by Nichols, TJ
For a reply, Terrance stood and offered Angus his hand, and Angus reached up and took it. As they went hand in hand into the house, Lizzie caught his gaze. He gave her a slight nod and hoped that she’d realize that he hadn’t thrown their plan out the window.
Inside he shrugged out of his coat and hung it by the door. Terrance did the same, but when he went to speak, Angus put a finger on his lips. It wasn’t safe.
“Not in here,” he whispered against Terrance’s lips.
Angus led Terrance down the corridor and into his room, where he had a very small bag of things to take across. He was ready, even though he wasn’t ready in his heart.
But he had to be. Everyone was counting on him. Terrance expected him to have all the answers, and he had none—only a best guess.
Part of him wanted to wait.
Angus kicked off his shoes. “Is there any rush?” He wasn’t talking about sex.
Terrance lifted an eyebrow. “We might not get another chance.” That was true for sex and for escaping. “We either do it or we forget about it and live with the regret.” Terrance tugged Angus closer by the hem of his shirt. “You don’t seem like the kind of person who likes living with regrets.”
His tension and fear were temporarily replaced with mead and lust, and it felt good. He was tired of playing stupid games and only seeing Terrance when the underground decided he deserved it.
Why had they let Terrance come tonight?
Terrance swiftly undid buttons as he stole desperate kisses. He acted as though there were no time to waste and all he wanted was Angus. Angus wanted to sink into the moment, but he was too amped-up, too alert. The last time they were together, it was pure lust. Neither of them had expected more from that encounter, yet they were bound together by hope for a better place and a better use of magic.
Clothes came off and puddled on the floor.
Terrance smoothed his hand over Angus’s chest and shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Magic must be hard work.”
“It is. Demonside is a hard place to live.” The trainees knew what they were getting into. They had lived there, if only part-time.
Terrance nodded and stepped forward. The back of Angus’s knees hit the bed and he fell back. Terrance fell with him. “Tell me.”
“About the desert? The lack of water?”
“I want to know everything,” he said between kisses as he moved lower.
“It’s hot all the time, even when it rains.” His stomach tightened as Terrance’s lips brushed his hard dick. “The rivers, when they’re there, aren’t safe to swim in.” He closed his eyes when Terrance took him in his mouth and sucked.
Angus took several deep breaths, not because he needed to hold back for ritual, but because it felt so good that he didn’t want it to be over too soon. He hadn’t had sex with a human for months, not since he’d last been with Terrance. He didn’t have the finesse that Saka had, the polished performance, honed through years of ritual. This was raw and hungry and uncontrolled.
Terrance looked up. “Keep going.” He slowly stroked Angus’s cock.
“I don’t know… it’s sandy”—Terrance was totally distracting him and making it hard to think—“and red, and life is brief because the rains and rivers don’t last long. But magic is everywhere, and it’s beautiful.” He wanted to share that with Terrance. Because Terrance had lost his demon when the college killed it. He might not want another, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t expand his talents as a wizard.
Would Terrance and Saka get on?
His worlds were about to collide, and he stilled as that realization struck hard. That was why he was stalling. He had two lives and two lovers, and while they’d met and knew about each other, it would be something else when he opened the void.
Terrance gave him a slow lick. “And your demon?”
“He’s….” Another slow lick that circled the head of his now very hard cock. “He’s a very good teacher.” Angus smiled. “Turn around and let me show you.”
If it hadn’t been for the dampeners in the house, Angus could’ve collected the magic they were drawing to them. He could feel it, even though he couldn’t touch it.
Terrance moved, and Angus slid down the bed to get into a better position.
“And now you can’t talk because you’ll have your mouth full.”
“That’s not a bad thing.” Angus tasted Terrance’s skin, gave a lick and a kiss on his inner thigh, and moved closer to his cock, a little at a time.
Terrance’s skin was soft, unlike a demon’s. Dark hair dusted his balls. The musky scent of sex filled Angus’s lungs with every breath. He’d intended to show off some of his skills, but that wasn’t what he wanted to do right then. He liked the simple lust he had with Terrance. It was worth more than any magic he could gather.
He took his human lover in his mouth, more gently than he would’ve done with Saka. Terrance did the same to him. The wet heat and the suction made a shiver of pure heat roll down his spine, and he couldn’t blame that on the mead. Even though he’d been taught to hold back until he couldn’t resist any longer, he gave in as the need crested the first time. He moved his hips, the bells around his ankle chimed in rhythm, and Terrance took him deeper as Angus came.
Angus’s groan was muffled by Terrance’s dick in his mouth. He shuddered as the sensation rolled through him. It was far better than bottled sunshine or even the promise of summer around the corner.
With the lust out of his blood, he focused on Terrance and the way he moved with each touch or suck or taste. A flick of Angus’s tongue over the slit brought the first taste of Terrance’s pleasure.
It didn’t take long before Terrance rocked his hips in rhythm. Angus took him a little deeper each time and then slowly drew back to just tease the head. That was all it took. Terrance thrust his hips forward as his back arched and a moan formed on his lips. Angus swallowed. The taste wasn’t what he’d become accustomed to. It was more salty than sweet. Had it really been that long?
They lay spent on the bed, limbs tangled as they caught their breath.
Angus wanted longer. He wanted more, but that wasn’t possible, and he didn’t know how to say it. Finally they sat up, and Terrance ran his fingers along Angus’s jaw and brought him closer for a kiss. The sweetness of the mead was gone, replaced with a musky tang. “I’m ready for summer.”
Angus stood on the back porch, looking at the dwindling bonfire and the very merry trainees. None of them were ready for Demonside. He had his small bag under his coat, and Terrance had put some extra things in another bag under his. Both of them had added some rations. If people were watching the cameras, hopefully they would think it was for the party.
Terrance put a hand on Angus’s lower back. “It won’t be long until the guards are telling us it’s time to leave.”
“I know.” Angus didn’t move.
Lizzie got up and walked over. She climbed the three steps and stood in front of them. “This is it?”
Angus nodded and glanced at Terrance. “No more waiting.”
“Okay. I’ll get my things. Norah has hers with her already.”
“Really?” Norah was organized, but that was very efficient, even for her.
“She’s worried.”
“So am I. She doesn’t have to come.” None of them did, but there wouldn’t be time for a quiet chat and cool decisions. When they talked about defecting to Demonside, it had all been theory—maybes and what-ifs. But after the auditorium, the plan had become urgent.
“She wants to. I haven’t spoken to anyone else.”
Terrance picked up a bottle, faked a drink, and handed it to Lizzie. It was still a party—a party with armed guards watching and listening to their every move and word.
Lizzie handed it to Angus. “Maybe we should take one with us.”
“Maybe.” He took a sip. “I’m going to open the void. Tell everyone that we won’t be coming back.”
“They’ll start shooting at us,” Terra
nce said.
“Yeah. But if I speak to people beforehand, they may speak to the guards before we can leave.” There was at least one trainee who seemed to buy the shit the underground was selling.
“It was always going to be a mess. Give me five, and then I’ll be back.” Lizzie nudged his shoulder as she went past.
“I’ll go say something to Norah.” He needed to reassure her, but how could he say it would all be fine when he knew it wouldn’t be?
Terrance put his hand on Angus’s arm. “How many will come?”
Angus studied each of the little clusters. “I don’t know.”
He hadn’t got to know the others well enough. No doubt that was part of the underground’s plan—keep them isolated so they couldn’t get close.
Terrance picked up another bottle, but didn’t take the lid off.
“You really want to take one?”
“Nah, it’s a weapon.” Terrance grinned. His teeth were white in the moonlight.
Angus approached Norah, who was so tense she was clearly ready to snap. He squatted next to her and nodded at the tipsy man on her other side.
“I didn’t think you’d be coming out of your bedroom,” she said.
Angus glanced at the ground. “Making the most of it.” He had to remember what he was fighting for. He lifted his head to look her in the eye. “How about you?”
“I’m tired of snow.”
“That sentiment seems to be going around. Lizzie said the same.” They’d all be sick of heat and sand soon enough.
Although Angus had only spoken to him a few times, Dustin sat down and joined the conversation. “There’ll be no Spring. It’s just going to get colder until we all die, until the world dies, and one college warlock is left standing, laughing that he has all the magic.”
“The rest of the world won’t let that happen.” Angus would do everything he could to stop the college. He glanced at the man on the other side of Norah.
Dustin took a peek at who it was and nodded. “You got something going on?”
Norah glanced between the two of them, but said nothing. Then her gaze shifted. Angus’s heart stuttered. Was a guard right behind him? He looked over his shoulder to see Lizzie and Terrance wandering over.
It was time.
Norah scrambled up like a startled rabbit.
Dustin stood and stumbled. “Shouldn’t have drunk that bottle on my own.”
Angus drew whatever magic was in the yard to him. The guards had stopped talking and were watching the five of them. So were the other trainees. They all knew something was about to happen.
Did he need a distraction?
There was no time to plan one or create one. He took a few quick breaths, but he was unable to find calm. He couldn’t look at the guards, but he couldn’t wait any longer.
Angus tore open the void, and the heat of Demonside washed over him. “If you follow me, you’ll never be able to call Vinland home again.”
Terrance and Lizzie went through without hesitation. Norah followed.
Dustin swore. “You’re defecting? To where?”
Angus didn’t answer. He watched the others. They all got up. Two stepped away and shook their heads, as though to make it clear they wanted no part in what was going on. The other two started toward Angus and the tear. The man was shot before he could take two steps, but the woman ran. She used magic to throw embers at the guards, blinding them for a moment.
She went through.
Dustin looked at Angus and shrugged. “Dead here or dead there.”
“At least there we’ll be free.” Angus stepped through and gasped. Something had gone wrong.
There were no friendly tents, no village waiting for them—just endless starlit plains of sand.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Saka stood at the edge of the village. He hadn’t been so tense since he’d stood on Lifeblood to be tested as an apprentice. It was hard to breathe, but he had to do this. If he didn’t, he was complicit in starting a war with the humans of Vinland… and killing Angus. His feet remained rooted. Somewhere in the distance were other demons. From where he stood, all he could see was sand and stars.
There was a good chance he could die out there. One demon walking the sand was a tempting meal for a riverwyrm, and he’d never lived alone. He’d always had the tribe around him.
He glanced back and saw someone moving in the shadows. Her white skin glimmered, and for an awful moment, Saka thought it was Miniti, coming to stop him. But it was Wek. She stopped a few paces away and took in the sled he’d packed with what he could carry. He hadn’t dragged one of those since he was Guda’s trainee.
“You are leaving,” she said.
“I am doing what is best for the tribe.” The greater tribe and all of Demonside, not their small group.
“Some would say you are blinded by love for a human warlock.”
Saka closed his eyes for a moment. “Not blinded.” But he couldn’t deny that he cared for Angus more deeply than he should. “Are you here to stop me? To warn Miniti?”
Miniti would have him staked out in the desert before sunrise. He’d be dead by dusk, with luck.
Surviving out there alone until Angus returned would not be easy.
“No. I do not want to see us destroyed by greedy humans. I used to think all humans, and warlocks especially, were power hungry monsters, but that is the same kind of lie they tell about us.”
Saka looked at Wek. When had she become a mage? Was it two or three years ago on Lifeblood Mountain? “So what will you do?”
She pulled something out of the shadows—a sled, as though she were ready to travel. “I knew when Miniti announced that humans were to die that you would not stay.”
“Everyone else thinks I will.” If Miniti thought he’d leave, she’d have posted a guard.
Usi would become head mage with the shift in politics. She’d achieve her goal. The experiment in teaching humans was over, and while she’d agreed it was something that should be tested, it wasn’t something she had supported. How many other mages felt the same? Did they agree reluctantly but believe they were just postponing the inevitable?
Angus didn’t want to believe that war was the only option, but he thought war would come to Vinland. For a heartbeat his resolve faltered. Was he abandoning his tribe to protect the man he loved, or was he looking for another solution, for an alliance that would help Angus’s people fight back against the college and its lust for power and magic?
“They have not watched you and Angus closely. I have. I wanted to know how you worked and why you trusted him with so much.” She dragged her sled closer. “I am coming with you.”
“I cannot ask that.” He didn’t want to draw another mage into what could be a death walk. He had no idea how far they would have to travel.
“You did not. I am a mage, and I can make my own decisions. I would rather seek peace.”
“We will not get it. The demons we find will hopefully be allied with a country fighting Vinland.”
“Then we help them crush the college. That was always the aim of working with the humans, so nothing has changed.”
“Nothing has changed.” Everything had changed. Saka was without a tribe. He exhaled and started to walk. They’d have to put some distance between the village and themselves before dawn.
Wek muffled the bells on her sled while they snuck into the night. When they were farther away, Saka would unbind his bells. Then they would sing and make noise and hope that nothing thought them worth eating.
Two hunters had circled overhead, but they had not stopped to ask what Saka and Wek were doing. That was yesterday morning. Since then Saka hadn’t seen another demon. In a few more days, he’d leave a telestone. He had six of them ready. It would make it easier for those who wished to contact him.
If anyone did.
He wasn’t ready to tell Becha and Lox what he’d done, though no doubt they would know he was no longer in Miniti’s tribe. They’d had faith in his
plan, and it had been destroyed by those who felt there was no time to waste. The unwritten rules had washed away, and many would bleed on the sand.
As dusk settled and the heat went out of the day, he and Wek made camp. She’d brought her small tent, but they hadn’t been bothering to set it up. Saka had left his tent behind. It wasn’t really his—it was just the one given to the head mage. He was entitled to keep it, but it would take too long to set up on his own.
It was easy enough to find water, as it had been his job for long to guide the tribe along the rivers. But their food supplies were running low, and they would have to hunt soon. They wouldn’t be able to plant if they were to press on and find the other demons.
He lit a fire and allowed himself to remember the planting and the night in the field. It would forever be one of his happiest memories. He started to smile, but a chill rippled over his skin, and he felt a tug at his soul. The void was about to open.
“Arm yourself. The college may have Angus and be forcing him to open the void.” Saka moved away from their camp and drew his machete to greet the humans.
The trainees stumbled across. Shouts and the crack of weapons filled what had been a peaceful evening.
Where was Angus?
Six humans came through, but they shrank back when they saw Saka.
Angus appeared through the dark tear, and one more followed him, and the void slammed closed. Angus slowly turned and took in the desert. “Where is everyone?”
“The Lifeblood Mountain tribes have declared that all humans are to be killed on sight.” Saka sheathed his machete to make it clear that he wasn’t about to do that. Angus had brought six other humans with him, including Norah, Lizzie, and Terrance. “So now I have no tribe.”
Angus put his arms around him. “What happened?”
“The demons you freed and sent back? They spoke about what had happened, and the leaders halted the experiment, calling it a failure.” He held Angus tightly. “You did the right thing freeing them.”