by Emma Jaye
Ezra tilted Finn’s face up so he could admire those gorgeous jade eyes. “You and me both, Beautiful, but it’s got to be done. Be brave for me, ok?”
How has this little human changed me so quickly? A week ago, I didn’t care about anything but myself, and maybe Pixie a little. Now, I’m even feeling sorry for Silas and telling him shit I’ve never told anyone. Must be fun finding out you’re nothing but the result of a revenge stunt.
“Good evening, I’m Shanae,” a perky female voice announced. Everyone turned toward the chamber entrance although Finn and Ezra kept hold of each other.
The witch could be mistaken for a suburban, middle-aged, American housewife; from her clothing and accent that was exactly what she was. She gave them all a bright smile.
“I’ll be performing the spell. If it helps, and if Finn is unconscious, there’s no reason you can’t be physically touching. Ezra, you won’t be conscious either, nor will anyone else who chooses to participate.” She looked around the room.
“To tell the truth, this room would be a far more suitable venue than the council chamber. I think they make it uncomfortable on purpose, so the meetings don’t go on too long.”
The younger shifters produced nervous smiles at her attempt at levity; Ezra gazed at the harmless appearing woman who was about to bring his worst nightmares back in screaming Technicolor. At least the vampires had looked dangerous.
“You and Finn could lie together on the daybed over there.” She pointed to a saggy, big red sofa. “Proximity is the key to receiving a projection spell. I can project memories from the subject to every conscious mind within ten feet, willing or not. I will break every now and again to check on the condition of the participants. Although I see the memories, I don’t share the full experience so will remain in control.”
“I don’t want Finn to meet–” Ezra blurted before Fabian’s compulsion kicked in and took his voice.
The witch’s smile oozed sympathy. “I quite understand; we can sort out that issue right now. Finn, is there any particular memory you’d like to dream about while you sleep?”
Finn’s anxiety caused Ezra’s belly to clench. He should be protecting his vascellum, making him happy. Instead, all he did was distress him.
“I... I don’t know,” Finn glanced between Ezra and the witch, his entire body tense.
“Nothing too saucy though, we don’t need Council Leader Avery or Ezra getting distracted.”
Finn turned adorably pink. Ezra leaned down to whisper in his ear. “I’m going to need to know what you thought about later.” Before he could flirt any more, the witch continued.
“A view is a good one. How about a nice beach scene? Waves, blue sky, palm trees?” she suggested, with another bright smile that Ezra found irritating. He made a silent bet with himself that she would say ‘awesome’ at least once in the next few minutes.
Finn’s cheeks stayed red. “I’ve erm, never been abroad.”
She gave him a sympathetic smile. “Everyone has a first time. How about I give you one of mine? It’s tranquillity itself.”
Finn’s eyes flicked up to Ezra’s face. “That sounds great,” Ezra said, giving his vascellum a smile.
“Er, yeah, ok.” Finn tensed as the witch took a step forward with candy pink lips curved into a smile. She smelled like talc; she smelled safe.
“It doesn’t hurt. All you have to do is relax and concentrate on the scene.”
Oh, fuck, this is really happening. Ezra glanced toward the chamber entrance where the three younger shifters had stationed themselves. If I refuse to go through with it, will they force me, hand me straight off to Fabian or cart me to prison?
Finn’s arms tightened around him, and he glanced down again. Shit, he’s still feeling all this. The sooner he’s asleep, the better.
Ezra didn’t like the fear he could see in those hypnotic green eyes, fear he was causing. He let his own ability out as he rubbed his thumb over Finn’s cheek. Cupping his face, and pushing his hand up inside the back of Finn’s shirt, he maximised skin to skin contact. Finn let him, giving Ezra every ounce of his trust.
“Time to have a little nap, Beautiful. You’re going to have such sweet dreams. Sleep, my love.”
Finn wobbled, blinked, once, twice. As the young vascellum folded, Ezra hooked his knees up, cradling him in his arms.
“What did you do that for? I can’t compel him if he’s asleep.” Disappointment shone in Silas’s voice.
Ezra didn’t bother glancing at the other demon as he carried his precious burden toward the couch. “If you think I’m letting a vamp at him, even a half vamp, you’re nuts. I’m sure Mrs Memory here can make sure he stays asleep, right?”
The witch nodded. Ezra sat down on the plush, blood-red velvet, brushing Finn’s long, straight hair off his face as he held him on his lap.
Without tearing his eyes away from the boy who had changed him as much as the vampires, cool fingers touched his temple and the world spun away to the nightmare he’d tried to forget for over a century.
CHAPTER 4
Jealousy reared its ugly head in Silas as Jericho lunged forward and eased the pair sideways as Ezra slumped. He itched to hold the incubus again, to comfort his distress. Instead of putting his obsession to rest, once and for all as he’d hoped, being with Ezra last night had reignited it. No one knew Ezra like he did. Did they buy the almost hysterical way the young incubus had clung to his ‘happy-go-lucky’ seductive persona? The serious faces around him said not.
Ezra’s plea for permanent protection had given him a shot of euphoria comparable to telling Fabian he’d raised someone else’s bastard. But he wasn’t the only one under the spell of the incubus and his vascellum. That the bear shifter was one of them, even before Ezra had performed his little trick had been a surprise.
Joining, maybe leading, the growing group of misfits, people who really needed him, had a distinct appeal. Currently, he was accepted by most of his peers because of his position at the prison, but he had no friends. Vampires found him odd, and his parentage, once it became widely known, would make him even more of an outcast.
An outspoken fae, a misfit, mixed breed demon, four canine shifters trying to find a place in the world, the last Atlas bear shifter, the only vascellum and a disturbed, neurotic incubus. It’d never work, but then again, no sex demon had ever survived Fabian cellar either.
“So, are we all still in?” he asked. The only ones present who hadn’t been part of the group who stopped Avery bonding Finn the night before were Henry and the witch.
Pixie snorted. “Do you have to ask? Of course, I’m in. He re-joined civilization because of me and I introduced Finn to him, so this mess is partially my fault.”
Milo glanced over at his Alpha. Henry’s head tilted to the side. “The pack bond has never been particularly strong for you. Are you requesting I release you?”
The young shifter frowned, glanced at the floor, then back up at his uncle and Alpha. The tension in the room went up a notch.
“You’re my family, I love you all, but... you don’t need me. They do.” Once again, all eyes turned to the sleeping pair.
“I don’t want to renounce the pack, but I need to find my own way.”
Henry’s three sons shared a glance and walked over to stand with their cousin. After hearing how a human, who was a few months shy of his twentieth birthday, had thoroughly manipulated them, Silas concluded that they needed protecting nearly as much as Ezra and Finn.
“Father,” Emmett, the one in the middle whose jeans Silas had borrowed, swallowed heavily, got a nudge from both twins and continued. “We... feel the same way. We don’t want to renounce the pack, but we’re just there. With them,” he waved a hand in the sleeping pair’s direct, “we could make a real difference.”
Jericho let out a groan and muttered, “What have I done to deserve this?”
A broad grin appeared on Henry’s face. “My friend, it appears you’ve set up a satellite pack, let me know how
that works out for you.”
“I was never out,” Silas said not taking his eyes off Ezra’s face. It was time to let them know where he stood.
“What he suffered was due to my ignorance, selfish personal pleasure seeking and a significant lack of backbone. I should have stopped it years sooner; should have never let it happen at all. Today will be a penance I thoroughly deserve.”
“So, you want to experience his memories?” Avery’s voice came from behind them. The six council delegates at his shoulders included the vengeance demon, dragon, fire elemental, reaper, djinn and to Silas’s surprise, the herbivorous shifter delegate.
Silas straightened up. “I do. I also think every involved member of my old clan should also experience what it’s like to be a victim. This is the twenty-first century; bagged blood is available as are willing donors. Blood demons don’t need the fear of others to live and they certainly don’t need to kill. It’s time all of them moved on.”
A slow clap came from behind Avery. The group parted, revealing Fabian. Jericho and the other shifters stepped in front of the sleeping pair as they had in the forest.
“Oh, don’t worry your hairy little selves, I’m not going to harm them.”
“You’re right, you’re not,” the vengeance demon growled, then called out, “You ok, Silas?”
“Fine, thank you, father.”
Even wearing her female form, the being that had seduced his mother looked significantly intimidating with her red skin and horns. Silas was pleased he hadn’t inherited the vengeance demon’s ability to appear in whatever guise/gender he, or she, wanted. The pronouns alone would give him a headache.
“You? You did this to me?” Fabian vibrated with anger as he addressed Arioch. Silas found the suffering of the demon who had brought him up at the hands of his blood parent, profoundly satisfying. Ezra would be so jealous he’d missed this. Maybe I can ask the witch to share my memory with him.
“We’ve served together since the first council meeting,” Fabian spluttered. “And you never said a damn thing.”
The red lips quirked into a smile. Had Arioch chosen a delicate female form to add a little more salt to Fabian’s wound? Silas hoped so.
“Haven’t you heard, Fabian? Vengeance is a dish best served cold. Unfortunately, the only regret I sense is that you failed to discover the cuckoo in your nest before your wife died and that you didn’t get to punish her infidelity. You’re not sorry for what you did to Ezra or his predecessors.”
Fabian let out a bark of laughter, although not a hair on his blond head shifted. Why the ancient vampire clung to seventeenth-century fashion while embracing modern hair products had always puzzled Silas. Today, he wore a deep green ensemble of long coat, three-quarter length breeches, and long black boots.
“His predecessors came to me, not the other way around. As for Ezra, why should I regret showing a deluded young incubus his true nature? He only exists because I granted his mother’s request. I deserve thanks for helping him through the difficult first years of adulthood, not condemnation.”
Pixie walked right up to the vampire, and put her hand on her hip. Silas admired her attitude as much as he had last night when she’d tackled the leader of the Supernatural Council. However, facing down a sex demon was one thing, confronting the strongest vampire on the planet was quite another.
“Are you going to sit in on our little trip down memory lane, see what you did from his point of view?”
“Pixie, isn’t it?” Fabian asked.
“See, you can listen when you want to.”
The scowl on his stepfather’s face was worth its weight in gold. One of the shifter twins snorted in amusement. Silas hoped Fabian earned a custodial sentence, because judging from the hate-filled glance he threw the youngster’s way, he had just joined the vampire’s death list. At least he was in good company.
Fabian jabbed a finger toward his own chest. “What I did was necessary, and for his benefit. Yes, he found it difficult, but he’d settled down; he understood himself thanks to me. Sometimes training is painful, medicine can hurt more than the illness, but you end up a better demon for it. He was revoltingly soft when he came to me and he’s nearly as bad again now. He and the vascellum will be safer once I return him to the state he was in near the end of his training. He won’t risk himself because he’ll look to someone more experienced before acting. They’ll be no more jumping out of windows or climbing trees. You must all see they’re not safe to be let out on their own, I–”
“Thanks to you,” Milo growled from beside Jericho.
“Come out from behind that walking hearth rug, terrier, and I’ll be happy to discuss things further.”
The growl that bubbled up from Jericho’s chest as he stepped in front of the small canine shifter wasn’t the only one.
“Stop this now,” Avery snapped like a teacher dealing with a bunch of misbehaving teenagers.
Silas had significant respect for the leader of the council and not because of his appearance and bedroom abilities. Avery served to prove what an incubus could be, given the right start in life. Ezra might be rough around the edges, but Silas felt sure he could do well, given a little guidance.
“We aren’t here to bicker or fight, we’re here for justice,” Avery continued. “Fabian, your distraction techniques won’t work. Pixie, I thought you were better than that. Let’s get on with this. Fabian, sit over there. Your guards will stay out of range of the projection. The rest of you either leave now or take a seat.”
Before things went any further, Silas addressed his stepfather. “May I ask if Morvan is here with you?”
“He’s still my second. Of course he’s here.”
“Oh, I was just wondering if he would like to join this gathering. He was, after all, there from the very start.”
“As were you,” the venom in Fabian’s voice was clear.
Silas didn’t allow his face to show any emotion. “Oh, believe me, I remember most clearly.”
A crease appeared between Fabian’s brows.
“Invite Morvan to join us,” Avery instructed and one of the guards, a dragon shifter, left.
The large, bald, scarred vampire Silas hadn’t seen in a century walked in. They didn’t acknowledge each other. He and Fabian took seats six feet from where Ezra and Finn lay insensible. Jericho rumbled again, and Silas didn’t blame him. Having those two close to the vulnerable pair made him itch too.
Silas searched a chair in the melee of council members doing the same. Pixie fitted herself into the small space on the end of the couch behind Ezra’s bent legs. The bear shifter simply folded onto the floor next to the witch’s feet. After a few seconds, Milo joined him. The size difference made them an odd pair.
Emmett, Gethin, and Glyn strode over; determination radiated from the brothers. Silas wondered if it was Finn, Ezra, or the combination of the two that caused the addiction-like effect on the shifters. He didn’t want any harm to come to Finn, mostly because he didn’t want Ezra to feel any more pain, rather than any direct concern for the human.
He would be there to support Ezra when Finn passed. The longer Finn survived, the deeper Ezra’s grief would be. Silas hoped Finn became the longest lived vascellum on record. Comforting the incubus from such a loss would be the high of a lifetime.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Avery’s voice broke through his fantasy of having a sobbing Ezra in his arms again.
Gethin nodded at the sleeping incubus. “Silas said Ezra was what, eighteen when this happened?”
“Correct,” Silas said as he located a dining chair and carried it over to the head end of the daybed.
Glyn said, “We’re in our mid-twenties, Emmett’s nearly thirty.”
“And we might understand how he felt more than you older people,” Emmett’s finished.
Avery apparently didn’t have any objections as he took a seat on the other side of Fabian to Henry, who sat between the two vampires.
Avery scanned the r
oom. “Is everyone ready?”
Silas knew it was time to speak up. After putting Ezra through this, there was no way on earth he would risk Fabian wriggling out of this.
“Excuse me, Council Leader, there were periods when Ezra was unconscious for extended periods of time. If you wish to use my memories of those periods, you are welcome to.”
“That’s illegal, he can’t testify against me,” Fabian almost shouted, as he stood up.
“Sit down,” Avery snapped, but Henry was already on his feet, pressing down on the vampire’s shoulder. “But you’re right; clan members can’t testify–”
“True, but are unfiltered memories admissible as evidence, the same as CCTV footage?” Pixie piped up.
“Unfortunately not. They’re coloured by emotion,” the witch said.
Fabian sat, smirking in satisfaction. The tingle of anticipation for a dose of righteous vengeance made it difficult for Silas to hold back a smile.
“At the time these alleged incidents took place, I was a full member of the clan, and believed I was the defendant’s son. If anything, my memories will support the clan members. I’m not a hostile witness, or at least I wasn’t back then,” Silas said.
“You understand this could condemn you along with Fabian?” Avery arched his eyebrows.
Silas smiled as his stepfather’s scowl deepened. “I do. I’m sure being an inmate in my own prison will be a useful educational experience.”
The Leader of the Council shrugged. “All those in favour of viewing Silas’s memories, if and only when Ezra’s fail, say ‘aye’.”
After a wave of council member ‘ayes’, and a snort of derision from Fabian, Avery addressed the witch. “Proceed.”
CHAPTER 5
Ezra always felt safe at home. Yes, his mother’s ‘friends’ disgusted him, and boredom plagued his existence, but he’d never been hit. He wasn’t sure if the shock of his mother not defending him, or the pain that still bloomed in his belly, hurt more. He couldn’t stop replaying the scene in his mind, trying to work out if he could have done something differently. Reacting, rather than manipulating, certainly hadn’t worked.