Chapter 21
I wake up and a flood of awareness hits; I fucking slept, and in a bed.
My body hums with happiness.
“Love you, mattress,” I murmur, as I head into the bathroom.
Then things get even better, by the merit of a shower, shave, and civilized shit. After brushing and flossing, everything is almost right with the world.
The only thing missing is Tee-Tee in my bed. Apart from that, I feel like a new person, except for the fact that I’m still me, which is a relief.
My high comes to a screeching halt when I see Wes staring at the countertop. “Hey,” I say, leaning next to him, looking at the granite surface. “What’s the haps?”
He doesn’t look up; instead, he traces lines of the polished stone with a finger, frowning deeply.
“Wes?”
He blinks, like he’s coming out of a trance. “How did I get here?”
The room is silent apart from Max’s snoring. “Um, do you still not remember anything?”
No response.
“OK, what about Theo? Do you remember her yet?”
His eyes narrow, and I regret the question.
“I don’t remember her,” he says. The coldness in his tone makes me shudder.
“No biggie,” I say, lying through my teeth, because of course it’s a biggie. I’m wondering where to go with this conversation next when the apartment door opens, and a sweaty Cosmo stalks in.
“What time is it?” Wes asks.
“Nearly nine,” Cos replies. “I’ve already called down to have breakfast delivered.”
I suddenly realize I’m starving—bless my man Cosmo Drakeward. I go and wrap my arms around him.
“Fuck off,” he says, with no heat in his tone, but a lot from his body.
“No, I need a hug.”
Cosmo sighs deeply but lets me cling on for a while until I feel a little better. He raises an eyebrow and nods in my brother’s direction, so I return my focus to Wes. “I don’t want to bug you, bro, but we’ve gotta figure this out. What’s the last thing you can, like, recall?”
The expression on Wes’s face makes it look like he’s really wrestling with his brain, trying his best to make it work. “I-I vaguely remember our first year here. And that summer, did we go somewhere tropical?”
Now we’re getting somewhere. “Yeah, we went diving in Turkey, then met Cos in Milan. The asshat wanted new leather loafers or some bullshit.” I grin at Cosmo. “Seriously, bro, I still don’t understand you at times.”
“You don’t need to understand my motivations to be my friend,” he mutters.
Huh? Is he actually butt-hurt? It’s weird for him to show he has feelings, but I don’t have time to tend to them right now.
I look into the eyes of my twin. “You remember the summer, but not coming back for sophomore year, right?”
He squints, concentrating, then shakes his head. “No.”
“We'd become joint-second in Elite standing, so got the penthouse with Cos.”
“We did?” The look on Wes’s face lightens slightly. “I guess I was still doing all your coursework for you then?”
“Well, duh. So we moved in here, and not long after, we met Theo. She was on the six-week exchange program.”
His face shutters again. Cosmo and I share a look.
“How old am I?” Wes asks suddenly, straightening up. “How old are we?”
“Twenty-one, brother.”
How the hell am I supposed to deal with this? Wes is the brains of this twin operation.
Max suddenly sits up on the sofa. “Morning all,” he says in his perpetually chirpy manner. “Beautiful day.”
Cosmo glares at Max, then turns back to us. “My turn to ask a question. Who do you love, Wes?” he asks randomly.
Wes flinches. “What?”
“Who,” Cosmo says slowly, “do you love. Simple question.”
I don’t think I can breathe. Please say something good, Wes.
“I-I love my brother.”
My heart releases a little.
“And I love…I think I love you, Cosmo.” Suddenly, his compliance switches off. “What the fuck are you asking this shit for?”
Cosmo shrugs. “I just wanted to know if you still had feelings,” he replies, and honestly, I don't get what the point of that test was either. Of course, Wes has feelings.
“And who do you hate, Wes?” Cosmo goes on to ask. My stomach drops out of my chest, landing somewhere around my knees. Please don't say it. I tried to drill the message into his head just using my eyes. Please.
“I hate that fucking dud Donovan fawns over,” Wes says, turning to glare right at me.
The air goes cold. My hands clench into fists, wishing I could punch something. Maybe Cosmo’s head. “Thanks, bro,” I mutter. “Real useful.”
Thankfully, I’m spared from getting more heated as a hard knock on the door announces the arrival of breakfast.
Aww, Cosmo ordered up my favorite cereal.
Max lets out a whoop and pushes himself in between me and Cosmo to get at the waffles.
“Get out of my personal space,” Cosmo snaps, pushing him away.
Max gasps like a Victorian maiden. “Ooh, so sorry, your highness.” Then he looks up at Wes. “Broseph! You look like you need a waffle, stat. Or maybe a blood transfusion and some molly.”
“Can you not?” I hiss at him, but in his haphazard way, I know what Max is getting at. Wes is looking and acting like a ghost. Finding him and Tee-Tee is all I’ve dreamed of for the last four years, but…not to be a complainer.
It’s like Wes is the shell of a Build-a-Bear, and all the essential stuffing is still floating around somewhere in a different dimension.
I guess I understand why the others are wary of him.
It’s like that time I’d brought this cute raccoon into the apartment, and he’d snuggled and been awesome, then bitten the shit out of me.
“Wes?” I say. “Remember when I tried to befriend that raccoon?”
His face lightens. “Rocky?”
“‘Xactly. I’m gonna drop some real time on you, brother. You’ve got a Rocky vibe going on.
Like, we think you’re cute and friendly, but also got an inkling you’re gonna chew my face off while I sleep.
” I’m relieved to see a half-smile appear on Wes’s face.
“Is there anything at all I can do to help?” I’ve been wracking my brain, but I've got nothing.
“I’m fine,” he sighs. “Maybe I’ll take my camera out later.”
“That’s a great idea. Oh, wait. We packed up your dark room; all that stuff is still in storage.”
Wes's face falls, and he walks back into his bedroom and quietly shuts the door. Fuck. Cosmo passes me a coffee, and as soon as I’ve finished the mug, my brain starts working. “Shit! We stashed our hand luggage by your still, Max. Wes had a camera bag there.”
“Still?” asks Cosmo.
Oh yeah, I’d forgotten he’d been out of the loop on Maximus’ secret exploits.
“Just a little side-hustle,” Max mumbles through some bacon. “Not all of us sleep on piles of gold every night.”
“What kind of side-hustle?”
Max shrugs. “An Augmentis set up. Brewing that shit takes forever. I made a still in some unused space under the laundry. That’s how I found the light-portal. Shit, man; my fucking potion might still be percolating—that shit is gonna be jet fuel!”
The sneer on Cosmo’s face is major class. “Why would you want to take that filthy stuff?”
“Oh, no, dude; I don’t get high off my own supply. But if some rich fuckers wanna pay me big bucks, why wouldn’t I let them? It's not my fault they’ve no will-power. I’ll go check it out.”
“And check for Wes’s camera stuff,” I tell him.
After Max disappears into my room to get changed, I chase down the final Lucky Charms in my bowl, then refill my coffee. “So what next, Cos?”
Cosmo places his disgusting-looking green smoothie on the counter. “Havengard City. Father wants to see me.”
My heart immediately fills with sympathy. Tyrus Drakeward is the worst human being in the world. “What do you think he wants?”
Cos shrugs. “I don’t know, but I can’t remember the last time I was summoned to him in person.”
“Shall we come with?” I ask.
He shrugs in his very Cosmo Drakeward pretend-nonchalance way, but I always see through that crap. He wants me and Wes at his side.
“You really think your brother is up for a trip out?”
Now it’s my turn to shrug. “Don’t see why not? Maybe it’ll jog some more memories.”
“Fine, then thanks. We leave in an hour. I want to get there early. You know what he’s like.”
Yeah, I know that fucker. “Don’t sweat it. We’ve got your back, Cos.”
With that sorted, Cosmo downs the rest of his grass-shake, and I polish off the coffee pot.
Time to get dressed, but first I do some adulting.
A couple of emails later, I’ve booked movers to bring all our shit out of storage and back to Validus Vale.
Having to wear Cosmo’s preppy shit is giving me hives.
And maybe having our belongings will nudge Wes into remembering who the fuck he is.
Fingers crossed.
Shit. I look at the clock. Tee-Tee will have classes, and I really wanted to see her before the day started.
To check she’s OK, not just kiss those perfect pouty lips. Hmm, I picture how her tits looked in that cute chili-pepper top. Talk about hot stuff. And when she looks up at me with those big eyes. Gods, my cock aches like a bastard, gonna have to take matters into my own hands.
A minute later, I’m back in the shower, imagining she’s with me, soaking wet.
I pump at my length and think about her kneeling before me, looking up with those big, silver eyes.
I want to feel her heat. I want to be inside her, buried so deep I can forget about Wes, forget about the danger-void, forget about everything but her.
I pick up the pace, imagining her mouth on me, hot and wet. She’d take me all, sucking me tight until I couldn't breathe. Until she couldn't breathe.
Fuck.
I explode hot cum all over my hand and the shower cubicle. It’s even streaked up the glass partition. Heart still racing, I swipe a finger through my release and suck a little of the mess off my finger.
Salty.
Yeah. I want her belly full of that.
The stallion inside of me snorts with approval.