Clipped (The Clipped Saga Book 1)

by Devon McCormack

  “There are a million ways that they could have found us. For all we know, they could have a Tracker.”

  Kinzer’s sword pressed even tighter against Dedrus’s flesh. “You know as well as I do how hard it is to find a Tracker, especially now.”

  Kinzer was right. Janka was one of the few Trackers to survive the war. The Leader had sent Morarkes to destroy them first because their gift made it easy for the Almighty to hunt and kill their greatest warriors.

  “I don’t know how they found us. Maybe they tapped Fie’s phone. Maybe they’ve been keeping an eye on him. Fuck if I know. I get if you want to kill me right now. But Kinzer, I swear to our Leader that I have never sided with the Raze. I’m on your side, and I want to help. You need help. We both do.”

  He wanted to say so much more. He wanted to tell Kinzer that he worshipped the ground he walked on and would never have done anything to hurt him. Now wasn’t the time for that.

  Kinzer stared into his eyes.

  Dedrus reared his head back, giving Kinzer permission to slice his throat open if that was what he thought he needed to do.

  Kinzer ground his teeth, groaning as he tossed his sword aside.

  “Fuck!” He stomped to the side of a nearby building and smashed his fists against the wall, his sleeve appearing as if it were straining to contain his flexing biceps. “Fuck, fuck!”

  Maggie helped Dedrus to his feet. He made his way to Kinzer.

  “Kinzer.” He rested his hand on his shoulder. “I would never betray you. Please believe that.”

  “I know,” Kinzer said, his chin quivering as he spoke. “With all this going on, it’s just hard to know who to trust. I don’t know what I was thinking. I’m sorry.”

  Dedrus wrapped his arms around him.

  They embraced.

  “You assholes need to get your shit together!” Maggie fussed.

  Dedrus chuckled. “So where we gonna take this bitch?”

  “I know a place.”

  ***

  Kid pushed through the brush.

  Since his last jungle fuck session with Treycore, he hadn’t bothered to put his shirt back on. Sweat flowed like a waterfall down his rigid rock-wall-of-an-abdomen. His legs convulsed. It still felt as if Treycore was inside him.

  “You…think…I’m gonna die out here?” he asked, panting heavily.

  Treycore snickered as he pushed a branch out of his path. “I’m not gonna let you die,” he said. For a moment, Kid imagined he was saying it because he actually had feelings for him, but he knew better. It was just because Kinzer had asked him to protect him.

  “Well, it’ll be nice when we finally get out of here,” Kid said, exasperated.

  Treycore threw a glance over his shoulder.

  “It hasn’t been that bad,” he said with a cocky smile.

  A rush of excitement welled in him. He liked that, despite being a mortal, Treycore had thought they’d had a good time. Maybe that meant he did like him.

  No. Shut up! That’s ridiculous, he thought, mentally chastising himself.

  “In fact,” Treycore said, whirling around, picking Kid up, and slamming him against a nearby tree. “I wouldn’t mind being stuck out here a little longer.”

  Kid blushed. His heart skipped a beat.

  Treycore moved in to kiss him, when a sound caught their attention.

  A rumbling. Like a car engine.

  Just a few yards ahead, what looked like a bus moved between the cracks in a cluster of fronds.

  There must be a road, Kid thought.

  Treycore and Kid broke away from each other and bolted toward the bus.

  We’re saved!

  ***

  Kinzer hit the gas in a compact car he’d stolen from a garage near where Dedrus had landed.

  Branches and saplings slapped against either side of the windshield as the car bumped and jerked down an overgrown path that had been overtaken by the neighboring forestation. The car bounced into a clearing, where a cabin emerged from a cluster of woods, as if growing from them.

  Trees hung over the roof. Kudzu hooked around the rails and steps on the front porch. Patches of stray boards and shingles lay at the foot of the cabin.

  “Cute,” Maggie muttered facetiously. She sat in the backseat, her hand on her belly, as if preventing it from bouncing with the rest of the car.

  “We sure those crazies aren't gonna find us?” she asked.

  “This was one of Janka's hideaways,” Kinzer replied. “We always said that if there was an emergency, this is where we'd go. No one knows about this place. Not even the Leader’s Allies.”

  “Hold up,” Maggie said. “I'm not having my baby in some cabin in the woods! I want to have it in a hospital. Doped up, eating good food, watching soaps.”

  Dedrus chuckled. “We'll take care of you, Maggie.”

  Kinzer pulled the car up alongside the cabin, and he, Dedrus, and Maggie headed inside.

  It was a mess of dust and cobwebs. On a wooden beam just below the ceiling, a squirrel chewed on an acorn. As Kinzer shut the door, it scurried across the beam and hopped through a crack in the wall. In the opposite corner, a brown bat was affixed to the wall, clearly having decided it’d found the perfect place to take its daylight rest.

  Dedrus flicked a light switch by the door. “No electricity.”

  “Generator's out back,” Kinzer said.

  He scanned the debris, recklessly spread across the floor—newspapers, magazines, table legs, and toppled bookshelves. Shitty as it looked, it only evoked good memories in Kinzer. He and Janka had spent several romantic nights in this cabin, groping each other by the fire, tearing through walls and furniture during their lovemaking, penetrating each other until the pain was too great for either to keep going.

  They worked to clean up the pigsty, piling the garbage on the front porch and scavenging anything they could make use of.

  Kinzer took the one mattress in the cabin and set it up in a bedroom for Maggie. Attempting to make the room a little more livable, he put a side table beside the bed and stacked magazines on it so she'd at least have something to read. It wasn't going to be easy being in the middle of nowhere, but Kinzer knew it was what they had to do.

  ***

  “Y'all about ready to eat?” Dedrus asked.

  He stood at the kitchen stove, a slab of meat sizzling in a skillet.

  Behind him, Kinzer and Maggie sat at a table that had a chunk taken out of its side. It'd also had a broken leg, which Kinzer had repaired with two chair legs.

  “Hell yeah,” Kinzer replied.

  Dedrus lifted the skillet and walked over to the table, emptying the meat onto a chipped china plate between Kinzer and Maggie.

  They didn't have any more dishes or silverware, so they were going to have to make do.

  “What is it?” Maggie asked.

  “Deer,” Dedrus replied.

  “When did you get a deer?” she asked, bewildered.

  “About two hours ago.”

  After they'd straightened up the house, he'd grabbed his sword out of the back of the car and trekked into the woods to find them something to eat.

  Maggie eyed it with apprehension.

  Kinzer shoved a bite in his mouth. “It's perfectly healthy,” he assured her.

  Reluctantly, she grabbed a piece and tore it off, nibbling at the edge.

  “You're eating for two,” Kinzer said. “Remember?”

  “I know.” She chewed on it. Her expression transformed from concerned to impressed. “Not too bad.”

  “Thanks,” Dedrus said with that adorable smile.

  Kinzer loved that smile. So innocent, so fun, so dorky.

  This was the life that he’d wanted with Dedrus. These simple, magical moments.

  Why hadn’t Dedrus wanted these sorts of moments with him?

  Bzzz. Bzzz.

  Kinzer and Dedrus leapt out of their chairs. They grabbed their swords, which had been lying at their feet, and scanned the room.

  Bzz
z. Bzzz.

  Dedrus gasped. “Oh, shit!”

  He reached into his pocket, pulled out his cell, and pressed it to his ear.

  “Treycore? You fucking ass. I've been worried as fuck!”

  ***

  Kid was giddy with excitement.

  A web of telephone lines zigzagged between orange, red, and blue buildings on either side of a street, which bustled with cyclists and yellow, SUV-looking taxis.

  So this is what it’s like to be in another country, Kid thought.

  Judging by the sidewalk, littered with trash and construction debris, they weren’t in the best part of Peru, but it was still thrilling to Kid, who’d never been anywhere outside of the U.S. And more importantly, he was glad that he got to share the experience with Treycore.

  “Yeah, yeah,” Treycore said, a payphone receiver pressed to his ear. “Okay, Dedrus. I’ll be there as fast as I can…You don’t worry about how…”

  He may not have to worry about how, but I sure as fuck do, Kid thought.

  He didn’t have a passport or any money for an airplane ticket. What was he supposed to do? He wondered if Treycore was just going to ditch him. He supposed that since the fate of the world was at stake, that was very likely.

  “…I will be,” Treycore continued. “Let Kinzer know Kid’s fine…Uh huh…yeah…okay. Bye.”

  He hung up, picked the phone back up again, and mashed his thumb on the dials.

  Who’s he calling now? Kid wondered.

  “Lero, it’s Trey. Yeah. Got a favor to ask.”

  Chapter Eleven

  “She has the baby here,” Dedrus said. He knelt before the fireplace and struck a match against the flint of the box. “Then what?”

  Maggie had retired to her makeshift bedroom for the night. Kinzer and Dedrus had moved into the living area.

  Dedrus tossed the lit match between crumpled up newspapers that surrounded stacked logs.

  Kinzer sprawled across a couch that he’d slid before the fireplace.

  “I don’t know.” He gazed at the flame that morphed slowly into a building fire.

  “We need a plan.” Dedrus rose to his feet and set the matchbox on the mantel. He slipped back to the couch, falling onto the cushion opposite Kinzer. “That baby isn’t going to just walk out and be able to take on the Almighty. It’s gonna be a long time before it can even defend itself. And you know the Almighty will do everything in His power to destroy it. That’s a lot of things against us.”

  Kinzer nodded. “I know. But we can’t really plan for the next fifteen…maybe twenty years. We gotta plan for tomorrow.”

  Dedrus knew he was right, but there was so much more to this than either of them were considering. As his mind wandered in that direction, it became so overwhelming that he had to stop. He couldn’t bear it.

  “So what do we do tomorrow?” Dedrus tucked a bang that had settled in his face behind his ear.

  “Get some supplies. Try to give the Antichrist the best delivery we can.”

  Dedrus sighed. What did higherlings and fallens know about delivering an immortal child from a mortal? For all they knew, the labor would kill Maggie. And she was close…too close for them not to be considering those sorts of things.

  Dedrus was tired of his mind being ravaged by those kind of thoughts.

  He needed an escape. He assumed Kinzer felt the same way.

  We can just fuck.

  He knew that wasn’t true. He could never just fuck Kinzer.

  He wanted to be close to him, though. He needed to be close to him again.

  He crawled across the couch and rubbed his nose against Kinzer’s cheek, pressing his lips softly against his chin.

  In the light of the fire, Kinzer’s eyebrows cast shadows over his eyes, making him appear almost menacing. Kinzer pushed off the arm of the couch and firmly kissed Dedrus. He wrapped his arms around him, swapping places as he forced Dedrus on his back.

  Dedrus’s neck dragged across the fabric lining the arm of the couch. He savored Kinzer’s hot, wet mouth, sliding his hands under Kinzer’s shirt, feeling his way across his abs. The dips between his muscles were jagged, as if he was feeling across a jagged rock covered in a thin layer of cushioned flesh.

  Kinzer grabbed one of Dedrus’s wrists and pulled it over his head, pressing it against the arm of the couch. He did the same with the other. Pulling from their embrace, he moved his lips close to Dedrus’s. Not close enough to kiss him. Just close enough for Dedrus to be tormented by the thought.

  Dedrus’s mouth instinctively attacked.

  Kinzer withdrew.

  This had always been their relationship—him attempting to show Kinzer his affections, and Kinzer pulling away.

  Though the deprivation was cruel, it was also erotic.

  He lay there, waiting for Kinzer to kiss him, hoping, praying to the Leader, that it would come sooner rather than later.

  Kinzer’s lips hovered over his.

  Dedrus thought of it as a test. If Kinzer kissed him, it meant that he wanted to be with him—it would give him hope that they might actually have a future together. If he just fucked him, then he was just using him for his body.

  Kinzer planted a hard, deep kiss on Dedrus, his tongue slipping between his lips, tasting as it wished. His mouth made its way down Dedrus’s chin and slid across his neck.

  Dedrus delighted in the warmth and the confirmation of Kinzer’s affection.

  Kinzer sucked softly between Dedrus’s jaw and neck. His teeth tugged at the flesh.

  Without warning, Kinzer pulled back.

  They locked eyes.

  Kinzer looked sad. Did he regret the day he’d rejected Dedrus’s love? Surely not. He wouldn’t have met Janka if he hadn’t. Dedrus wanted him to regret it, though. He wanted Kinzer to look back and see the foolishness of his mistake—to feel for him as he’d always felt for Kinzer.

  Kinzer’s gaze stirred a rush that crawled from the base of his spine to his neck. Dedrus pulled, practically tore, out of his shirt.

  Kinzer did the same, revealing his muscular body, sharp shadows amplifying the grooves in his abs.

  Dedrus licked through the grooves, savoring the taste of his flesh.

  Kinzer gripped onto the button on his jeans and stepped off the couch, making a quick effort to get them off. Dedrus was right beside him, working far more effectively, because his were at his ankles twice as fast as Kinzer’s.

  Before he could turn around, Kinzer tackled him from behind, driving them both to the wood-paneled floor.

  Kinzer lay across Dedrus, his dick between his cheeks, his abdomen pressed against his back, his lips at his neck.

  Heat radiated off Kinzer’s lips, sweeping between locks of Dedrus’s hair, kissing the tiny hairs that strayed across the back of Dedrus’s neck. They tickled and stood on end, though they were nowhere near as erect as Dedrus was in that moment.

  Splinters in the wood scratched at his shaft’s flesh as he strained from the pressure between the floor and Kinzer’s pelvis.

  Kinzer stroked his cock between Dedrus’s cheeks.

  Dedrus savored the feeling. He wondered how something was capable of causing him such excruciating pain and such intoxicating pleasure at the same time.

  Dedrus pushed his ass back, begging for Kinzer to just put him out of his misery and enter him. He wanted to feel that cock forcing its way in.

  Kinzer pressed on the floor, pushing up. He spit in his hand, offering modest lubrication before he navigated the head of his cock into Dedrus’s ass.

  Get it in! Dedrus thought.

  He needed Kinzer to be close to him. He needed Kinzer to be with him as he had so long ago, if only so he could pretend they’d never parted.

  Kinzer raised his hand to his mouth.

  “No!” Dedrus snapped. “I don’t need anymore spit! I want it like this.”

  He just wanted to feel the raw rub, the tear inside of him, the burning sensation that let him know that Kinzer and he were one.

  Kinz
er’s eyes shimmered in the light from the fireplace. He jerked his hips forward.

  Dedrus squinted. The sharp sting was intense, but he knew it could be worse.

  “All the way!” he demanded.

  Kinzer obliged.

  Dedrus tried to scream, but it caught in his throat. The pain was so intense, so severe. He couldn’t breathe. Jerking his head back, he hit and punched at the floor, desperately attempting to distract himself from the pain.

  Tears rushed from his eyes, dripping onto the floor, glistening in sparks from the fire.

  Despite the clear pain Dedrus was in, Kinzer didn’t stop. He thrust back and forth with a violent passion, groaning like a warrior striking for the kill.

  It was just how Dedrus liked it—how Kinzer knew he loved it.

  Dedrus wondered if his hole was bleeding because each stroke felt so rough, so dry. He figured he might as well have had Kinzer shove his fist inside him.

  Kinzer stroked his hand up across his back, petting him, as if supporting him through this difficult time.

  Another thrust from Kinzer, and Dedrus was done. The pain was too intense.

  “I can’t!” He slapped his hand against Kinzer’s ass. “I’m sorry. Please.”

  Kinzer started to pull out, just as he’d always done when it was truly too much for Dedrus.

  However, the thought of Kinzer exiting him seemed a worse prospect than the severe pain he was in already. Dedrus shoved his ass back to the base of Kinzer’s shaft. He threw his hands around Kinzer’s ass and clung desperately to his cheeks, gnashing his teeth as he absorbed the pain.

  Kinzer continued his assault. He slipped his hands under Dedrus’s arms and wrapped around his neck. He interlocked his fingers as he shoved Dedrus’s forehead against the floor and thrust into him repeatedly.

  “Ah! Ah!” Dedrus called out, thinking Maggie had surely heard them.

  Kinzer’s hands released each other and found their way around to Dedrus’s chest. In a quick maneuver, Kinzer pulled his legs forward, positioning himself on his knees, and rolled back, taking Dedrus with him, landing so that he lay across the floor.

  Dedrus remained over him, squatting at his pelvis, Kinzer’s girth still inside.

  Dedrus threw his hands behind him and set his palms on the floorboards. He arched his back and whirled his ass in circles.