by Flynn Eire
“Okay,” he agreed after a moment.
I rolled us fast enough he gave a cute yelp and so he was on top of me, staring down at me. “Want to show me how much you like me shirtless?”
“I could do that.” He leaned over me and spent the next several minutes kissing, licking, and nibbling every inch of my neck, shoulders, chest, and abs. “You really like that, don’t you?”
“Yes, yes I do,” I panted, shocked I did. “Everyone wants to be spoiled, right?” He gave a slow nod, heat filling his eyes. “Want to try something different?” His head bobbed faster, and I felt his excitement. I moved us so he was on all fours, me draped over him, and let my hand move over his groin. Then I ground my hips against him, dry humping him as my hand did delicious things to him from the noises he made.
When we were done that time, his body gave out, my arm the only thing holding him up. I was about to suggest a third round, but his stomach growled loudly, and I saw from the time it was almost when we both had to get back to real life.
Damn. He was just too tasty.
We showered separately since I didn’t want to push him, and then I swung back to his room, glad when I saw a note from Nero saying he’d asked one of the construction guys to fix the door for me. That worked. Falcon didn’t need some glaring reminder of the problems he was having.
He smiled at me as he stepped out into the hallway, his cheeks heating as he stared at my lips for longer than was polite. I still loved it, but yeah, I noticed. It was how I knew he’d accepted me holding his hand, a grin forming on his mouth.
Unfortunately, our bubble was popped as we saw the council guards being moved on our way to the cafeteria.
Fortunately, Basilia was also walking towards us with what I’d ordered for Falcon. His eyes went wide as he saw the mystic orchids, the light blues and purples matching his eyes perfectly.
“I took the liberty of finding a vase and arranging them,” she told him, handing the large vase over.
“They’re for me?”
“I like your eyes too,” I murmured, kissing his cheek. I felt how warm it was against his lips and knew I’d done well.
Miracles could happen after all.
He thanked me with a real kiss and promises of more in his eyes.
“Oh, hey, um, Falcon, you got a message from your parents,” Rune told him nervously as he came towards us with Helios.
“It can wait,” Helios murmured, taking in the scene before him, and I winced. That meant it wasn’t good news.
“Are they okay?” Falcon worried, hurrying to take the paper from Rune while balancing the vase. I didn’t even get a chance to lean in and read over his shoulder or suggest it wait before I saw his face fall.
As did the vase. I wasn’t at the right angle to catch it, nor was Basilia, so it crashed to the ground with a deafening shatter.
“I’m sorry,” he choked out, starting at the mess. “I’m so, so sorry.”
He spun and ran towards the bathroom, dropping the paper. I bent to catch it before it landed in the water.
Falcon,
We spoke after you shamed our family by being transferred to an assignment they would only send their worst for, but now we’ve been informed of your war crimes from both the East Canada and our councils. No longer will you be a blight on our family, and we renounce you or any tie to you. If you continue to use our last name, it is not because of any family or blood ties but one you’ve adopted against our wishes.
May the councils’ justice be swift and any memory of you erased.
Mr. and Mrs. Byrd
“Holy shit, are they assholes,” I whispered in horror, handing it to Basilia.
“Who? His parents or the councils that used them in their bullshit?” she grumbled, crumpling the paper in her hand. She glanced around and locked eyes with a group. “You few, pre-trans. Clean up this mess and save the flowers. Watch the glass. Thank you.”
Wisely, they weren’t stupid enough to argue or do much but give a quick nod before hurrying to find supplies.
I thanked her and raced after Falcon, wincing as I opened the door and heard him puking up his guts in a way that sounded excessively painful. Ouch. I knelt behind him and rubbed his back, letting him know I was there, he wasn’t alone.
“Let’s go back to bed,” I offered when he finally finished. He snorted as he reached for toilet paper, and I chuckled. “I didn’t mean for that . You’re recovering from so much. It’s understandable you would take a few days and recover. The doctor was amazed you were even walking around, right?”
“Thanks, but I want to keep moving forward,” he admitted as he turned around, sitting on his feet. “It felt good to help build after so much destruction and death, you know? Fine, I was putting on the paint, but it—I felt good. I want more of that.”
“Okay, yeah, I can see that. Baby steps. It’s smart. Much smarter than I was after what I went through,” I confessed, smiling at him. “I went on quite the bender and jumped into being a pervert. It was actually Basilia who pulled me out. Meeting her.”
“How did you meet?”
I saw in his eyes he wanted to truly know more than the distraction, so I decided to tell him. “She’s the first ever female warrior born. Her life has been—she’s impressive to have survived it.” He frowned, and I realized I’d have to spell it out. “No one excluded her from warrior challenges because she was female. She was sent to a warrior camp with all males, and we both know that too many don’t have good hearts.”
“Shit. If they were assholes like the Eastern Canada camp, she would have gotten raped the first night and every one after because they could and no one would stop them.”
“Yeah, that’s about what she endured,” I told him honestly. “Years of it, a miracle she survived her transition, but then they had to stop because she’s impenetrable. She could kick all their asses and trained twenty times harder than others. I met her when she went out on a mission and the warriors from her camp turned on her, tired of a woman besting them and not giving them everything they thought they deserved as men.
“They jumped her in her sleep, slicing her badly before her gift could kick in, and then took off. She healed but lost a lot of blood, and they stole her horse, all her provisions—everything. So here I am drinking and sleeping my way through what’s modern France, and I find this female warrior half dead coming into the seedy saloon on the outskirts of the village. I intercepted her and helped her, got her someone to drink from, some lowlife asshole who deserved to be drained.
“It took a bit, but I got her back on her feet, learned what had happened, and in saving her, I found myself again. Somewhat. I’m not sure we can ever fully find ourselves again after certain things happen, but I found purpose. We went to her camp and made sure the ones who did so much to her would never perpetrate more crimes like that nor spawn more horrid vampires and warriors.”
“Nice,” he chuckled, no judgement in his tone at all. “Sorry I dropped the flowers. Everything just went numb for a minute. I really liked them, though.”
I shrugged. “She’ll find another vase, and it should already be cleaned up. I’m sorry you have such shit parents.”
“Thanks. I don’t want their stupid last name anyways.”
“Don’t make decisions when in pain,” I suggested gently, and he gave a slow nod. I helped him to his feet, waiting as he washed his hands and rinsed out his mouth before we headed into the cafeteria. I got easy stomach food for him after getting him to sit down. He still looked like he’d gone twenty rounds with someone much, much bigger than him. Luckily, he was smart and let me help.
“Thanks for the loaner,” Alastair greeted as he handed me back one of my laptops. I liked computers, it was one of the things I’d really adapted with, the technology of the times. “I’m leaving with Zibon for a week to start making the rounds on covens who were ordered to come in. We finalized the design for our house and at least the basic layout of plots. You handle that with Nero yet?”
/> “No, build whatever, I don’t care,” I sighed, hating that I felt like I was slowing down the progress.
Alastair glanced at Falcon. “Can you talk some sense into him? He’s got a chance to really make a difference the way he wants with this development and those he will give his protection to. It’s not the time to be flippant.”
“I’m needed to travel too much to keep gathering resources,” I argued.
He shot me a look that clearly said no shit, so will I . “Your protection extends beyond where your physical presence is. You know that. I know you’re focused on the dorms and making the warriors’ lives better, making this the main training hub instead of being spread out for too many to fuck up, but there is more here we’re fighting against.”
“I’ll think about it, but there’s only so much Nero can get done before the snow starts.”
“He’s gotten two more teams. That’s four and the one working on Ashton’s house and underground bunker that he’s helped with. I have two teams coming with the first wind turbines for power. Ashton’s found two other bankrupt farms in the area that would make perfect wind farms instead of the potential coal mine some have spoken of.”
My eyes went wide. “That would be a disaster so close to here.”
“Yes, which is why the moment Ashton heard rumblings, he immediately started to take action instead of letting the council debate bullshit too long. But he is young. He needs more help. Give it.”
“Yeah, I hear you.” I wished him well and success on his trip, hoping he got a chance to have some fun with his new mate. And then I got lost in my head as I looked up some things on my laptop. It was hard for me to get so… So involved . Thousands of years being on the outskirts, and I was comfortable there.
It was safer for my sanity than to ever be part of a coven again, to care too much because all that led to was heartache. And my heart couldn’t take anymore ache.
5
Something Alastair said upset Gaius, that much was obvious, and if I had to guess, I would have said it was about what had happened to his birth coven and that the plan was to build a massive protected coven here. He seemed to get lost in his head, and I didn’t think he registered anything else around him.
I nudged his tray towards him, not stopping until it bumped his hand. “I hear eating is good and wasting food is bad. Plus, cold eggs suck.”
“They do,” he agreed but kept at what he was doing.
“What are you thinking about?” I tried.
He flipped his laptop around, and I was shocked that he was so focused on the Sam’s Club website. “We’ve been making better use of the store in Casper instead of only just what they don’t get from the big bulk deliveries since we’re here and one of us goes and they’re always during the day. No more hopping around for this or that but doing it better, you know? And I think part of doing it better is for the warriors too.
“The rooms are horrid. Fine, Nero’s building a better dorm, more room, awesome. I think even after the dorm now is changed into the pre-trans one, as they’ll have that many here, things need to be made better . Fine, bunk beds because we’ve got the nice ones Alastair ordered, but why can’t they have a mini-fridge? And like a mounted forty-inch TV? Something nice to at least make it as good as human college dorms, right?”
“Yeah, I think that’s awesome. The soundproofing would need to be fixed or updated.”
“That’s true,” he agreed. “Nero could get some of that spray shit and handle it while it’s snowing. They’ll be itching to handle as much as they can inside when the weather’s bad. I’ll send him a message to look into that and get supplies.” He gave me a bright smile, and my heart fluttered. He was so damn hot when he smiled. “Thanks. I was thinking it was maybe stupid to focus on.”
“No, I think it’s things like that that can make all the difference sometimes. I remember being exhausted from training and a cold water would have been so much nicer than just whatever was leftover in the dorm, warm and old.”
He bobbed his head as he pushed the laptop to the middle of the table and attacked his food. “I have another idea, but I don’t know how to make it happen. Like I’m—it’s been forever since I’ve stayed at a camp. I’m not good with the logistics and interworkings. I’ve lived on the outskirts too long, you know?”
“Well, I’m good at details and logistics, so tell me and maybe I can help,” I offered, liking this diligent and caring side of him.
“I want the warriors to get more, but not just more money, because where would they spend it? I mean, you guys are remote, which is good, but yeah, has shit with it like never getting to leave or just run to Taco Bell. Though the tacos here are better. Awesome really. My point is you guys should have more perks, more fun. I think there’s a way to incorporate that into having big Sam’s Club runs twice a month.”
I glanced at the laptop and clicked back on the browser a few times, noting what he’d been looking at. “So you think we should each get some bulk candy each trip? That would be cool.”
“I mean, snacks are always good, but also just more that’s your own. I heard from some of the post-trans what hoops they’d jumped through to get study snacks and supplies. That’s stupid. There should be a storage closet Dimitri or Matteo have access to that lets the kiddies have highlighters and notebooks so they can fucking learn easier.
“There won’t be communal showers anymore with soap dispensers and whatever most of them brought from home. Or get here that’s the shit stuff. Let them get what they want or at least a choice. Sam’s doesn’t have that many choices, but yeah, let the kiddies get the better stuff. But also for warriors, as you guys were supposed to be spoiled more. I mean, maybe getting good snacks isn’t that big of a perk, but it’s nice.
“And I’m not trying to encourage drinking, but you guys get one type of beer or malted beverages. That’s just depressing, and if you don’t have a hookup, no real booze. Each trip let all the warriors—and maybe even something for the pre- and post-trans, but I was thinking more the warriors—add a few extras they want on the order.”
“That’s a big range, ‘a few extras,’” I murmured, clarifying right away. “I mean, I think you’re totally right on the choices. I hate the toothpaste they order. Get the options Sam’s Club has and let people start taking what they want. Have it be someone’s job to handle those sort of supplies in one of the old, tiny post-trans rooms. A few shelves, someone has the key and handles the reorders, done and done.”
“Yeah, like that. What about the rest?”
“You’d have to come up with ranges or lines,” I offered, clicking a few things as I finished my second Sprite to keep my stomach calm. “Okay, so the problem is like I would get a couple bags of Cheetos and Swedish Fish, as I have an unhealthy addiction to both I don’t want to give up.”
“Cheetos and Swedish Fish, huh?” he chuckled, smiling at how goofy I was.
“The bad part is I like them together. Salty, cheesy goodness with sweet is—it’s unhealthy,” I admitted, returning his grin. “But my point is that’s twenty bucks for all three. Ellison would get this box of Twix and probably other caramel chocolate, as it’s his weakness. That one box is twenty-six and more than I spent, so not really fair or will make people go for the expensive stuff instead of maybe what they want, and I can trade some Swedish Fish for one of his Twix when I want chocolate.”
“Good point,” he murmured, turning the laptop around. “I didn’t really think of that. Same problem with alcohol. There are seven-dollar bottles of white wine or twenty-five-dollar cases of good beer. I think part of that should be stocking that same supply room with the good, smaller bottles and everyone can get one a month. If someone wants extras for a birthday or party, that’s different.”
“I think you need to set a price. Like how much were you thinking for each trip we could get a bonus of?” I tried, thinking how to lead him to the easiest solutions.
He shrugged. “Like fifty bucks? We’re making them twi
ce a month but not like every other Tuesday; that would be easily tracked and could cause problems. Just twice a month.”
“Okay, well, there’s one login for the card, right? But you can put multiple orders on an account all for the same pickup.”
He blinked at me. “If you have an idea, just spit it out. I won’t be offended you came up with an answer faster than I could. Don’t hurt my brain running me through the thought process.”
I threw back my head and laughed, so thrown that the confident Gaius basically admitted he was inept at something.
“Get gift cards. Buy hundred-dollar gift cards as a bonus for every warrior and give them the login and password. There’s a way to stick notes in each order, they can specify who they are for. They use their gift card to pay, making sure to pick the pickup date and time and it’s their extras. And that way, if they need more than that, say I wanted to get something for Ellison’s birthday, it can take a gift and debit card.
“People might go a bit crazy the first few trips after not having access to something like that for so long, but it will calm down. Normalize and people can just get an extra treat now and again like you were talking of. I think it’s awesome and keeps everyone from not feeling so cut off, forgotten. I know everyone’s been talking all about getting Amazon deliveries or internet orders because Councilman Ashton will have security in place to accept them.
“It makes people want to stay instead of the revolving door for training only because not many people can take these sort of conditions for longer than a couple of years and not have their own vehicle or way to get out. It’s something to take into consideration in this subdivision. People need to feel normal. Even if it won’t have a McDonald’s because outsiders would try and come in the gated community then, have something like it.”
“Yeah, Verge was saying that too,” he mumbled, studying the laptop again. “He and his friends have like a whole list. I liked his shooting range idea. I think we should have more non-warrior training, and we could get a lot out from under their coven or free of family confines. If you or Zibon weren’t warriors, you would have been stuck, no way to get out with the way the families and covens control too much.”
