Branded

by Ana J. Phoenix

  “I’m sorry.” He stroked his fingers through Asher’s hair as if that wasn’t normally forbidden under threats of death. Asher’s issues probably went a long way back, and José couldn’t be the cause or the solution. But he hadn’t helped matters either. He’d thought of cutting contact with Asher when this was all over, hadn’t he? In the end he really wasn’t any better than all the other guys who’d fucked Asher. Worse maybe, because whatever they had, it went beyond an anonymous one night stand.

  “He said you liked me… Made it sound like such a bad thing, too.” And maybe for Asher it was. If José was going to toss him. If Asher anticipated José was going to do just that. José couldn’t wait for Asher to wake up so he could set things straight between them. He wasn’t going to abandon Asher. Not in this world or the next.

  But Asher was lying so still he may as well have been dead if not for his breathing. His magic level dropped low, too. Dragon regenerating.

  “Take a bite from me if it helps,” José mumbled, trying to feed his own energy through the link. Fat lot of good his magic did him in here anyway.

  He needed a way out.

  Think. Think. Think.

  But he was still thinking what felt like hours later, with all his muscles gone stiff and without a result—and without a change to their situation. Except that Asher moved every now and then about an inch or so. He’d come out of his dead-like slumber to something that seemed more like natural sleep.

  José threaded a hand through Asher’s hair as Asher’s breathing fastened.

  What are you dreaming of now?

  Asher moaned, and it wasn’t a happy noise.

  “It’s fine.” José laid his right hand on Asher’s arm. “Calm down.” It had worked last time, hadn’t it? “Imagine something nice, okay?”

  Asher’s breathing evened out.

  “There, that’s better.” Neither of them had wanted this bond-thing, but if José could use it to help, he would.

  When Asher was back to normal, José let himself sink to the floor with his back, allowing his muscles to relax for a moment. He needed to think a little harder. He needed to figure this out.

  He didn’t remember falling asleep when he found himself standing on a beach in the middle of the night. It was illuminated by the flickering shine of flames. He’d seen this before, hadn’t he? Sure enough, when he turned, a house stood on fire behind him.

  But how could he be in Asher’s dream again? And not see him anywhere?

  José’s eyes fixed on the burning house. There was no smoke. Definitely a dream, then. And maybe he would find Asher inside that house.

  Taking a deep breath, José reached out to touch the burning wood in front of him. It didn’t hurt; the wood felt cool beneath his touch.

  José found the front door, but it wouldn’t budge, so he took a step back and took another look at the house. Asher had to be inside, and he’d lit a fire and locked the door to keep the world out.

  “C’mon, you already let me into your dream, you might as well let me into the house.” José tried the door again. With a kick, the wood gave way, and he stepped inside. When he looked back at the door, it closed itself again.

  “Asher?” he called out, looking around. He stood in an entrance hall. Everything here was on fire too, but the fire wasn’t destructive. Nothing appeared broken, nothing actually burned down. José’s gaze fell on the staircase. Flames encased every step of it. He went up.

  All the doors on the upper floor were closed, except for one at the end of the hallway.

  Inside that room, Asher sat on the floor, knees drawn up to his chest and resting his head on them.

  “Ash?”

  He didn’t get a response.

  “Is this your room? Or… was this your room?” It looked like a small child’s room, complete with toy cars, pieces of lego scattered across the floor and a shiny red miniature fire truck sitting in the middle of it all. Of course, flames stuck to everything.

  José sat across from Asher. “Is this your vision of something nice?” He didn’t want to judge Asher’s dreams, but it would have been a lie to say that it wasn’t a little disturbing.

  A melody started playing in the background. José couldn’t make out the source, but it sounded like something a children’s music box would play.

  Asher relaxed at the soft music but still wouldn’t look up.

  “Hey, Ash,” José tried again. “Look.” If there was one sure way to draw Asher’s attention, it was fire-play. José held his hands out and gathered the flames in the room into one large ball, floating in the air above him. He was lucky Asher let him do this; it was his dream, and there was no reason José’s magic should work, but it did. It was even better than that; José wasn’t restricted by his actual magic supplies. He could have gone on for hours, shaping the fire into different forms and figures. A dog appeared above their heads, then a cat. José let it walk around the room.

  The music stopped.

  Asher raised his head slowly, opening his ocean blue eyes to follow the fire animal. Asher’s eyes were no less beautiful the second time around, but they did seem different. Less bright, somehow. José had forgotten how much you could tell about a person by looking at them. And he wouldn’t have minded looking at Asher for a while longer. It was true—he was pretty. Down from his sandy hair to his delicate features that gave him a natural boyish charm without making him appear childish. Maybe his face lit up when he smiled. It stung José that he wasn’t likely to find out.

  José let the cat lie down on the floor between them. “You could pet it.”

  Asher didn’t take him up on that suggestion. Instead, he focused on him, as if noticing his presence for the first time. José read the shock in his eyes before they narrowed, turning an arctic color.

  “Nice to see you too.” But what was Asher seeing? For the first time in forever, José wondered how he looked. He glanced down on himself. Legs. Arms. Not too bad torso. The last time he’d seen himself in a mirror, he’d been a child, and his own hands seemed strange to him now. But whatever he looked like, Asher had liked it well enough before.

  Asher stared at him. In that moment, he didn’t seem much like a dragon, more like a trapped cat, ready to lash out. No doubt, had José tried to touch him, he would have felt his claws.

  “Nice place you have here,” José commented, trying to dispel the tension in the air.

  Asher didn’t go for it. “Why here? Why you?” he asked. “Why can’t I get you out of my head?” Anger colored his voice, but it wasn’t directed at José—he seemed more pissed at himself. A second emotion lay hidden beneath it. Turned out Ketsu hadn’t been lying. Asher was crushing on José, and Ketsu had used that to get to him.

  José took a deep breath. How to have this conversation? What did he even want to say?

  Something nudged his shoulder before he could come to a decision. It happened again.

  Someone woke him up.

  Chapter 24 - The Bat and the Fox

  The evening sun cast the stone walls in soft orange tones as Ruigi made his way down toward the dungeons of the fortress. It was time to have a chat with the elf and the dragon now that he’d gotten them both locked up.

  Ruigi looked up at the sound of steps in front of him. Ketsu was climbing up the stairs from the dungeon, one of his hands clutching to the wall. Exhaustion was etched into his features, more prominently than last he’d seen him only a few hours ago. Ruigi suppressed the urge to run up to him and offer support. It wouldn’t be welcome. Ketsu met his gaze and straightened himself.

  “Ruigi.” Ketsu narrowed his eyes at him. “What are you doing down here?”

  “Looking for you.” The lie fell from Ruigi’s lips without effort.

  “Can’t I do anything without you following me around…?”

  You can’t.

  Ruigi knew better than to voice that thought. “When’s the last time you got any sleep?” he asked instead.

  Ketsu huffed. “It’s those stupid p
risoners. If they’d just cooperate nicely—” he yawned, then shook his head. “It’s none of your concern.”

  Yes, it is.

  “You can’t rule an army when you’re asleep on your feet.”

  “Doubting my abilities?” Ketsu looked at him, amber eyes burning with the ferocity of a wild fox. “Think you would do a better job?”

  “That’s ridiculous. I’d never betray you.”

  “Oh, Rui…” Ketsu approached him, half a smile on his lips. When had he last seen a real smile grace his friend’s features? Ruigi could barely remember what that had looked like, but he would always remember the way it had made him feel. Warm.

  Ketsu stepped up close to him. “It’s the people you trust most that have the easiest time stabbing you in the back. Remember?” One of his ears twitched, betraying his irritation in spite of the casual tone. He locked eyes with Ruigi, who found himself unable to break the gaze. “You know, I wonder. What would I find if I looked into your mind?”

  Ketsu’s hand touched his head, and a tingle went down Ruigi’s spine. Then Ketsu’s fingers traced through a lock of Ruigi’s hair, down to his cheek. A hint of apprehension mixed with the sharp thrill Ruigi always felt when Ketsu came too close. When Ketsu touched him like this, he had to exercise serious self control not to push him back against the wall and… Ruigi inhaled, bit his lip, and banished the image from his mind. Only then did he realize that Ketsu expected a reply.

  “You wouldn’t find anything you don’t already know.” Ruigi took a step aside, trying to appear casual. In all the years they’d known each other, Ketsu had never taken a look inside him. Still, Ruigi couldn’t risk the off chance that he would. “Let me accompany you back to your quarters. You ought to take a break.”

  Ketsu shook his head. “I don’t have time for that.” The pearls on his necklace flashed a bright white. Ruigi grimaced. Ketsu was summoning somebody. He was going to use that power of his to leech energy off some poor sod. Probably whoever was closest. Steps were approaching from around the corner.

  “You shouldn’t do that,” Ruigi said, but Ketsu didn’t seem to be listening. Not that it was any surprise.

  “Come here, soldier,” Ketsu addressed the young man who appeared in the hallway. He was no more than a kid, and he was scared. Ruigi recognized the fear in his eyes. Like so many of the people he had killed, this one wasn’t going to cause trouble. Even though the kid didn’t move, in his mind he had already surrendered to his fate.

  “Ketsu, stop.”

  Ketsu shot him an annoyed glance. “It’s a necessary sacrifice. You just don’t want to see me kiss anyone.”

  “Nonsense,” Ruigi said, even as jealousy gnawed at his intestines. How could he be jealous of someone who was going to die? He refused to be that much of a fool. “Your followers will eventually turn against you if you keep decimating them.”

  “Mhm…” Ketsu mustered the young man as if he was seeing a festive meal in front of him. “Is that so?”

  The poor man swallowed and didn’t get a word past his lips. Ruigi took a deep breath. “Come on.” He put his hand on Ketsu’s arm to pull him along. Whirling around, Ketsu slapped his hand away and caught his eyes as though trying to stare him down. His temper flared. Ruigi had stepped out of line.

  “Would anyone turn against me if I decimated you?”

  Unlikely. Ruigi neither spoke nor moved while Ketsu’s eyes bore into him. He hoped there was some shred of humanity left in Ketsu that would prevent him from killing an old friend. And if not, maybe a sense of cold rationality would tell him not to waste a useful soldier. If it came down to it, Ruigi could fight, certainly, but he wasn’t sure that he would.

  “You don’t get to give me orders.” Ketsu turned around and walked away. The young soldier was still standing rooted to the spot as Ketsu passed him by. Ruigi exhaled, let the tension drain from his muscles and followed.

  Ketsu didn’t say anything as Ruigi fell into step behind him. They walked the halls in silence until they reached the general’s quarters.

  “You know,” Ketsu said, as they entered his room, “I have things to do still. The enemy doesn’t sleep. And if the magicians do, they’re good at hiding it.”

  “You should never have joined forces. You can’t control them.” Ruigi closed the door behind himself.

  “I didn’t ask for your opinion.”

  “You never do.” Ruigi sat down behind Ketsu’s desk and leafed through the paperwork that had accumulated on it.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Taking care of these papers while you go and rest.”

  Ketsu kept standing in front of the desk, eyes flickering between Ruigi and the door that led to his bedroom. He frowned, looked to the door that led to the hallway, then back to the other one, as though measuring the distance.

  “No one’s going to come in and ambush you in your sleep,” Ruigi said. “Not as long as I’m here.”

  Ketsu shot him a calculating look. Ruigi had to keep from rolling his eyes at him. Looking away, his gaze fell on the picture of a young forest nymph that lay on Ketsu’s desk. Laika.

  What would she think of you now, Ketsu?

  It was stupid to be angry at dead people, but he was. Because she’d gotten pregnant, because she’d gotten herself killed by Ketsu’s family… and left Ruigi to deal with the aftermath. Because Ketsu had loved her. Because Ketsu still loved her.

  Snap out of it. There’s no use in dwelling on the past.

  All he could do was try and change the present. “You’re far too paranoid for your own good,” he told Ketsu.

  “It’s in the job description.”

  “Maybe you should quit your job.” Ruigi buried the picture under a pile of papers.

  “Why, you want it?”

  “Your job’s not what I want.”

  “What then?” Ketsu stifled a yawn. Ruigi didn’t look up at him.

  “I want you to go sleep.”

  Ketsu sighed, but went for the door that led to his bedroom. “I’m not doing this because you tell me to,” he said before he left. Ruigi watched the door fall shut behind him, thinking about what he really wanted. It wasn’t only to follow Ketsu into his bedroom, into his bed and—

  No, it went beyond that. Ruigi had watched over Ketsu for years. He’d joined him on his insane cause to fix the world, when really, Ruigi couldn’t care less about the state of the world. The only thing he wanted to fix was whatever was broken inside his friend. Ruigi was going to protect the one person who had ever mattered to him. Even from himself, if he had to.

  That was why he had to put an end to this crazy war. No matter the cost.

  Chapter 25 - Deadly Deals

  “Wake up.” It was the damn vampire’s voice. What was he doing here? “I’d rather not have to kick you.”

  “I’d kick you back,” José said, even though his legs had fallen asleep under Asher’s weight.

  “You’d lose a fight against me and you know it.”

  No point replying to that. Since he’d been stripped of his powers there couldn’t be a fair fight.

  “Come to mock me?” Slowly, José sat up. He’d always known the vampire was bad news, but that he worked for the fox…

  “Actually, I want to propose a deal. I’ll let you out if you help me.”

  José frowned at the tone of Ruigi’s voice. He sounded nervous about something.

  “I can’t trust you.” And unlike that time in the bar, this time, the decision was José’s. He was ready to do a great lot of things to get out, but working with Ruigi? The thought alone made him cringe.

  “You don’t have to trust me. If you think you can wait for someone else to come around and offer an escape route to you.”

  José grimaced. He wasn’t stupid enough to think that.

  “Maybe not today,” Ruigi continued. “Probably not tomorrow either. How long do you think you can stay without going mad? How long do you think Asher can? Even if—”

  “Stop. I get it.
” He really did. Getting Asher out of here was a top priority. José put his hand on his companion’s arm as if that would stop Ruigi, and the rest of the world, from harming him further.

  “So you’ll cooperate?”

  “What exactly is it that you need help with?”

  “It’s simple. Most of the work has already been done, but if I open your cell and destroy those bracelets, you have to destroy something for me in return.”

  “And what’s that?”

  “A magical artifact. The source of Ketsu’s power.”

  “Why don’t you do it yourself?” José couldn’t keep himself from asking. “Why do you want it destroyed?”

  “Let’s say I’m not a huge fan of this war. And I can’t destroy it, to be honest. There’s barriers around it that drain all your magic once you step through.”

  “So why should I be able to…” José stopped. “The bond.” If he stepped through the barriers and lost his magic, he could still take Asher’s. His mind flashed back to the day of the bonding, and something the medic had said about obtaining the book with the spell only recently. That couldn’t have been the vampire’s doing, could it? “For how long have you been planning this?”

  “A while.” Ruigi sounded so nonchalant about using them like tools that José wanted to punch him.

  “What makes you so sure I won’t just run once you open the door?”

  “There’s something in it for you.”

  José raised his eyebrows at the vampire in an unspoken question.

  “The artifact has gotten out of control. It’s growing too strong, focusing too much magic in one place. I believe it’s responsible for the barrier between this world and yours becoming increasingly unstable.”

  That was the reason he was here? A power-hungry fox with a god complex? If it was true, though… José swallowed. “Doesn’t that mean there won’t be a way back for us once it’s destroyed?”

  “Maybe. But doesn’t it also mean bad things are going to happen if you leave it? Things are already falling from the skies. And who knows what’s going on in your world.”