Jinx just pointed to the back door.
Vapre sighed and a pushed a hand through his shoulder-length hair. He’d been so focused on Syx that he hadn’t even heard the other men enter the room, let alone heard when Echo departed into the backyard. “I’ll get him.”
“No.” Syx pulled on Vapre’s shoulder until he turned around to face him. “I did this. I’ll find him and make it right.”
“I know this is none of my business,” Jinx said quietly, “but I really think Vapre should go. I don’t think Echo is going to be too keen on talking to you until he’s had a bit to calm himself.”
Syx looked disappointed, but he nodded and took a step back. “Go find him,” he whispered. “It’s dark, cold, and too dangerous for him to be alone.”
Kissing his lover’s lips lightly, Vapre lingered for just a moment, then dipped his head curtly. “I’ll be back soon. He just needs to hear the whole story and have time to cool down. Don’t worry over this.”
Syx made a horrible attempt at a smile before giving up the pretense completely. “Just hurry.”
There was nothing left to say to make this better, so Vapre spun on his heels and jogged for the back door. Wrenching it open, he stopped, his mouth dropping open in shock when he found Echo sitting on the porch steps, staring up at the night sky.
Trying to school his features, he eased the door closed behind him and moved across the porch to sit down beside his mate. He didn’t speak, figuring Echo would say his piece when he was ready.
It didn’t take long. “He didn’t mean that, did he? Does he really wish I hadn’t come here?”
“No and no,” Vapre answered quietly. “Syx is just having a hard time dealing with all the changes right now. I guess he caught something from Fiero’s mind that’s been worrying him. He just wants you to be safe.”
“I can’t think of anywhere safer than with seven demons, a werewolf, and two vampires,” Echo countered, still not looking at him.
“Syx doesn’t think that way. He sees the danger coming, and believes the best possible place for you is as far away from it as possible.”
“But I can help.” Echo finally turned to look at him, and Vapre almost wished he hadn’t.
The tear tracks on his mate’s creamy cheeks made his chest tighten and his throat burn. “I know. I think there’s something more, something he’s not telling us.”
“Why is he upset with Fiero?” Apparently, Echo was done with the current line of conversation.
Switching gears, Vapre thought over what Syx had told him in the kitchen. “He said that Fiero is in love with Eyce.” Surprisingly, the knowledge didn’t tweak any kind of jealousy or possessiveness from Vapre.
“Yes, he is.” Echo smiled fondly, his face practically glowing with satisfaction. “There’s more to the story, though. Just wait for it,” he said mysteriously.
Vapre had an inkling what Echo meant by that, but he’d keep it to himself for the time being. The runt had a point. He’d just wait for it. “So, are we good now? You’re not going to skip out in the middle of the night, are you?”
Echo laughed softly and bumped his shoulder against Vapre’s arm. “Naw. I’m not that stupid. I gotta pretty sweet setup here. Besides, where would I go?”
“Nowhere. You belong here.”
“Yep, that’s kind of how I see it. You guys need me. You were kind of a mess before I got here.”
“You have no idea,” Vapre said emphatically. And they had been. They just hadn’t known it. “So, what do we do about Syx?”
“Nothing.”
Vapre opened his mouth to say something, then snapped his lips closed. That wasn’t exactly the answer he’d been expecting. Echo always seemed to have a plan, especially when it came to cheering one of them up. This sit-back-and-wait approach was completely out of character for him. “Uh…” Wow, that was brilliant.
Echo seemed to read his thoughts because he chuckled softly and rolled his eyes. “Syx will come around when he’s ready. We’re not going to accomplish anything by pushing him. He’ll shut down, and it will just take that much longer for him to spill it.”
“You’re right, of course.” Vapre sighed and pushed to his feet. “Let’s go in. Syx is about to have a coronary wondering where you are.” Vapre eyed his mate apprehensively. Though Syx may deserve it, he was hurting, and Vapre didn’t want to see Echo tear into the man. “Exactly how pissed off are you?”
Echo stood as well and gave him a ghost of a smile as he led the way inside. “You’re about to find out.”
Chapter Three
Syx paced the living room, jerking on the ends of his blond hair as he mumbled angrily under his breath. Why had he said those stupid things in the kitchen? Oh, right, because he was an idiot. He’d let his emotions get the better of him and blubbered on like a lovesick teenager on some corny daytime drama.
It wasn’t like he felt jealous of Fiero’s love for Eyce and Echo. He’d meant it when he said he was happy for the demon. Things had just gotten a little muddled in his brain, and he’d become lost trying to figure out where he fit. Okay, so maybe he was feeling a tad bit sorry for himself. It was a new and unwelcome emotion that he’d be just as happy to never feel again. Self-pity was a complete waste of time.
“Syx!” Echo called from the kitchen, and he didn’t sound happy.
Sighing in relief that his mate was unhurt, Syx hurried across the room, meeting Echo in the threshold of the kitchen entryway. “You’re back.” He spoke calmly, his face impassive, but inside he wanted to scoop the man into his arms and never let go.
“I never actually left.” Echo put his hands on his hips and lifted both eyebrows. “Or is that the problem?”
“No.” Syx decided short and simple answers were the least likely to get him into any more trouble than he was already facing.
“Do you want me to leave?”
“No.”
“Do you think you’re better off without me?”
“No.”
“Do you wish I’d never come here?” Echo fired off questions at a fast clip, giving Syx little time to think through his answers.
“No.” Gods, he was starting to sound like a broken record.
“Are you finished being an asshole?”
“No…uh.” Syx shook his head and frowned. “I mean, yes.”
Echo winked, and his lips curved into a crooked smile. “Okay.” He turned around and headed over to the kitchen table. “I’m hungry.”
Syx stood frozen in place, staring at the spot where his mate had just been in front of him. “That’s it? Just like that? No questions, no ass chewing, you’re just going to let me off the hook?” No way could it be that easy. Echo always had something to say when one of them fucked up, and he said it pretty damn loudly. This easy acceptance seemed suspicious, to say the least.
Echo huffed. “We had a misunderstanding. You said things you didn’t mean, and I overreacted. Shit happens. I don’t see any reason to get all dramatic about it.”
Syx walked dazedly over to the stove and began preparing Echo a plate. Something didn’t fit, didn’t feel right. Most of the arguments and disagreements in the house since Echo’s arrival had been misunderstandings, but Echo had still lit into the offender like a hellcat. What did that mean? Did his feelings not run as deep for Syx? Maybe he felt Syx wasn’t important enough for him to get his feathers ruffled.
Letting down his guard, he slipped into his lovers’ heads, trying to find something to dismiss his concerns. Rude perhaps, and he didn’t usually listen in on his men purposely, but he needed to know.
“He looks so sad. I wish he’d just tell me what’s going on. How can I help him if he won’t talk to me?” That came from Vapre. Syx felt pleasantly surprised at the man’s worry for him. He’d examine that later, though. Right now he needed to know what his mate was thinking.
“How can I make him see what’s right in front of his face? I hate seeing him like this. My mate is hurting, and I can’t do anything a
bout it. How useless am I?”
Syx closed his eyes briefly as Echo’s thoughts played through his own mind. A warm liquid feeling started in his stomach, spreading out to his limbs and making his skin tingle.
“Echo says to let him be, and he’ll come around in his own time,” Vapre thought. “I don’t know how long I can take it, though. I’ll give him a few more days, but I can’t stand to watch him hurting.”
And just like that, Syx’s warm feeling was replaced by a cold that seeped right down to his bones. His lovers were distressed because of him, because they knew he was hiding something from them.
Plastering a wide smile on his face that he hoped didn’t look as fake as it felt, Syx carried plates to Echo and Vapre. Not for the first time, he was very glad that his own thoughts were safe from prying minds.
* * * *
“It’s been five days,” Echo said quietly as he snuggled between Vapre and Syx on the sofa. “They should have been back by now.”
He loved this time he had alone with Vapre and Syx, but he missed the rest of his men. They should have been home two days ago, safe, sound, and exactly where they were supposed to be. What the hell was taking so long? And why hadn’t anyone called to check in with them?
“There’s a good chance that they don’t have reception where they’re at,” Syx answered as he nuzzled the top of Echo’s head with his cheek. “Someone would have sent word if there was anything to worry about. Maybe it’s just farther than Mac had originally thought.”
Echo appreciated his lover trying to reassure him, but his mind still whirled with images of terrible things happening to his warriors. “Can we try to call? Just once more?” They’d tried several times in the last two days, but each call had gone straight to voice mail.
He looked up at Syx hopefully. Undeterred by the look of resignation on his mate’s face, Echo turned to Vapre. “Please?”
Vapre smiled indulgently and fished his cell phone out of his pocket. He pressed it into Echo’s palm and leaned over to kiss his forehead. “I don’t know if you’ll get an answer, but you call anytime you want.”
Rubbing his cheek against Vapre’s in gratitude, Echo flipped open the phone and scrolled through the call history, picking one of his demon’s numbers at random, and held the phone to his ear. His face lit up, hope settling in his heart when the phone began to ring.
Twice, three times, a fourth, and Echo began to deflate, his face falling in disappointment. Then in the middle of the fifth ring, a smooth voice drifted over the line, and Echo almost passed out in relief.
“Hey, baby.”
“Eyce,” Echo breathed. “Are you okay? Where are you? When are you coming home? Did you find the guys from the lab? How bad were they hurt? When are you coming home?”
Eyce’s low chuckle sent liquid heat coursing through Echo’s body, and he shivered visibly. “Calm down, love. Everyone is fine. We found the residents, and Hex healed them pretty quickly. We’re on our way home now, should be there in an hour or so. Can you guys start preparing for a few more guests?”
“Absolutely,” Echo answered as he pushed up from the cushions and began pacing the carpet between the sofa and the coffee table. “How many are coming?”
“Three. Mac says you know them. He and Sony are about to wet themselves, they’re so excited.”
“Who are they? Do you know their numbers?”
“Hold on.”
Echo could hear Eyce speaking to someone in the background, a couple of low chuckles, and then a high-pitched squeal. He jerked the phone away from his head and stared at it as though it had morally offended him. He only knew one person who screeched like that.
“Ninety-four,” he mumbled, a slow smile spreading across his face.
“Right,” Eyce responded, startling him. “Ninety-four, Eighty-eight, and Eighty-six.”
“They need names. I won’t call them by their numbers. That’s a life we all escaped, and I don’t want any traces of it in our home.”
“That’s a perfect idea, baby,” Eyce said softly. “You guys can discuss it when we get there, okay?”
“Okay.” Echo sighed, breathing deeply for the first time in days. “What took so long? Why are you just now coming home? Was there trouble?”
“Not exactly,” Eyce said evasively. “I’ll explain later.”
Echo understood that he wouldn’t get anything more from his mate. “Okay,” he repeated. “I’ll see everyone when you get home. Give the guys a big kiss from me, Vapre, and Syx.” He glanced over his shoulder to see the two demons on the couch beaming at him and nodding their heads. “Hurry home.”
“Be there soon. Miss you, Echo.” Eyce spoke so softly, Echo had to press the phone more firmly to his ear to hear him.
“Miss you, too,” he replied just as quietly. “I love you.”
“Love you, too, baby, and Fiero says ditto.”
“Ditto.” Echo wrapped his fingers around the tiny sapphire teardrop that hung around his neck like a lifeline, a link that would tether him to his mates no matter where they were. He felt the tears begin to prickle the corners of his eyes, and he had to swallow down the lump in his throat. “See you soon.” Then he hung up before his emotions could get the better of him.
He knew Syx had heard his entire end of the conversation through his telepathy. There was nothing Echo could do about that, and he wasn’t sure he would if he could. Without turning, he placed the phone gently on the coffee table and took a deep breath. It was time to get a couple of things out in the open. His men may not be ready to hear what he had to say, but he couldn’t keep going like this.
“I love you,” he said in a small voice. “Both of you—all of you—I love you so much that I think I’ll drown in it. I don’t expect you to say the words back yet. I understand if you need time to work through what you’re feeling, but I just thought you should know.”
Then without further comment or looking at his lovers, Echo strode from the room, through the kitchen, and right out the back door. He wasn’t running away, but he really needed to be alone for a while.
* * * *
“Did he just say…” Vapre trailed off, his eyes wide and his heart thundering inside his chest. Then he turned to glare at Syx accusingly. “You knew. You could have at least warned me.”
Syx smirked as his eyebrows disappeared under his hairline. “And what would you have done if I had? Hmm? Is there really a way to prepare for that?”
Shaking his head slowly, Vapre conceded the point. “Do you think he meant it?”
“I think Echo rarely says anything he doesn’t mean or hasn’t thought out very carefully.”
“I love him,” Vapre whispered, the full impact of the confession hitting him like an emotional wrecking ball. “I guess it took me a little while for my brain to catch up to what my heart has been trying to tell me from the beginning.”
“I know,” Syx whispered. “I love him, too.”
Steeling his resolve, Vapre shifted on the cushions to face Syx, reaching out to wind his fingers in the demon’s shirt and yank him forward. His lips hovered just a breath away from Syx’s as he stared into his lover’s eyes intently. “I love you, Syx. I always have. It just took Echo to open my eyes and make me admit it.”
Syx didn’t say a word, but his eyes softened, and he closed the paper-thin space between them, pressing his lips to Vapre’s in a slow, sensual kiss. He pulled back quickly, but the kiss was no less promising for its brevity. Syx rested their foreheads together and closed his eyes on a sigh. “Love you, Vapre. Love all of you, and I have for as long as I can remember. We’re warriors, though. We’re not supposed to feel these things.”
“Who said?” Vapre curled his fingers around the back of Syx’s neck, holding him in place. “It doesn’t change who we are.”
“Oh, yes it does,” Syx argued. He rolled his brow against Vapre’s and chuckled breathily. “It makes us better.”
“So, do we go tell Echo?”
“I gathered fro
m his muddled thoughts that he really needs some time alone right now. He’s been hurting for days, worried that the others wouldn’t come back. We’ll tell him soon, though.”
Vapre released his hold on his lover and leaned away, nodding his understanding. “So, what do we do now?”
Syx pecked Vapre’s cheek and stood, holding a hand out to help Vapre up as well. “Well, we promised Echo that we would get Syn and Jinx moved into a room by the end of the week.” His eyes darted to the large clock over the mantle of the fireplace. “That would be in about six hours.”
Taking Syx’s hand and rising to his feet, Vapre stretched his arms over his head, arching his back and trying to work out the kinks of his sore muscles. “Yeah, I guess we need to get a couple of rooms ready for whoever the guys are bringing home with them.” Placing his hands on his hips, he stared down at the floor and frowned. “How many more do you think will come before the war? We’re running out of rooms.”
Syx shrugged and led the way over to the staircase. “We’ll have to start doubling up, I guess. We can room the three newcomers together, and another room for Syn and Jinx. That only leaves three open rooms. It’s a big house, but it still has its limits.”
“Why do you suppose all the people that keep showing up here are men?” Vapre followed Syx up the stairs as they went to begin preparing rooms. “Doesn’t that seem strange to you?”
“Hmm.” Syx’s head tilted to the side, but he didn’t pause until he reached the upstairs landing. “That’s a good question. Maybe we can ask Echo about it later. He might have some insight about why all the residents from the lab are men.”
“What about the vamps?”
Syx sighed and turned, reaching up to cup the side of Vapre’s neck. “I don’t have all the answers, babe. I’m sure we’ll find out in time.”
Vapre melted at the endearment, the longing in Syx’s eyes, and the gentle squeeze of his fingers. “Okay,” he whispered. “Okay.”
Chapter Four
Evans, Gabrielle - Hell's Tempest [Fatefully Yours 4] (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Forever ManLove) Page 3