by Sariah Skye
“The fact it’s taking so long is a good sign,” Trystan said. “That means it’s working.”
The final straw was when Xander leaned over the blonde, grinning widely, and propping himself against the doorframe with a hand. She giggled profusely and skimmed a finger over the side of his arm. That crossed the line. My vision shaded red and I tensed violently.
“That’s it. I can’t do it anymore.” I broke free of Rhys and Trystan, who protested as I stormed up to Bash and Xander. The air was so heady and thick with lust I could barely breathe, and I was a cambion; impervious to their spell. I couldn’t imagine being a human on the receiving end of it. No wonder they were so dangerous.
“Hi!” I said, abnormally cheerfully, purposely grabbing the two guys by the arms and yanking them away with such force Bash nearly toppled over. I flashed the girls an artificially sweet smile. “So, yeah, you’re done here, right?”
They both looked at me like I had three heads and seven nipples. The brunette snarled. “Who the hell are you?”
“Who the—” I began, then clenched my mouth shut. Since I wasn’t sure of their cover story, if they even had one, I figured I’d better stop before blowing our cover.
“Now, now,” Bash wrapped an arm around my waist. “I was just getting the low-down on the party, babe. These ladies are kind enough to let us in without a charge.”
“How lovely.” I couldn’t even fake a smile, I wanted to rip the blonde’s fake eyelashes off her eyes and shove them up her nose. Hard. I heard it was a trend, actually—I’d probably be doing her a favor.
“Yes,” Xander said, “they even had some information about the entertainment.”
“Right,” I replied blandly, as if that made up for everything.
“Thanks for everything,” Bash said, smiling at them both electrically. I unsuccessfully avoided watching them as their eyes raked over Bash’s backside, but I did discreetly stick up my middle finger as I pressed my hand to his back and slid it into the back pocket of his jeans. He couldn’t stifle his broad grin.
Bash nodded over his shoulder at Rhys and Trystan standing nearby, and we slipped in without protest under the doorway, and into the massively loud, massively large party. We entered a large foyer area, with staircases on either side leading up to a mass of doors. The entire house was wall to wall people, everyone carrying clear cups full of beer and talking loudly. Several couples had already paired off, and were heavily making out pinned against the wall, on a random chair, or on a sofa.
A makeshift stage of sorts was set up along one wall, and on stacks of crates sat several speakers and a docking station with someone’s phone plugged into it.
“Let’s get out of the entryway,” Trystan said, and he guided us further into the room, past groups of guys wearing way too much cologne and young women barely wearing anything at all.
I snorted. “Shit, here I thought I’d be considered well dressed. I guess the idea was to wear underwear,” I said, nodding towards a girl wearing literally a bra and shorts that were cut up so high in back, her buttcheeks were sticking out.
“Nonsense!” Xander said, leaning over my shoulder and speaking into my ear. “That looks ridiculous. You look gorgeous!”
“Like an expensive hooker instead of a cheap one?” I suggested.
“Not even close!” He said. “Like a goddess.”
“See?” Bash nudged me, as a trio of young early-twenty-somethings paused in their loud conversation to eye me up and down. A low rumble quaked his chest, as he slid a hand under my chin, bringing my lips to his. He planted a deep kiss on me, making his claim in front of the ogling co-eds, so sultry and passionate I had to remind myself to keep breathing. I was dizzy when we parted, and I grazed my thumb over his kiss-swollen lips, wiping off the lipstick he’d kissed off. Both Xander and Trystan laughed loudly. I seriously had no idea Bash was so territorial. I kind of liked it.
Satisfied the guys were no longer looking, he motioned us further into the crowd, grinning smugly. “We should probably get something to drink?”
“I’ve got it. I want to get a feel for the place anyway.” Trystan flashed me a wink and slipped into the crowd. He was a few inches taller than everyone, and that mixed with his auburn hair and rugged good looks he really stood out.
An extremely noisy song started blaring from the speakers and the entire crowd started cheering. I actually winced and plugged my ears with my fingers as the party was officially in full swing.
Xander gripped my arm and nudged us backward to the wall, Bash and Rhys were close behind.
“What did you learn?” I asked him rather loudly.
Xander placed his hands on my shoulders and leaned over to speak closer to my ear. “Apparently, our two incubi are part of the band that’s supposed to come in and play later.”
“Really?” I was shocked. “It’s that easy? How can you tell?”
Bash constrained himself against the back of me, a hand on the small of my back, veering dangerously close to my ass. He leaned in and spoke into the other ear. “One of the girls said that her friend was one of the women targeted by them. That she and one of them went off into a room together, and when they came out she was…”
“…infatuated,” Xander supplied, with a dry laugh.
“Right. She said it sounded an awful lot like she was assaulted, but she continued to defend him.”
“Sounds like an incubus to me,” Rhys interjected, not wanting to be left out.
“When do they arrive? And how do we get their attention?” Even though I knew.
Bash slapped his hand against my ass, and I jumped. “You get your hot little butt out there and shake what the evil witch gave ya!”
“I can’t believe we’re encouraging it.” Scowling, Xander scrubbed a hand over his face. I glared at him pointedly and he sighed. He ran a hand through the length of my hair, and tipped his forehead against mine, gazing directly into my eyes.
“I’m sorry if that made you uncomfortable, qīn'ài de. We didn’t enjoy it whatsoever,” his honeyed, baritone voice spoke into my ear.
“I know.” I said, wrapping my arms around both of them and clutching them in close. I really did, too; it was just hard to watch.
These were my boys. Mine. Geez, when did I turn into a possessive little brat?
Trystan returned a few moments later; I’d solidified myself against Bash and Xander, feeling safe with them against the noisy crowd.
“It’s terrible and warm and tastes like horse piss but it should take care of some of the nerves,” Trystan said, handing me a plastic cup of warm beer, and another to Xander.
I gripped the drink in my left hand and watched the ring to see if it changed color. Satisfied with the result, I angled the drink against my lips and took a sip.
Xander promptly grimaced, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “Shit, this crap is nasty!”
“Eh, cheap beer, a college kid’s staple.” It wasn’t wonderful, but it got the job done.
We hung back for about thirty minutes, watching the crowd grow and the dancing get sloppier and sloppier, until finally four guys took the stage.
Two of them, a guitarist and a makeshift drummer weren’t anything special. Shaggy haired, blue-jean wearing college guys. It was the singer and the bassist that commanded a presence.
“And there are our incubi,” Bash said, frowning.
“Hey there, St. Cloud State! Thanks for having us!” The singer, a very tall, statuesque man, not a college kid, with sculpted muscles, black hair and blue eyes shouted into the crowd. The noise completely hushed, and all the women were completely transfixed; except for me, of course. He was extremely attractive, and when he and the bassist, an equally buff, brown haired man with brown eyes started singing, the entire crowd fell under their spell. It wasn’t an original song but a cover; something from the early 2000s.
“Yes, definitely incubi,” Xander murmured.
“Is this what you guys did at your club in the twenties?” I
asked Xander and Bash.
“Eh, not quite. Neither of us can sing,” Bash chuckled.
“That’s actually not true. What he lacks in kissing prowess, Bash is actually an amazing singer,” Xander said, playfully shoving his friend. Bash’s cheeks flushed.
“You stop that,” I scolded him, poking him in the chest. “He’s not a bad kisser at all!”
“Thank you, babe,” Bash said, giving Xander a sour face. “She’d know, she’s an expert,” he flashed me a wink. He still stared trepidatiously at Xander, unknown emotions in his eyes.
I rose my brow. Something was up, there. “Hey, let me…” I grabbed him by the arm and pulled him a few paces away out of hearing distance.
“What?” He asked, with a nonchalant shrug.
“Are you—” Trystan turned back and glanced questioningly at me, but I waved him away.
“I got this.” Rhys flicked his hand, and everything around Bash and I turned silent. Peoples’ mouths were still moving but we couldn’t hear anything, so it was like we were in some sort of bubble.
Bash nervously scratched his neck and shuffled his feet.
“Please don’t get angry for me asking this, but are you attracted to Xander?” I asked hesitantly. “Keep in mind, I don’t care, I just—”
Bash groaned, and pinched the bridge of his nose, squinting his eyes as if the answer were difficult. “Not anymore,” he finally answered.
“But, you were?”
He sighed. “Long, long ago when we first met. I was actively seeking out men because I was so damn lonely,” he said sadly.
I threaded my arm in with his and clutched his hand, and stroked the hair over his ear with affection, hoping to relax him. This was obviously a pretty big confession for him. “That must have been terrible, being so alone.”
He nodded. “Only Mathias was alone for longer; I’m not sure of the timeline. But I was alone for close to three-hundred years, it started to wear on me.” He paused, and anxiously chewed his lip. “I traveled to San Francisco for the Gold Rush like so many others. I was still pretty poor; only working odd jobs here and there. Only so much you could do without people noticing you’re not aging. I didn’t strike it rich, but I did hear rumors about a strange brothel that people said was run by a witch. That’s when I found Xander; he was ridiculously charismatic and with his heritage he was somewhat of a novelty. I actually tried to get an ‘appointment’ with him, but the Madame—Morgaine as we now know—refused. She probably recognized me to boot, so she forbade me from ever coming back. I learned a lot of women leaving the place—wives of prominent city folks, whatever—going into hysterics or mysteriously dying afterward, and I knew he was out of control. So, I kept hanging around there for a while until I finally ran into him in an alley. He wasn’t cocky anymore, he was crying and scared shitless; he was losing control. He didn’t know how to not take too much and actually, Morgaine was threatening to kill him because he was exposing her business with the bad publicity his accidents were causing. I staged a break in and got him out, and we roamed the streets for a few weeks before he was approached by Thomas Alexander and was given that bar in San Francisco and a little bit of money to keep him going.”
“Why him, though? Why not you?” I questioned.
“He didn’t know about me. We separated many times because Xander just resisted everything at first. You know how stubborn he is. It wasn’t until he was given the bar did he come find me to apologize, and he made me a partner.”
“I see.” I waited for him to continue, and he sighed again.
“As you’ve seen, we had to get a bit… close when I had to teach him how to keep the women alive. Things got confused and well…” Bash trailed off, cheeks flushing bright red.
“So, did you—” I made a slight suggestive gesture.
“No, but we did make out once pretty heavily until he decided it wasn’t for him. Frankly, it wasn’t me either but after three-hundred years, the connection was better than nothing.”
“Geez, you guys have lived such hard lives.” I rose on my tiptoes and kissed him gently on his rough chin. “Here I was complaining I couldn’t get a date.”
“Don’t feel bad about that. You had no idea. And eventually, you would have ended up where we were. You wouldn’t have had any idea that you were immortal and you would have been utterly alone like we were,” Bash said sadly, turning his head and staring at me intently. “I wouldn’t wish that on you. Despite all the chaos, I’m glad you’re here and you won’t be wrecked by that kind of loneliness that we were. It just makes everything worthwhile.” He reached over to gently stroke my cheek.
“I’m glad you’re here too.” I pressed my palm against his and turned to kiss his open hand. He smiled wryly. “So, what is this, then?” I motioned between the two of them.
“Just… jealousy probably.” He laughed shortly. “And hearing him joke like that stings a bit. I’m sure he’s just you know, deflecting. He has always loved to give me shit, and I give it just as much. I also wasn’t really trying either,” he said with an evil smirk. I giggled. “And, also you know… I feel so plain next to him. He’s dark and exotic and passionate with that cool magic and I’m just… light and blond and a boring old witch.”
“Aww, but you aren’t just a boring witch now, are you?”
His eyes flashed alight. “Nope. Not anymore.”
“And you’re certainly not plain.” I searched his piercing, steel blue eyes; there was a hint of sadness behind them that broke my heart. At that moment I wanted nothing more than to chase it away, so I slid my hand to his neck and pulled his face to mine for a deep kiss. I pulled away and whispered, “I think you’re fine as hell.”
He beamed widely. “If you think that, then I’m the luckiest man on Earth. But… please don’t repeat this to anyone. Trystan doesn’t care about gay people, really but it still makes him a tad uneasy and I’m obviously like, not gay. Not that there’s anything wrong with it of course. I’m just not. I was curious. Mathias after dealing with his… past… has always been a bit leery. Just because…ah…”
“What?”
He cocked a brow. “It wasn’t only women vying for his attention, if you know what I mean.”
I gasped in horror. “So he was—?”
“Essentially yes. But I didn’t tell you that. He needs to confess that on his own time. But because of that, I kept that part secret… I didn’t want him to think… you know.”
“I get it. I won’t say a word.” Grinning, I even held up a crooked pinky finger. He laughed and linked his with mine. A little tiny thread of gold spun around our fingers for a split moment.
“That was weird,” I said, surprised.
“I guess Avalon takes promises very seriously.” Bash nodded towards the guys; everything seemed to be moving a bit slowly.
“Rhys?” I said, and he snapped his fingers, thus ending the magic. He was really, really coming in quite handy.
“Och, well what are ye waiting for?” Trystan grabbed a handful of my ass, urging me forward. “Get out there and charm those incubi.”
I exchanged a look with Rhys and shrugged. Making sure my handbag was still with me at my side hanging from a small strap, I smoothed my dress over my front carefully. Rhys turned his palm over, and I slid my hand into his. “Shall we, milady?”
“Let’s get this over with.” I glanced back at the guys who grit their teeth and clenched their fists as Rhys struggled to find a spot in the dancing crowd where we could be noticed.
Being shoulder to shoulder with so many strangers instantly made me nervous; I clamped down on Rhys’ hand hard.
“Would you be offended if I helped you a bit?” Rhys asked.
“What did you have in mind?”
“Just a little magic.” He brought his hand next to his chin and wiggled his fingers gently. A quick wave of warmth washed over me, like a cup of chamomile tea on a cold night. Just relaxing. “Better?”
I nodded. “Thank you.”
&nb
sp; “Now… to make sure they see us.” Rhys effortlessly flicked a hand forward, and the crowd parted all the way through the stage somewhat, at least affording the “band” an opportunity to see us, since we were on the shorter side.
“Curious, since you’re a cambion, too, would they, you know, be attracted to you, too?” I asked.
He shrugged. “If they have any tendencies towards the same sex, it’s possible. They can’t drain men though so it doesn’t matter either way. At the very least,” he said, leaning in to whisper in my ear, “I’d give him the screwing of a lifetime.”
I laughed loudly, inadvertently catching the attention of the jet-haired singer. I swallowed and flashed him my flirtiest smile. He actually stumbled over his words and the bassist had to improvise.
“There you go,” Rhys encouraged. “Shake it a bit.”
“I’m really not good at this,” I said hesitantly.
“You don’t have to be,” Rhys said, still gripping one of my hands, and setting the other on my hip. “Just harness that trademark Ava sass and you’ve got ‘em.” He gently yanked my arm, causing me to step forward slightly, and pushed back. “See?”
I laughed uneasily. “Sure.”
“Now we could really be bad and do that grinding-thing, but I’m afraid your boys would kill me, so I’ll be good. Just this once,” he flashed me an impish grin, and snapped his fingers toward the direction of my feet. Suddenly, I was able to move in time with the music, it had a slight Latin feel and repeated the same word over and over again; I was sure it was a popular one because of the cheering and singing in the crowd but I didn’t know it. With Rhys’ help, I actually picked up a little bit of a salsa beat and actually felt pretty good.
“You spelled my feet, didn’t you?” I asked with a laugh.
“Nope, that’s all you, I just brought your confidence out. You have none, it’s sad. I’ve seen you shake your hips before; I know you can do it you just need the right motivation,” he spoke over the music. He was surprisingly adept at dancing; I never would have expected it of the quirky sorcerer.