriend is part of it.”

Was it? I’d shown Amory things, hadn’t I? Well, I’d shown him around a little bit. I wasn’t going to expose him to the likes of the triglav brothers or chimerae arguing with themselves, that was out of the question. He was making friends with Young Hawthorne though, and that was already a lot more than anyone needed, on a good day.

“I’m really trying my best,” I told Tate, and it was the fucking truth. I rubbed the back of my head, tried looking slightly apologetic as a sort of peace offering.

Tate nodded. “We all are. I mean, there was this one lady last time, she got mugged but this cab driver sees it happen and jumps out of her cab, only the driver has scales on her arms, and the lady sees them. One thing leads to another, and she’s here, discovering a whole new world with the rest of us.” He lifted a finger. “With a lot more job opportunities. I mean, who would have thought, right?”

We resumed walking across the echoey hallways that still got a remarkable amount of daylight. Benches framed the wide halls of Freak High’s basement on either side, and outside of rooms, digital screens showed the schedule for the respective room while the signage continued to make getting lost near impossible.

“Wow, extra job opportunities. That’s so exciting,” I lied. “Do you think it would bother you, working with supernaturals?”

Tate shook his head. “Oh, not at all! I think that would be so cool. I mean, sometimes, they will hire people to just do errands for them because they can’t pass, and I think that is lovely. And my Roomie said there’s really a big community here, and they just need people for all kinds of stuff. I mean, apparently there’s a whole secret force of cab drivers, and sometimes, they will hire a human in the know. Of course you have to know specific locations and stuff.” He leaned over to me once more. “My roomie said there’s even a place below the city, the sacred underground. He said maybe he’d take me, but I asked the instructor, and they do excursions as well, to the relevant places. Isn’t that cool? Isn’t that just the coolest?”

“You think the secret underground sounds cool?”

“It’s the sacred underground. I mean, I don’t know if there is worship there as well, but maybe? And yeah, I think it’s rad.”

I shrugged. “Well, they do have good food down there.”

Tate stared as we went left. “You’ve been? How was it? Is it really dark down there? I imagine a steampunk world, but my roomie says I’m an idiot.”

“Depending on what kind of shifter he is, that might just be his way of trying to get in your pants, Tate. And the freaks have totally discovered electric lights. Everyone’s so over this Victorian steampunk shit, you have no idea.”

He flushed again. “No, we’re really just roommates. He’s simply being nice and—he’s being nice, is all.”

“Well, if he’s trying to be nice, why don’t you ask him really nicely to take you down there and see what happens? Worst case, he says no.”

And here I was, giving my lab rat relationship advice. This was what things had come to. It was what being abandoned by my lover all day did to me.

Ah, if only Amory had allowed me to lather him in whipped cream and decorate him with strawberries before licking him clean and fucking him into oblivious delirium… I knew that was my fantasy more than his, but I was allowed to have my fantasies, couldn’t really help them forming with him serving me pie each night and smiling like that…

Yup, I was slipping into yet another fantasy as we were approaching the cafeteria. I evened out my breathing, tried not to think of Amory walking up to my table in his tight server uniform with the cute apron and the very straight bow tie.

The cafeteria was indeed nice. There were tables inside the cafeteria itself, but also in the hallway that widened here as it intersected with another. Each little table had a little flower in the center, a real bloom, because that’s how fancy the school was.

Through the glass-fronted cafeteria, I could see they also had those fancy little tables set out in the courtyard, the one used by all the students, but especially the live-ins.

But. Freak High had apparently discovered Pride as another holiday to celebrate and to decorate for, at least if the cafeteria was any indication.

“This is nice, isn’t it?” Tate said as he walked in ahead of me. The door stood open, inviting to everyone.

“Sure.”

“They’ve had these up all month,” Tate said, indicating the streamers strung across the interior tables, the little flags stuck into the flowerpots in here, and the menus in rainbow colors.

It was so gaudy, I wondered if Young Hawthorne had had a hand in this.

“That’s commitment.”

“Yup, and I love it. Okay, food here is going to blow your mind.”

Tate walked up to the display counter. The cafeteria looked like a lot of airport bistros, fancy, food displayed attractively behind glass. Above the oval glass display, there was a reminder for students to have their student ID ready. Next to it, written out in fancy script was the drinks selection and daily specials.

Normal enough, but it had the added info that all drinks could be made with saltwater instead of regular, and they had brine broth. Brine broth was the equivalent of drinking from a filthy puddle on some battlefield post-battle because you were dying of thirst, but some pawns and cursed loved the stuff.

“I’m always ready to have my mind blown,” I said just as the pawn server turned around to greet us with a smile.

Predictably, he paled.

Yeah, Freak High was a lot nicer than dealing with those insolent triglav brothers. Or at least the one insolent triglav brother.

Tate went ahead of me with the confident air of a man who thought he had discovered an unknown continent. “I had those flaky pastry things last time. Spicy but oh so good, and those long pastries over there are filled with vanilla cream. Also good.” He looked up at the server, presumably an older student here. “Hey, are you okay?”

The pawn closed his mouth, nodded, using the motion to cast his eyes down in a gesture of submission. He wiped his hands on his apron.

“Of course, sirs. What can I do for you today?”

“An everything bagel for me, please,” Tate said and rummaged around in his massive bag for his wallet. “Bennet? My treat. For keeping me company.”

“Oh, that would be rude of me,” I said and dropped a bill on the counter in front of the pawn. “This is absolutely on me. Get the man his bagel, and coffee for me. You have pancakes?”

The pawn gasped. “No, I’m so sorry, sir. We, erm, there are wraps. I’m very sorry. If you’d like, I can run to the main kitchen and—”

“A wrap will be fine. Avocado, tomato, cucumber.”

He jumped to it in the most satisfying way.

“I guess he’s new,” Tate whispered. The pawn could probably hear him still.

“Oh, you think so? It’s as important for new people to know their manners as it is for those with all the experience.”

The pawn squirmed. He was probably wondering if he’d done anything wrong, if he’d offended me. That was satisfying. I forced myself to relax my shoulders and look around the mostly empty cafeteria.

And fuck me. Sitting at a table with the same Star-Garbed I’d caught her with yesterday was none other than Ella, proving once more that children were an unconscionable bother and didn’t fucking learn, ever.

The kid had spotted me, of course, because the Star-Garbed wouldn’t have missed the pawn server’s unease. The two of them had drinks and some food gathered around them, but spread out on the table were books and papers, making this look as if they were doing schoolwork.

I let my gaze bore into the two of them until the pawn came back with two trays and the food Tate and I had ordered.

“There you go, sir. Please let me know if there is anything else you need.”

“Sure. Keep the change,” I added when he was fumbling around in his register.

I grabbed my tray, and so did Tate.

“Did you just give the server a hundred dollars?”

“I like tipping my server.”

Tate ooh-ed. “That’s generous. Don’t tell me. You’re rich. What, do you work in fashion?”

I stopped in my tracks. “In fashion? Why on earth would you think that?”

Tate had taken me stopping as his cue to take a seat at the table next to which I’d stopped. It wasn’t as close to the annoying infant as I would have liked, but it was close enough.

“Oh, you know.” He gestured at me. “That fancy coat. Your nail polish, the way you carry yourself. And you only wear black. I feel like that’s something fashion designers do.” I wanted to slap him again, but of course my nail polish was very much in order, and it was kind of nice of him to notice. He lifted a finger. “And the guyliner!”

Fucker. He needed to be slapped. On the ass.

Before I could do that, Ella walked over, right up to the table. Guyliner, pah. If anything was gender neutral, it was fucking eyeliner, and Ella still looked like she had accidentally used crayon.

“Sorry for interrupting. Sophie said I had to come over and greet you or whatever. And tell you we’re here studying. Rae knows.”

The fetus wasn’t lying this time around. “Fine. What subject?” I asked because I had to. Because vassalship sucked, and because I had been forced into caring about this shit.

“Trig. But as I told you, I’m really good at math.”

“Right. I’ll follow up on that.”

Ella’s eyes widened, the reaction exaggerated by her stupid eyeliner.

Tate chose that moment to interrupt. “Hi. I’m Tate, by the way. You two know each other? Bennet didn’t mention he knew anyone who went here.”

Ella fidgeted slightly. And I had to give it to her. Where a regular teenager might have just spilled something unhelpful, Ella paused and considered. Fear rose its head, and behind her, the Star-Garbed grew agitated, ready to spring up and come to her aid.

“I know her sibling,” I said. Ella relaxed.

“Oooh,” Tate said in a knowing way, not realizing he didn’t know shit.

“You’re taking a cab home?” I asked Ella.

She shrugged. “Okay.”

“Directly. No fucking detours. I’ll hold Atkins responsible if you go on detours.”

Ella knew enough to pout and give me her most evil stare, which was considerably dimmed on account of her very bad eye makeup. And of course she understood I was going to blame her desired love interest if she fucked up.

“Fine. I’ll take a cab directly home. And I’ll forget I saw you here.” She didn’t add with this suspicious human guy , but she wasn’t very subtle about casting her eyes at Tate, and yeah, fair. Working hard to get whatever leverage you could was something I could appreciate as a life skill.

“Off you go to study then.” I shooed her, and she was just slow enough to let me know she was pissed and annoyed and in teenage drama mode all over again.

Seriously, children. I couldn’t see why anyone would bother.

Once she had sat her ass back down next to the Star-Garbed, who smiled at me politely, Ella gave me her best impression of an evil-eyed stare and went back to studying.

“What a nice girl,” Tate said. He was trying to be polite.

“Yeah, totally.”

“Is she, uh. I’m sorry. It’s rude to ask. She’s very cool. It’s so sweet of you to make sure she gets home okay. You can never be too careful these days.”

I looked at Tate. “You said you were a TA?”

He nodded. “Not that grade though. University. Organic chemistry department.”

“Exciting. Aren’t all chemists great at baking?”

Tate nodded his head eagerly. “Baking, cooking, the works. I’m currently into brownies. You know, to get them just to the right fudginess isn’t as easy as you’d think. What I’d love would be an oven with even heat distribution.”

“You can get those. Fucking expensive, but also worth it,” I said, because he was right about the oven.

He gaped. “You’re a baker?”

A real smile made my lips twitch. “I was a baker once. These days, I just dabble.”

“Wow! Any specialties?” He wiggled his eyebrows at me. “Anything that might help me with my brownie goals?”

“You might want to look into using beans.”

“Huh.” He crossed his arms while I bit into my wrap. “I made those chickpea cookies once. Could work. You know, yeah. That could actually work quite nicely. Thanks, Bennet.”

“My pleasure. Are you considering changing careers? You were mentioning all those job opportunities.”

Tate shrugged. “Maybe. I mean, there is this company that can help you. It’s called, uh, something starting with H I think.”

“Hawthorne.”

“Yeah, them. So they can help. But I’m guessing you knew that.”

The wrap was decent, but it wasn’t triglav-made bramboráky. “I heard them mentioned. But do you ever get insecure? Knowing that there are supernaturals all around you?”

Tate took a bite from his own bagel while he thought about that. “Sort of. Since I found out, I’ve always worried a lot about being an asshole to people and not noticing. Now, I’m progressive enough to know that as a white cis dude, I’ve probably done that before anyway, but I don’t mean to, you know? Is that weird?”

Well, I had to give it to Tate. He was less the superficial asshole I’d taken him for. I was totally going to forgive him the fancy water bottle I’d spotted when he’d gone digging for his wallet earlier.

“No, it’s not. Also, most pawns have a hand up over humans given that humans can never tell when someone’s a pawn unless the pawn is non-humanoid and can’t shift.”

Tate swallowed his food. “Pawn’s a little rude to say. I definitely know that.”

“It’s accurate.”

Tate nodded. “I’m guessing you know better than I do. And I didn’t really understand about pawns and cursed anyway. It all sounds so old-fashioned, like something that’s been going on for ages, like something you’d read in a fantasy novel.”

I licked some tomato juice off my thumb. “Is that something that worries you? The way this society is old and has roots that go back in time far beyond most human comprehension?”

Tate giggled. “I wouldn’t go that far. And hey, you totally have a way with words. Are you a writer then?”

I narrowed my eyes, thinking about Mr. Laptop, Amory’s “writer.” That guy was still around, and he always got Amory’s attention.

“No, not a writer. I’m a consultant.”

“Huh.” Tate sounded doubtful. “That sounds interesting.”

“I can’t really talk about work.”

He nodded. “Right. Of course.” He ate a few more bites, almost finishing his bagel, before he said, “Maybe I will. Take a job somewhere I’d never have been able to, before. You know, it’s an opportunity. I’ll admit that I thought it was dangerous or weird or…any of the thoughts I’m sure you had. But at the end of the day, having moved in with the right guy allows me to see the world clearer now, see it more for what it is. And that’s wonderful. As a scientist, I have to embrace that, and as a person, I have to embrace all the different ways in which life is lived around me.”

Well, fuck me, but I’d run into a regular philosopher here.

“You mean that,” I said, not a question, because his facial features were pretty clear about it.

“Yeah, I mean it. I really do. My roomie sometimes doesn’t think so and handles me like I wouldn’t be able to deal with things, but I actually am, you know. I can accept that vampires, werewolves, lizard people, elves are all out there and just want to be.” He gestured at the fucking rainbow menu. “Life is better when it’s more colorful, you know.”

Huh. I could almost see Amory nod along to all of that. I opened my mouth to say something, stopped. This human, just like Amory, had come into my world with a kiss. Well, no, that wasn’t true. I had no evidence Tate had kissed his roommate except my instincts, and Amory had been sucked into it when he’d watched me getting murdered. But I had kissed him. I had tried so hard to take the horror away, in whatever way I could.

And maybe I hadn’t needed to do all that. Maybe discovering the wonder in this new world was enough for someone born human. For someone born kind.

I cleared my throat. “That’s very insightful, Tate.” I stood, almost ignoring my tray, but Amory wouldn’t like that, so I picked it up. “I’m afraid I have to go to another appointment right now. Thank you for showing me around.”

Tate looked surprised. “Right. My pleasure. And see you for class, Bennet.”

I didn’t correct him as I walked to the counter, handed my tray to the shivering pawn, and held Ella’s gaze for as long as it took me to leave.

The principal had been the most boring person ever. He was a vampire, well-acquainted with Valentin, and he’d known I was on the grounds. He’d not been scared of me, had simply taken my complaint and promised he’d do a school-wide training in cursive, graded, and because he and his Windsor knot wanted to piss me off, he decided on the spot to also introduce typing classes.

Fucker.

Another minor side benefit to talking to the annoying vampire was getting to hear about Ella though. She was actually doing well. Better than expected. I’d thought I’d hear about her lighting shit on fire or whatever, because if I were her, I’d have lit shit on fire, but not Ella. Ella was a good student, and she did work hard.

She’d not been in school for almost a year before she’d come here, something I hadn’t known, but she’d made up for most of it. The principal told me her sibling, my vassal, had apparently gotten Ella to learn and study as sort of a distraction from everything else that had been going on. Ella had told the school counselor, because the principal with his fucking silk tie and confident smile had made Ella go and see the school counselor once a week.

As I left Freak High with all that information, I couldn’t help the ugly jealousy that crept into me. No one had helped me find a distraction. I had been alone. I had been safer alone, I knew that, but…maybe a distraction would have been nice.

Ella was going to be fine, and she was going to get there faster than I ever had. My steps felt light when I left the principal’s office. I’d totally forgotten to make a derisive comment about his tie to his face.

CHAPTER THREE

I left St. Auguste through the secret underground. I needed those bramboráky more than I had thought, and then maybe I needed to sit at my table in the Moonlight early so Rae could take the rest of the night off and make sure their sister wasn’t scared home alone.

Not that I was doing anything for Rae, who was my vassal and supposed to serve me, but coming to the Moonlight sooner would enable me to watch Amory for longer and indulge in some of those whipped cream and berry fantasies while I weighed the ethical concerns of guilting him into actually letting me lather him with cream.

The school entrance dropped me in a little cozy tunnel. The walls were artistically graffitied, by students presumably, and right here, it said Freak High in bold letters, screaming bold. A way to do Pride I really did appreciate, although of course I would have my rainbow brownie later at the Moonlight.

This area of the railwalk had all the little shops suitable for students. I stopped at a stationery store to look at paper, bound and loose. I bought some ink, moved on, roamed the second-hand bookstore where a weird little book called “ The Adventures of Cherry and Daddy ” had made it into the assorted non-fiction. I looked at the cute black baby kitten on the cover before putting the book back. Pets were a nuisance.

Eventually, I made it back to my most favorite food truck. There was a line once more, but given I had been chided for standing in it only the day before, I decided to skip it right away.

The kludde was back again, or some kludde at any rate. If it was the same, it was wearing the guise of a man today, their wings still out. The next person was permanently winged. The harpy was on his phone, his clawed feet tapping on the railwalk as he scrolled. He stopped when he saw me, but I walked right up to the front.

“Look who’s back again,” Grumpy said.

“What can I say? I missed your welcoming attitude.”

The more reasonable triglav approached his brother and clearly kicked him in the shin before glaring at him with one set of eyes. “Bramboráky again, right?”

I nodded. “Extra applesauce.”

I handed them some money and watched the grumpy triglav make the food.

“My brother wasn’t cussing at you yesterday, by the way. He was rude, yeah, but that’s really just his personality.”

“Fascinating.”

“You don’t have to lodge a complaint with Hawthorne or anything.”

I lifted my brow. “Please. Like I have the nerve to deal with all that paperwork. If I feel offended, I simply handle the situation myself. In this case, I just need him to make food and shut up.”

Grumpy triglav snorted and was promptly kicked again. “He can do that. We’re really glad you like the food here. We’re honored.”

“Sure, sure.”

I waited in awkward silence for my pancakes, but it was worth it. With my bramboráky finally in hand, I headed toward the bodega.

As I ate, I realized how much my day had not gone to plan. First of all, this Tate person. Then the principal had been accommodating and helpful. Then the friendly triglav had apologized.

“Fuck,” I said when I got to the bench Ella and her friends had occupied yesterday. I sat where she’d sat. “I am losing my edge. I’m sacrificing it for pancakes. Fuck.”

Really, the only upside of my day had been the fearful pawn at the cafeteria.

I grinned as I licked my lips. There was no reason why I shouldn’t go to the cafeteria again tomorrow to grab some dinner.

CHAPTER FOUR

The Moonlight’s bells jingled with their silvery voices. It was barely even ten. Amory wasn’t behind the counter to greet me.

“Welcome to the Moonlight Diner, Mr. Bennet,” Rae said in his stead.

I looked around. Ben was in his spot at the end of the counter, a bunch of werewolves were inhaling fries at the corner table, and two of Hawthorne’s crime scene cleaning hivelings were sharing dinner at another table.

All the way in the back, there were four elves all dressed up in rainbow sequins and sparkly makeup, not even bothering to hide their ears. Also present back there was Mr. Laptop, who managed to throw me a dirty look before going back to whatever it was he was doing on his laptop.

“Amory?” I asked.

“Just in the back,” Rae said.

I nodded. “If he tells you you can leave, that’s fine with me. Ben, you’re excused as well.”

The werewolf heard and acknowledged with a nod. I sat at my table, only noticing Roland was also back in the diner then. Two weeks after the reopening, this was really becoming the go-to place for the supernatural crowd. Wryly I wondered when St. Auguste’s Help I Met A Freak program would offer guided tours to the Moonlight.

I got comfortable and looked at the swing door to the kitchen. After a few minutes, Amory came out with a large tub of vanilla ice cream in hand. He saw me and waved, then deposited the tub in the freezer. Elias’s visits were clearly taking their toll.

I watched as Amory got a cup ready for me and plated my cherry pie. Today, he glanced up at me as he did that. It was very seductive. Granted, most things he did were very fucking seductive to me, but today, it felt like he wanted it to be too.

He got all fancy and carried everything over on a tray.

“Welcome to the Moonlight Diner, boss,” my grinning server told me as he unloaded his tray in front of me.

“If you really want to make me feel welcome, you’ll have to let me order you around in the back room.”

Amory flushed before putting a finger to his lips. “Shh. You’re impossible. Is everything okay? You’re early. It’s not because I said I had to go in early today, is it? Because I wanted to stop by my place? I thought about it, and you looked a little bit disappointed when I left.”

My Amory. I loved him. Also, my cock twitched because him caring was incredibly attractive, so in a sense, my cock twitched with love. I would have liked to tell him that as a compliment. Maybe later.

“Everything is fine, and I knew what I was getting into with you. Smart, independent, looks good with an apron.” I sighed. “I consider myself very lucky you make time for me at all.”

“Oh, come on. You’re being silly.” He licked the corner of his mouth. “I always want to spend time with you. And last night, you telling me all of that, it meant a lot, truly. Thank you for trusting me with that story.”

Huh. I hadn’t expected that. “You don’t need to thank me. You sleep in my bed. You have the right to know things about me.”

He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “But you have to be comfortable sharing. And, you know, that you are makes me feel very special.”

“That’s because you are special. If I worried you earlier, that wasn’t my intention. I’m really just here because I was craving pie, my heart.”

He accepted that tiny white lie with a nod. “Okay. Well, I have to get back to work. My boss can be super strict. He might chase me if he saw me slacking.”

There were still hours between now and the Moonlight closing, but today, Amory definitely was in the mood to do more than cuddle. And if he wanted me to chase him, oh, I would oblige.

“Is that so? Well, I suppose your boss must have his reasons. Maybe you should ask yourself what it is about you that makes you so suitable for getting chased, Amory.”

His cheeks darkened in the most attractive way. He nodded. “I’ll go do that.”

And off he sashayed. I was absolutely leering at his very attractive backside in a way that—in any other person—would have drawn Ben’s attention.

As it was, Mr. Laptop saw. His brows drew together, and he looked unhappy, looked at me as if I’d just kicked a puppy or something.

Ben noticed this. He did some frowning of his own but otherwise ignored it and sipped his lemon water while Amory was totally oblivious to all of it.

CHAPTER FIVE

Nothing much out of the ordinary happened for the rest of the night in the Moonlight. People were nice, Amory smiled too much, and he did send Rae home about ten minutes after I got there, so there was that.

As the night went on, the diner emptied. I took note of it, but my main focus was Amory, watching him like I always had, focusing on his every move, the interactions he had.

He refilled my coffee regularly or at least checked if it needed refilling.

“Did you think about it?” I asked him on one of those rounds.

“About why I’m getting chased sometimes?”

“Yeah.”

His jaw worked. “Because I ask for it, and then I get chased.”

“You ask for it. Huh.”

The way he looked at me was a lot of asking to get chased, and I would. I would chase him and catch him. I would do every little thing to him he let me do. I felt the need build inside me like steam in a pressure cooker.

Amory nodded once and walked away, his coffee pot in hand. It took everything in me not to chase after him then and there.

At around two, the place was almost empty, except for a pawn at the counter who was at his second slice of pie, Ben, some human at one of the tables, and of course Mr. fucking Laptop.

Mr. Laptop was typing away, and I wondered whether it was worth my time to look into what the guy was really doing while he was sitting here and projecting the air of writer to my lover.

But there were better things to spend my time on. Mr. Laptop might be many things, but a real danger he was not. And if Amory ever asked me about it, I didn’t want to have to lie.

Mr. Laptop would just have to learn that he couldn’t have what was already another’s.

Amory being Amory, he didn’t kick anyone out but waited until it was time to officially close. Few things were better than seeing all of these stragglers leave me alone with the man who was mine.

When Amory finally turned the key in the lock, a woosh of air went out of my lungs.

“Finally.”

I stood and walked up behind him so fast he didn’t have time to turn around. I hugged him around the waist from behind and kissed his neck, just where his hair tickled my nose.

He giggled. “Hey. I’m not quite done yet.”

“I know. But I had to hold you.” I stepped away from him. “There. Now you can finish closing up, can get in a cab with me, and then we can go home.” I frowned. “I didn’t cook anything. I’ll throw together a quick curry, or we can order something.”

Amory smiled at me. “We can have sandwiches again. I’m fine with something simple.”

I lifted my brows. “Are you? And here I was, thinking I’d have to…chase you.”

His widening pupils, his flushed skin, the way he nibbled his lip—those reactions told me everything I needed to know. And what I knew was, I had to get him home as fast as I possibly could.

Amory cleared his throat. “I’ll finish. The dishwasher. I’ll finish the dishwasher. Okay?”

“I’m right behind you, Amory. You know that.”

I stalked after him, sticking close. Amory’s steps grew hurried, almost as if he were wanting to be chased already. I knew I wasn’t going to get quite that lucky, I knew he wasn’t going to let me drag him into the small staff bathroom, and that was fine. Knowing I’d get to take him home meant I would be able to keep him close all night, and I was…I was craving that. Nearness. Comfort. The sex was no more than a bonus, really.

Before heading through the swing door, he switched off the lights in the diner, bathing us in semi-darkness for a delicious moment that had me hum with desire. He heard, looked at me, eyes wide, their beautiful blue and golden color illuminated by a slice of light that came in from the back.

“Soyer…”

“Don’t dally, my heart. Unless you want to rile me here.”

His jaw set, but a smile played around his lips. With that, he went through to the back and turned on the dishwasher. The kitchen was new and clean and tidy, but for a second, I was overcome with the memory of seeing Amory bleeding on this floor, and I clenched my hand into a fist.

But then Amory turned, and I wiped my face clean before he could beg me to move. I was sort of blocking the door.

“That’s it. Just have to grab my jacket.”

He looked at me as if that would make me move out of the way.

I grinned. “Go ahead.”

So he did, but in the process, he got close enough for me to run a hand down his back, all the way to his butt. His reaction, and tiny squeak, was the most satisfying thing.

“You’re terrible,” he told me, his voice bubbling with laughter.

“You tempt me. I’m tempted. That’s different.”

“Oh, please.”

He switched off the kitchen light, checked the lights in Dwayne’s office were off, then killed those in the hallway so only the storage room remained illuminated.

I busied myself with checking some of the stock but cast sideways glances at Amory as he opened his locker and got out his jacket, also a backpack. That caught my attention.

“What’s that?” I asked, coming over to get a closer look.

He shrugged. “Just a few things. A few things I thought I could leave at your place?”

My mind spun off into confusion. He had a few things at my place. He had his fluffy bathrobe. He had underwear there. I knew because I did the laundry and had ordered extras for him after the first time he’d brought an overnight bag. He had very comfy sweats and socks, and there were toiletries—

Amory giggled. “Do you know how shocked you’re looking right now?”

“I’m shocked there was something you needed, and I didn’t notice.”

Amory looked at the bag, handed it to me. “Here. Check it out.”

I took it, but didn’t immediately open it. Instead, I read the expression on his face to see if he was thinking I was being an intrusive asshole.

He didn’t. He was expectant.

I pulled the zipper open. Inside the backpack, there was a bundle, something wrapped in kitchen towels unless I was mistaken.

“What is that?” I asked, pulling the thing out.

Amory grinned. “I got you!”

“Huh?”

“Open it.”

I pulled the bundle out. Whatever it was, it was solid. The towels were tied with a bow. They were white, cotton unless I was mistaken, but had a light blue line running along the edges. I looked at Amory as I pulled on one end of the bow and felt it loosen.

Wrapped inside the towels, there was a bound volume, a pretty-looking book with gold embossing. It was colorful, abstract shapes that reminded me of flames in rainbow colors. I opened it. The volume was empty, waiting to be filled. Soft, high-quality paper ran like silk under my fingertips.

“That’s for our anniversary. Belated, you know? But I thought, since you did all that on the rooftop… I was thinking maybe you want to put your recipes in there? Those eggplant dishes you’ve been experimenting with, or maybe even that bread, what did you say it was called again?”

“Osterbrot.” My eyes were focused on the book.

“Yeah, that. So I thought, you know. I thought maybe you would like writing that stuff down. I don’t know. If it’s silly—”

“It’s not silly. This is wonderful. This is perfect.” I looked up at him. “Thank you, my heart.”

He beamed. “Did you really not notice me ordering it? Didn’t you read that in my mind?”

“I’m not a mind reader, and no.” I ran my thumbs over the book’s edges. “You hid this from me. I’ve been too distracted. I need to pay more attention to you.”

Amory huffed. “You’re so silly, seriously.”

“You had this sent to your place, and you were excited to pick it up. You were excited to give it to me.”

“Yup. And I ordered those kitchen towels too, by the way. I thought that was going to be cute. But wrapping things in towels sucks.”

“No, you did just fine. I love them.”

“They’re not your Godzilla towel, I know.”

“I have a Mothra one too, but I like these now.”

Amory couldn’t know that it had been years—decades since I’d been given anything. And those pictures the asshole had given me back then still hung in my living room right now, sans the one with Caecilius in it of course. And yes, maybe the asshole had left me in a fucking tower owned by his pack with orders to make sure I got something sweet for the holidays each year, but it didn’t fucking count. This wasn’t like that. This was real.

I swallowed, my throat tight. “All that’s mine is yours. All I am is yours. If you are weak, I will carry you, and if I am weak, I shall lean on you. You will hear my truth, and I’ll guard yours, until death.” I said the words in a rush, barely thinking as I dragged them from their original language into this one. They were such an old handfasting vow, but in this moment, they felt right.

“Uh, okay,” Amory said and put a hand on my shoulder. “Sounds good to me.”

As far as I was concerned, that counted as an acceptance of the vow and its reciprocity. The nice Moonlight Diner napkins and the canned food, the diner at large would have to suffice as witness to this vow.

I nodded. “This means a lot to me, my heart. I’m more than grateful.” He didn’t know quite yet how grateful, but I had prepared to let him know these past three months. There was no sugar in my sugar bowl currently, because that was the type of secrecy these preparations demanded.

“Good.” He took the bag from me. “You want me to carry it home for you?”

“No. Leave the bag here. I’m not letting go of this. Or you.” I held out my hand to him. “Ready to go?”

He nodded. “Ready.”

CHAPTER SIX

The young Star-Garbed—Jules—was there to greet us again this night. I ignored him. Amory greeted him by name.

“Do you want to eat before or after?” I asked when the elevator doors closed behind us.

Amory cocked his head. “Before or after what?” He blinked twice. “Oh. Uh, is after okay?”

I grinned like a villain as I clutched the towel-wrapped journal to my chest. “Oh, yes.”

We said nothing when the elevator arrived on the nineteenth floor, though Amory’s breathing was picking up. I took a little longer than normal with the keys, held the door for him. He walked through. I shut the door with more force than it needed.

“So I hear you want to be chased, Amory.” He spun and his slack jaw and wide eyes made my blood rush with lust. I lifted the book. “I’ll put this down and take off my coat. Then I’ll come for you.” I looked him over. “If you are still dressed by the time I catch you, it’s my right to tear those clothes off you.”

“But—”

“Just going to put this down.” I walked into my former armory.

And he ran, I heard. Well, he stumbled, seeing as how he was also at the same time struggling to get his clothes off. I heard his jacket drop to the floor, heard him groan and the inconvenience of shoes.

My grin spread even further. This was going to be fun.

I put the book on a shelf, careful to bed it on the towels. Then I pulled the ink from my coat pocket. I’d use that to write in there. Recipes? Maybe. His favorite foods, his reactions to them. I’d write out the recipe for Osterbrot even though I knew that like I knew my own shadow.

I shrugged off my coat and put it on a hanger neatly before sing-songing, “Oh, Amory, ready or not.”

I still had my shoes on. Those would give me even more of an edge, not that I needed it with Amory, who’d not lived lifetimes learning the art of the escape like I had.

I turned and dashed out the door. He was by the windows, looking unsure of where to go. The dining table would put him in a corner, the kitchen was very optimistic. The stairs, maybe.

I grinned. “Amory, are you still wearing your shirt?”

“Uh.”

He fumbled with the buttons even as I stalked closer. He also still had his underwear on, his socks too.

I broke into a sprint and jumped the couch, just to get him to move. That feat of athleticism made him freeze for a moment, and he dashed toward the stairs, scrambling up them.

I followed, making a point to grab for and almost grasp his thighs and legs. He yelped, made a gurgling sound.

“Just give me a sec with the shirt, please.”

“No, you’re mine,” I said but let him get up the stairs.

He ran past the bed and headed for my walk-in. I was going to make my catch there, and I could see how it was going to play out from there.

Moments later, I had him, a hand on his neck, the other on his hip to keep the area from bruising, and like that, I spun him until his front was pushed up against one of the dressers.

He’d brought his arms out to stop himself from moving, gasped at the controlled collision, and glanced at me.

I said, “But, Amory, you are still very nearly fully dressed. What am I to do about that, hmm?”

His bottom lip trembled, but his eyes were dark with lust. “Please. Not the shirt. You fixed it. Please.”

I sighed. “Did I not warn you?”

“Yes but—”

I pulled my hand from his hip and let it wander from his thigh to his butt.

“I caught you. You’re mine.” I leaned in. “All night, you have been parading this around.” I squeezed his butt cheek, kneaded it. “You’re toying with everyone in the diner, aren’t you?”

“I…I try not to.”

I took a deep breath. It was one thing to give him a fantasy and make it so he could easily succumb, another for him to partake like this.

“Are you sure? What I see when I look at you, smiling at people and making eyes at them, is you being a little slut and hoping one of them will follow you to the back and pull your pants down before giving you his cock.”

I grabbed his underwear hard and pulled it down rather than tearing it for the simple fact that I wasn’t sure I could’ve torn it without that being painful for Amory. Some other time.

Amory still made an adorable little sound, especially when I dipped one finger into his crack. He instinctively clenched against the intrusion before relaxing.

I chuckled. “It’s like your hole knows no limits.”

“No, I wouldn’t,” he said.

I pressed against his entrance. “You would. You have. You were busy in the back when I got there. Don’t think I don’t notice such things.”

“But, Soyer—”

I spun him around by the shoulder, pushed his naked ass up against the dresser, and looked him over. Then, I grabbed the shirt that was still held together by two buttons. He’d undone the bow tie already.

He opened his mouth to protest, but I was faster, seizing his shirt and tearing it so the two buttons went flying. I’d sow them back on later while he watched and admired me for my skill with needle and thread. Just an added bonus.

Amory gasped, but surrendered when I slid the shirt off him. I took a moment to admire the firebird on his chest, familiar and yet unlike my own. His bird had birthed fire for him once, and maybe the curse creature bore something wilder than my own.

I smiled. My Amory, the power of wild fire staining those lines against his skin. It seemed unreal, and yet I’d come back to life wrapped in his flames.

I tore my eyes off the firebird and took his wrist in a very gentle lever that allowed me to lead him with me.

“You are bad at following the rules, and you stray. Your slutty ways are a thorn in my side, and I have to remedy them.”

“But I try to be good.”

He was. He meant this, actually. At the same time, he enjoyed this, enjoyed the casual force I exerted, this force he couldn’t escape unless he told me to let him go.

“You give yourself to everyone who wants you. I can smell it on you. You crave cock too badly, Amory. It has always been your problem.”

He chuckled as he looked back at me. I slowed so he wouldn’t miss the single step that took him onto the elevated platform the bed stood on. Then, I pushed him and watched him fall on the mattress.

“You tore my shirt,” he told me.

He was on his belly, his hair slightly mussed, his back and ass exposed. A wing feather scraped against his hips.

“I did.”

I kicked my shoes off and climbed on top of him, the roughness of my need only half pretend.

“I was trying to get naked for you though.”

I leaned over him, boxing him in between my knees and my arms. “You were, but you are ready to get naked for just about anyone, my little slut. It will be better for you this way. When I take you like I want to.” A small gasp almost stuck in his throat, and our eyes met for a moment. I brought my mouth close to his ear. “Yes?”

I heard his throat click as he swallowed. “You’ll be rough with me?”

He was playing, drawing this out. It was cute. “Yeah, very. You’ll feel every inch of my cock inside you, and you’ll feel my cum fill you up.”

His face reddened. Even now, he couldn’t help himself.

“You…you want to cum in me?”

Amory’s voice was a whisper, full of something only just formed and all the more breakable for it. He was like a newly hatched butterfly in this moment, wings not yet ready, but already knowing they were made for flight just like he was made to have and take the pleasure that he wanted without shame.

“Yeah. I will.”

He nodded.

“Amory.”

“Okay, yes.”

I placed my smile against his ear. I’d push him, very gently. “Yes to what, my heart?”

His throat clicked again. “You…what you said?”

“I’m forgetting. Tell me. Tell me what it is you consent to. You must have imagined it. You know what it feels like. You know whether you like it or not. Tell me. I will hear. No one else will.”

The air rushed from his lungs before he breathed in deep. “You’re going to put your cock in me. And then you’ll cum inside me. And I want that. I want you tonight.”

His voice faltered slightly on both cock and cum. One of these days, it wouldn’t. For now, I kissed his shoulder.

“As you wish, my greedy little slut.”

I put one hand between his shoulder blades and pushed down gently to keep him pinned while I reached for the lube in the nightstand. I moved until I could squeeze a liberal amount onto his butt, not really worried about precision.

Amory flinched. “Soyer.”

“I know you won’t need much, given the fact your hole gets so much use, but we have to make sure you’re all slick, don’t we?”

I worked my fingers into his crack and ran them around his hole carefully. I felt him relax, felt him twitch. When I thought he was as relaxed as he was going to get, I dove into him, stretching him on my fingers.

As I did, I kept him in place with that one hand between his shoulders though I adjusted the pressure to make sure he could breathe okay. He surrendered to that with ease, and before too long, he was ready to take me.

I pulled my fingers out of him and worked my pants open. Given that I was smearing lube all over my clothes, everything had to go into the laundry later on, something to keep me busy when I was done fucking my boyfriend.

I pulled my pants down and slid my cock in between his cheeks to use the lube left there on myself. Amory’s fingers were tense against the sheets, waiting for the intrusion, desiring it, yet wary of that sense of fullness.

When I lined up and pushed against his ring, I watched him. He was perfect, lying under me, taking me, allowing me. And we were bound now, in a handfasting I had sneaked in under his nose. I wasn’t even sure why. Me and my stupid, ridiculous impulses that usually got me killed, except where Amory was involved. And then, they got me…

They got me this. He was everything. When he looked up at me, a strand of hair falling over his eye, I was ready to weep. He was my joy and reason.

It was too easy to lose myself with him, but I had nothing if not self-control. If I wanted to. And I wanted. I moved my hips, concentrating on the here and now, the naked man under me.

“Good?” I asked.

“Yeah.”

So I went in all the way. He took me, shivering with the sensation. I gave him some time to adjust before I found a pace that lasted for not very much longer than these things do. Still, the sounds and sight, breath and skin, there was an eternity in there, a perfection that wouldn’t ever succumb to the relentless pull of time. Joy eternal.

We came together, he and I. I felt him, heard him, smelled him. Then I held him, felt him go all slack and perfect in my arms.

“You tore my shirt,” he said after not very long, my signal he was done, wanted to get up, wanted to get clean.

“Just two buttons, Amory.”

“But those could be anywhere. And now you have to sow them back on again.”

“I’ll find them. I’m good at picking up the details.”

He turned to kiss me. “You like details.”

“I do. They’re nice.”

“I managed to surprise my detail-oriented assassin lover.”

I mustered a glare. The idiot grinned back at me.

“My heart, I cannot have you talk like this. What would people think? You’ll ruin my reputation.”

My already banged-up reputation. Jules, and as a result the rest of the Star-Garbed, had already figured out all they needed to do was get on Amory’s good side. I really needed something in my very near future that reminded people of what the Black Shuck was capable of, and if I was being honest with myself, scaring some Freak High cafeteria pawn wasn’t the best way to go about that.

But it was what I had, for now.

“Aw, stop,” Amory said. “I couldn’t. You’re the most wonderful man I know, and everyone else should know that too.”

Some of the time, I actually heard what he was saying and wasn’t powerless to his charm.

“My heart, I am the Black Shuck. I will always be the Black Shuck, an omen of death.”

He looked at me for a long while before he said, “What if a black dog with shining red eyes were just an omen, neither good nor bad but what you make of it?”

I sighed. “For you, Amory, I will be that possibility. Not for others. Never for others. Please.”

But he was shaking his head already. “I don’t want to change you, you know. Ben likes you I guess. I think Rae is a fan, actually.” I relaxed slightly. After all, Amory wasn’t as trained as I was on picking up on the tells of others, and so he was bound to get them wrong. “I don’t want to change you. I’m just saying, there are possibilities. More things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”

I tightened my hold on him. “You just quoted a tragedy at me, my heart.”

He snorted, and as if my tightening hold had made him aware of his physical needs, he pulled free.

“You’re being silly again, you know.”

He stood and looked at me. I didn’t appeal much, probably, with my pants down and my spent cock out. The way I read his face, he thought me quite appealing.

“I’ll make us a silly dinner then. Unless you want some more of this?” I gestured at my less-than-seductive state.

Amory shook his head. “But I could eat.”

“Then I will feed you. My home and hearth are yours, after all.”

He rolled his eyes. “Is it okay if I take a quick shower?”

“Of course.”

While he hurried off to the bathroom, I allowed myself ten more seconds, just ten, to look at the ceiling.

There were no such things as good omens, not really. Things just happened.

“Until now.”

I got up and pulled myself together to cook for him, something silly and delicious, something to let him know wherever I was would be home to him as well, forever.