by G. R. Lyons
Vic smiled. “I must say, I love your enthusiasm.”
“I agree,” Uncle Greg said.
“Have you given any thought to what you'll have to–”
“Oh, yeah.” Asher beamed. “I went by the university yesterday. I've already got classes set up for next term, and my whole degree track is set out.”
Vic laughed. “You certainly don't waste any time.”
“I want to do this,” Asher insisted. “And I know it'll take a while—they said it would be five or six years before I could get my degree, especially with the core education I'm behind on—but it'll give me something to look forward to. And when I get to that point, I can go intern at an insurance company or a therapist's office and get some hands-on experience, or maybe just review some old cases and see how things work…”
Vic nodded slowly. “You just gave me an idea.”
“Yeah?”
Vic nodded again. “I've been house-hunting. Still sort of living out of suitcases in a rented room since I moved out of Ryley's.”
Oh. Asher started to say something, but Vic went on.
“And I found a place I like, except it has this big, walkout basement—probably designed to be a separate apartment, though it's unfinished—that I couldn't figure out what to do with.” Vic paused, looking at Asher. “But now that you've said that…” He paused again. “I've been thinking, for a while now, about going independent. You know, working from home rather than going in to Sturmwyn every day.” Vic quirked his mouth to one side, thinking, then said, “If you're serious about this, and it's going to take that much time, I could buy the house, finish the basement into a therapy space, maybe even a bedroom or two, and when you're ready, we could set up an office or take on a trial case for your halfway house idea. It could easily segue into the work I already do.”
Asher grinned. “You rescue them, give them a place to live, and I rehabilitate them?”
“Yeah,” Vic agreed. “Yeah, this might work.” Vic looked at Uncle Greg.
“I think it sounds like a great idea,” Uncle Greg said, a big smile on his face. “Write me up a business plan, and I'll consider a capital investment if you're interested.”
“That's very generous of you to offer,” Vic said. “Thank you.”
“Wow, yeah, thanks, Uncle Greg,” Asher added.
“In the meantime,” Uncle Greg went on, “get me an invoice for your tuition and I'll–”
“Um, actually,” Asher interrupted, holding up a hand. “I already paid for it with the card you gave me, but I'm gonna go look for a job so I can pay you back.”
Uncle Greg's eyebrows went up. “Ash, you know I'd be happy to help–”
“I know, I know,” Asher assured him. “And I really appreciate everything you've done for me. But…I'm used to taking care of myself, and I need to get back on my feet. I need to at least try. I need to be making my own money, anyway, so I want to pay for school on my own.”
His uncle gave him a firm nod. “I'm proud of you, kiddo. And you know you're welcome to stay here as long as you want.”
“About that,” Asher added. His uncle's eyebrows went up again, and Asher turned to look at Vic. “You've been keeping up Ryley's place for him, right?”
Vic nodded. “I forgot to give him back the house key, and he never got around to taking me off his accounts after we broke up, so I've been keeping up on his bills for him.” He paused, then added, “Because he is going to come back, no matter what he says.”
“I'd like to take over,” Asher told him. “I mean, if you think Ryley wouldn't mind.”
“If you're up for that, sure,” Vic said slowly.
Asher nodded, and glanced from Vic to Uncle Greg and back as he spoke: “If you think Ryley would be fine with it, I'd like to go live there, take care of the house, learn how to be on my own.” He paused, chuckling. “But in civilization this time.”
Uncle Greg and Vic both laughed.
“If that's what you want,” his uncle said.
“It is,” Asher assured them.
“Then I'll get you a key,” Vic said, giving Asher a nod.
Holy gods. Was this really happening? Asher couldn't stop smiling. He had a plan. He'd be independent again, and he was going to do something with his life, something that felt right to him. He could help kids who were abandoned like he had been, and he'd be able to connect with them because he'd been there. Maybe more extreme than anything they experienced, but the heartbreak and fear would be the same. He could make a difference, and make up for all the time he'd lost being stuck on that damned island.
To hells with his father. The man had expected Asher to drown, to struggle until he decided to give up and let go. But Asher hadn't given up. He'd fought, he'd kept struggling, he'd kept going. Asher had never given up while stuck on the island, either, and he wasn't going to throw his life away now that he had a chance to do something with it.
He couldn't wait to tell Ryley all about it.
Chapter 25
RYLEY GRABBED the pebble and hurled it across the garden.
“Fuck!” he yelled. “I'm never gonna get this!”
He jumped up and paced to the other end of the garden and back, having to weave his way around trees and garden beds, the stone paths never once making a straight line, no matter where they went. Everything seemed to curve and meander. Even the garden walls on Jadu'n defied perpendicular lines, the tops either sloped or arching while the ends fit up against whatever uneven, natural surface they reached, be it a hillside or rock formation of some sort. It made pacing difficult at best.
And running was even harder. It was bad enough that he had a hard time running in his work boots, the shoes he happened to be wearing when he came to Jadu'n, but never being able to run along any sort of straight path—having to frequently slow down, stop, turn, or peek around trees and walls as the paths bent—only made it more difficult. No wonder he was losing his shit. He had no outlet. Breathing was no longer enough to keep him calm. He needed movement. Exercise.
Hells, he needed to get laid, but even though he'd finally allowed himself to jack off a couple nights ago, it wasn't enough. He needed more. He needed Asher.
“Ryley.”
Ryley jerked to a stop and stood there, blinking stupidly. He'd already forgotten Master Ross was there, patiently watching him pace after his little outburst.
“You need to calm down and focus,” Master Ross insisted.
“I can't,” Ryley scoffed, resuming his pacing. This whole thing was useless. Why was he even bothering? Maybe he should just go through the Circle and be done with it. Problem solved.
“Come, dear boy,” the mage said, waving at Ryley to rejoin him on the bench. “Try once more.”
“Why?” Ryley asked. “I've been trying all day. All week,” he corrected himself. “I'm not any closer than I was when we first started.”
“Ryley,” Master Ross said firmly, “count your breaths and calm yourself.”
Ryley opened his mouth to say something, then huffed out a breath instead and closed his eyes. Inhale, one. Exhale, two. He counted up to five before he felt reasonably calm, but the breathing still wasn't as effective as it used to be. He needed a better solution. The Circle was sounding more tempting by the day, even if it would supposedly leave him feeling hollow.
Inhale, one. Exhale, two. He tried again, counting all the way up to ten, just to be safe, before he opened his eyes.
“There,” Master Ross said, watching him closely. “Now. Again.”
Ryley sighed and threw himself back on the bench. He focused on the pebble, but his tired mind didn't want to cooperate. No matter how much he tried to concentrate on the task quite literally at hand, he couldn't seem to narrow his awareness down to the swirling core of magic that resided somewhere inside him, and couldn't make it do his bidding.
The pebble remained obstinately still.
“Very well, enough,” Master Ross said with a sigh. “You need to rest.”
Ryley
started to complain, not wanting to quit until he got this damned thing figured out, but he knew the man was right. Forcing it was doing him no good.
“Go for a walk,” his mentor ordered. “Clear your mind. Count your breaths and think of nothing else.”
Ryley nodded and pushed himself to his feet, shuffling away without another word. He didn't even pay attention to which way he was going, just letting his legs take him wherever they wanted to go while he tried to get his mind to shut down.
That was easier said than done, surprisingly enough. He'd spent so many waking hours concentrating on learning to focus his gift that he couldn't seem to make his mind just blank.
Ryley snorted. Some gift. The damned thing was more like a curse.
Movement up ahead pulled him out of his thoughts, and Ryley jerked to a stop, blinking dumbly as he tried to make sense of what he was seeing. He had to be imagining it.
Asher wasn't really there, was he?
Ryley rubbed his eyes and saw Asher take a few steps toward him, a brilliant smile on his face.
“Ash…” Ryley sighed heavily, his entire body sagging with relief as he closed the distance between them and burrowed into Asher's arms. Thank gods.
“Hey,” Asher whispered, tightening his hold.
“Hey,” Ryley whispered back. Gods, he never wanted to move from that spot. If he could stay right there forever, he'd be happy.
But he knew he couldn't. He still had work to do, and Asher certainly couldn't stay.
“How are you?” Asher asked.
“Exhausted,” Ryley admitted. “Gods, I've missed you.”
Asher chuckled. “I've missed you, too.” He gave Ryley a squeeze.
Ryley squeezed back, then reluctantly pulled away to look up at Asher's face. “What are you doing here?”
“Just wanted to see you. Vic says hi, by the way.”
Ryley nodded, then stepped back more and shook his head, rubbing his eyes again before he realized they were standing right in front of Ryley's cottage. He gestured at the door. “Wanna come in?”
“Sure.”
Ryley gave his hand a careless flick, and the door opened. He walked inside, and turned to see Asher watching as the door swung closed behind them, shutting out the world.
Asher whispered something Ryley couldn't quite make out.
“What?” Ryley asked.
“I don't know why,” Asher said, “but watching you do that is so hot.”
Ryley's eyebrows went up. “Really?”
“You have no idea.” Asher took a few steps toward him. “Like, last weekend, with the fire?” He shivered, his pupils growing noticeably larger by the second.
Ryley whimpered. “Ash…”
Asher closed the distance between them and ran his hands back through Ryley's hair, half of it already pulled free of the elastic band because Ryley had been tearing at it so much in frustration all day. The band came free and hit the floor somewhere behind Ryley as Asher gathered up all of Ryley's hair in both hands and yanked Ryley's head back.
“Fuck,” Ryley whispered. He couldn't stand it anymore. “Fuck me, Ash.”
Asher grinned and hauled Ryley bodily to the bedroom.
A fire erupted in the hearth the moment they hit the sheets, making the cottage almost unbearably warm, but there was nothing Ryley could do about it. He couldn't focus on anything but the touch of Asher's skin. Ryley almost cried when he came, the blessed release so long in coming that he nearly blacked out from the force of it.
When Ryley finally caught his breath, he glanced over to see the glow of the fire had dimmed considerably.
Asher followed his gaze and growled.
“You really like it that much?” Ryley asked.
Asher nodded. “Like you wouldn't believe.”
Ryley fidgeted, staring up at the ceiling. He was so tempted to just be rid of the damned powers, but seeing how Asher reacted to it was making him want to try that much harder.
“I should get back,” Ryley said, sitting up. He didn't want to leave Asher so soon, but he had to get his powers under control. He had to practice.
He paused, sitting on the edge of the bed, and looked back at Asher, who lay there, watching him, his face carefully blank. Ryley let out a sigh and lay back down. He heard Asher give a hum of contentment as he settled into Asher's arms.
“Thank you,” Asher whispered.
Ryley managed a smile and snuggled in closer. “I'm so sorry. I just…I have to get this, you know?” He tilted his head up so he could see Asher's face. “I can't risk hurting you again.”
Asher grinned and shook his head. “You can't hurt me. The pins are gone now.”
“But I might. Some other way. I mean…with fire, or…”
“Ry.” Asher pressed a finger over Ryley's lips to silence him. “I trust you.”
Ryley studied his eyes, then breathed a laugh and shook his head. “So what have you been up to?”
Asher grinned again. “I saw my father.”
Ryley popped up onto his elbow, looking down at the man. “You did?”
Asher nodded. “He was pissed. Still wants nothing to do with me.”
“Fuck,” Ryley whispered. “Babe, I'm so sorry.”
Asher shrugged. “It is what it is. Besides, I've got all the family I need,” he said, rubbing Ryley's arm.
Ryley grimaced. Some family he was, nearly killing and then abandoning Asher the way he had.
“And I'm going back to school,” Asher announced.
“Yeah?”
Asher nodded. “Psychology. I want to help kids who were abandoned like I was. Actually, I was reading up on the guy who founded Morbran City. Who started Denmer University. Apparently, he did sort of the same thing. And I was talking to Vic about maybe someday opening a sort of halfway house together, so we could save kids from bad situations and get them back on their feet, like you guys did for me.”
Ryley blinked. “You and Vic?”
“Yeah,” Asher said, nodding.
“Working together?”
“Yeah.”
Ryley blinked again. “Holy shit.”
“What?”
Ryley shook his head, then chuckled. “I just…You and Vic…You and my ex…”
Asher frowned. “Too weird?”
“A little…yeah, but…” Ryley nodded slowly. “Kinda cool at the same time.” Ryley studied Asher's eyes, seeing the passion in them, and smiled. “That's what you wanna do?”
Asher nodded. “I feel like I finally have a purpose.” He paused, then added, “And you gave me that. If you hadn't found me…” He trailed off and shook his head, then took a deep breath and went on: “So I'll be plenty busy while you're here.”
Ryley frowned. “Huh?”
Asher shrugged. “I'm just saying, however long you need to be here, I can wait. We'll both be busy doing what we need to do, and we can still visit regularly–”
“Ash, I don't want you waiting for me,” Ryley protested. “I have no idea how long this is gonna take.” Or if I'll ever get it at all.
Asher shook his head. “So? We'll make it work. You keep doing your studies here, I'll do my studies there, and we can see each other on weekends. We can make this work, Ry. I know we can.”
Ryley stared at him for a long moment. “How do you do it? How do you have so much faith that this is all gonna work out?”
“Because I love you,” Asher answered with a shrug, as though it really were that simple.
And as Ryley fell asleep in Asher's arms, feeling whole and content in a way he hadn't felt in months, he wondered if maybe it was.
* * *
ASHER WOKE in the middle of the night, suddenly wide awake after his little nap. He was still on Agorani time, so his body was convinced that it was early afternoon even though there was but a sliver of moonlight coming in through the windows. He slipped out of bed and crept about the cottage in search of a washroom. When he found it, he had to feel his way about, squinting in the dark. There was no e
lectricity, so no lights that he could turn on, but he did manage to make out fixtures that resembled something like indoor plumbing. It wasn't nearly as advanced as what could be found on Agoran, but it was still several steps up from what he'd had on the island, so he was hardly complaining.
He used the toilet, flushed, washed his hands, and crept back out of the room just in time to catch Ryley tossing and moaning on the bed, his face lined in pain.
“Ry?” Asher asked. He took another step toward the bed, then jumped back, startled, when the hearth suddenly roared to life, blistering flames lighting up the room.
In the dancing shadows that appeared on the walls, Asher saw a dark figure move.
“Hey,” Asher growled.
The figure stopped and whirled toward him. Asher blinked, trying to make sense of what he was seeing. It was Ryley's mentor, Master Ross. What the hells was he doing there? And how had he gotten in?
“Oh,” the mage said, staring at Asher. “Forgive me. I did not realize Ryley had company.”
“What are you doing here?”
Master Ross gestured at the bed. “I spelled Ryley so I might know when he had a nightmare and needed to be calmed–”
Ryley let out a cry, and both men turned to look at him. The poor man thrashed on the bed, whimpering and mumbling something about blood.
“Blood?” Master Ross asked. He glanced at Asher. “What is he on about?”
Asher slowly shook his head. “I have no id–”
The fire shot up again, roaring so loud that Asher almost couldn't hear himself think. Both he and Master Ross inched away from the flames, looking from the hearth to Ryley and back. Asher hadn't the slightest idea what to do, and the mage didn't seem to be any better off.