by Parker Skye
As he stood under the spray breathing in the steam, Izzy realized it wasn’t just Ryan’s innate beauty that had him twisted in knots. It was that Ryan still insisted on treating Izzy as an equal, like he was someone that mattered. No master before Ryan had treated Izzy as anything more than a possession, a means to an end. Izzy didn’t understand what it was that made Ryan truly tick. Izzy’s inability to understand where he stood with Ryan was unnerving. He needed to do something soon to balance the scales between them or he was afraid he would go totally mad. If it was the crazy kind of mad or Logan’s sexual-frustration kind of mad, Izzy didn’t know.
Izzy stayed in the shower until the water started to cool, his fingers long since turning to shriveled prunes. He towel-dried his hair as he stood in front of the foggy mirror, watching his distorted reflection stare back. He took in his appearance and frowned. “Hmmm, I think I need a hoop in my other eyebrow,” he said to his reflection, pinching the thick dark eyebrow in question between two fingers. Izzy was distracted momentarily from planning his next piercing, when he heard a knock coming from the other end of the house.
“I got it,” Ryan yelled and chills crawled up Izzy’s spine. Before he could do more than open the door of the bathroom, Izzy heard Ryan’s deep voice talking to two unfamiliar men at the front door. He wrapped his towel tighter around his waist as Logan silently joined him in the hall. Both stood against the wall, listening to the conversation coming from the front door, not willing to make their presence known just yet. It was as if Logan read Izzy’s mind and agreed they needed to keep the advantage of surprise for now.
“Sure, let me get my wallet for you, Officer, and you can see my ID,” Izzy heard Ryan say, followed by the sound of Ryan digging through his luggage. Logan’s brows shot up toward his hairline and a faint growl started to rumble in his chest. Izzy frowned in the other man’s direction and the growling abruptly stopped. Logan mouthed a sheepish ‘sorry’ and went back to spying silently.
“Just how did you say you were related to Ben Sterling?” Officer One asked, obviously repeating himself.
“Ben is my cousin. I’m staying here with him until he graduates from high school and then we are moving back closer to home,” Ryan replied.
“And his parents are where again?”
“They died in a car accident last year,” Ryan added, his voice still calm. You wouldn’t know his wolf was vibrating with anxiety if you weren’t supernatural. Izzy, unfortunately, could feel Ryan’s growing nerves and decided he needed to do something to end this interrogation. Izzy silently slipped back into the bathroom and pulled on a loose pair of jeans that barely hung onto his slim hips. He left his shirt off, leaving his belly button ring and two sterling silver nipple bars exposed. Izzy was the definition of a distraction, if nothing else. He knew just how to redirect this conversation.
Logan frantically reached for Izzy’s arm as he sauntered down the hall past their hiding spot, but Izzy side-stepped his grasping hand. He turned his charm level up to eleven as he entered the room like a peacock, strutting all his colors for the unsuspecting lawmen.
“Hey, honey, what’s going on?” Izzy practically tripped over his own lisp it was so thick. “Are we in trouble?” He continued, hands moving dramatically, like they added something inherently important.
Ryan turned toward him and his eyes popped wide. He almost gasped out loud in shock before he caught on to the game. Izzy threw one arm around Ryan’s shoulders and placed a too loud kiss on his cheek as he looked past Ryan coquettishly, fluttering his lashes suggestively for good measure.
“Well hello, officers. What can we do for you?” he asked, aiming for the most effeminate affectation he could manage.
“Um, Sweetheart, these officers were just asking some questions about how we knew Ben and Adam, but they didn’t say why yet,” Ryan replied. Playing along, Ryan squeezed his hand tighter around Izzy’s waist to emphasize their connection. Izzy didn’t fail to see the way Officer Two’s brows pulled together as he took in Ryan’s grip on Izzy’s protruding hip bone..
Officer One’s voice dripped with disdain as he turned his attention to Izzy, asking, “And you are?”
Izzy giggled irritatingly and held out one hand, wrist bent as if offering it for a kiss, “Oh silly me, I’m Ezhekiel Spector, but my friends call me Izzy.” Needless to say, the hand was ignored and Izzy slowly pulled it back, clasping Ryan’s fingers still clutching his waist instead.
“Well, Mr. Spector, we are investigating a missing person’s case for Charles Harris, who is listed as Adam Harris’ father. Do you have any information regarding his whereabouts?” Officer Two added.
“No, Officer…”
“Black, Detective Lionel Black. And this is my partner, Officer Jarrod Spicer,” Officer Two continued, voice rumbling with barely suppressed aggression.
“Well, no, Detective Black. We don’t know anything about Adam’s dad. He booked it for parts unknown from what I heard. Poor kid. That deadbeat left him all alone with no one but Ben to rely on. Lucky for him, Ben moved to town if you ask me. His mom’s gone, too, you know. Some people shouldn’t breed, if you know what I mean,” Izzy continued, dropping Ryan’s hand to finger the hoop in his lip.
Izzy gazed lovingly at Ryan and added, “We would never just up and abandon our children, would we, Sugarbear?” Izzy asked just loud enough for the officers to hear as he ran his nose up the side of Ryan’s neck, placing a kiss behind Ryan’s ear. Izzy felt the faint shiver that ran up Ryan’s spine at the move and briefly wondered if it was from pleasure or revulsion.
“Um, no, Sweetheart. We would never do that to our kids,” Ryan creaked out, his voice breaking as Izzy continued his nuzzling. Disgust was evident across the policemen’s faces and they both took a step backwards, as if to distance themselves from a possible contagion.
“Um, right,” Detective Black said, dragging out the ‘right’ sarcastically. “Well here’s my card if you hear anything or see anything you think we should know, all right?” Detective Black held out a business card to Ryan, barely touching the edge to avoid accidental contact as he passed it over. Ryan reached for the card, smiling at their obvious discomfort.
“Absolutely, Officers,” Izzy said, intentionally demoting Detective Black with the omission of his higher rank.
“We’ll be sure to let you know if we hear anything,” Ryan agreed, slipping the card into his front jeans pocket. Ryan and Izzy stayed wrapped around each other as they stood in the open doorway, waiting until both officers were climbing back into their nondescript dark blue sedan. Ryan shut the door before he dropped his arm from Izzy’s waist and breathed a huge sigh of relief.
“Damn, that was unexpected,” Logan said, finally entering the room from the hallway. Izzy startled, having forgotten for a moment that Logan was still in the house.
“Should we call Ben?” Ryan asked, concern etched across his face, aiming his question at Logan, but it was Izzy who answered.
“No, not yet. We don’t want to give any sign they have us unsettled. They could be watching Ben or Adam at school. If we make contact right after the cops drive off, they’ll know there’s more going on. We need to play it cool,” Izzy said, arms crossed over his bare chest, his tone all business. The effeminate waif was gone completely from his mannerism.
“When did you become such an expert on proper criminal behavior?” Ryan asked, smirking at Izzy’s assertive confidence. “It’s like you’ve done this before. What are you not telling us?”
Izzy flushed and shoved both hands deep in his front pockets. The jeans barely hung on as it was and Izzy had to shift to keep from accidentally exposing himself further. “Um, nothing. I just like cop shows,” Izzy replied, unwilling to make eye contact with either wolf as they practically stared him down in suspicion.
“Cop shows?! That’s rich!,” Logan growled, anger at Izzy’s interference evident in his tone. “Somehow I don’t think that makes you an expert on what to do in a situation like this. Besid
es, this doesn’t involve you. You don’t even know half of what is going on and you don’t need to. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll stay out of this, Izzy,” Logan continued, chest puffing out aggressively. Izzy could feel Logan’s wolf, ready to burst out if it felt the need to assert its dominance.
“Hey, Logan, come on. I don’t think Izzy meant any harm. I mean, I actually think it helped get rid of those guys having him come to my rescue like that,” Ryan said, trying to placate Logan. He knew Logan wasn’t the best at controlling his temper. He was also extremely protective of Ben, who was the only living family he had left. If he thought for an instant that Izzy’s interference put Ben in any additional harm, who knew what lengths Logan would go to for retribution?
“Oh, so you’re taking his side now, Ryan? Why am I not surprised?” Logan gritted out through clenched teeth.
“Logan, that’s not fair,” Ryan replied, exasperated. “Izzy hasn’t done anything wrong. I know you’re worried about Ben, but jumping all over Izzy’s case isn’t going to solve anything. He was only trying to help”
Izzy’s head was spinning as the wolves continued to escalate. He was honestly worried they were about to devolve into a full out brawl. He needed to do something to stop this before someone got hurt. Inspiration struck him in that moment. Izzy smiled and breathed out a sigh of relief as both men stood frozen, fingers pointing at each other, brows still furrowed in anger.
“Okay, so what do I do with them now?” Izzy said to himself as he paced around the pair, considering his options. He knew they would just pick up where they left off without something else to distract them. He briefly wondered if he should leave them like this until Adam and Ben got home. Surely, they would know what to do to get them to stop arguing.
“Hmmm, that would be fun trying to explain without blowing my cover,” he said aloud to himself. Izzy had developed a habit of talking to himself over the eons. He’d spent so much of his existence alone and trapped in his lamp that it had become a necessity. Without an eternity of self-talk, he wondered if he would have ended up going completely insane by now. ‘Well, more insane than I already am.’ Deciding on a plan, weak as he felt it was, he headed for the stove and turned a burner on high.
Chapter 11
Ryan
The shrieking of the tea kettle caught Ryan mid-sentence like a cattle prod to the heart. He physically jumped back from his argument with Logan and looked in Izzy’s direction in confusion. He didn’t remember putting the kettle on. Heck, he didn’t even know they owned a tea kettle.
“Oops, sorry. Forgot about that,” Izzy said, calmer now that Ryan and Logan were no longer taking bites out of each other’s hides. He rushed to the stove and pulled the kettle from the burner, the shrieking calming to a faint whistle. He went through the motions of making three mugs of tea, all the while leaving his back to the others.
Silence echoed through the living area as Logan continued to stare Ryan down. Finally, Logan appeared to physically deflate and he took a seat at the bar, silently accepting the offered mug of tea. Izzy placed the other cup in front of the remaining space at the bar, but Ryan just stood in place and stared at it, unwilling to just accept the strangeness that had just happened.
Izzy raised his own steaming mug to his lips and blew across the top. Ryan met his gaze and Izzy winked. He wasn’t quite sure what was going on, but he was certain of one thing, Izzy was responsible for it. He hoped Izzy was ready to answer his questions when they were alone again. Ryan didn’t like being manipulated and wouldn’t stand for Izzy playing games with him. He may have made it his personal mission to bring some color into the D'Jinn’s world, but he wouldn’t hesitate for a second to protect his pack if Izzy was doing anything to risk bringing them harm.
Finally, several cups of tea and two huge sandwiches later, Logan left to pick Ben and Adam up from school. Ryan stood from his place at the bar and stalked over to the couch where Izzy was curled up reading a book. He plopped down right next to the D'Jinn, close enough their thighs were touching, and stared expectantly. A few seconds passed in silence until Izzy finally looked up from the page and met Ryan’s firm gaze.
“What?” Izzy asked, a faint blush creeping up his neck.
“Don’t give me that, Izzy. Or is it Ezheikel? Care to explain what the hell happened earlier?” Ryan’s voice was a deep rumble studded with disappointment.
“I don’t know what you’re referring to, Mast…, uh, Ryan,” Izzy lied, dropping his eyes back to his book and pretending to read. Izzy obviously had trouble remembering not to call Ryan master when he was being yelled at. Ryan snatched the book from Izzy’s hands and flung it across the room blindly.
“Hey! I was reading that!” Izzy yelled in disbelief.
“You can go back to reading your book when I get some answers. Now tell me what the hell happened when Logan and I were arguing. I know there was no tea kettle on the stove when we started our conversation, so don’t even think about lying, Izzy.” Ryan continued to glare at Izzy, his lips thinned with barely restrained anger. Izzy reached up to flick the hoop in his lip again, practically vibrating with nerves. Ryan could see the wheels turning behind his vibrant eyes. He finally seemed to run out of anything remotely believable and huffed out a deep sigh in defeat.
“Well, you guys wouldn’t stop arguing and Logan was getting really mad and I just kind of, sort of froze you both for a little while,” Izzy explained, his voice losing more and more volume as he continued to explain. By the end, he was almost whispering. Izzy stared intently at the floor, refusing to meet Ryan’s fierce gaze. Ryan could feel the shame pouring off the D’Jinn at his confession.
Ryan’s mouth dropped open momentarily. “You froze us. And what then, you puttered around making tea while we stood there stupidly? How long did you leave us like that, Izzy?!” Ryan’s wolf was vibrating in fury and, for once, his human half agreed.
Ryan could feel Izzy’s fine trembling through the couch cushions. He suspected the D'Jinn was actually terrified Ryan was going to hurt him. Izzy rushed on, trying to explain, “It was only a few minutes, Master Ryan, honest. I just freaked out and I didn’t know how far Logan was going to take it. I couldn’t just stand there and let you get hurt if he lost control. I felt his wolf right on the edge of taking over. He doesn’t have the best control, you know? He rides right there along the edge so much more than the rest of you.”
“You were protecting me?” Ryan asked, a wave of calm washing over him unexpectedly. It felt like his wolf had just said, ‘oh, well that’s okay then’ and laid down for a nap. Ryan decided not to mention Izzy’s slip with the ‘master’ thing again. There were more important things going on.
“You’re not just my master, you know. I consider you my friend, too, Ryan. I couldn’t just stand there and watch you get hurt. I’m not much in a physical fight, but obviously I have other tricks up my sleeve I can access when I have to. I’m sorry for making you mad, but I honestly couldn’t think of anything else to do at the time,” Izzy said. He’d moved on to shredding the fringe on the edge of a decorative pillow, his nerves still evident in his inability to stop fidgeting.
Izzy finally stopped destroying the pillow when he realized Ryan had been silent for several minutes. He looked up to find Ryan simply staring at him, no longer angrily. His expression appeared thoughtful, but could have also passed for stunned. Izzy stared back, frankly meeting his gaze and waited.
“Okay, I get why you did it, Izzy. I’m not going to say I’m totally okay with it and I definitely don’t want you to do it again, but I get it, okay?” Ryan finally said, much more calmly. Izzy smiled widely and simply nodded in agreement.
Ryan got up and retrieved Izzy’s book from under the kitchen table where it had landed, pages bent all askew. He made an effort to flatten the bent pages and handed the book back to Izzy. As their hands brushed, an electric tingle flowed in the wake of their trailing fingers. This, combined with his wolf’s reaction to Izzy’s quiet ‘thank you’,
had him questioning his sanity for a moment. Could there be more going on between them? No, it was inconceivable. They were not even close to the same species and Ryan would never allow himself to be bound to someone without even the potential to become a shifter like him.
Pushing the thought aside, Ryan joined Izzy again on the sofa, still closer than he probably should have been. As Izzy found his place again, Ryan settled down to reading his own book on his phone. He found himself distracted over and over by Izzy’s quiet presence as he sat next to him, the only sound the faint scratch of his finger as he turned each page.
Chapter 12
Izzy
That night as Izzy cooked a huge patch of chicken picatta, he eavesdropped on the wolves’ discussion regarding the surprise visit from the police. Adam was the most upset, understandably, since it was his father they were searching for. Unbeknownst to the wolves, Izzy already knew all the dirty details of Charles’ death at the hands of, no... at the fangs of Ben’s wolf. Since Ryan was the only one in the room who even knew Izzy was not a human like they suspected, Izzy kept this little nugget to himself. He thought it best to let the wolves keep their illusion of secrecy. The more he seemed to know about Adam and Ben’s backstory, the more the wolves would start to question his true identity.
Knowing secrets was just part of Izzy’s power. Ryan’s earlier fear regarding his being omnipotent wasn’t exactly unfounded. It’s not like he could read minds...much. Well, what Ryan didn’t know, wouldn’t hurt him, right? He huffed out a laugh of bitterness, feeling the deception underneath those thoughts. Izzy was really starting to hate the way he kept lying to Ryan. He wished for once he had some choice in the matter. He felt the ledger against him becoming longer and longer as time went on. He was already cursed but any chance he had for future redemption was buried under a mountain of mistruths and misdirections. The pile was so deep, Izzy would never dig himself out at this point. “What difference does it make if I add a few more?” he thought to himself, bitterly.