by Chloe Adler
Small, round wooden tables crowded the room, each topped with an assortment of paper lanterns that glowed in sensual reds and yellows. The designs they cast crawled over the tables and up the adjacent walls. Along the far end was a long black leather booth that could hold ten to twelve people comfortably. About sixteen were crammed in at the moment, laughing and drinking, with scantily clad women perched atop some of the men’s laps. The back of the booth was wood, and jutting out from behind it was a fireplace sporting a brass fire screen and a black marble mantle holding tall lit candles, all in white.
“Do you want a drink before we . . . explore?” I murmured to my mate.
“It’s late already and we have to get up early to catch our train. Let’s just go for it.”
I looked around, trying to get my bearings. The lighting was so subdued, it was difficult to see anything past the main room.
“Plus,” he continued, taking my hand and putting it on his bulge, “just the idea is really turning me on.”
I would have been happy to throw him on the ground or pull him into the restroom and take him there. For the first time in my life, the thought of sex with a stranger or with multiple partners was not turning me on. But the idea of Alec being turned on was.
“Excuse me,” I said to the bartender.
He greeted me with a huge smile, letting me know immediately that he was interested and definitely played for my team. “What can I get you?” His voice was deep and accented.
“The um,” I looked around, “back rooms?”
His eyes twinkled in the dim lighting. “Damn, I wish I was off work right now.” He pointed to a barely discernable passageway at the far wall. “Have fun,” he called while we walked away.
I reached for Alec’s hand, leading him through the tiniest brick-ensconced doorway I’d ever seen. I could only fit through sideways. Continuing down a narrow hallway, we paused outside one of the two rooms. I peeked in and was met with a scintillating sight. A handsome Chinese twink was sitting on his heels on the bed, getting blown by an attractive, slightly older man who could have passed for a Brazilian soccer player. The younger man’s hands were clenched on his lover’s shoulders, forcing the man down on his cock. The older man lay prone and nude, his upper torso arched backward, his mouth and hands busily trying to satiate. A cute Chinese woman with a pageboy haircut straddled the man from behind, pegging him with a strap-on and grinding herself into his ass.
Alec squeezed my hand tighter. “So hot,” he moaned in my ear, elongating the words.
The girl looked up and saw me in the doorway, motioning with her hand. “Come. Join.” She purred.
I turned my back to her and the rest of the group, pulling Alec in as close as I could without tripping over him.
“You want this?” I whispered, finding his throbbing cock. Oh yes, he wanted it. “If you change your mind at any moment, we stop.” He kissed my check and pulled me into the room.
I led Alec over to the group, stroking him on the way. We had to be careful. I wanted him to partake as much as possible but I didn’t want anything nonconsensual to happen. Without knowing he was there, these three couldn’t agree to involve him. Plus they may peg us as Signum, and if they weren’t open-minded in that regard, things could turn ugly.
“How do you want to navigate this?” I whispered to him. He responded by putting his finger to my lips. His hot breath tickled my ear, “I’ll be your puppet master,” he panted.
He moved me behind the younger man on his knees and wrapped my hands around his torso, moving them up and down along the guy’s chest. Grabbing my cock, Alec pushed it against the man’s butt crack. The man pushed back against my cock, grinding his ass into me and craning his head to look at me.
“Kiss him,” Alec breathed into my ear.
I took the stranger’s mouth, tangling my tongue with his. When Alec moved away, I stopped the kiss and my erection softened. The man’s attention returned to being sucked off and I was about to move when Alec pressed himself against me from behind.
“I want to watch you get sucked off,” he crooned into my ear. That did it. My erection was back, full force.
I stood up and faced the younger man, standing straddled above the soccer player. The twink eagerly reached for my cock, pulling me to him. Alec was next to me, running his hands over my chest and pressing his own hardness into my hip.
Hands on my ass surprised me and I looked behind to see the woman spreading open my cheeks before inserting her tongue.
Momentary panic seized me and I was about to jump off the bed when Alec groaned into my ear. “Let them please you.”
I let him bite and suck on my neck—I had to let him control everything in this situation.
Alec wrapped my hand around his throbbing cock and pumped. The five of us groaned in mounting pleasure. The girl pulled her head out of my ass and moaned, “We all come,” before returning her talented tongue to the task.
Everyone bucked, furiously fucking each recipient, and damn if she wasn’t right. A fury of groans mixed with her screams. I shot hard down the man’s throat as Alec’s spray splattered my side and his jaw slackened against my lips.
“Fuck yes,” he cried.
After returning to the hostel satiated and spent, we curled into one another.
“Are you okay with what happened?” I asked him.
“More than okay; that was crazy hot.”
“Are you going to want to include that in our repertoire?”
He propped himself up on one arm. “Are you?”
I shook my head. “Not really.”
The smile he offered me reached his eyes and they crinkled with mischief. “Maybe once every couple of years?”
“Only if you’re into it. That’s what got me off.”
He sank down on the bed, wrapping his arms tightly around me. The last word before he fell asleep was, “Yum.”
The next morning I met Sam and Mitch outside, letting Alec sleep in until it was time to leave.
“I don’t want you to go,” said Sam, linking her arm with mine.
She and Mitch had gotten up early to see me off. It was still dark but there were already at least a hundred people out by the lake practicing tai chi. The four of us walked over the Su Causeway, pausing at a collection of pagodas known as Three Pools Mirroring the Moon. Candles were placed in each one and lit during the full moon.
When I didn’t respond right away, Sam continued. “Is there anything I can do to earn back your trust?”
“Have Landry imprisoned, destroy the movement,” I responded instantly.
“We’re working on it.” Mitchell took my sister’s hand and brought it to his mouth for a kiss.
“For right now then, no. I need some time.”
Sam nodded. “I get it. Hey, I wouldn’t trust me either.”
Mitch stopped and enveloped her in his arms. “You’re the best person I know,” he said softly. If I weren’t Signum, I wouldn’t have been able to hear him, which made me doubt he’d said it for my benefit.
My sister clutched him tightly, burying her face in his chest. I’d doubted their commitment to one another before, but after spending the last two days with them, I knew they were bonded and very deeply in love. Watching them made me want to form a real relationship with my sister, to give her another chance.
“Why don’t you two move into the Edge once we cast the banishing spell? You’ll both be safe there. You can live out in the open without fear.” Alec fit his muscular hand into mine.
They exchanged looks and Sam licked her lips. “We have a few wrongs we have to right first. But after we do . . .”
Mitchell smiled. “We’d love to.”
“How much longer do you need here?” I asked.
“As long as it takes,” Sam responded.
“Vague much?” I offered her a lopsided grin.
“I’ll stay in touch, let you know we’re safe.”
“How?”
“I know your number and Burgun
dy’s. I’m sure you noticed this town is full of pay phones, plus they have disposable cells without GPS.” My sister dropped Mitch’s hand and threw her arms around me. “I love you so much, Jared. I’ll find a way to prove it.”
“I look forward to that.” I hugged her back, trying not to cry.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Twenty-four hours later Alec and I landed in my backyard in the dead of night and both shifted back, sneaking into the house, trying not to wake anyone.
Rex heard us and bounded down the hallway, barking and leaping on top of me. This woke Burgundy, who flew out of her room and spread her arms wide at the sight. The door to my room opened and Burgundy turned to look.
“Welcome back, Alec,” she called out as Rex, tail wagging in delight, ran into my bedroom after him.
“Hiya, Burg. Really good to be back,” Alec called.
I turned into my friend and held onto her for a very long time.
“I missed you,” she murmured. “I was worried the whole time.”
“I called you every day.”
“Yeah but you never told me what was going on.”
I kissed her cheek. “It’s all solved now, or as much as it can be. I have the cinnabar.”
“I’ll call the girls.”
“In the morning. It’s after midnight. Alec and I need our beauty rest.”
By the time she let me go to sleep, Alec was under the covers, spooning Rex, his invisible form tenting the blanket. I missed seeing his face. Not wanting to wake him, I climbed in on the other side and quickly drifted off to sleep.
We woke the next morning to Burgundy jumping on top of us and Chrys holding out a tray of coffee.
Sitting up in bed, Burgundy quickly fluffed our pillows so we could lean back. Then she crawled under the covers with us, feeling her way around for Alec. Chrys held out a mug for each of us and perched on the edge.
“Sadie, Iphi and Ryder are on their way over,” said Chrys. “Are we doing this?”
Alec grabbed my hand and I squeezed. “Can we change my boyfriend back first?” I asked.
“Of course,” said Chrys.
“What will happen if there are any Trackers still in the Edge when that spell is cast?” asked Alec.
“I’m not sure but I think they’ll be physically pushed out.”
“Ejected like in a tornado?” God I hoped so.
“More like an escalator.” Chrys shrugged. “But we don’t know for sure. No one here has ever cast a spell like this.”
By the time everyone arrived to set up, it was almost noon. They had Alec stand in the circle, wearing clothes so everyone knew where he was. Sadie arranged candles on the side tables and Iphi sat on the floor, her casted leg jutting out to one side. Sadie drew the pentacles with her athame in the four directions, and Chrys recited the incantation, lighting each candle in turn.
They reversed Alec’s invisibility first and I nearly leapt out of the chair and broke the circle in my excitement.
“You can see me?”
I stretched my arms out toward him, “You look so good. Better than I remember.”
“Hey, can you girls let me out of here?”
“Sure, sorry,” giggled Sadie and opened the circle.
He flew into my arms and we sat intertwined while they joined hands again.
A pile of herbs rested in the center beside the cinnabar, a mortar and pestle and a charcoal disc in an ashtray.
Sadie opened her grimoire and read the spell aloud while the girls dropped each of the herbs into the mortar and ground them to a fine dust.
“I’ll recite the Latin incantation while you sprinkle the herbs on the charcoal, then the cinnabar,” she said to Chrys, “and then each of you repeat the words.
“Ore enim ad longinquas eaque auferat elit.”
Each sister repeated the incantation three times. Nothing happened. No puff of smoke or flash of the candles.
“How do we know if it worked?” I asked.
Sadie bent over the book, biting her lip. “The candles were supposed to go out simultaneously but . . .”
They hadn’t.
“Now what?” Alec asked from his seat on the couch.
“I don’t know,” Sadie said. “Ryder, can we call your mom?”
Sadie walked into the kitchen with the phone and spoke in a low voice. I couldn’t hear what Katharine was saying but I could hear Sadie and she was not happy.
“You’re fucking kidding me.” Her tone was low but forceful. “Sorry, Katharine, it’s not your fault. I just don’t see how we can do that.”
Shit.
I put my arm around Alec and pulled him close, wrapping my other arm around his head. We waited in that position until Sadie came back.
“It won’t work without the matriarch of our family.”
“What?” said Chrys, exchanging a look with Iphi. “We need Aurelia?”
Sadie nodded. “Katharine volunteered to try and cast it with Octavia but she doesn’t think it’ll work. It’s a really powerful spell and usually takes at least five people in a coven of very powerful witches to pull it off. But if we can get Aurelia, there might be enough juice to do it with just the four of us.”
“How the hell is that going to happen?” asked Carter.
Alec insisted on going to his parents’ house before we formed the Aurelia plan.
“I still don’t understand why.” I was watching him change clothes. “Plus, it’s not safe for you to be outside. The Trackers said they’d kill you if they saw you.”
“That’s why I’d like your help. Either you take me there in one of my shifts or I’ll shift myself and sneak over. My monkey’s pretty fast and I can keep to the treetops.”
“I don’t want you going over there at all but if you do, I’d rather be with you.”
“Great.” He wrestled into a pair of clean jeans.
At this point, I knew him well enough to know his mind was made up and I couldn’t change it. I also knew it was safer for him to go by himself as his monkey. If they saw me and I was carrying an animal, they’d know it was him. I could hide him as a snake in my bag but it was far too hot out to wear him under a jacket. I didn’t like the idea of a bag that could easily be taken from me either. I didn’t like any of it.
“You go there and wait outside if it makes you feel better,” Alec said.
I had to trust him and I did not want to keep him from doing what he felt he had to. “No, you’re right. It’s safer if you go alone.”
When he leaned in to kiss me before shifting, I grabbed onto him so tightly I surprised us both.
“Oh, Jared. I love you.”
“I love you too, Alec.” I took his mouth in mine. “Please be safe.”
He scampered off to change and then out the back door. I watched him in the treetops until I couldn’t see him anymore. I lasted about thirty minutes before I started cussing myself out, snuck into the backyard and changed into my cougar. In case he needed help, I told myself.
By the time I arrived at his parents’, there were about fifteen minutes left before he could change back into his human form. I hid in the foliage behind the house, watching and waiting. Right on cue Alec appeared, naked, and knocked on the back door.
His mother answered. “Alec,” she squealed, hugging him. “What are you doing here?” She looked around the yard quickly, then ushered him inside and shut the door.
I padded up to the house to listen.
“What the hell is he doing here,” Xia’s voice boomed.
“He’s your son.”
“I don’t care what he is. Put some clothes on, boy. Don’t parade around naked in front of your mother.”
“I’ll go get him something,” Li said.
“Why are you here?” asked his father gruffly.
“We found a way to banish the Trackers from the Edge. I thought you’d like to know that you, Mom and the twins can be safe here.”
Xia huffed. “You think I want to live in the same town as my girly bo
y? So I can be reminded every day of how I failed?”
“You didn’t fail, Dad. You never even tried. I’m a good person in spite of you. Thankfully, Mom has integrity.”
Xia’s laugh was brutal. “Integrity? Your mother? Is that what you think? Why don’t you ask her what she’s hidden from you her entire life? How she’s lied to you.”
“What are you talking about?”
I pulled myself up to the window ledge and looked in. They were standing in the kitchen and Li was frozen in place with an armful of clothes.
“Mom?” Alec turned to her. She was paler than the white T-shirt she held.
“Alec, I’m so sorry.” She dropped the clothes and ran out.
“What the hell is going on?” Alec said, picking up the clothes and throwing them on while chasing after her.
I went to the next window. They weren’t there. I kept checking until I found the living room, where Alec’s mom was crumpled on the couch, sobbing.
I jumped down, turning away. This wasn’t my business. I shouldn’t have come here. Alec would be pissed if he knew. Running back home, I told myself he’d understand. I’d explain how worried I was, how I’d just wanted to protect him.
It was hours later before he returned, scratching on my bedroom window. I let him in and he scuttled into my closet. I couldn’t pretend I hadn’t seen and heard what had happened at his parents’ home, so when he came out, dressed in my clothes, I looked away.
“I fucked up,” I said.
He stood there, frozen, in front of my closet. Waiting.
“I followed you to your parents and I heard . . . some stuff.”
“What the hell, Jared? Why would you do that?” He put his hands on his hips. I’d never seen him mad before.
“I’m sorry, I was worried about you.”
“Worried or suspicious?”
“No. Worried, that’s all.”
“Worried that I can’t take care of myself?”