by Alexa Land
The burn marks were gone.
I’d actually forgotten about them until just that moment. I glanced at Ari, who was enthralled by the books, then crossed the room and ran my hand over the totally unmarked cream-on-white striped wallpaper. How could they just be gone? I followed the line they’d taken up the wall and onto the pristine ceiling, but there was absolutely no sign of them.
I felt unsteady all of a sudden and braced my hand against the wall. Was I going crazy? Had all of that been a dream, or worse, a hallucination?
Ari appeared beside me with a crease between his brows and asked, “Are you alright?”
No. Definitely not. But how could I tell him any of that?
“I’m fine,” I muttered. “I just got a bit lightheaded all of a sudden.”
“Come and lie down.” He guided me to the bed, and once I kicked my shoes off and stretched out on top of the covers, he said, “I’ll be right back. I’m going to bring you a glass of water.” Before I could tell him not to bother, he dashed from the room.
My only explanation for the missing marks was that August must have returned while I was out, and for some reason, he’d decided to magically erase the burns. I had no idea why he would, but I liked that explanation a lot better than the one where I was losing my mind.
Ari soon returned with a glass of ice water and watched me closely while I took a few sips. As I put the glass on the nightstand, I said, “Thank you. I’m okay now, so there’s no need to worry.”
Ari took off his sneakers and climbed onto the bed beside me, and when he looked up, he murmured, “That’s amazing.” When I was fifteen, I’d painted the round ceiling of the alcove with a glow-in-the-dark spiral galaxy against an indigo blue background. Then I’d hung tiny dirigibles, hot air balloons, planes, and rockets from the ceiling with clear fishing string.
“It’s childish.”
“You defended my right to love soap bubbles earlier, so I’m going to do the same for you now. If you find joy in this beautiful thing you’ve created for yourself, then own it. I’ll never judge you for making your world a little brighter.”
I grinned and started to reach for his hand. The moment my fingers touched his, both of us felt a mild electric shock, and he drew in a sharp breath and pulled his hand away reflexively. Then he shrugged and said, “Must have been static electricity,” but I jumped off the bed as panic welled up in me. It was never just static electricity, not when I was involved.
“Um, I’m going to go downstairs and make sure Fig has everything he needs for tonight,” I mumbled, as I hurried to the door. “Wait here, okay? I’ll be back soon.”
On the way downstairs, I glanced at my hand. Faint, blue tendrils of electricity shimmered between the tip of my thumb and my index finger. My most recent trip to the desert had been on Wednesday. It was only Friday evening, and I was just beginning to feel the buildup of pressure in me again. So why was it spilling out of my fingertips, and what the hell was I going to do about it?
I felt panicky when I reached the foyer and had no idea what to do. There were several problems with going out into the yard and trying to expel the excess energy into the ground, including the fact that it caused tremors which felt like a small earthquake. Also, it left me totally wrecked for about an hour afterwards. Doing it halfway wasn’t an option, either. Once I started, there was no stopping it, and it took several minutes. I could just see Ari running downstairs thinking a natural disaster was brewing, and then finding me either electrocuting the ground or splayed out on the lawn, sweaty and shaking. How would I ever explain any of that?
When I glanced up, my gaze happened to land on the fireplace in the living room. There were logs in the hearth, which had been there as long as I could remember. What if I generated a ball of electricity and threw it at them? If they went up in flames, no problem. Maybe I could get rid of a little energy that way, just enough to make it through the next few hours with Ari. Despite the near-catastrophe with August, I had been able to throw that energy ball earlier, which made me think I might be able to do it again.
And yeah, this was probably a dumb idea, but I was desperate and not exactly thinking clearly.
I’d never actually tried to conjure a ball of energy before, but I figured it worked the same way as purging it—I just had to concentrate. I went into the living room and raised my hand, and then I stared at my palm for several seconds while listening to make sure Ari wasn’t coming down the stairs.
Nope, nothing.
I let out the breath I’d been holding, then flung my hand up quickly and stared at it again.
Damn it.
August had made it look easy. If it wasn’t based on intense concentration, what was it? Did I just have to will it into existence and—holy shit!
A pulsating ball of electricity appeared above my hand. It was about the size of a softball, and I could feel heat radiating from it. I wasn’t entirely sure how I’d made it appear, and when it almost immediately doubled in size, I panicked and tried to fling it into the fireplace. It stuck to me like gum on a shoe and began to hum.
As I tried to shake it off, Fig appeared in the doorway and stared at me, then turned and ran away. I whispered, “No, no, no,” as I rushed around the room and tried to figure out what to do. Finally, I threw my arm out to the side as I exclaimed, “Let go!”
The ball of energy flew in a straight line from its point of release and crashed into the lavender sofa near the bay window, which immediately went up in flames. That triggered the fire alarm’s deafening shriek, and I stood in the center of the room chanting, “Don’t panic, don’t panic.”
Ari sprinted down the stairs and skidded to a halt in the doorway. He stared at the flaming sofa, then looked at me with wide eyes. For some reason, the only word that came out of my mouth was, “Oops.”
Then Fig reappeared, walking backwards and dragging a large fire extinguisher by the hose. I grabbed it and ran to the sofa, pulled the pin, and pelted the couch with a stream of frothy, white stuff. The fire went out, but the smoke alarm kept wailing. I climbed up on the coffee table with a fireplace poker and used it to jab at the alarm until it stopped shrieking. But as soon as I jumped off the table, it started back up again.
The couch was still smoking, and the alarm probably wouldn’t stop until that was under control, so I grabbed an end and started dragging it toward the front door. Ari picked up the other end and asked, “What happened?”
“I, um, decided to light the fireplace, but I accidentally tossed the fire starter onto the couch.” Okay, that wasn’t technically a lie.
Once we got the couch out onto the driveway, Ari turned to me and asked, “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, fine. Just embarrassed. I’m a pretty clumsy person, as you’ve probably noticed, but that was above and beyond.”
He said, “I’m just glad you’re alright,” before leading the way back into the house. I glanced at my hand when he wasn’t looking. At least the faint, blue glow of electricity was gone.
I decided to make some tea to soothe my nerves, and Ari accompanied me to the kitchen. The smoke alarm had finally shut up, and Fig was in front of the TV, so things were back to normal. While we waited for the water to boil, Ari said, “Last night’s sleep-over was a lot of fun. Can we do that again?”
It was amazing that I hadn’t managed to scare him away yet. When I murmured, “I’d love that,” he drew me into his arms and held me until the kettle started to whistle.
While Ari prepared the tea, I found some Scottish shortbread cookies in the cupboard, went into the family room, and gave a few to Fig. Then I kissed the top of my dog’s head and whispered, “Thank you for the fire extinguisher.”
Ari and I went upstairs with our tea and the remaining cookies. We were using the dainty floral cups and saucers my aunt reserved for company, and he said, “This is fun. I’ve never had a tea party before.”
We played Scrabble while we enjoyed our refreshments. Oh yeah, I was quite the party animal. But since
I’d been raised by and spent most of my time with a senior citizen, was it any wonder? The only real surprise was that Ari was perfectly willing to go along with it, and actually seemed to be having a good time.
As two avid readers with archaic vocabularies, we were pretty evenly matched, but I ended up winning two out of three rounds. I suspected Ari actually let me win, but he denied it. After that, we decided to get ready for bed. I found him a new toothbrush and said, “I’ll be right back,” then took the dishes down to the kitchen.
Right after I put the delicate china in the sink, a voice behind me made me jump. “You said you’d call.” My heart stuttered, and I spun around and flung my hands up defensively, in a gesture that looked an awful lot like I was about to attempt some kind of martial arts move.
That wasn’t lost on August, who rolled his eyes and said, “You can incinerate me with a flick of your little finger, yet that’s your go-to? Some sort of karate chop?”
I relaxed my posture and told him, “Since you know taking a fireball to the face is a very real possibility, here’s an idea: don’t break into my house and scare the shit out of me!”
“I wouldn’t be here if you’d called like you said you would.”
“I said I was going to call after my date,” I reminded him, “but turns out, I’m still on it.” Something occurred to me, and I looked around and asked, “Why isn’t Fig freaking out right now?”
“If you’re referring to that thing in the TV room, it’s napping.”
My voice rose as I demanded, “What did you do to my dog?”
“First of all, that’s not a dog. Secondly, I cast a very mild spell on it to make it sleep for the next two or three hours.” August was still dressed in that same dark suit, and he adjusted his cuffs as he leaned casually against the kitchen counter.
“If he’s not a dog, then what is he? And why the hell did you knock him out?”
“I have no idea what that is. Don’t you know?” I shook my head, and he said, “All I can tell is that it’s something concealed in the shape of a canine, but I can’t see past the spell that created it because the magic is extremely powerful. As for the reason I sent it to dream land, obviously I didn’t feel like getting mauled.”
“Again, if you were worried about the consequences, maybe you shouldn’t have broken in,” I muttered.
“I would have knocked, but you made it perfectly clear that you didn’t want your little playmate to know about me.”
“I did, and yet here you are!”
“Because you didn’t call when you said you would!”
“Keep your voice down. I don’t want him to come downstairs and ask who I’m talking to.”
He rolled his eyes. “You’re being as loud as I am.”
“Ari is spending the night,” I said, “so you need to leave. I promise I’ll be in touch first thing tomorrow.”
“Why don’t I believe you?”
“Because you have trust issues?”
“Is it any wonder?”
“I want something before we get started,” I said, “since I don’t know if I can trust you, either.”
“Name it.”
“I want to meet your husband and see what’s going on with him.”
“Done. I was going to suggest that anyway.” He turned to the counter and wrote something on a pad of paper before saying, “It’s not easy to travel with Tyler right now, so you’ll have to come to us. That’s our home address. I’ll expect you by noon tomorrow. That’ll give you plenty of time to shag your boy toy and feed him brekkie before sending him on his walk of shame.”
“Don’t be an ass.”
“I’m trying my damnedest to be civil. You have no idea how difficult that is for me.”
“Try harder.”
“Are you going to be there tomorrow?”
“Yes, I will.”
August watched me for a moment and seemed to decide I was telling the truth, because he headed toward the kitchen door and said, “Alright. I’ll see you soon, then.”
I asked, “Did you come back earlier and erase the burn marks from the library’s wall?”
“No. Why would I?”
“I have no idea, but…they really were there, right?”
He paused and turned to look at me as he asked, “Did you think you’d imagined it?”
“I didn’t know what to think when I saw they’d just disappeared.”
“They were real. I assume the singed couch in your driveway met the same fate as your wallpaper?”
“Yeah. I had to burn off some excess energy in a hurry.”
He turned away again and continued to the door, and I called after him, “If you didn’t erase those burn marks, who did?”
“No idea, mate. Maybe it was that creature sleeping in your den.”
As August stepped out the door, I exclaimed, “Wake him back up!”
“Done.”
The moment the door shut behind him, I locked it. Not that it would keep him out. All the doors had been locked both times he broke in.
A moment later, Fig raced into the kitchen with his hackles raised and looked around. I crouched down and said, “It’s okay, the stranger is gone. He might prove to be a friend, so maybe you don’t have to worry about him. Time will tell, I guess.” He sat down right in front of me, and as I looked into his intelligent brown eyes, August’s words came back to me: that’s not a dog. Well, close enough. I scratched his ears and said, “Thank you for trying to protect our home from intruders. I appreciate it.”
He got to his feet with a little grunt and bumped my knee with his shoulder, in a way that seemed affectionate. As he returned to the family room, I called after him, “You know you can sleep upstairs if you want. It must get lonely down here.” He just kept walking.
When I went back upstairs, I took off my jeans, traded my contacts for glasses, and brushed my teeth before returning to the library. Ari was sitting on my bed, dressed in just a pair of light blue briefs, and he was reading a short story collection by Ray Bradbury.
He set the book aside when I climbed onto the bed, and I ran my hand down his bare leg as I leaned in and kissed him. Ari responded by climbing onto my lap and kissing me again, deeper this time as he wove his fingers into my hair.
When things started to heat up, he leaned back for a moment and searched my eyes. It seemed like he was making a decision. But then he kissed me with uncontained passion as I caressed his back.
Needless to say, this was all uncharted territory for me, and I was nervous. When I slid my hands lower and cupped his ass, I paid close attention to his reaction. He rocked his hips and rubbed his cock against mine, which was a pretty clear sign to continue.
I caressed his hard-on through his briefs, and he moaned softly and pushed against my hand. He shifted around so he was sitting across my lap and took off his briefs, and when he met my gaze again, I could see he was as nervous as I was. But as soon as I wrapped my hand around his cock and began to jerk him off, his expression turned to one of pure bliss.
It was so gratifying to watch him give himself over to the pleasure as his eyes closed and his body relaxed. I held him with one arm around his shoulders while I stroked him, and all self-doubt fell away as his body responded to my touch. It was amazing that he trusted me to take the lead like that.
When he was close, he reached for me and held on tight. Moments later, he shot onto his stomach as he moaned and arched his back. His skin was flushed, and he looked wild and gorgeous as he pushed his cock into my hand, chasing the last of his orgasm.
Afterwards, he seemed so vulnerable as he lay trembling in my arms, and it made me feel fiercely protective of him. I cleaned him up with some tissues, then shifted around and tucked us under the blanket. He clung to me as he caught his breath, and then he met my gaze and said, “We didn’t do anything for you.”
“Yes we did. I loved that.”
After a pause, he whispered, “Everything about you is so unexpected.”
�
�In a good way, I hope.”
Ari burrowed into my arms and murmured, “In the best possible way.”
Chapter Five
The next morning, Ari and I cooked a big breakfast together. We made plans to get together when he finished work that evening, and after we ate, I dropped him off at his warehouse before driving across L.A.
Eventually, I merged onto the Pacific Coast Highway and headed north. Before long, urban sprawl gave way to open land. I almost missed my turn onto a poorly-marked, one lane road, and after a wild right turn, I followed the map to the home August shared with his husband.
I wasn’t sure what I’d been expecting. The Addams Family’s house, maybe? What I found instead was a sprawling, Spanish-style estate that seemed more like an upscale hotel than a residence. It sat by itself on several acres of land between the Pacific Ocean and the mountains, and it looked beautiful and inviting.
My hesitant knock at the door was answered by a guy about my age, who was barefoot and dressed in shorts and a tank top. He had a runner’s build, shaggy, light brown hair, and a warm smile, and he stuck his hand out as he said, “You must be Griffin. I’m Nate.” After we shook hands, he stepped aside to let me in and added, “August and Tinder are out back. I’ll take you to them.”
“Tinder?”
“That’s Tyler’s nickname. Only his husband calls him by his real name.”
I hesitated as he started to lead me through the foyer, and when Nate turned back to me, I said, “Given the fact that August broke into my home twice, claims to be a vampire, and knows things about me that he really shouldn’t, I can’t help but wonder if coming here was a terrible decision.”
“I get why this must all seem strange to you, and why you’re not sure you can trust him. But August thinks you’re powerful enough to flatten this whole place with a flick of your wrist, so inviting you into his home was a leap of faith for him, as much as agreeing to come here was for you.”
“Okay. But the vampire thing?”
“Are you asking if it’s true?” When I nodded, Nate said, “I know it must be hard to believe, but everyone you’re going to meet today is a vampire. That doesn’t mean you’re in any danger, though. Tinder would pose a threat, because he’s not in control of his impulses right now. But August fed him this morning and is keeping him behind some strong walls, so he won’t be able to hurt you.”