“This is good,” Jane continued. “Now, in the interest of complete disclosure, at first we were reluctant to have a vampire in our midst. We discuss things openly here that have been hidden from many, and that the ears of many more would love to hear. But all things considered, especially the nominated party, that is not the way of the Order. Since its inception, it has always been about cooperation between those who are different in order to ensure the well-being of all. Although we humans and vampires have had our gross differences in the past, and honestly still may until the end of time, it is about time we break down barriers, especially where no barriers should exist in the first place.”
“Thank you, Councilor Carter.”
“Of course,” Jane said. “You have done well to come here and against the odds that you have faced in the wilds yourself. They have molded you into what stands before us today and for that, we are grateful. Members of the Council, it is time to cast your votes.”
A hush descended upon the chamber, and all turned their eyes toward Evans. It was so quiet that the gulp he took was magnified ten-fold.
In turn they all spoke, Allete first then Timothy, Tyrol followed by Drogir, Quileth then at last Jane.
All were yeas and there, in a flash of the present now the past, history had been made.
“Welcome, Councilor Evans,” Jane said warmly. “You may take your seat.”
“Thank you Jane,” said Evans. “If I may, I have a few words I would like to say.”
“Yes, of course.”
“It is my belief that those on the Order Council often speak with unity on behalf of countless others allied under that great banner. I shall endeavor to fulfill my duties in this capacity, as the first vampire ever to be a part of the Journeymen, to ensure we are all – as people and monsters of Earth –able to have a future and live in freedom.
“For you see, this is a right bestowed upon us by whatever Creator you believe in; Lamatsu for vampires, Echidna for many monsters, God for the humans, or even the universe itself. Against this power there is nothing greater, and though the forces of Dajjal and the Noctis may try, we will prevail against them.
“The demons shall return to the depths of Hell, or be cast into the abyss to rot for all eternity. This I promise to you, to the best of my efforts, fellow members of the Council, those who serve, and those for whom we serve.”
Applause filled the room, signaling Evans to approach the table. He made his way up to it, then behind, sitting between Allete and Quileth as the newest member of the Council. Almost immediately, table erupted into activity and resumed its deliberations.
As voices crossed in front of him, Evans looked to Om. He smiled, baring his fangs as Om returned the gesture, closing the doors behind him in order to return to the Odyssey and to take Marcus to his final resting place.
GAGE AND ADY again found themselves on the deck of the ship as it set sail for the Smoky Mountains. A great place to collect one’s thoughts while taking in the serene beauty of the world, today was no different, an extra helping much needed to fill the void left by Marcus’ unexpected departure.
The sun was still setting, though not yet to the point of chasing away the blue. Clouds had started to roll in earlier were thickening, making for a stunning flight away from New York.
Gage was standing behind Adrienne, her hands gripping the rail loosely. They both watched as the clouds passed by, flocks of distant birds rising and falling like airborne dolphins.
“I dunno if I can ever do without this view now,” Gage said softly as he rested his chin on the back of Ady’s head.
“I know right?” she said. “It’s a stunning view. I'm amazed each and every time by it.”
Gage wasn't looking at the clouds anymore, having pulled himself back to gaze down her curvy lines.
“Yeah, no kidding,” he agreed. “It's simply… gorgeous.”
Adrienne caught on to what he was saying, smiling unseen as she dipped her head down towards the ground far below.
“Baby,” she said ever so softly. “Did you ever think that we would be where we are today?”
“Hmmm,” he pondered. “You tell me what ya think first.”
“Well, I know I had a tough time believing it when we first… got together. Were there feelings there before that? Yup. But I suppose it wasn't until about a month or two before that clearing that I really started to take notice. You know how you stormed in and rescued Joey and I?”
“Yeah,” Gage replied, leaning into her a little more. “I recall that night like it was the last one.”
“Me too,” Ady replied. “Well I had so many giddy feelings afterward I think I maintained my distance. Call it a ‘damsel in distress’ syndrome or whatever you want, my desires were definitely clouded by infatuation from this… Prince Charming that had swept in and rescued us.”
“Me? Prince Charmin’?” Gage asked, letting out a monstrous laugh. “That's a first.”
“Hey, this is my story,” she said, elbowing his stomach. “Exactly my point. That's the furthest thing from who you really are. Had I fallen for that I don't think we would have lasted long at all. But instead, I got to know the real Gage Crosse and shit, I'm glad I did. Even if he is weirder than I ever could have imagined.”
She expected a one-liner or comeback of some sort. When there wasn't one she spun around with concern and saw his big, green eyes waiting for her; one eyebrow raised of course.
“Like I've told you before,” she said, “lots of trademarks going on with your expressions and your body.”
“Such as?” he asked innocently.
She tittered. “Your eyebrow thing for one, your back for sure, and I think you could have your very own set of hashtags if you used social media more than you do now – ‘Twelve Gage’ and ‘Don't Drown’ come to mind right away.
“Good God!” Gage said with a laugh. “Ya really thought all that through eh?”
She nodded.
“So back to you. Did you ever think we would be where we’re at today?”
“Hell no,” he said bluntly, though his stare melting. “I mean back in Houston when I first really took a shine to ya, I thought okay, this is either gonna work out really well or everything is gonna fall to shit. Lucky for me, after we did the nasty, ya fell in love with every part of me.”
“One part of you more than all the rest, right?” she said lustfully, taking the chance to unzip his jeans.
These feelings in her had been escalating for quite some time and if the activity in his pants indicated anything, it was the same had formed inside Gage, too. He was stretching the limits of the denim and before the zipper had even reached the bottom, his thick shaft was expanding the opening.
“Ya better watch out darlin’,’” he warned, “else I'm gonna fuck ya right here for all the world to see.”
He pulsed his dick just once and it surged out his jeans, those dozen meaty inches throbbing for attention.
“Maybe I don't want to watch out,” she said, those pent up desires waiting… needing to be unleashed.
She pressed herself against his hard body, running her fingers across the back of his tight tee shirt. Finding it in the way, she grabbed hold, furiously lifting it off before tossing it overboard. The white fabric flapped wildly before vanishing in the clouds.
Gage now stood before her, a sight of pure, unadulterated sex. His messy hair drifted in the breeze while his shirtless muscles flexed in the light. His shoulders and chest were heaving, his abs drawn tight, chiseled like marble. All that topped his wide open jeans, so low they might as well have been off, his rock hard manhood ready to do damage. A lot of it.
“You let it out,” Gage said, “deal with it.”
Adrienne licked her lips as she slid down to her knees, her tongue taking its sweet time to finish. Moving his jeans to the floor she grasped his shaft with both her hands and squeezed tightly.
Gage huffed; hurting so bad that it was good. He could feel her tight grip working its way over ever
y single one of his veins and ridges, his engorged head enveloped in a slick warmth that felt like stars bursting overhead as she sucked it.
Teased it.
Made it hers.
He could have let her stay there all night, riding on the edge and until he was ready to explode. However, Adrienne hadn’t been the best of girls. No, she didn’t pay attention to his warnings at all, and that meant some form of punishment was required.
You break the rules, Gage will try to find a way to break you … and make you scream.
He reached down and pulled her up to the railing, pressing her back into it as he removed her shirt, tossing it to the deck. Then her pants, sliding them to the floor. Last but not least were her black panties, ever so tantalizing and delicate. Without delay he grabbed them up in a tight fist and pulled hard to the side. They strained for a moment, then tore away like they were nothing.
“Wanted to do that to my shirt in the elevator, didn’t ya?” he whispered forebodingly, leaning close to her ear where his hot breath teased her.
He then looked south, way down where she was exposed and waiting. His massive self was swaying right next to her, still heavy in expectation. Stepping back, he grabbed the base with his large hand and guided his glistening head inside.
She had to close her eyes as soon as he started, savoring every single pain induced bit of pleasure as he spread her apart, working himself deeper, inch by gratifying inch.
Then his thrusts began, slow at first as his hips ground her out, rising into a fever pitch of a dozen ramming inches. He loved looking down, witnessing the miracle of every inch being accepted by her, every delightful blow as their hips met leading closer and closer to unsullied bliss.
“God… I’m gettin’ closer,” he mumbled, suddenly withdrawing and spinning her around. He pressed his narrow hips forward and was again inside the warmth of her embrace.
She was bent over the edge of the railing, gasping and panting as her breasts bounced up and down with each renewed stroke – hard, fast, and merciless in his pace. She couldn’t help but like it, feeling him filling her with every inch of himself, both physically and emotionally.
This was the stuff that dreams were made of and Adrienne relished in the thought that hers were, in fact, reality.
Gage moaned, changing the rhythm as he slowed down, each stroke now excruciatingly long, brimming with overflowing indulgence. She could tell he was close, the slower he went the harder he became, his head flaring as it rubbed against her. She clenched, seizing her opportunity to make him scream.
And scream he did as he came inside her, deep and aching. Ady followed his lead, shuddering with sweat as she watching through euphoric eyes as the clouds rolled by.
It felt so good, her body so light and dreamy that she could have been flying.
GAGE WAS ENERGETICALLY brushing his teeth in the small bathroom of his quarters, the vigorous shaking actually one of the few things managing to keep him awake.
Adrienne had long since made her way into the other room, snoring quite loudly in bed while he gazed at his busy reflection in the mirror. He could certainly tell that he was tired; dark circles had started to form around his baggy eyes while his face was drooping heavily with fatigue.
However, there was something in the back of his mind that night keeping him awake.
As he watched tiny flecks of toothpaste find their way onto the glass, he recalled a brief conversation he had with Ty earlier, down in the galley.
“Marcus used to have this really bad habit – when growing up and even when we were in Michigan – of splashing his toothpaste all over the bathroom mirror,” Ty said as he took a large mouthful of soda straight from a two-liter bottle.
Gage watched as Ty did yet one more thing that was so unlike his brother; he would have thought them totally unrelated if not for their similarities in appearance.
“Yet one more reason I can see why he and Joey found each other,” said Gage, snatching the bottle and taking a drink as if it were a bottle of liquor. “Damn boy does exactly the same thing; made a grade-A fucking mess back at the Lodge. Unsure if ya knew about that place, but it was where we were based in Houston before shit hit the fan. Lemme guess Marcus’ flavor of choice: spearmint?”
Ty chuckled heartily, shaking his head as he did so.
“Nope. He would always buy that whitening toothpaste… the kind that tastes like crap.”
“Yuck,” Gage replied in disgust, handing Ty back the bottle. “That shit always tastes like cum to me…”
Ty gave him a quick glance, wanting to ask yet not wanting to know how Gage knew that. Waving off the offer to drink any more of the soda, Ty bowed his head.
“In any case,” Gage continued, shrugging off his comment, “I’m gonna miss the uptight little guy and his dress sense. Brought a little class to my otherwise devoid ass.”
“Me too,” Ty replied gravely. “I think it’s finally dawning on me that he’s not coming back. I thought that I would be prepared, you know? All badass and distant like a rebel. Truth be known Gage, it hurts bad, right smack in the middle of my chest.”
“I didn’t know him as long as you, obviously, but I can say it feels the same way for me. We did some crazy shit on these adventures, and he was there for me when we rescued Ady from the Astral Plane. That’s the kind of stuff I hadn’t even dreamed was possible in my time before heading to New York. But ya know what does more to me than anything else? Seeing how Joey is taking it. He loved your brother, Ty.”
Ty exhaled heavily, taking off his glasses and chucking them onto the galley table with a quick jangle.
“I can see that,” he said, “and now, I can’t help but see Marcus in him, too.”
“Yeah, I can imagine. I mean J has been through some tough shit,” Gage said. “Lost his dad back a couple years ago. Then dealt with his… fascination with me before finding someone that truly completed him in Marcus. Now, he’s lost him, after being fucked over and tortured by the demons. That shit is messed up, no matter how you slice it.”
“Looks like we have all been touched by this apocalypse, and it hasn’t even happened yet,” Ty said, standing from the table with eyes full of sorrow. He reached for his glasses and put them on in an attempt to hide them, but Gage had already seen.
“It ain’t gonna happen if we have anything to do about it, man.”
“I hope you’re right Gage.”
“I plan on bein’ right,” he replied. “We have to find Death’s Scythe before Dajjal… at all costs.”
Thoughts returning to the present, Gage wiped the mirror, rinsing his mouth. Grabbing some mouthwash, he swished it around, contemplating taking a shower. However, fatigue was really starting to catch up by that point and he decided to wait, which would avoid any chance of the hot water lulling him to sleep, only to wake up looking like some kind of gigantic, inked prune.
Gage moved into the bedroom so he could at least try to get some sleep before their meeting with the shifters Seth and Kyle Fuller, which was now only a few short hours away. He found the sheets and his pillows delightfully cool and on any normal day he could easily drift off to slumber land. He hoped to be able to that night.
Settling in, it was mercifully relaxing as the pale light of the moon filtered in from the distant and dark clouds. Crossing his arms beneath his head, Gage stared up at the ceiling for a time and slowly, gently, successfully, everything faded away…
Until his vision exploded with bursts of red and black that submitted to intense visions of the end of the world, so clear and painful to watch in their brief but horrific glory. Flames tore across the world and all the sights of death, the sounds of screaming, the smells of burning bodies assaulted him.
Gage felt on the brink of madness, his eyes overflowing with roaring fire and smoke as his skin boiled and blistered. The scream he issued was deafening as a darkness came, consuming him whole until all was totally black.
Gage…
A voice made him feel at ease, coupled
with a pleasant wind that flowed over him. Yet all was still dark.
“Gage…” it repeated, this time louder and darkness dissolved like night to the dawn.
He was surprised to find himself sitting on a set of old wooden steps, their peeled paint eerily familiar. As he looked around he saw that he was on a front porch – his front porch – at his old house all the way back in Denver. The sun was creeping over the eastern horizon, bathing everything in a warm glow that invited him right back to his childhood days yet despite all of the wonder of that instant, it was not the most surprising thing he saw.
Standing off in his mother’s rose garden was a figure, dressed in his Sunday best. It was his dad, Charles.
“Dad?” Gage asked tensely. “What are ya doing here? Better yet, what’re we doing here?”
“Contemplating,” Charles replied. “Thinking on things from the past as they shape what happens in the future. I think you are here for a similar reason, are you not?”
Gage didn’t know what he was talking about and the wind suddenly picked up. A storm of petals and leaves were stripped from the plants until they were bare; Charles became obscured by them. Gage shot to his feet, sprinting toward him as fast as he could. Yet it wasn’t fast enough, for when he got there his dad was gone.
Frantically, Gage searched high and low for him, unable to find any trace until something shiny twinkled in his eye, set against the dull dirt below. He bent over, finding a little die-cast truck on the ground.
“You again?” he said to the toy, recognizing it as his own.
As his fingers grazed its metallic lines, the ground suddenly heaved and opened, swallowing it. The land didn’t stop splitting, tearing itself apart until Gage dropped into the resultant abyss, watching as his house collapsed above and two glowing orbs shot off toward the heavens.
After a few seconds of falling that seemed to last for days, he landed against something hard while high overhead, a layer of clouds seemed to boil as lighting lanced through the sky.
Gage groaned as he sat upright, a sharp pain rising up his entire spine. Still, he managed to push past it and stand, taking in the rocky landscape around him.
Then Hell Followed (Journeyman Book 5) Page 15