by Dani Hermit
“Open your fucking eyes, Pony.” He growled as he neared his orgasm. “Never close your eyes when I’m fucking you. I want to know that it’s me you’re seeing. I want you to know that it’s me fucking you.”
Mythos’s eyes flew open and raked over Matt’s torso wrapped in the sexy harness then back to his dangerous eyes. “Matt.” he sighed into the bridle. Colton’s nickname, no, his nickname, was like a spell that gave him a place to exist. He felt more alive the more Matt demanded from his body. “Fuck me, Matt, please, fuck me.” He had to say it even if only he knew what the words were. “Make me yours.”
One hand moved from Colton’s hips to the back of his head to unfasten the bridle. Matt tore it away from Colton’s mouth, but before the other man could make a sound, he crushed his mouth in a kiss. As he drove his tongue into Colton’s mouth, his cock drove so very deep and exploded. Matt moaned into the kiss, not releasing Colton in any way, even once his orgasm had past. Matt stayed buried in Colton’s ass, his mouth working hard against his lover’s.
The kiss Matt was receiving back was soft and familiar. A shy tongue no match for what his was doing but trying to be. Happy moans the only sound his lover could make. The body beneath him warm and reaching out to be as close to him as possible. Mythos couldn’t have faked the tears that formed from the overwhelm. If he could have wrapped his arms around Matt he’d have held him as tight as his tired muscles could.
Matt’s Pony.
That’s who he was, at least right now. He squeezed his eyes shut trying to stop the tears. If only now could be forever.
CHAPTER TWELVE
There were times when Leo wondered why it was he started all of this. There were so many moving parts he needed to keep track of. He should get himself a personal assistant. It was a shame that Curtis didn’t have the disposition for it. He was loyal and attentive. Hideously disorganized, though.
Leo sighed and opened the locked drawer on his vanity. Inside was a small black box. He touched the box, but didn’t open it. He knew what was inside, could picture it with no problem. A photo and a pair of those cheap best friend charms that should never have been reunited. The other half should still be around Artie’s neck. Artie should still be alive and laughing. But the world the Disk created for them had killed him.
It was up to him to change the world. To make it better so no one like Artie would have to die in a miserable back alley, alone and broken.
Leo closed the drawer and locked it when he heard the knock on his outer door. A moment later, the door opened. Jammer entered, looking proud of himself for remembering to knock before he barged in.
“Are you ready to go?” Leo asked, turning to face him. “I don’t want Curtis out there longer than necessary.”
“So, I couldn’t tell but is Dark Mirror really like your plus one?” Jammer found something to sprawl out on immediately. This time an high back armchair.
Anybody observing the young man would notice within minutes he hated standing still, preferring to find a place to lounge and dick with either his phone or whatever else was within reach. This time it was the little vial of blue goo meant for Curtis.
“One drop of this and you get the best high of your life. Any side effects or chance of OD’ing? Because if not, we could make mad money with this.” Jammer changed position in the chair several times as he spoke, like a model in a photo shoot. “And you need to monetize anything you can. A drug with no consequences would go far. Not like that shit they gave us back in the camps, though. I wouldn’t sell something like that for Mythos money.”
Jammer moved again, this time putting both feet on the floor. He hoped Leo wouldn’t notice how twitchy he was getting lately. Jammer knew his friend was stretched far too thin already, which was why he suddenly changed subjects. “But what you really need is a bash, buddy. Something that shows your believers there’s more to you. Gets them to relax and feel like being part of this is their new norm.”
“You want to have a party?” Leo stood, moving across the room and taking the vial from Jammer. He couldn’t risk his well-meaning friend deciding to lift it and sell it to make a point.
Tactfully avoiding the slew of questions Jammer had managed to spit out all out once, Leo focused on the party idea. “Well, I did build that club for you to DJ in. And once Mythos is here, we probably should welcome him properly. Will you handle the arrangements when you return or do you have someone in mind who can do it for you?”
“Are you kidding? I live for this stuff.” Jammer was up and walking around the room, searching for a new perch. “I could use some ground level help though. I’m willing to work but I’m more of a visualizer until I’m on the boards. When was the last time you just kicked back and let the beat move you?” Jammer did something akin to a short break dance. “Bet it’s been a while. But, Leo, you’ll never get through if you don’t lighten up a little. Even serious business, which I get this is, still needs something else. Or is that what Curtis is for?”
He elbowed Leo as he moved to sit on the bed and patted it. “Curtis seems cool. Maybe he could help me.” Jammer’s conversations could get a bit scattered on the best of days, but under the pressure of helping his friend he was all over the place today. “Oh man, food! We should have a cool spread. If it’s in Mythos’s honor, how about little sweet bites that look like the Day-side symbol but have like rich dark chocolate inside? And healthy stuff too, like sangria smoothies. So, what about the guys? Most of them haven’t come yet. They’ll be here for the party, though, right?”
“I haven’t heard from anyone yet.” Leo put the vial on his vanity and moved to sit next to Jammer. “I was hoping you had. I am not easy to get in touch with these days, but you’re all over social media. They should be able to find you, knowing you would be the first to come to me.”
“I think you have to expect not to hear from,” Jammer counted them off on his fingers. “Sushi Roll, he’s in jail for alleged illegal activities. Tyro, well, you know that he got really messed up in the incident. ”
“Yes, I heard.” Leo nodded. “I would have thought that Beam and Bluebird would have been here by now. Or at least reached out.” Leo was obviously disappointed that of the six people he’d recruited in the training camps and just after his debut with the intent of them being his generals in this revolution, only Jammer had turned up.
“And of course Vanessa, but I assume you know what happened to her after.” Jammer laid back on the bed and fidgeted, punching the air. “I tried to get her to come you know.” Jammer had inherited a short temper, probably from both parents, and he was trying to keep it in check. “Don’t just pass it over. My partner, your friend, shouldn’t have been a casualty of war. Not cool. You should at least acknowledge it.”
“She isn’t the only one who is stuck in their transformation.” Leo said softly. “I’ve heard of three or four others since the Silence. And I’m sure there are more out there.”
He not only felt bad for the Transformed Chosen like Vanessa who were trapped in their other forms, but it was the exact opposite of what he was trying to create. Stealing the powers of the Chosen was meant to make everyone the same, everyone equal. Leaving some of them in powered up bodies was a snag he hadn’t anticipated.
“I had no idea that would happen when I activated the device. It shouldn’t have been possible. But I have made certain that Curtis put the word out that anyone like her was more than welcome here. And Vanessa certainly must know that she has a place with me.”
“Okay, that’s better.” Jammer knew Leo wouldn’t say directly that he was sorry, but he had known the other young man long enough to read between the lines. He knew that Leo was torturing himself about what happened to their friends during the Silence. “I won’t follow a leader who doesn’t have some regrets. Who has lost his humanity. And I’d hate to see my other best friend become something he’s not.” He pointed to a small unassuming lamp. “Could you live without that?”
“It’s an antique,” Leo repl
ied tentatively. “But not one I’m particularly attached to. Why?”
“Okay then, I need to do this.” Jammer’s hands became surrounded by the visible purple energy of his power. He shot it at the lamp and the light bulb popped. “Now it’s an antique that will never work again.” Jammer put a hand on his neck and looked at Leo apologetically. “Anyone who was fighting when you did the thing got a little shaken up. That may include Wallace and Monty. You learn to live with it. I should be fine for a few hours.”
“It shouldn’t have happened.” Leo said after a moment. “None of you should have been active. I had someone make sure of it.”
He was still trying to find out what had gone wrong with his inside man. He’d handed over a list of about fifty young Heroes and Villains who were to not be scheduled in battles on the morning he had stolen away their powers. Most of them were just random people, but his inner circle should have been safe.
However, every one of them who was on the list had been in very prominent battles. That was how their friend Tyro had nearly died, and why Vanessa was stuck as a hybrid between a water dragon and a pin-up girl. But the young Priest, one of several who Leo had recruited to his cause, had disappeared that day, presumed to be a victim of the incident.
Jammer grabbed Leo’s hand in a strong fist and pulled it to his chest. “I am your friend. I can be a loyal soldier. I believe in your plan. But if I sacrifice everything for you, I need to know I’m doing it. Fair?”
“Of course,” Leo nodded, taking Jammer’s hand with both of his. “I would never dream of asking that of you, however. But that’s why I need you to get Curtis and Mythos. I need them back here with me. It isn’t safe for either of them out there with this new buzz on the internet against Mythos.”
“Yeah, your supporters kind of want to kill him. I believe crucifixion has been mentioned.” Jammer pulled Leo into a hug. “But look it isn’t all bad. This weird glitch I have, it kept some Priests from putting their hands on me after. They assumed I was another young Chosen without powers, and I was suddenly being trained to be marketed as a Legacy whore. Stopped all three of their hearts at once with this. Still don’t know if they lived or died but it got me the fuck out of there.”
“That’s horrible,” Leo held onto Jammer.
Though he had not been trained in the Villain camps, Leo knew how awful it could get. The Priests assumed that the Chosen marked with the Villain sigil were somehow already damaged. They did unspeakable things to the trainees, often breaking them before they could graduate to the fights. Once they were broken or burned out, the most attractive Villains were sold as sex slaves or breeding stock. The others either forced into the Priesthood or taken away to research facilities where they suffered until their very painful deaths. Jammer had barely escaped being sent to the labs in training, and it broke Leo’s heart to know that he had almost not been able to escape it again.
“But they got what they deserved.” Leo’s voice was soft as he spoke, but the rage under the surface was clear in his words. “What they call training is little more than gang rape and torture. It’s disgusting. I wish you’d fried the entire complex.”
“I have to be very close and in some cases actually touch the thing I break, otherwise… KA-POW! I would have. So don’t freak on me. I just have to keep moving my body so the build up doesn’t fry me.” Jammer smiled at Leo. “But we’ll end it for good this time.”
“I hope so,” Leo smiled back.
He would have offered to take away Jammer’s powers all together, but he still needed them. And he couldn’t steal and restore powers over and over. It would destroy Jammer’s nervous system and eventually kill him. That was what happened to the Chosen who he had used to syphon the power from his device. He couldn’t do it to someone he cared for like Jammer.
“But for now, you need to get on the road to get Dark Mirror from whatever hole he’s found to hide in. Just please don’t break the van. It would upset Steve and Jim terribly.”
“Right, don’t break the van. It’s cool. There are a lot of home stores from here to there. A lot of lights to put out.” Jammer laughed. “Oh hell, that sounded way more sinister than I meant it. Not like I’m your ninja assassin or something.”
“Not yet,” Leo teased.
“I’d make a terrible ninja. The whole not being able to be still or very quiet kinda ruins it. I’m totally stealthy, though. Never see me coming.” Jammer grabbed up the keys and headed off to collect Curtis and Mythos.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Boris wasn’t entirely certain which drugs Curtis had taken, but he knew an overdose when he saw one. Leaving Matt and Thomas to recover Colton was a hard choice, but even a lousy junkie like Curtis didn’t deserve to die alone in a dingy bar.
What Curtis needed was the overdose kit the Priests used to make sure he travelled with. Obviously, since he was no longer under the supervision of the Priests, Curtis no longer carried it. What kind of person was this Necromancer if he was willing to let Curtis go out into the world where temptation lurked around every corner without any kind of precautions?
Boris remembered the vial of blue goo. Curtis had talked about it being the best high of his life. But when he’d forced some into Boris’s mouth, there had been no high. Just an awful cold medicine taste. He was going to have to get it analyzed, but Boris now suspected that was the precaution.
But not knowing what it was, he wasn’t about to give some to Curtis. What he needed was to get him to an emergency room, but that would throw up too many red flags. The Necromancer was certain to find them. So, the next best thing was to get an ambulance to Curtis. The ones who regularly worked this sort of neighborhood frequently had a regimen of overdose counteracting drugs. Hopefully whatever Curtis took wasn’t something uncommon.
Again, Boris was left with the dilemma of calling an ambulance to the bar. That would be logged. Curtis’s name might be recorded. Red flag.
So he did the next best thing. He stole one.
Leaving it on the side of the building kept the ambulance out of sight. Hopefully, it would be a little while before anyone noticed that it was gone from the parking garage. And thankfully, his form had reverted to his usual one. No more trying to hide ears and tail while he moved around. And he was larger, stronger in this form. There was very little chance that he’d be able to carry Curtis to the ambulance as Cat Fight.
“Okay, buddy,” Boris tried to sound like he wasn’t verging on murdering Curtis himself. “Let’s go. We’ve got to get some medicine in you and this isn’t the place.” He tried to pull the barely aware Curtis to his feet.
“Oh, hello, Bori. You’re early. Is it time to go for breakfast? You look just like the pictures of you holding the numbers in the news.” He leaned against Boris. “I’m not feeling so great though. Wait here. I’ll go make myself more presentable.” He pushed himself off of Boris and stumbled a few feet away.
“Fuck! Get back here.” Boris caught up to Curtis, wondering if his Chosen metabolism was keeping him from actually overdosing and maybe he should just leave him here. Boris grabbed his arm and steered Curtis towards the side door.
“I just want one more hit so I’m more fun to--” Curtis’s legs seemed to give out. “Huh, that’s not good.” He crumbled to the ground, his breathing shifting to hungry gasps. “Yeah, pretty sure that’s bad.” He batted Boris away. “You go on. Order me waffles.”
The room was spinning. There were six Borises swimming in front of his blurry eyes right now but the last thing Curtis wanted was a lecture about taking untrustworthy drugs or being a junkie or causing others endless trouble or any of the things Mythos had put in his head tonight. He might be feeling like he was going to die but the constant chatter was gone. Mythos’s powerful suggestions not even a whisper. Besides he wasn’t so far gone to believe Boris was really here to keep him from destroying himself.
Groaning in frustration, Boris bent down and lifted Curtis. The tall man was much lighter than he should have been. Boris
threw him over his shoulder and headed for the door. At least like this, he wasn’t going to get away.
“Stop squirming,” Boris snapped. “And I swear to god, if you barf on me, I will run you over with this ambulance.”
Curtis had no smart comment because he was in the last stage of his overdose, reaching a place his Chosen body had been fighting off for most of the night. His heart slowed and his mind had shut down, plunging Curtis into unconsciousness. His last thoughts had been maybe it was like his one caretaker had suggested. Death shows up in the form that makes it easiest for you to go with it and at least the real Boris would never know about it. Shame he’d never finish his novel. It was getting good. He already had 78 pages written.
Throwing Curtis down on the gurney in back of the ambulance, Boris tried to rouse him with no effect. He swore. Not knowing what it was that Curtis was on would make it a little difficult to figure out what to give him. He hoped that there was something wide spectrum or a guide somewhere in the ambulance. Or maybe he could Google it. If he had time.
Boris began to dig around in the drawers and containers, but he wasn’t finding anything he knew would work. The best thing he had was an adrenaline shot. Hopefully, that would kick Curtis’s body into high gear and get it to heal itself. This was nothing like what he’d done during the Chills outbreak years ago. Just after he actually burned out, Boris had spent some time volunteering in a Quarantine camp since he had tested positive for immunity to the virus. He’d helped his fellow Chosen with their meds, and in a few cases, he’d helped those in too much pain to end it quickly, usually by overdosing on pain meds.
However, undoing an overdose was outside of his experience. Boris thought he remembered the basics from the crash course the Priests gave him when he first paired with Dark Mirror. Right now, his best chance was to get Curtis conscious at least long enough for him to tell Boris what he’d taken.