by K. L. Hiers
Sloane watched as Rota’s solid form melted away, and the heartbreak in Alexander’s face was clear. He recalled that Loch had said Rota might be able to possess a witch who had starsight, and he wished he knew someone who had been touched by Great Azaethoth who could help them.
Wait….
He glanced back at Loch, saying quietly, “Look, I know that I don’t have starsight, but I’m a Starkiller, right?”
“Yes, my love. We’ve known that for some time.”
“What I mean is that I’ve been touched by Great Azaethoth!” Sloan jerked his head toward Alexander and Rota. “So, if I wanted to try and let Rota borrow my body… for, like, sixty seconds… would you be okay with that?”
“Sixty seconds isn’t enough time to really do anything,” Loch scolded. “If you’re going to let him take it, at least give them, like, an hour. Maybe two.”
“Ugh, you’re disgusting. Forget I said anything.”
“You just got mad at me for trying to share my seed, and now you want to share your body?”
“It’s stupid, just… drop it.”
Loch glanced over to where Alexander and Rota had stepped away from each other and frowned. He hugged Sloane. “One minute. That is all.”
“Thank you,” Sloane said, kissing Loch’s cheek and then walking over to Rota and Alexander. “Hey, so, maybe this is weird, but I wanted to… I wanted to offer you something.”
“What?” Alexander was instantly suspicious.
“I’m not sure if it will work, but Rota can try to take over my body for a minute,” Sloane said, smiling bashfully. “It sounds weird when I say it out loud, but I just thought….”
Alexander? Rota’s voice was hopeful.
Alexander was blushing a very vivid, spectacular shade of red, mumbling, “Yeah, okay. Sure.”
“Go ahead,” Sloane said, holding his arms out expectantly.
Here goes nothing. There was a long pause, and Rota suddenly gasped. It’s…. Yes! It’s working! It’s really working!
As Rota slipped inside of Sloane, he was reminded of when Loch had possessed him. It was warm and weird, and he could feel an immense power just as before. It did feel different than Loch: older, deeper somehow.
Rota moved Sloane’s hands to touch Alexander’s cheeks, and he reverently wiped away the blood from their battle.
“Rota,” Alexander whispered in awe, staring up at Sloane’s eyes and smiling with an open joy he hadn’t shown before. “It… it’s really you.”
Sloane knew it was, because Alexander wasn’t looking at him. He was looking at Rota, the god he loved, and Sloane could feel the love Rota felt for this young man in return.
Rota slid one of Sloane’s hands into Alexander’s pale hair, the other holding him at the small of his back.
There was a strange tension in Rota, like he was feeling a new and incredible pressure.
Alexander’s red eyes seemed almost pink, his lashes fluttering as his lips parted. He was trembling in Sloane’s arms, his hands folding between them as if he didn’t know what to do with them.
Finally, urgently, Rota leaned in and kissed Alexander.
Alexander’s eyes closed, and for a moment, it was nothing but a chaste press of lips, sweet and precious. He made a quiet sound, and their lips finally began to move.
I… I can feel you, Rota….
I’m here, my love… I’m yours.
The kiss deepened quickly, Sloane’s arms moving to crush Alexander’s slim body against his own. The passion was dizzying, and it had to have been longer than a minute before Sloane realized Loch was standing right beside them.
Rota pulled away with one last departing kiss, leaving Alexander flushed and breathless.
Thank you.
Sloane gasped as Rota left his body, stepping back to take Loch’s arm to steady himself.
Alexander looked embarrassed now, saying quickly, “So, we should go. Now. Like, right now.”
“Wait…. Were you guys just making out?” Asta asked, his voice a bit slurred as he staggered up to his feet. He stretched and grunted, padding over toward them.
“Don’t worry about it,” Sloane said. “How’s your head?”
“Haven’t had any complaints,” Asta teased.
“Cute.”
“I’m very cute, thank you, and….” Asta trailed off, his eyes finding the scattered bone fragments. He immediately transformed into his human form, kneeling down to reach inside the trunk. He pulled out a giant skull that had no business being able to fit inside.
It looked like a tiger or a lion, but much bigger. The large fangs were all capped in gold, and the rims of the eye sockets had been gilded as well.
“Is that what I think it is?” Sloane trailed off, staring in amazement.
“Yes.” Asta looked as if he might be about to cry, but he was smiling. “An Asra.”
“Those are what Gronoch was using to power his experiments,” Sloane realized, turning the trunk right side up and clapping. All of the pieces magically returned, and the lid snapped shut.
Asta was still holding the giant skull against his chest, whispering, “Thank you.”
“Are…. Are you okay?” Sloane didn’t know if he should try to hug him, pat his head, or simply do nothing. He had no idea what acceptable comforting behavior was for an Asra. It was obvious that the skull meant a lot to Asta.
“What if I say no?” Asta suddenly grinned in spite of his damp eyes. “Gonna let Azzy give me another squeeze?”
Groaning loudly, Sloane shook his head and refused to answer the question.
“If you’ll excuse me,” Asta said as he placed the skull back inside the trunk, “I have some personal business to take care of.” He picked up the trunk and opened a portal. He gave a little salute, saying cheerfully, “Later, bitches!”
“Wait!” Sloane shouted. “What about Jay? What about his roommate—”
Asta was already gone.
“Damn him!” Sloane threw up his hands in frustration.
“He’s an Asra,” Loch drawled. “I’m surprised he even stayed to fight.” He wrapped a tentacle around Sloane’s waist to comfort him. “Don’t worry. He’ll be back.”
“You really think so?”
“No, not really.” Loch grinned wide. “But it made you feel better, didn’t it?”
“We’ll sort out what to do about the Asra later. A more pressing question is what are we going to do with him?” Galgareth asked, nodding at the human vessel Gronoch had previously occupied, who was still unconscious on the ground.
“We’ll take him,” Alexander said, his eyes now red once more. “See what he can tell us about the Kindress.” He looked to Sloane and Loch. “I do appreciate everything you did…. Thank you.”
“Of course,” Sloane replied. “Maybe go easy on the guy? I’m sure Gronoch brainwashed him pretty good. Maybe there’s hope for him now that his master is dead.”
He’ll survive, Rota’s voice promised.
“Mostly.” Alexander cleared his throat. “We have a lot of questions that need answers.”
“I have a question,” Loch declared, glancing slyly between Alexander and Sloane. “Seeing as how we’re having a wedding coming up and it’s going to be on Urilith’s Day, who you know is a goddess of fertility—”
“No!” Sloane immediately argued, laughing. “Just because I let Rota use my body to kiss Alexander does not mean we can have an orgy!”
Loch pouted, huffing, “You’re no fun.”
“Nope, I’m just the worst.”
“Fine,” Loch sighed dramatically. “I’ll just have to be content worshipping your body and yours alone for the rest of eternity.”
“You sure you’re gonna be okay with that?” Sloane asked, chuckling as Loch leaned in to kiss him.
“Always, my sweet Starkiller.”
Chapter 14.
“SO, RUN this Kindress thing by me again?” Milo asked, busying himself with setting the table for dinner. “What is it exactly?”<
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“Ehhh?” Lynnette frowned. “It’s complicated.”
“Right.” Sloane scratched his chin. “It’s sort of a long story.”
A few days had passed since the battle at Hazel, and the wedding was fast approaching. There was absolutely nothing on the news about the medical facility being attacked or any deaths. Sloane wasn’t surprised that it was being covered up, and he was still saddened that he hadn’t been able to save anyone.
The news did announce that Hazel’s CEO would be taking an early retirement, and Sloane wondered if he was alive or if this was another potential cover-up. If Alexander had learned anything from Gronoch’s mortal vessel, he hadn’t been forthcoming.
Sloane hadn’t heard anything from him or Rota since the conclusion of the battle. Whatever their plans were, moving forward, he had no idea. He hoped, however, that they would reach out if they needed help.
Urilith had left to mourn her lost son but promised she’d return in plenty of time to assist with the wedding. Galgareth went with her and assured them that their vessels would be safely returned. There was no sign of Asta the Asra, and Jay remained safely tucked away in the garden. Milo had put in for an emergency leave of absence on Jay’s behalf, and Loch had been more than happy to assist with forging the applications.
Sloane was grateful for a few days of quiet, and he was secretly relieved that the only god he had to deal with was his own.
They’d invited Lynnette and Milo over to Sloane’s apartment for dinner to catch up from the chaotic week, and Loch had left to grab more garlic for the meal. Enough time had passed that Sloane was getting worried, and he said a quick and silent prayer for the staff at the grocery store.
“You know how Sages believe Great Azaethoth created the universe?” Sloane said, checking on the sauce lightly bubbling away on the stove. “Azaethoth has always been, always was, and will always be.”
“He took his first breath, and into his hands were born Etheril and Xarapharos,” Lynnette chimed in. “His second breath brought forth the Asra and so on, blah blah blah.”
“Right!” Milo said eagerly. “And then came the Vulgora and the Eldress and everybody else!”
“Like human beings.” Sloane smiled, pleased that Milo had been taking his Sagittarian studies so seriously. “We were the last of Great Azaethoth’s children.”
“And the twins, Etheril and Xarapharos, were the first?”
“Unless you believe the legend of the Kindress.” Sloane fumbled around the cabinet, glancing at the time. He’d wanted fresh garlic for the sauce, but he would have to make do with dried powder since Loch still hadn’t returned.
“Which is?”
“That Great Azaethoth had a child before the twins.” Sloane sprinkled a bit into the sauce and grabbed another pot to boil water for the noodles. “His firstborn was a being of pure starlight, but it died. It was in his child’s memory that Great Azaethoth made the stars, and from his tears came the Kindress Fountain.”
“Which does…?”
“Some people say it’s, like, a fountain of youth,” Lynnette said, sitting down at the table and rubbing her stomach. “Others say it’s some sort of plague.”
“And still more people say that the Kindress is the fountain.” Sloane snorted. “Something to do with the translation from the godstongue or whatever.”
“And Gronoch said he’d found it?” Milo glanced between Lynnette and Sloane.
“He claims he found the Fountain because that’s where he hid Rota’s body,” Sloane explained, and he thought for a moment. He tried to recall Gronoch’s final words, saying carefully, “And he said they were going to find the Kindress, but….”
That would mean the Kindress and the Fountain were not exclusively the same thing, since Gronoch had claimed to have hidden Rota’s body at the Fountain. It still didn’t explain why Gronoch or any of the other gods would want to find the Kindress, though. Whatever it or the Fountain really were, Sloane had the distinct feeling they were bad news.
There was a loud knock at the door, and Sloane jumped. “Oh! Huh.”
“Loch?” Lynnette asked with an arched brow.
“He wouldn’t knock,” Sloane said, wiping off his hands and heading over to answer it. “I mean, even if he lost his keys, he’s a god. He could get in.”
“Good point.”
Sloane opened the door and immediately cringed when he saw the rumpled ginger visage of Detective Chase standing on the other side. “Uh… hey! How are you?”
“Fine, Sloane,” Chase said with a wry smile. He saw Milo and Lynnette and gave a friendly wave. “Look, I don’t mean to interrupt, but you got a second to chat?”
Glancing around Chase into the hallway, Sloane asked, “Where’s Detective Merrick?”
“Not here,” Chase said flatly. “This is kinda personal, you know. Considering you’re such good friends with Milo and all, I wanted to talk to you on my own.”
“Oh.” Sloane turned to Lynnette and Milo, asking, “Can you guys keep an eye on the food? I’m, uh, just gonna step outside real fast.”
“Sure thing!” said Milo. “You go do… uh… whatever it is you’re doing.”
Sloane stepped out into the hallway, and he looked around to ensure they were alone before he asked, “So what’s up, Chase?”
“I always liked working with you, Sloane.” Chase got settled against the wall opposite him. “Thought it was really shitty the way they canned you.”
“I appreciate that,” Sloane said, “but you wanna tell me what this is really about?”
“This has been a really interesting week,” Chase replied casually. “Like, it was super interesting that I just happened to see you at the funeral home where a ghoul went missing. And how very interesting it was when we ran the ghoul’s fingerprints. Turns out, they don’t belong to nobody dead.”
Sloane felt sick.
“Some cat by the name of Lochlain Fields. He’s a suspected rogue witch and apparently likes to take things that don’t belong to him. According to our records, he just got married. Asked around, and he’s off on his honeymoon. Pretty strange that a living guy would have his own ghoul, don’t you think?”
“Oh, very strange.” Sloane tried to keep his voice from cracking.
“It gets fuckin’ weirder,” Chase assured him. “Fields and his new hubby were gifted some property recently, property that actually belonged to you. You remember, don’t you? You inherited it from Professor Emil Kunst.”
“He was… uh… a friend of my mother’s,” Sloane said weakly.
“Oh, that’s kinda weird since he killed her, right? I remember when you came in to finally close the case with his little confession. And it’s really weird that after being missing for several weeks, it turns out that he actually passed away in his sleep at that very house.”
Sloane saw the flash of a knife and a bright splash of blood. “Yeah, it was really peaceful.”
“Weird because I found a redacted report that actually says they found his decomposed corpse somewhere out in the woods.”
“Uh. Hmm.”
“I did some more lookin’ around, and it turns out that his body was never viewed by a medical examiner prior to his cremation,” Chase went on, his expression growing grave. “Super fuckin’ weird, right? Since he was a pretty devout converted Sage, from what I understand, it’s hard to imagine why he got cremated.”
His thoughts reeling, Sloane tried to think of something to say. Chase didn’t have any actual evidence or Sloane would be under arrest right now. This was all circumstantial.
“So, I got a criminal running around with his very own ghoul that mysteriously disappeared, the same criminal who is living at the home of a professor whose body was cremated without the proper procedure and against his religious beliefs, and right in the middle of it all is you,” Chase concluded with a grimace.
“Huh,” was all Sloane could think to say.
“And not that I wanna drag Milo into this,” Chase added, “but I�
��m pretty sure his baby mama is Lochlain Fields’s sister and also a rogue witch.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “I really, really need you to explain what the fuck is going on, Sloane.”
“I really, uh, can’t say…?” Sloane clapped his hands together, panic creeping in and making his breath catch. “That all sounds super crazy, and uh… I don’t know what to tell you.”
“Sloane,” Chase urged, “please give me something. This is reeking of conspiracy.”
“Uh….”
I’m engaged to an old god who took over the body of that very same thief you’re talking about after he’d been murdered by another old god for a piece of an ancient relic… yeah, this sounds way too crazy even in my head!
“It’s… it’s really complicated.”
“Try me,” Chase said, his eyes pleading.
Sloane could tell that Chase wanted to help him. It was why he had come here alone and was asking for answers. He tried to think of something to say, his heart thumping awkwardly, when he heard the elevator ding.
The doors opened to reveal Loch holding a grocery bag and dragging a giant fake palm tree behind him. Sloane recognized the fake tree as part of the welcome display in the lobby of their local grocery store, and he wanted to scream.
“I had some difficulties,” Loch announced, boldly strutting forward with his head held high. “Do not fear, all is well. I was victorious.”
“Lochlain…. Lochlain Fields?” Chase scoffed, staring at Loch with a very confused frown. “You’re not here, you’re supposed to be… wait, okay, no more games! What the fuck is going on, Sloane?” He threw up his hands. “And why the fuck does he have a fucking tree?”
“Ah! It’s a most valiant tale!” Loch marched proudly up to them and patted the tree. “You see, I went out on a quest given to me by my beloved mate for fresh garlic—”
“Sloane,” Chase grunted. “Is this Lochlain Fields? Or is this the damn ghoul from the funeral home?”
“It’s the ghoul, but it’s a lot more complicated than you think!” Sloane said quickly, frantically trying to clamp his hand over Loch’s mouth. “My love, my dearest one, please stop talking right now.”