by J. E. Cluney
Wesley squealed from the backseat, using his hands to cover his tiny little penis. I had to admit, seeing him knocked down a few pegs in size did amuse me.
But I knew what that meant.
“Stop the car!” I snapped at Leon.
“The gas station is right there!” Leon thrust his hand at the windscreen as we tore into the parking lot of the station.
Tristan cried out as Savage squealed, and I pulled back into my seat as a stream of piss shot into the front seat.
“Stop! Wes!” Leon barked as he dodged the pee to hunt in the center console for napkins.
I yanked the glove compartment open, finding some napkins and flinging them at my brother. He gave me a dirty look but held the napkins up to catch the jet of piss from Wes as he giggled in the backseat.
Little shit was doing it on purpose, he loved to take advantage of his baby stage. He’d even screamed once until a lady nursed him, the devious fuck. And he’d watched ladies undress. They were some interesting stories.
Leon stuffed all the napkins between Wes’ legs as the baby cackled.
“I hate you,” Leon said sternly to him.
Wes just retorted with the finger. It’s all he could do for a while, until he could talk.
Sav was grinning stupidly now, and I couldn’t help but find the smile contagious.
Strange, as soon as I’d set my eyes on her, I’d been intrigued.
What did I expect though? Now that I knew she was a kitsune.
“Can you go get the diapers?” Leon asked, flustered as he sat back in his seat.
“No, you get them,” I shot back. Like hell I was buying that little shit diapers.
“I need to gas her up, I can meet you in there,” Leon groaned.
“Get Tristan to do it,” I grumbled.
“I’m keeping an eye on the fox and the baby,” Tristan grinned back smugly.
I muttered as I shoved the door open and climbed out.
Stupid demon and kitsune. As if we needed more drama in our life. Tristan thought a kitsune was the best thing, but Leon and I knew it could mean trouble. They were revered beings, and sought after.
As for Wes, who knew what he was thinking. He was probably pissed she’d killed him.
I smirked at this.
That little joker had needed it. He was getting too full of himself. Tristan and he were mischief makers all the time.
Leon worked hard to keep them in line, which meant I was always dragged in to back him up.
I headed inside the station, ignoring the man behind the register as I headed for the baby department.
What greeted me was the exact reason single fathers would give their kids away.
Who the fuck would know which ones to get? There were rows upon rows of diapers.
I sighed, massaging the bridge of my nose in frustration.
This was all that stupid kitsune’s fault.
I scowled as I began looking through the options, managing to narrow it down. He wasn’t a newborn, but not quite a toddler. I think.
How the hell was I meant to know this shit?
I read each packet, coming closer and closer to just declaring we dump him on the side of the road and wait until he was at least a child that didn’t shit himself. That wouldn’t take too long. And if he died in the meantime, eaten by coyotes or some shit, too bad. He’d come back.
“It’s not that hard,” Leon groaned as he joined me after some time.
“Why are there so many kinds? It’s a goddamn diaper?” I growled as I shoved the packet back on the shelf with a little too much force.
A dominoes effect happened, diaper packets tumbling off the shelf, and I just turned away from it.
I was not dealing with this right now.
Baby duty was not my job.
“We’ll just get these, they’ll do,” Leon muttered as he snatched up a toddler packet. “He won’t need them for too long.”
Days. He’d grow up over the next few days, but still, it was annoying.
I waited as Leon cleaned up the mess of diaper packets before we both headed up to the counter.
I scowled at the cashier who gave us an odd look. I bet I knew what that little pimply faced fuck was thinking.
I stormed out as Leon was paying, finding Sav standing outside of the car with Wesley balanced on the hood and Tristan beside her.
“What are you doing?” I demanded.
“We tried to clean up the seat,” Tristan said defensively as Sav looked at me with narrowed eyes.
So we didn’t like each other. What else was new. I just had that effect.
“We need to put a diaper on him too,” Sav said as she ignored me and played with Wesley’s hair. He swatted at her, but she just smirked and ruffled his hair even more.
The doorbell sounded behind me as Leon rushed out with the diapers.
“Why’s he on the hood, he could fall,” Leon sighed in exasperation.
“So? He can’t die,” Sav shrugged.
She wasn’t wrong.
But maybe the little twat could get brain damage.
“Here, move, I’ll stick this on him,” Leon muttered as he squeezed in front of Sav and pulled the packet open.
“He seems awfully unfazed at showing off his penis considering he’s all there,” Sav chuckled.
“He’s a baby,” I grumbled. Kinda normal.
“Yeah, but makes me wonder how small it is when he’s an adult,” Sav sighed as she gave his little penis a sorrowful look, as if she truly felt bad for him.
“Fuck off.”
I scoffed as Sav stumbled back at the high pitched, slightly bumbly words.
Guess he’d grown already.
Wesley was glaring hard at her. “I’ll have you know, girls love it when it’s grown,” the toddler pouted, his babyish voice making Tristan laugh. Even Leon was cracking a grin.
He’d be grown within the week, he aged quickly after his reincarnations.
“Wow, I was not expecting that,” Sav said with a look of utter disbelief.
“Yeah, well he better shut up before someone hears him, there will be some serious questions,” I said sternly.
“I’m thinking I’m going to shit on the kitsune at some point, considering this is her fault,” little Wesley said, struggling to pronounce kitsune.
“I’ll throw you out the window on the highway if you do,” Sav threatened.
Thank God there were no other cars here this late.
“Guys, shut up. Let’s just get back on the road. Wes, you owe me for pissing in my car,” Leon threw his hands up in frustration.
Tristan chuckled as he picked Wesley up and moved him around to the backseat.
“Just you wait till I’m walking properly later, I’ll bite your dick,” Wes grumbled, and Tristan choked while Sav snorted.
Even though I wanted to hate her, I liked her ability to handle Wes like we did. No treating him like a baby. That was a first, most others didn’t understand it.
Maybe she wasn’t so bad, once we got to know her.
Maybe.
8
Wesley was an asshole. I’d determined that thanks to his newfound ability to talk. He was aging right before me, now the equivalent of a three year old.
I’d drifted off at some point, surprisingly, considering I was in a car full of supes. But considering everything I’d recently learned, I felt safer with them than my brother and father.
No. He wasn’t my father.
He was just a man who’d used me. They both were.
I wouldn’t call him dad again. He’d be Thomas from now on.
Tristan had informed me that kitsunes were powerful shifters that were considered lucky charms by supes, especially if you could win their affections. Killing them resulted in the opposite effect.
As much as I wanted answers, I wasn’t sure how I could find such answers. Who was I? Where did I come from? The story I’d been told was a cover, a fake.
Tristan had even told me we were renowned
warriors in legends, and our blades had slain many dark supes over the years. We were deadly beings because very few magical abilities of other supernaturals affected us. Like a demon’s possession or a siren’s voice.
Now I was yawning, my stomach growling from the lack of food.
Damien had taken over driving at some point, and Wesley was deep asleep beside me.
I looked down at him, smiling at the toddler wrapped in the red jacket he’d been wearing earlier.
I went to stretch, frowning as I realized a small hand was clutching my boob.
I scowled at Wesley’s innocent face and carefully pried his little hand off. Little turd muncher.
“Where are we?” I asked as the early morning sun flooded through the windows and revealed a suburban street.
People were just waking and getting ready for work inside their homes.
I knew this because if I focused, I could somehow zoom in on the windows where people were wandering around in their morning routines.
Could all supes see like this?
“Home,” Tristan said softly from the other side of little Wesley. I glanced at him, at the soft, content expression on his face. It eased my nerves a little.
“This is Underwood, not many people know about it,” Damien said from the driver’s seat.
“What he means is that it’s a supe community. Heavily warded to keep the people here safe. No humans can come here. It’s just a small suburb, but it’s home. Most people head out to Ferny Grove or into the city for work, but they know that when they come back here, they’re safe,” Tristan elaborated.
“Are there many places like this?” I asked, shocked at this revelation. There were whole communities of supes out there?
My adopted family would have a field day with that.
“Yes, but it’s expensive and not many properties come up for sale, so most supes live in normal towns and cities, where they’re at risk of hunters and whatnot. The risk is small, but it’s there,” Leon spoke up, roused from his slumber as he stretched and yawned widely in the front seat.
It seemed I knew so little in the grand scheme of things. Could I believe everything they were telling me?
Well, if my so-called father figure wanted me dead, I was sure as hell not going to believe everything he’d told me over the years.
“Why are we going back to your place anyway?” I asked as I soaked up the warmth of the early morning sun shining through my side of the car.
“Father has an Institute, he raised us, he’ll be able to help you learn about yourself,” Tristan said, those devilish chocolate eyes filling me with some hope for answers. And to think I was blaming everything on him just a few hours ago.
He wasn’t too bad really. But if the tables turned, at least I could kick their asses.
Something told me it wouldn’t come to that. If they’d meant me harm, why come to my rescue? Why bring me here? They’d had plenty of chances, hell, I’d even fallen asleep, which was extremely out of character for me.
But I believed them.
I believed what they said about me being special, needing to be protected. I knew I wasn’t human, I could feel a change deep inside me, a new power that had awakened.
And despite my upbringing, I really wanted to explore it and learn more.
“So, what’s the Institute like?” I asked, my eyes flicking to little Wesley as he yawned and opened his eyes groggily.
“An old school building Mr Oxley bought long ago. He finds unique supes and raises them there, usually orphans or something, those with no one to teach them,” Leon said.
“Oh,” I murmured. So they were all orphans? I hadn’t seen that coming.
“What are you guys? If you don’t mind me asking,” I asked hesitantly. I was threatening to kill them about eight hours ago.
“Demon-born. Different to a demonic possession,” Tristan said as he gave me a lopsided smile. God, he really was a devilishly handsome man. If I wasn’t caught up in all this, I’d totally want to screw him.
“How so?” I frowned.
“I was born by a possessed man having sex with his wife. It’s extremely rare, but we’re stronger than normal demons, and we can do interesting partial possessions,” Tristan explained. “Wesley is a phoenix, very few of them around. He’s been around for god knows how long, but a hunter had discovered what they thought was a permanent death for them about twenty years ago. A special bullet. Sadly, it only resulted in resetting him properly. No memory, aging normally, that sort of thing. Now if he dies, the aging process is sped up until he reaches the age he’s meant to be,” Tristan said as he patted Wesley’s head. Wesley was too tired to bother grumbling at him.
“The twins are just as rare. Werewolves crossed with angel,” Tristan smirked.
Wait, what?
“Angels are real?” I scoffed. That wasn’t possible, if they were, I’d surely have heard of them.
“Oh, so demons can be, but not angels?” Damien growled from up front.
“Supposedly an angel had affairs with a werewolf, resulting in twins. But the angel side got separated into two parts in the twins, the light and dark side. They both have interesting abilities unique to each of them,” Tristan said as he bounced his leg.
I knew how he felt, my legs needed some stretching, to get the blood flowing.
But angel crossbreeds? That was incredible. And yet, I’d fought them, they didn’t seem overly strong.
What did that make me then? How strong was I really?
“And that’s home,” Tristan sighed as he pointed out the windshield.
I followed his forefinger to the large mansion-like building right up front, tucked behind large, white stone walls and a solid iron gate.
‘The Institute of Supernaturals’ read the gold plate on the stone wall.
Was it just them who lived there? The place was huge!
Damien pulled up at the gates and leaned out his window to speak into a small speaker on the wall.
“It’s us, open up Dom,” Damien barked.
“Who’s Dom?” I asked softly as the gates opened automatically and Damien drove on through.
“Our butler type guy,” Tristan shrugged.
So they had a butler. Damn. Things were just getting stranger.
I shivered in the cool morning hours, wishing I had my jacket. I considered asking Leon for it, but my mind was pulled away at the magnificent grounds of the property. Perfect green lawns sprawled up across the gentle slope towards the mansion, a few trees dotting the area. Before the mansion were some vibrant gardens with what looked to be roses of every color, and a water fountain.
The Victorian style mansion was a sight to behold, with its steeply pitched roof and prominent front-facing gable. The stone shingles were the color of slate, and the building had many oriel windows protruding from the three-stories. It had a porch that ran the length of the front of the building, along with a few balconies for the two higher stories.
It had incredible ornamental spindles on the porch, and I was speechless at the sight. To think they lived in this piece of history was beyond me.
“It has twenty-seven rooms in total,” Tristan said proudly.
No shit. It was like a mini castle mansion. Guess the Institute name fit.
“We’ve got the library and training rooms, large kitchen, foyers, living areas, the list goes on. I think there’s almost twenty rooms in total that are standard bedrooms,” Wesley piped up, wiping the sleep from his tired brown eyes. “Can someone help me change my diaper?”
I snorted when he said this, and Leon groaned.
“We’ll get Dom to do it,” Damien muttered.
“Yeah, cause I so want him seeing my dick,” Wesley groaned. He had his baby teeth in now from what I could see, and I couldn’t help but grin stupidly at him. I’d never heard a toddler speak so clearly and perfectly, let alone swear.
Guess being a phoenix changed that up.
“Get over it, he’s seen plenty of dicks,” Tristan
chuckled.
“Dominic is gay, just so you know. Tristan has fun with him at times,” Leon snickered.
“Don’t worry, love, I swing both ways,” Tristan winked at me with a sly grin.
My lady parts tightened at that.
Like sex wasn’t already trying to slip into my mind. It was always there, even at a time like this when my world had been turned on its head.
I’d done my best to keep it at bay with the three sexy men. I was kinda regretting killing Wesley too now. He’d been a cutie.
I pursed my lips as Damien pulled up in front of the mansion, the drive wrapping around the fountain so you could make a quick exit.
An elderly man was standing at the top of the steps leading up to the porch, his white hair slicked back. His white beard was trimmed neat, and he wore a perfectly tailored brown suit. He really looked like your typical professor, even had the carefully carved wooden cane.
And he was gazing right at me through the car window.
He had glasses on, but I could see that those eyes were an incredible golden color, and I focused on his aura for a reading.
Dear fucking God. I’d never seen anything so intense! A vibrant golden glow pulsated around him, more intense than Wesley’s, and had a white flare to it.
“What is he?” I gasped.
“What do you mean?” Leon glanced back at me with those vivid blue eyes.
“I can see he’s something strong,” I murmured, my eyes flicking around his magnificent aura.
“Right, kitsunes can see auras of supes. Probably why your hunter family wanted you, you can find them in a crowd easily,” Tristan realized. “Most supes can see auras if they train themselves, but Kitsunes have a real knack for it, barely need to focus at all or use their magic.”
“He’s a shifter,” Damien grunted as he cut the engine off.
“Yeah, but what kind?” I asked. There was something truly powerful in his aura. Impressive and beyond anything I’d ever seen before.
“Maybe he’ll tell you,” Tristan chuckled.
A young man joined him on the porch, no older than twenty-five and strikingly handsome.
A quick glance at his aura revealed he was a witch. Although his aura was stronger than your typical witch.