The whole situation set Echo’s teeth on edge.
What if, despite the problems they’d had, Eyce and Onyx found they wanted Craze back? What if they wanted him more than Echo? Would the others follow suit? There were so many unanswered questions. Syx said Craze had “found” them. What the hell did that mean? Then there was the whole fact that they’d been with the man for four hundred fucking years. No matter what any of them said, Echo found it very hard to believe that you could be with someone for that length of time and not have some kind of feelings for him.
And after that length of time, how could they just shut off those feelings like they never existed? No, something wasn’t adding up, and it made Echo anxious. Syx looked afraid. Hex wouldn’t talk to anyone except to bark out orders. Fiero seemed more thoughtful than usual. Myst just looked depressed, as though someone had kicked his puppy. Vapre lounged in the third row seat, staring blankly out the window.
Casually placing his hand over Syx’s where he rested it on his thigh, Echo drew little circles over the knuckles with his thumb. He kept the touch light but constant, hoping to distract his lover as he absorbed just a little of Syx’s telepathic power. After already syphoning a bit earlier in the day, it wouldn’t take much. He could already hear the others’ thoughts, but they were muffled and hard to distinguish.
Closing his eyes, he leaned against Syx, feigning exhaustion as he opened his mind and let his mates’ thoughts flow in.
“I don’t like leaving Eyce and Onyx behind, especially with Craze coming. What if he hurts them?”
Echo’s eyelids twitched, and he tensed in alarm at Vapre’s wonderings. He’d been worried about Craze stealing his men back. He’d never imagined that the asshole might hurt them. Moving on, he dipped into Fiero’s head next.
“I can’t believe that Hex is letting Echo come with us. It’s too dangerous. He should be home. Fuck! We should all be home. If anything happens to Echo…”
Echo bit the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling. There was nothing going on inside Fiero’s head that the man wouldn’t say out loud. His concern for Echo’s safety was sweet, though.
Next, he probed Myst.
“Hex is hiding something. I don’t know why he won’t talk to me. Craze is going to ruin everything! I hate that fucker. If he lays a hand on Eyce or Onyx, I will kill him.”
Echo had never heard Myst so agitated before. He’d certainly never heard death threats spilling from the man’s mouth. His disappointment that Hex wouldn’t confide in him slipped into the tone of his thoughts. And what the fuck was Hex hiding anyway?
Sliding into Hex’s head, Echo decided to find out.
“Nothing good is going to come from having Craze here. He’s so fucking manipulative. I can’t believe I let them talk me into this. That man could talk a nun into bed.”
Echo gasped before he could stop himself. Hoping to play it off as a bad dream, he whimpered a little and curled in closer to Syx’s side. “Syx?” Ah, fuck! “You were listening, weren’t you?”
“Naturally. You are a sneaky little shit. I understand, however, and I promise I won’t say anything. You can’t blame people for their thoughts, baby. Don’t judge them by their words, but by their actions. Just remember that, okay?”
With a deep sigh, Echo rubbed his face against Syx’s chest in reluctant agreement. “I’ll try. It’s just hard. I guess you’ve had a lot more practice.”
Syx’s palm slid up and down his arm lazily. “Only a few thousand years. Get some sleep, sweetheart. I’ll wake you when we get there.”
“I’ll try.” He was nervous about what they’d find in the cave, worried about what would happen at home while they were away, and jealous of Craze’s former relationship with his mates. He had so much to think about, so much to obsess over, he didn’t think he’d ever sleep again.
Eventually, though, the steady thrum of the tires against the asphalt and the warmth of Syx’s body combined with his emotional exhaustion to drag him into a fitful sleep. His dreams were plagued with unwelcome depictions of some gorgeous man he’d never met but sought to take everything from him.
When Syx finally woke him, Echo felt as though he’d run a marathon instead of napping. He didn’t want to do this anymore. He didn’t care about wars, or ex-lovers, or gods, or destroying evil like some caped superhero. All he wanted was to be left alone with his men and live out their happy-ever-after.
“We’re here,” Hex announced unnecessarily as he eased off of the paved road and began bumping along a narrow dirt path. Once he’d reached the cover of the trees, he pulled to a stop and cut the engine.
No one moved. No one spoke. It was so dark under the canopy of tree limbs Echo could only make out eerie shadows through the tinted glass windows. Fighting against his sudden panic, he gripped Syx’s hand in one of his and Fiero’s in the other. It wasn’t pitch black, but it still felt oppressive.
“I’ll build a fire,” Fiero said quietly. He gave Echo’s hand a reassuring squeeze and opened his door to climb down from the SUV.
Echo couldn’t let go of him, though. He knew he should. His brain ordered his fingers to unclench, but still he held on.
Looking over his shoulder, Fiero studied him for a long time in the dim glow created by the dome light. Then he jerked his head and gave a little tug on Echo’s hand. “Come on.”
He didn’t even have to think about it. Clutching Fiero’s hand, Echo scrambled out after him, pressed close to his mate’s side, and shivered—partly from the cold, partly from the suffocating sense of complete isolation.
“Okay, give it to me,” Fiero muttered with a smirk.
Echo lifted both eyebrows. The man wanted sex at a time like this? He knew his guys were insatiable, but this was a bit much. Fiero started to laugh, and Echo finally realized the meaning. His cheeks heated, and he groaned before tilting his head and beginning the process of recycling Fiero’s ability.
Though it would have given him great satisfaction and wiped the stupid smirk off his lover’s face, Echo only opened himself up a little, instead of dropping his shield completely. As queasy as his stomach felt, he didn’t think he’d be able to stomach Fiero hurling into the bushes without following the example.
Fiero grunted and winced but held his dinner, so Echo took that as a good sign. He was definitely getting better at this. When small flames began to flicker in Fiero’s palm, Echo unclasped their hands and sighed. Even that small amount of light made him feel better.
“We’ll grab some firewood,” Vapre offered with a nod toward Syx.
While the two took off into the forest to gather kindling for the fire, the others began unloading the vehicles and setting up a makeshift camp. Hex, Myst, and Gage set to work, constructing the tents, while Pax and Jet worked on digging a shallow hole for the campfire.
Echo wanted to help, but he couldn’t bring himself to leave the small, comforting circle of light created by the flames in Fiero’s hand. Besides, he didn’t know what the hell he was doing and would probably be more of a burden than help.
Wrinkling his nose, he eyed the tents with distaste. It wasn’t as though he thought he’d be sleeping in a five-star hotel, but the prospect of sleeping on the hard, frozen ground was in no way appealing.
Mac wandered over and stood with his hands inside his coat pockets. “Why did we have to come at night?”
Echo shook his head, but didn’t comment. He’d wondered the same thing, but in Hex’s current mood, he hadn’t dared to ask. Normally, he could handle the gruff demon. He took Hex’s little moods in stride, or fought back if he felt he was right—which was most of the time. This felt different, though. If he pushed the man this time, Hex might just snap.
Echo might be feisty, as his mates liked to call him, but he wasn’t stupid. Besides, he had the niggling suspicion that Hex had wanted to get out before Craze arrived. Echo had no desire to discuss that asshole.
Syx and Vapre returned with the firewood, Fiero got the blaze going, and the others began rolling ou
t sleeping bags. “We’ll take shifts, two at a time,” Hex said gruffly. “I’ll take first shift with Gage. Myst and Fiero, you take second, and Vapre and Syx can have the dawn shift.”
“What about me?” Echo asked quietly.
“You sleep. You look like shit.” How the hell would Hex know what Echo looked like since the man was staring resolutely in the opposite direction?
“And us?” Jet asked cautiously.
“You sleep as well. You can take a shift tomorrow night.”
Jet opened his mouth as if to argue, then seemed to think better of it and snapped it closed. Without a word, he took Pax’s hand and led the man into one of the smaller two-person tents.
Echo didn’t feel like arguing either. He also didn’t feel like looking at Hex’s ridiculously handsome face. There was a little twitch in his fingers, and he wanted to slap the douche bag, but that was about the extent of it. “Fine.” Pushing to his feet, Echo motioned for Syx, Vapre, and Fiero to follow him. Hex could go fuck himself.
Passing by Myst on the way to the largest tent, Echo dropped a quick kiss on the top of the man’s head where he sat on the ground. “Come to bed,” he whispered.
Myst caught his hand, brushing his lips over the knuckles, and smiled. “I want to have a word with Hex first, but I’ll be right in.” He pressed his lips to Echo’s hand once more before releasing him and smiling. “You do look awful, though. Get some rest, baby. Everything is going to be fine.”
Echo gave his mate a weak smile in return, but really, he wanted to throw his hands in the air and scream. If one more person told him that everything would be “fine,” he was going to explode. Not a single thing about their entire fucked-up situation was fine. Shit just continued to pile up until the prospect of them all being crushed beneath the heavy burden appeared to be a very real possibility.
But, of course, he couldn’t say that aloud. He couldn’t show any form of weakness. He wasn’t allowed to be afraid, upset, angry, sad, depressed, or anything other than one big fucking ray of sunshine.
“I don’t want to sleep alone,” Mac whispered. He sat in Gage’s lap, looking up at his mate pleadingly. “It’s cold and dark, and you can think me a wimp if you want to, but please don’t make me sleep alone.”
After the events that had unfolded the last time Mac had ventured into these woods, Echo couldn’t blame him.
“Why don’t you sleep with Pax and Jet?” Gage offered.
“It’s not the same, but fine.” Mac huffed once, kissed his lover’s lips, then went to get ready for bed.
Continuing into his own tent, Echo stripped out of his jacket and picked one of the middle sleeping bags. Crawling inside it, he zipped himself in, turned on his side, and closed his eyes. He didn’t want to talk, and he didn’t want to listen.
The others filed in after him, moving about slowly and finding their own sleeping bags. Echo didn’t know if it was his body language, or if Syx had read his less-than-happy thoughts and warned the others, but no one said a word. No one touched him. No one kissed him on the forehead and told him goodnight.
Surrounded by three men he loved more than anything, Echo drifted off to sleep feeling more alone than ever.
Chapter Six
“Why are you being such a dick? What did we do to you?”
Hex closed his eyes and fought back a growl. Why wouldn’t everyone just leave him alone? “I’m not being a dick. No one did anything to me. I just have a lot on my mind, so I’d appreciate it if you’d lay off for five goddamn minutes.”
“Fuck you,” Myst said flatly. “This is bullshit.”
Hex looked over his shoulder at Gage. The werewolf seemed to find a particular part of the dirt very interesting all of the sudden, and he looked like he’d rather be anywhere than in the middle of an argument. Turning back to Myst, Hex narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. “Drop it. We’ll discuss this later.”
“Right,” Myst sneered sarcastically. “Exactly which later would that be? The one where you keep putting me off, hoping I’ll forget about it? Or the one where you keep shoving your head further up your ass until you suffocate?”
A muffled snort sounded from behind him, and Hex pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. He really didn’t want to have this conversation in front of Gage. Hell, he didn’t want to have this discussion at all. What happened to him being in charge, and his men just doing what he told them? Everything had changed when Echo came. Sometimes, Hex didn’t know if that was good or…well, bad wasn’t the right word.
He just wanted things to be simple again. They fucked. They slept. They ate. They repeated. That’s how it had been for as long as he could remember, and it had worked. Now, there were feelings involved, instincts uncovered that he thought he’d buried long ago.
“How long have you been calling Craze behind our backs?”
“Myst, drop it.”
“That long, huh?” Myst looked nothing like the mischievous jokester he usually was. The muscles in his jaw ticked, his nostrils flared, and his lips pressed into a thin line. His eyes tightened at the corners, though—the only indication that the news hurt him as much as it pissed him off.
Hex just didn’t know what to do about it. “Myst, you’re overreacting.”
Well, that had apparently been the wrong thing to say. Myst’s arm swung out, his fist connecting solidly with Hex’s mouth. “Go to hell,” the demon said coldly. Then he spun around and disappeared inside the tent with the others.
Hex stared after him stupidly, lifting his hand to gently probe the abused flesh with his fingertips. Blood ran freely from the split in his lip, and it throbbed like a bitch every time he prodded it. What the hell had gotten into Myst?
“I don’t know much about relationships,” Gage said slowly, “but I’d say you deserved that.”
“Mind your own business, asshole.”
“Well, Myst and the other warriors are my friends. Echo is my friend, but more importantly, he’s my babies’ friend. So, in a way, this is my business. If you keep upsetting Echo, it’s going to upset Mac and Sony, and I can’t have that. I think it’s time you get your head on straight, brother.”
As much as Hex wanted to tell Gage to go screw himself, he knew the ex-guard was right. The pain behind his eyes spiked, his temples actually pulsing with every beat of his heart. His lip stung, his head swam, and his gut clenched. If he wasn’t positive he was immortal, he’d think the stress of trying to keep things together was killing him.
“Want to tell me what’s really going on?” Gage picked up a long stick and began drawing circles in the dirt. “I’m not much of one to judge, and it might be easier to talk to me than your guys.”
“I’m leaving before the new moon,” Hex heard himself saying before he even realized that he intended to speak the words.
“Okay,” Gage replied casually. “Do you need me to do anything while you’re gone?”
“That’s it?” Hex dropped down heavily on a half-rotted log. “You’re not going to ask where I’m going, or when I’ll be back? You’re not going to try to talk me into staying?”
“Nope.” Gage chuckled and shook his head. “I figure you have your reasons. Knowing you, and I know you better than you think, it’s something important. I’m also figuring it has something to do with keeping everyone safe.”
“I’ve been having dreams,” Hex confessed. Damn, it felt nice to talk to someone without the constant bombardment of questions and nagging. “I think the Oracle is trying to tell me something, but I can’t wrap my head around it.” He rubbed at his eyes, pressing harder than necessary as he tried to knead away the pressure in his head. “I have to find Craze.”
“Mmm-hmm, I figured you were stretching the facts a little about that. You never called him, did you?”
The guilt made his stomach clench again, but Hex shook his head. “Oh, I called. The little snake refused to come. If it means keeping Echo safe and protecting my men, then I’ll go down there and drag his st
ubborn ass back, though.”
“So, why didn’t you just tell them that? I’m sure they’d understand. They’d probably go with you.”
“That’s what I’m worried about. They’ll try to talk me out of going—they don’t want Craze here anyway—or they’ll try to go with me. From what I can gather from my dreams, this has to be me and me alone.”
“Well, I’ll say I think you’re making a mistake not telling your lovers the truth. But, I understand needing to do some things on your own. If that’s how you feel, I won’t try to talk you out of it. Just tell me what you want me to do while you’re gone.”
“Look after them,” Hex answered immediately. “They can take care of themselves, even Echo, but I don’t want them to do anything stupid. Besides, they won’t understand.” That was his main worry. Would they think he was abandoning them? Surely they’d realize he was coming back. Right?
“Keep ’em in line,” Gage said with a light laugh. “I think I can manage that.”
Hex tilted his head to the side and smiled. “Where are you from originally? Not here.”
“Nope. Born and raised in south Texas. Took a job with the government and was relocated here about seven years ago. What gave me away?”
“Your accent. It seems to come and go. Why is that?”
Gage bobbed his head for a few seconds before he answered. “The job I had was top secret.”
“The lab,” Hex interrupted.
“Yeah, and I’ll tell you more about it sometime. Not now, though,” he said with a pointed look toward the tents. “Anyway, the guards, we’re all supposed to be ghosts, blend in and such. We all had the same haircut, dressed the same, walked, talked, and even ate the same. A Texas drawl kind of stands out this far north, so I had to learn to smother it.”
“And now?”
“Well, old habits die hard. I catch myself slipping into the accent and jerk myself right back. I’m workin’ on it, though.” Gage’s grin stretched wider, and he shook his head indulgently. “Mac and Sony think it’s sexy.”
“Then I guess you should keep them happy.” Hex sighed and pushed to his feet. He was a damn fine person to be giving advice. He couldn’t even keep his own men happy.
Evans, Gabrielle - Shades of Black [Fatefully Yours 5] (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Forever ManLove) Page 5