by Lissa Kasey
“What is that?” Ki demanded. He looked around frantically. “The wards aren’t reacting.”
“It’s a golem. And tied to me. No, they wouldn’t react.”
“Dad…”
“It’s fine,” Sei promised. “He’s safe with me.”
“Does Uncle Jamie know?”
“Yes, actually, he does. I called him from the office, which is why your sister said she’d make me food. Is there anything edible? I’m starving.”
“And smelly,” Kaine said as he came up beside his brother. Kaine was… fae. Sometimes Sei would find the human in him, the part that was tied to the human world, but he was fae all the way around. It meant that at ten-years-old he mirrored the twins in growth both physically and mentally. Not because he had to, as Sei suspected his fae form was much older—since crossing the veil did funny things to time—but because he didn’t want to be different than his siblings.
“Sorry to offend your olfactory senses,” Sei said dryly as he made his way toward the stairs. “I plan to shower first, then find food. Frat stink is something all of you should strive to avoid.”
“Jamie made homemade chicken katsu for you. A broccoli slaw salad to go with it,” Ki said.
Thank the Earth Goddess for Jamie. Sei’s stomach grumbled at the thought of crispy panko fried, miso marinated chicken, and the spicy slaw. He almost turned around and went to the kitchen instead. But he stunk, and he had a golem to keep track of.
“Forest, come,” Sei commanded, insisting it follow him up the stairs. He didn’t want to leave it alone around his kids, just in case. The bond seemed solid, but he hadn’t been able to trace it to its source. And he hadn’t severed the original tie because he needed to find its creator.
They made it all the way to the door to Sei’s room before another voice stopped them.
“Sei,” Jamie called. If he hadn’t made a dinner Sei was dying to eat, Sei would have screamed. Cursed. Called him names. All the stuff he had wanted to scream the moment after getting caught in that trap but had convinced himself to hold in. A Rou was poise and polish, power and prestige. Sei fucking hated being a Rou. If he had been able to save his kids from the tie to it, he would have changed their names in a heartbeat. But even when Jamie annoyed Sei, he loved his brother and tried not to give him his foul temper if Sei could help it.
But he needed a shower and food. Stat.
Slowly Sei turned Jamie’s way, his whole body throbbing in agony that he was certain a hot shower would soothe. Jamie stood there, his long hair pulled back and arms folded across his chest, shoulders wide and strong. Jamie was a big guy that would make anyone hesitate to get snippy. The lanky blond at his side never seemed intimidated. Guess that was why they’d been married almost a decade.
“You look like shit,” Kelly said.
“Smell like it too,” Jamie wrinkled his nose. “Sad if even I can smell it.” He sniffed. “Frat boy sheik?”
“Ha ha,” Sei waved at them. “Do you know how many empty pizza boxes and beer cans are in most dorms? I shudder to think of the roaches and rat feces I am probably covered in. Go away. I need a shower and food.”
“I’ve got golem duty,” Kelly volunteered, walking up to Forest and staring at him. “Eerie how lifelike it looks.”
“I need to look you over,” Jamie demanded.
“Creepy,” Sei said. “You’re my brother.”
“And a doctor,” he reminded.
“Nurse Practitioner,” Sei clarified, as though that meant anything less. “I’ve already been checked by medical.”
Jamie walked around Sei to open the door to the room. “Then you won’t mind if I double check their work.”
Sei sighed, too tired to care. “Forest, obey Kelly until I return,” he gave the golem a firm command. The creature’s gaze fastened on Kelly, watching and waiting. It looked ordinary, though the clothes it wore were a little big as we’d taken things from the lost & found to clothe it. It was eerie how lifelike it looked. Not normally Kelly’s expertise, since golems were a mix of earth magic and death magic. But he’d be fine. Water could take apart clay easily enough.
Sei didn’t bother waiting in his bedroom, instead he made his way to the large bathroom, turned on the water in the shower, and began to strip. Jamie watched with a clinical gaze, assessing. Sei saw him flinch at the bruises, as they began to be revealed in the large section of mirror above the far sink. Sei looked like a big bruise. At least he hadn’t lost any teeth, though half his face was mottled with purple and blue.
“Did they do a full scan, check for hairline fractures? A possible concussion?” Jamie wanted to know. Sei stood before him, nude, but uncaring. Jamie didn’t look at Sei as anything other than his little brother. Well, maybe as a patient, too. Jamie was a bit obsessed with Sei’s health. But Sei had been doing a good job of taking care of himself. Mostly.
“Cracked ribs,” Sei said. “Nothing else broken.” It wouldn’t kill him. Nothing really could.
Jamie was not happy with the discoloration in Sei’s left arm. Part landing, part being twisted up in the net, that arm ached. But Sei had broken bones before, and had many a sprain or strain. This felt like bruising, nothing more. The scan of it hadn’t shown anything broken, even if it throbbed with a dull ache.
“It’s not broken or anything, just bruised. I know the difference,” Sei said.
“A golem? Should have sent someone else to take care of it.”
“Yeah? Like who? My best people are running around the world saving lives. Should I call them back? A new researcher? A first-year field agent? How many witches do you know who can handle a golem? Have ever seen or met one before?”
“Had you?” Jamie wanted to know as his fingers drifted over Sei’s ribs, gently probing for issues.
“No,” Sei admitted. “Read about them. It’s more Sam’s area than mine.” The vampires took care of a lot of the darkest bits of magic, and not all of those stories got back to Sei or the Dominion. He was beginning to wonder if that was something he needed to fix sooner rather than later, even if his plate was already full.
“Yet you decided to take it on alone.”
“I’m the Pillar of Earth,” Sei reminded him.
“And not invincible. I’d also like you to not be the Pillar of Earth.”
Sei sighed, the humid warmth of the shower spray, a siren song of desire right that minute. “Still here. And I don’t have a death wish. Though I’d like to beat the shit out of the bastard who cast those wards. Can I shower now?”
“Yes. But keep me updated. You feel dizzy, or anything, let me know.”
“Sure, sure,” Sei said. “Now get out.” He headed into the shower, too tired to care about being nice. If he hadn’t been so damn hungry, he’d have skipped dinner and gone right to bed. “Thanks for dinner.”
“I’ll warm it up for you.” Jamie left the bathroom. Sei put his face under the spray. It hurt a little, but the warmth also soothed something cold in his gut. Worry?
The shower was a sprawl of stone, wide enough to fit several people, while drowning anyone not paying attention to the multiple showerheads. He preferred to start with the rainfall overhead. And since his body hurt like he’d taken a beating, the gentle fall of heat didn’t make him scream in agony. Sei stood under the water, eyes closed, swaying slightly. He could almost hear a song. Not a voice per se, but a humming. Familiar, but still a long distance away. If he let himself drift far enough, linger on the edge of sleep, it almost became real. Sometimes if he let himself dream, he wasn’t alone. The memories had faded a lot. More bitter ones kept him from diving too deep.
Life was full of memories. Good, bad, and ugly. He tried to teach his kids that, though they’d had a much easier life than he had. He had never let his mother treat them like she’d treated him. He’d provided for them, while still showing them how to be independent. Which meant the snarky teens would likely only get worse with age. He groaned and tried to turn off his brain a little. He let the wards of
the house all connect to him, a flow of earth energy awakening nerves that ached. Healing, though not instant, crawled through him, calming the inner fire and soothing it like a gentle roll of dirt. It wasn’t as fast and painless as the garden would have been, but it helped.
He let out a long sigh as the pain in his ribs vanished. One of the few perks of being the Pillar was how well he could heal. He didn’t need to roll in the dirt for it to happen, though he found that very enjoyable. In fact, he thought that perhaps after dinner he’d shift into his lynx form, and play for a bit. It was unlikely he’d get to do it alone, as the fae watched him and Kaine would likely join him. But that was okay. Sometimes it was easier for his cat self to let go of all the human trouble rather than let himself stew in it. And he could see the release helping him sleep.
Sei turned the water off, dried himself slowly, examining the remaining bruising in the mirror. His face only held a hint of discoloration, and his chest still had the yellow edges of it, though when he poked at the area he knew had been cracked ribs, it felt fine. He could also breathe again and not cringe. That was a plus. Now he just needed some food and sleep.
He tugged on a pair of sleep pants and T-shirt, making his way downstairs, following the scent of food. In the kitchen, Kelly sat at the table with Forest, though Kelly was browsing his phone and Forest seemed to be staring at Kelly.
“It’s creepy,” Kelly said without looking up. “But you told him I was in charge so that’s his only focus.”
“Maybe we can put him on housework,” Jamie said as he held out a plate full of amazing food.
Sei took the plate, breathing in the amazing smell of it. He grabbed a fork from the drawer and didn’t bother to sit down before shoving a giant slice of chicken in his mouth. He couldn’t help it. He’d sort of learned the shovel effect from his kids. They didn’t eat with delicate grace. Food went in their pie holes as fast as they could get it there. And he was so hungry, he just didn’t care.
He swallowed. “We’d have to be really careful with how the command is worded. Once I know who created him, I’ll have to unravel the spells.” He didn’t mention that he suspected there were mortal souls tied to those spells. The debate over souls versus energy was an ever ongoing one. Religion versus the Dominion. Sei had no real stance, only that he knew there was something there. Was it aware? Or just some energy? He’d seen his father’s ghost on many occasions, sometimes in memory like replays, and often it felt intelligent and reactive.
“This was what was causing all that trouble on campus?” Jamie asked as he leaned against the counter.
Sei nodded. “I suspect they were given the golem, though the spellwork might have been theirs. I’ll question them tomorrow. The police are supposed to bring them in.”
“This is some big magic for a couple kids not in the magic program,” Jamie pointed out like Sei hadn’t thought of that.
“Not kids,” Sei said. Though Jamie had hit fifty, he didn’t look older than thirty-five, or maybe Sei was just off as he’d gotten older too. Witches lived, on average, twice the mortal lifespan, so realistically they were all still kids, if they had witchblood at all. “They are all in their twenties.”
“You’re old, babe,” Kelly teased his husband. Jamie mock growled at him. “I still think you’re hot. Even if you haven’t gone silver.”
Jamie was just as blond as he’d always been, though his hair wasn’t as long anymore, it was barely shoulder-length. He had that sort of yellow brown shade of blond that looked good with his permanently tanned skin provided by his Native American mother. Sei and Jamie shared a father, but there wasn’t much of Dorien Merth in his face, only a hint in the bone structure. Even at fifty-one, Jamie was a handsome man who made people stop and stare.
“You’ve always had a daddy kink,” Sei teased Kelly.
Kelly laughed. “True. He can be my daddy anytime.”
“Gross,” Ki said as he passed through the kitchen. “Grown-up sex talk.”
Sei narrowed his eyes at his kid. “It’s different from teenage sex talk?”
Ki shook his head. “You don’t do sex talk. Just Uncle Jamie and Uncle Kelly. It’s not as weird or gross when it’s Sam, Luca, and Con.”
“Are they doing sex talk around you guys?” Jamie wanted to know.
“They live and breathe sex,” Kura said appearing in the opposite doorway. She bounded to Seiran and kissed his cheek. “Hi, Daddy. You look better.”
“Feel better,” Sei said between bites. “Might play in the arboretum before bed.”
“I’ll tell Kaine.” She reached out to touch his face, staring at him with more concern than a fourteen-year-old should have. Her dark hair was pulled back into a thick braid, and she was already showing the girl curves that made Sei have fits when she went out without one of her siblings. The way some men riveted on her made him want to turn them inside out with magic. “Sam called. Said he’s on his way over. Was mad that you weren’t answering your phone. I told him it got broken.”
“He going to take over the golem?” Kelly asked.
But that wasn’t something Sam normally did. He could take out the golem, burn it up and rip the death magic out of it, but he couldn’t unravel the mystery, and Sei needed to find the creator before any of that happened.
“I have no idea,” Sei said. He grabbed Sakura’s palm and kissed it before taking his empty plate to the sink. “Shouldn’t you be in bed? Beauty sleep and all that? It’s a school night.”
“It’s not that late. We have a test tomorrow.”
“And studying last minute will help how?” Sei narrowed his eyes at his twins.
“It’s not last minute,” Ki protested. “We are just reviewing the chapter. We’ve done all the work.”
“We have,” Kura agreed. “Kaine could probably ace this too. I just want it fresh in my head.” She held her arms out. “Besides we are already ready for bed.” And they both were in their pajamas, which was good since it was after ten.
“Where is Kaine?” Sei wanted to know, having not seen his youngest since before he got in the shower.
“With his father,” Ki said. “Bryar popped in after you vanished upstairs. Kaine’s been in a mood.”
“I’ll talk to him,” Sei promised. Kaine was sort of moody by nature. It was likely a fae thing as they were all sort of quick to jump to extreme ends of emotion. If something was bothering Kaine, Sei would have to call Bryar to work it out. He suspected it was difficult straddling two worlds. Even more so for someone as young as Kaine. Sei tried hard not to demand too much of his youngest. Kaine was a bit scattered on the best of days, but could be hyper-focused if necessary.
Could a magical being have ADHD? Sei would have to call the child therapist he had the kids see a couple times a year, and ask. Maybe she would have ideas to help Kaine.
The front door opened. Sei felt his wards ripple. It was a bit of welcoming and hesitation. His power said yes, we know these people, and still caution, there is power here. Sam.
“Seiran Rou,” Sam growled as he came into the kitchen like he owned the place. The trio had their own place now. In fact, several, as Luca had a skill for making money, and his lovers spent time working at various things that seemed to always do well for them. Sam had often said over the years that he felt Luca and Con had broken the curse he’d lived most of his life under. Sei began to think he needed someone to break his, too.
“Please come in,” Sei snarked.
Sam still looked barely legal. A perk of being a vampire. He didn’t age. Since Sei was tied to a vampire, he shouldn’t have aged either. Though since his vampire had gone to ground some time back, that meant the link was strained and barely existent most days, and Sei had actually grown up. More than just physically, though he had almost two inches in height on Sam now. At five-foot-eight, Seiran was far from the most imposing figure in the room. Sei felt like he didn’t look like a kid anymore, and his Asian heritage meant he also didn’t look thirty-six, but Sam would be forever you
ng, nineteen, and unfinished. At least Sei felt like his body had a chance to do whatever the fuck it was going to do. Even if that didn’t mean he got muscles like Jamie or the lanky height of Sam’s lover, Constantine.
“Thanks for your help with the golem thing,” Sei muttered, hating having to say those words which he knew would give the vampire power over him.
“Are those frogs on your pajamas?” Sam wanted to know.
“They were a gift from my kids for solstice.”
“Frogs?”
“Not all of us dress like we play a bad guy on a TV show,” Sei snarked, motioning to Sam’s leather jacket.
“I don’t play a bad guy.”
Seiran nodded. “Right. I forgot. Sam Mueller, big and bad, terror of mankind or at least vampire kind. Watch me tremble in fear.”
Sam looked stern for a minute. Once upon a time, he had been a sort of doppelganger for Seiran. Though he was Chinese, and Sei was part Japanese, their similarities had been numerous. Both being Asian, slender, and pretty. A history of loving the wrong men had been a trait they shared that Seiran wished they hadn’t. Although Sam had two guys who were his constant now. They grounded him in a way that Sei missed having. He couldn’t recall if he’d ever felt that same edge of calm that Sam lived in these days, but he had fantasies about it. Being a single dad, even with all the help he got, and head of an important global department of magic, as well as the Pillar of Earth, put a strain on him most people would never understand.
It was why he often retreated into his lynx. He never left the arboretum when shifted. It was a rule. He was too easily lost in the earth, worries simplified to the animal nature, giving him peace he rarely experienced.
The two of them had little in common anymore. Sam’s short hair, shaved on the sides and long on top, was maintained at his lover’s insistence, and he still dressed in a lot of jeans and leather. He was handsome in a bit of a mobster sort of way, mostly because it turned Luca on for Sam to look like a bad guy.