by Riley Rivers
And he seemed miserable. But more than that...
Chris prided himself on his people skills. It served him well in his actual job as a tattoo artist, but there was a reason Su Lin had come to him when she’d needed a bouncer. He was good at de-escalating situations and using only the minimum amount of force needed in the event that things got a little messier. And yeah, he was good at talking and knew he had a build that helped his work but he also had a little something extra on his side. The talismans he had tattooed onto his skin contained power he was able to call upon when needed.
In his day-to-day he mostly used calming suggestion and pain relief. As a bouncer those same calming suggestions were useful to get through to patrons who were drunk or upset or both.
But among his other abilities, he also could hone in on auras that were out of whack. So when it came to bouncing, it meant he could pay attention to people who had had too much to drink to properly function or consent. In a worst-case scenario, he could also pick out the blurry haze of drugs winding around a person. It was the biggest reason Su Lin had asked him to help out.
Ryan’s aura was a desperate, twisting thing that flickered unhappily around him. And it seemed like every time Chris got a glimpse of it, it got weaker and weaker.
It wasn’t his business or right to approach Ryan about it, but he couldn’t help keeping an eye on him. Which had turned out to be a good thing tonight.
His fists clenched at the unbidden memory of the guy who’d trapped an unwilling Ryan on the dance floor. Chris had spent enough time learning Ryan’s aura that even if he didn’t really know the guy, he was fond of him. And Chris would freely admit that he had a protective streak. So when he’d caught sight of someone wrapped around Ryan’s slender body, Ryan’s panic palpable, his aura turning a bright, vivid purple as it curled in tight. roiling under the stranger’s touch... Chris had had to imbue calm into himself to not grab the stranger touching him and bodily pull him away.
Instead he’d talked him off. Had signaled to Sebastian, one of the other bouncers to escort the guy out. And he’d then tried to make sure Ryan was okay.
Getting in close to Ryan, actually touching him for the first time… Chris was finally able to recognize his magical signature. Figured out that twisting aura. Ryan was definitely not okay.
And Chris would be remiss if he didn’t try to do something about it.
Chapter Two
Ryan peered down at his phone and sighed. Two in the morning. He should go home and go to sleep. It was a way to conserve energy anyway. Besides, when he was sleeping he wasn’t thinking about how hungry he was, unless it woke him up.
He’d managed barely a mouthful out of the whole night in the end, and almost felt worse than he did when he’d first showed up to Firefly. This might have been how he’d eaten before, but now he was wondering if maybe it was making things worse over better. Being surrounded by potential for a meal and not being able to follow through with getting one.
He didn’t know what else to do though. Not without fully involving someone else. And he wasn’t going to do that. There was no such thing as a willing victim.
Ryan tried to summon up the energy to stand. He just needed to stand up and walk out. Head two blocks down to the parking garage. Drive to his apartment. Go to bed. Easy steps. And he was getting up. Any minute now.
He closed his eyes and pushed to his feet, wobbling a little. The dizziness wasn’t abating, but maybe once he got some fresh air…
It took an effort, but he managed to walk all the way across the club to the exit. Once he was outside he breathed in deep, trying to separate himself from the heady atmosphere he’d just left. It was even colder like this, and he shivered a little in the warm night air, wrapping his arms around his body and wishing he’d brought a hoodie with him. He hadn’t worn one because he thought tonight would actually help the constant chill he’d been dealing with lately.
So much for wishful thinking.
He walked a few steps away from Firefly, past the ring of people smoking and talking near the doors, before pausing in the face of another dizzy spell. He gritted his teeth and refused to buckle. He could do this. He could do—
“Ryan?”
Ryan startled and turned to lock eyes with Chris, who was watching him carefully from a few feet away. His voice was deep and pleasant, warmer than the night was, and it was nice to hear it without the pounding of the club’s music. Ryan felt himself listing towards him and fought the urge to shake his head, knowing it would just make him dizzier. Instead he blinked hard and tried not to let his gaze linger over any part of Chris’s body. “Uh, yeah. Hi?” He let it come out as the question he meant it to be.
Chris’s body language was relaxed and open. “I just got off for the night. Wanted to know if I could talk to you real quick.”
“About what?” Ryan asked warily.
Chris’s gaze slid over him, and Ryan took an involuntary step back.
Chris immediately held up his hands. “Sorry. I don’t want you to get the wrong idea. I just want to talk.”
“Talk about what?” Ryan asked, his next step back deliberate. He could feel himself tremble. Chris was way too lucid to be under Ryan’s power, which was the only reason why Ryan wasn’t bolting. That, and just the idea of running turned his stomach. But he wasn’t so sure he wanted to hear whatever it was Chris had to say.
He did not expect to hear, “I’d like to take you out.”
Ryan stared. “Excuse me?”
“I’d like to take you out,” Chris repeated. “On a date. You don’t have to sound so surprised.”
No, no, he very much did have to sound surprised. People didn’t ask him out. They ignored him or they tried to get into his pants, and those who fell into the latter group couldn’t even be blamed for it, what with Ryan being what he was.
People didn’t ask him out on dates.
“Why?”
Chris smiled at him, apparently undeterred by Ryan’s suspicious tone. “I see you at Firefly a lot. I dunno. I wanted to maybe get to know you a little better.”
Ryan narrowed his eyes. “Is this because of what happened earlier? I told you, I’m fine.” Fuck, now what? Chris worked at Firefly, and it was one of Ryan’s prime feeding grounds, even if it hadn’t been very effective lately. If he got Chris mad...
“You can say no,” Chris said. “It’s fine if it’s a no.”
That brought Ryan up short. “It is?”
Chris looked taken aback. “Of course. I… of course. You say no, nothing changes. You’ll just be a patron at Firefly.”
Ryan worried at his lip, sudden hope welling in him despite himself. “And… and if I say yes?”
“We spend some time together and see if maybe we want to spend more time together after that,” Chris said easily. And maybe a touch gentle. “We do, awesome. Second date. We don’t? No hard feelings, and again, nothing changes.”
“Oh.”
Chris rubbed at his arm, fingers brushing over his colorful tattoos. “It’s okay,” he said after a moment of Ryan not saying anything. “You just have a good night, alright? Get home safe.” He turned to go.
“Wait!”
Chris looked back at him. “Yeah?” God, he was gorgeous. There was no way this was anything but Ryan’s fault. Sneaking in around someone’s defensives again. But—
But Ryan had his aura pulled in so tight he was practically shaking from it. And Chris wasn’t behaving like anyone else who had fallen under Ryan’s spell. He was keeping his distance, for one. Not trying to get closer to sneak in touches.
He had been willing to leave. He’d been ready to leave Ryan alone, before Ryan had called him back.
And the way he was looking at Ryan now—his expression wasn’t clouded with lust. Instead he seemed… hopeful.
If Chris was lucid and sober and not under Ryan’s cursed influence, if he was, for some reason, genuinely into him, then… then Ryan would just be giving Chris what he wanted.
That could be okay.
He’d need to feel things out to make sure, but a date would be good for that anyway. If Ryan managed to keep from messing things up, managed to keep his aura under control and Chris still showed an interest in him anyway…
“Okay,” he said, fighting to keep his voice even. “A date sounds like it might be nice.”
***
Chris was a muddle of emotions by the time he was home and kicking off his shoes. He couldn’t get Ryan out of his head.
He had been all set to let Ryan know he was a witch. Tell him he knew what was going on and offer his help. But Ryan had been so close to spooking, aura spiked and terrified, that Chris had worried about him bolting. Asking Ryan out then had simply been instinct, and it certainly hadn’t been a lie, that he wanted to get to know Ryan better. Besides, a safer, arranged setting would be better to ease him into talking. Chris was still a stranger after all, and revealing a magical secret was always tricky regardless of the situation.
Hopefully once Ryan got to know him a little better in turn, he’d get more comfortable. And then Chris could drop his own abilities into conversation. Tactfully tell Ryan that he knew what was up so that he could set about helping.
Because right now Ryan was suffering.
He didn’t want to think about what would make an incubus starve himself, but Ryan’s face when Chris had told him it was okay for him to say no—
He gritted his teeth and stroked a finger over the tattooed chain of chamomile flowers circling his left wrist, absorbing the calming magic it carried. There wasn’t any good in getting riled up.
He steadfastly kept his mind blank as he jumped in and out of the shower, scrubbing a towel over his short hair before he fell into bed. Tomorrow. They were meeting for coffee tomorrow, and then Chris could go from there. He just had to remind himself that it wasn’t a real date, and that it was about getting Ryan help, not about how attractive Chris thought he was.
It took him a while to fall asleep, and he ended up dragging himself out of bed earlier than planned because of how antsy he was. After a quick breakfast he went to his workroom, determined to at least use his energy positively.
“You’re up too early,” Clementine said with a yawn, flying down to land on his shoulder.
Chris glanced at her before turning back to selecting pigments. “I’m usually up this early.”
“On weekdays,” she said pointedly. “Not on Sunday, after you don’t even get home until ungodly hours of the night.”
Chris shrugged, careful not to dislodge his parakeet familiar. “Had some stuff on my mind.”
Clementine peered down at the little vial he had sitting on his desk. Barely half an inch long, the vial was partially filled with tiny shards of amethyst. Chris was in the middle of mixing together ink. He’d use it to write down a spell on a small piece of paper that would go inside the vial too. “It doesn’t look like you had very good stuff on your mind. Who are you making a protective talisman for?”
Chris sighed. “A guy I met at Firefly yesterday.”
“You met someone?” Clementine sounded altogether too delighted.
“Calm down,” Chris said, tone a little too brusque. “It’s not what you think.”
“Oh?” Now she was definitely going to prod. Damn it. “Enlighten me then.”
Chris selected a quill, dipped it in the ink he’d made, and started writing down runes. Safety. Security. Health. Luck. “His name’s Ryan. He’s a regular at Firefly.”
“You’ve talked about him before.”
He could tell she was cocking her head even though he wasn’t looking at her. “Yeah. He’s the one with the weird aura. And yesterday some guy was giving him trouble and I touched him for the first time and…”
“And?”
Chris kept his hand steady as the quill scratched across the paper. “Figured out what’s up with his aura. He’s an incubus. And it’s pretty clear he hasn’t been feeding properly.” Understatement of the year. “I don’t know why.” Before Clementine could ask, he continued, “I meant to talk to him last night, but he was… I got the feeling that bringing it up out of nowhere would just make him take off. So I invited him out for coffee instead. Thought maybe he’d feel safer in the light of day. I’ll show him my own cards first. And then see about helping him out.” He salted the ink, then leaned over his desk to blow on it to help it dry.
“You invited a hungry incubus out on a date,” Clementine said, voice incredulous.
“You didn’t see or feel him, Clem.” The memory of Ryan’s frantic, weakening aura was an acrid taste in the back of his throat. “He’s… he’s starving to death. I’ve got to do something.”
She sighed. “I suppose you do. What’s ‘something’ in this case?”
Chris rolled up the paper and slid it into the vial before corking the little bottle and looking it over. Something like this would be best worn as a necklace. He fished through his materials for something to string it on, intending to pick out a leather cord, when his fingers brushed against a length of black satin rattail. Huh. A bit unorthodox for a protection talisman, but... it fit. He strung the satin cord through the loop on the vial and then tucked the necklace into his pocket. That done, he reached for his current sketchpad and flipped it to a clean page. He still had energy he needed to get out. “I don’t know. First step is to ask him why he’s not feeding, I guess. Go from there.”
“That is barely a plan.”
“I’m aware.”
“What if he thinks you’re offering yourself as a meal?” Chris didn’t reply. Clementine snorted and flew down to land on the table., taking his silence for surprise “You can’t honestly tell me you hadn’t thought of that possibility.”
Not for the first time, Chris thought back to what he had seen of Ryan last night. How wary he had been about being approached. How miserable he seemed in general—though no wonder, with how awful he must be feeling. His aura, weak and unhappy. “Something tells me that won’t be his first conclusion.” He cleared his throat. “But I will be offering, if it comes to that.”
“What, really?”
That, at least, was easy to answer. “Well, yeah. If I can help keep him from suffering, I’m going to. It could at least be a short-term solution.”
“Hm.”
“What?”
“You’re not exactly a sex-with-strangers type of person.”
Chris tried to keep his tone lighthearted. “Excuse me? All of college?”
She shook herself, feathers ruffling. “Yes, and then you met Adam, dated him for three years, broke up, and since then–”
“Since then I’ve had plenty of sex, thanks.” It’d been years since Adam.
“But now sex with strangers makes you mopey.”
“Clem, it’s really not a big deal. Besides, he might not even want me.” Even as he said it, his stomach started churning with the anxiety he’d been dealing since he’d invited Ryan out. With how hungry Ryan had to be, how desperate he had to be, if Chris made an offer, it wouldn’t be a complete surprise if Ryan accepted it. But what kind of yes would that be, when the other alternative was starvation?
“Please. You just said he was starving. Why would he turn down a meal?”
Chris shrugged. Leave it to Clem to matter-of-factly voice his worry. “We’ll see what happens.”
Clementine eyed him for a long moment while Chris concentrated on his sketchbook. Eventually she hopped closer and peered down at what he’d done. “Is that him?”
He blinked down at the paper, as if seeing what he was drawing for the first time. Sure enough, there was Ryan, captured in graphite. Chris had drawn him sitting on a barstool, head in one hand, watching an invisible crowd. As he looked over the sketch, he realized that he’d drawn Ryan looking drained, face settled into tired resignation. “Yeah, guess so.”
She craned her neck this way and that. “He’s pretty. But sad.”
Chris knew that some of his power sometimes got infused into his sk
etches. It happened most often when he was really concentrating or not concentrating at all. Since he did so much aura work, that power was often emotional. With Clementine being his familiar, she was easily able to pick up on that magical energy. And “pretty but sad” did sort of sum up Ryan, as Chris knew him.
He abruptly realized that he’d never seen Ryan smile before.
Well. Maybe Chris would get one out of him today.
Chapter Three
Ryan got a text message as he was walking into the coffee shop he and Chris had agreed to meet.
I’m here. Table in the back on the left.
Okay. Okay, cool. He nervously shoved his phone in his pocket and fought the urge to wrap his arms around himself. He was freezing, and the hoodie he was wearing was barely doing anything to help. He was definitely looking forward to a hot drink.
Chris was easy enough to pick out, sitting at a little tucked-away table in the back of the shop. He looked up just as Ryan caught sight of him and their eyes met, Chris’s expression melting into a smile. He was even more handsome in proper lighting.
Ryan swallowed and tried to smile back. Knew it had to come out weak. He was feeling pretty damn weak. He’d gotten home last night, collapsed, and had only managed to pull himself out of bed to get ready to meet Chris. Now he was walking on shaky feet, but at least that was something he was used to. Steps didn’t get easier, but they did move him forward.
“Hey,” Chris said as Ryan fell into the chair across from him. He was still smiling. “Nice to see you again. And in daylight.”
“Yeah,” Ryan said stupidly. “Um. You too.”
Chris stood up, and at once Ryan was again struck by his presence. Large and solid and powerful, and Ryan had to look up at most guys, but it was like Chris radiated a little something extra. Coupled with how unfairly attractive Chris was…
He swallowed again. Resolutely didn’t lick his lips.
“Ryan?”
Ryan jerked back to reality. “Sorry. Yeah?”
Chris tilted his head in the direction of the counter. “Did you want to order something? My treat, of course.”