by Flynn Eire
“Yes,” I agreed as Ellison gave a sarcastic, “we’re good.”
“Stop speaking for me,” I bitched. “I want to learn what we should.”
He narrowed his eyes at me. “I thought you were thinking of quitting?”
“I am, but I’d like the fucking training I was supposed to get. Back pay too.”
“Fair enough,” he agreed after a few moments. “Fine, teach us guns.”
“Good, first we’re going to have a bit of therapy before you guys get gobs of food.”
I had no idea what that meant, but London wouldn’t tell us, dragging us after him, Sam simply chuckling at us. Okay then.
I recognized Drake as we entered the other barn, and I realized he was in charge of the dogs. Right. They used to bring us here as pre-trans to deal with the stress of training and being away from home.
“Seems like lifetimes ago,” Ellison muttered as he moved in first. Yeah, it really did.
We played with them for a while, soaking up their sweetness and love, their not caring about the past—something we couldn’t help but focus on—and instead all about the now. I actually giggled as I got too many kisses, my thoughts drifting to Gaius for a minute and then pushing it away. He was a strange one.
I’d had enough problems. I didn’t need to go near people I knew would be one.
I was feeling lighter as we went to dinner… Until I saw the group waiting.
“We just want to talk,” Mark told us firmly, Nate, Lance, Wally, Zibon, Bowie, Verge, and Norris—I thought was the last one’s name—stood with determined expressions.
Aimed at both of us.
“About what?” Ellison demanded, his body going stiff.
“To apologize and explain,” Lance answered. “There’s a lot you don’t know, okay? We weren’t sitting here counting our toes and that made us assholes for not realizing what was going on. Give us a chance to explain.”
“It would be good to get caught up,” I agreed before Ellison could be a dick. He gave a slow nod, and we all got food and sat together at one of the bigger tables.
After about five minutes, I stood while Wally was still talking about his mating and how too much of that had gone down and walked over to the sliding door cooler that had all the bottled drinks… And the booze. I loaded up on beers and brought them back.
Before going and getting more to their shock.
“Alcohol was one of the first things the coven ran out of with the crazy,” Ellison explained. “We were about a week from all the provisions gone, people starving to make sure the kids got fed. I think in the four days before that last attack where the coven leader died I had a can of fruit.”
“I got cream of mushroom soup, and I ate it because even that tasted good I was so hungry,” I grumbled, sitting back down. I waved Wally to continue, so he did.
Then it was all about Evan and his mate Councilman Theo Ashton and how they’d met… And Zibon killing a vampire his first mission.
“We feel you,” Ellison murmured, shooting me a pained look. “It took us several weeks to realize there were traitors in the coven. There was no other way for them to keep knowing exactly where to hit when we were refortifying everything we could.”
“How did you find out who they were?” Zibon asked.
“A woman in the coven could tell lies and told us she’d caught someone in a few. We questioned everyone from there. Handled the traitors,” I explained, knowing how hard it was for Ellison as he’d handled them.
Next was Bowie and Sam, learning about the attacks in Denver and cross training, and wow, there was a lot.
Then it was Gilroy being taken after a hit on the supply run, what they did to him, and the massive attack on the camp. Ellison seemed shell shocked more than I felt to learn there were other attacks going on. It had felt like every zakasac in the world had to be attacking us with how many we’d killed and how long it had all gone on.
After that, it was the group of pre-trans going early, the craziness that ensued for months and flying everyone to Italy to get help. Along with Norris and Philo getting together, which made the guy blush profusely to talk about.
By then we were done eating and London came over, plopping on the table by us and taking his turn as Drake sat near him, shaking his head at his fiancé’s antics.
Gary, who I didn’t know, went next, Lynx at his side. It was nice to hear there was someone, his mother and empath, who was going to work with those coming into their gifts. Figuring it out alone and under the circumstances we’d had was a bitch.
Then we learned about this new wave of ancients, Zibon and his mate, the shit with his parents. It was also the explanation I’d wanted about all the extra pre-trans I saw, learning there were scores more post-trans. They moved onto Verge, who had been with both Nero and Gaius for a few weeks, but now he and Nero were basically engaged as well.
“It’s only been a week. How’s Gaius holding up?” Zibon asked Verge.
“He’s moving on just fine,” Bowie assured them, blushing.
“Oh, you too?” Nate chuckled, shaking his head. “So he’s moving all around to anyone who wants to have fun or plays? He is a character.”
Yeah, and apparently a huge slut… Or I thought they were players when it came to men. Whatever. He got a lot of action.
Something I wanted no part of.
After we finished, I walked over to Nate and Lance. “You guys want help with your gifts? I get this empath is helping, but I didn’t learn control with breathing. I’m not against learning that, as more tools are always better. Sometimes it takes more than that, as we don’t have a lot of time with training wheels.”
“Yeah, I’m in,” Nate immediately agreed, Lance giving a slow nod then.
I went and found Matteo and told him we needed him too. They wondered about that but didn’t bug me, Ellison probably guessing what was going on and bringing a bunch more beers for the show… And the rest of our group it seemed.
I moved Matteo so he was against a wall of the new warrior dorm that was being built, several floors of the new, larger and nicer place done, they’d told me. Next, I positioned Lance and Nate on either side of him but a few feet away. I walked around and found a good-sized stick and picked it up. Without waiting for them to catch up, I launched it at Matteo, everyone flinching when it landed six inches from his head.
“Burn the next one or I’m hitting your mate,” I told Nate as I found another one.
“Falcon, this isn’t the way we—” Matteo started, but I used my gift to pick up one of the many steel rods around the construction site… And put it in the wall next to him, not even two inches from his arm.
“I can do that without even thinking, I’ve had to focus and push my gift so far,” I explained. “I had to do it for nights in a row, knowing the only thing keeping the group of children, any injured, and some of the women unable to fight or help safe was me and the barrier I held.”
“Where was Ellison?” Nate asked, glancing between us.
“Another conversation for another night,” Ellison mumbled, taking a long swing of beer. “And when I’m drunk maybe.”
Yeah, that was fair, and it wasn’t my story.
I focused on another steel rod, and this time I moved it to inches from Matteo’s heart. “Lance, you can move things. Stop me. Do something to knock it away.”
“Falcon, this isn’t fair,” he snapped. “I’ve accidentally moved some shit and thought I was losing my mind. I have no idea what I’m doing!”
“Well, talking won’t do anything, so try,” I chuckled, making the rod twist as if I was going to drill it into Matteo’s heart. The ground by me burst into flames, and I jumped away onto some cinder blocks. “Good, but it’s still at his heart. He’ll heal if I just poke it into his chest a bit, right?”
Lance growled, and suddenly the cinder block under me was moving. I smirked at him, taunting him, and then I was falling. I landed easily as I called the rod to me, grabbing it from the air.
> “Good. Nate, you can’t burn the metal here, but you lit up the ground. What about throwing the fire and knocking off trajectories?”
“That sounds more advanced,” he worried, looking like he was thinking of shoving Matteo away from all of this.
“I could throw more wood that I can’t control well?” I offered.
“Show them the opposite,” a striking woman suggested. I blinked at her, shocked for women to be at the camp still. “Trade. Let them throw things at Matteo and show them the ways you can use your gift.”
“They won’t throw it to hurt him,” I argued.
“I will,” Lynx offered with a shrug. “He wiped me out last poker night. And I’d get Philo here and let Norris do the same. He’s like Xana and completely impenetrable.”
Norris looked like he might pass out at the idea. “No, my hands keep breaking shit. That’s not—I’m not ready .”
“Neither was I,” I assured him, swallowing loudly. “You do this or you risk innocents. Nate could burn down a building, Lance could do a shit ton of bad things—so could you.” I waved Philo to join Matteo, and he hesitantly did. But he did, so I gave him props for that.
“You should have more than Lynx,” Ellison suggested.
“No, we’re recovering,” I argued. “We can do this more than once. I want to work on strengthening my gift too.” I sighed as I let my gift feel all the metal around me, nodding to Lynx when I was ready. He chuckled and picked up a cinder block and launched. Just as fast, I had rebar mesh sheet up from the pile and blocking them, catching the block… While sending rods at Lynx.
He let out a yelp as half a dozen went into the ground by his feet, blocking him from doing much of anything. And just to seriously make my point, when he looked up from that, there were two more about to enter his chest from either side.
“Shit, okay, I yield,” he whispered, blinking between the two rods.
I let it all drop, getting tired too fast, seriously needing that rest and recoup time. People got in on the idea, someone calling Xana and the ancient Basilia who had the same gift as Norris.
And a lot of fire extinguishers, as Nate’s control was all over. He panicked, and I got that. I knew Ellison did too, but our gifts were a bit different, as fire was pretty unpredictable at times already. Metal was static, stable. I’d prefer that than working with volatile.
“Dude, he’s like Magneto,” one of the pre-trans whispered in awe. Yeah, apparently everyone had heard about what we were doing and we had a huge audience.
I winced at the reference. Magneto was a bad guy.
“Doesn’t make you the bad guy,” Gaius murmured from my right, suddenly sitting on the cinder blocks next to me. I swallowed a flinch.
“I’m shocked you have time to join our fun when there’s so many more people for you to sleep with at this camp.”
He chuckled. “Jealous, I like it.”
I turned and gave him a look like he was nuts. “Why would I be jealous? I think I was pretty clear I wasn’t interested.”
“Then why care if I have sex?” he purred, something filling his eyes I didn’t understand. “You are something, young Falcon. Something I can’t put my finger on, but it’s intriguing.”
“No, no it’s not, and I’m not looking to be a notch on a headboard, thanks.”
“Not fair to hold what I did before you against me,” he argued, leaning in.
He smelled good at least. This time he didn’t smell like booze, so yeah, his aftershave or whatever was nice. I could give him that.
“I’m not holding anything against you. Do what you want. I was making a comment about I was shocked it was night and you didn’t have anyone under you.”
“I honestly prefer on top of me,” he murmured, leaning in close enough his breath tickled my ear. “But don’t tell anyone my secret. I only save it for the best lovers and let them know nothing is better than watching them ride me, looking my fill over an enticing body as I bounce them—”
“I need another beer,” I lied, getting up from my seat and hurrying over to the cooler someone had brought out. I felt how flushed I was, ignoring the look Ellison gave me in question as to what was going on. Yeah, well, no man had ever spoken to me like that before, and for an instant I imagined what that would feel like. The fun. The pleasure. Getting lost in it and letting the rest fall away.
“You’re fixing that wall,” Verge told me as he plopped down next to me. “Nero’s seriously chapped the whole place isn’t built yet because we need it, but a bunch of the trucks got delayed over shit weather.”
“Sorry, but I’d have no clue what to do unless someone taught me.”
“Fine, I know. You can use the spray painter tomorrow and start helping with walls and exterior sealing stuff. That should work for light duty.”
“Yeah, as long as someone shows me what to do,” I agreed with a shrug. He looked happy with the answer. I had a thought to put down a sign I was open for visitors when someone came next.
Except I realized it was Dimitri and he’d been crying.
“You were right,” he told me under his breath. “Mike’s dad thought it was a shot fired like Ellison did, and instead of fighting it, making it a big deal when someone learned what was really going on, he set Alexander up to have orchestrated the whole thing and wanted him to take the fall. The moment the coven leader died and Councilman Garrow found out, he started the dominoes.
“He got word you both died, though, as you told the East Canada’s council that all the warriors were dead since you didn’t consider yourselves warriors. So that wasn’t part of the plan. However, charges were already filed against Alexander. He has to face an inquiry. I know I have no right to ask this, but will you testify for my mate? Will you tell what really happened and save my mate?”
I didn’t answer right away, feeling a bit bad about that after I realized he was about to break down sobbing.
“If he sits with Helios and answers a few things honestly, yes. I want to know without a doubt Ellison was wrong and this wasn’t some sort of something . I also want to know how hard he tried to find out answers about us. Even if it wasn’t intentional, I still feel it was neglect, Dimitri. We were put in his care as head of this camp until we were warriors. That was what my parents and I agreed to. It didn’t happen, and what we went through… What we endured —”
“I know, Falcon,” he rasped, pulling me into a hug. “I know, kid. We’ll get this handled. It should never have happened, and he’s destroyed. I won’t make the excuse that we had too much going on here too because there is no excuse.”
“It’s the reason, and I get that. I’m not asking for a pound of flesh from Alexander, more…”
“Yeah, someone’s held responsible and at a minimum gets spanked or—he’s talking of quitting. He says he should resign for allowing this to happen. He’s imploding, and I can’t help my mate. I keep trying or trying to give us space, but he’s imploding. I don’t know what to do anymore and this—his guilt for everything is too much. Not everything is his fault. He can’t know everything and fix all the problems.”
“I don’t want him to quit,” I told him firmly, knowing that, as Alexander was awesome. “I want a failsafe put in place so it never happens again. Too much is happening that can’t. It just can’t if we’re going to ever survive.”
“Amen, Falcon. Amen.”
He let me go, and I left everyone to keep working, realizing Alexander wasn’t there. At first, I was going to swing by their room, but I realized if it was work, he wouldn’t be there and bring Dimitri into it. I found him in his office.
Sobbing.
I don’t think I could have been more shocked than if I’d found him… Well, I couldn’t think of anything actually. I mean, I knew he’d never kill puppies, so it wasn’t like I could come up with something more shocking he would actually do. If that made sense.
“Don’t quit,” I said loud enough for him to hear me.
He shook his head. “Others we train
ed are dead. You and Ellison suffered unspeakable horrors, and it is all on me. I have shamed this camp, my position, my family, and my Dimika, and he will leave me because of it. I have lost everything because of my failings and after centuries of working so hard for our people, to honor our people and protect them. For it to end this way, I cannot—”
“Then fix it ,” Ellison snapped. “Don’t you dare resign. Fix what’s wrong with the system. Protect the next pawns. Protect the next trainees who have no one to fight for them!”
“You believe him then?” I asked, not having realized he’d joined us.
“Yeah, I believe. Mike was part of why I thought it was all Alexander, telling me shit I thought I didn’t know, but honestly, if his dad was so innocent, he would have saved us all.”
“Took you long enough to figure that out,” I sighed, leaning against the doorframe.
“Yeah well, not all of us as are as smart as you, and I was at the eye of the storm.”
I didn’t correct him that I had been right there with him because I hadn’t really. I had been about five feet off to the left fighting my own typhoon in the same storm system. What he’d had to deal with… The fact he had any sanity left was impressive. Either of us actually.
3
“Please, please , just leave me alone,” I begged a few hours later as I sat up on the top of the warrior dorm, unable to sleep. Scared of what I would see as I did every time I closed my eyes.
“I brought something better,” Gaius muttered as he handed me a bottle and sat next to me. I felt a blanket come around my shoulders and realized I was freezing. “I hate you’re so upset to cry, but fuck, you are gorgeous when you do. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a heartbreakingly beautiful sight.”
I felt my cheeks heat and went to pull away, but he moved his arm around me, pulling me closer, and I let him. Not that I could resist, but I didn’t fight him, wanting the warmth.
That was what I told myself because wanting the comfort was dangerous.
“I went through something similar when I was a bit older than you. Something even my closest friends don’t know, and while you have extra betrayals, as people were supposed to protect you or you were used as a pawn in shit you’re innocent of, I have the extra scars as it was my coven. I went home after I finished training, a real warrior, the first in my family.