by R Phoenix
“It’s very… pretty,” Gideon said.
Pretty, and with magic clinging to it that he didn’t particularly want to think about. It wasn’t his place to analyze some trinket, even if it sent a chill through him. He was there to keep the fae’s property safe — which included Kolt.
“It’s more than just pretty,” Kolt said, pausing long enough to take his drink from Keith before adding, “isn’t it?” The look he gave Gideon was expectant, as though Leandro’s personal security was there to appraise jewelry.
He gave the incubus an unimpressed look. “I’m a bouncer, not a personal shopper.”
“Personal security,” Kolt corrected him with a coy smile. “C’mon, Gideon. Weren’t you with him when he had this made? Probably Pierot, maybe Angelier?”
He could only assume those were names of jewelers, enchanters, or both. Leandro had his own life, and he didn’t always want Gideon breathing down his neck. Gideon didn’t know, and it was easier — better — not to ask. “Nope.”
Across the room, someone’s voice rose in volume, and Gideon stood up straighter. The dealer at the table glanced in his direction, pointedly getting the argumentative patron to do the same, and they quieted.
Unfortunately.
“C’mon,” Kolt urged again, shaking the bracelet under his nose. “One of us is always with him, and it wasn’t me. I just want to know what it does, Gideon. I won’t tattle.” The incubus leaned in a little closer to him.
If it had been anyone else, Gideon would’ve snatched the offending wrist and potentially even snapped it, but this was Leandro’s personal plaything — and an incubus to boot.
As a nephilim, he might not have been as susceptible as others to the slave’s powers, but that didn’t mean he was going to be careless. His angelic blood was easily corruptible, and there was temptation everywhere.
“Nothing to tattle about. I don’t know anything. Shouldn’t you be sucking dick right now?” Maybe that would get him to go somewhere else, where potentials of the future stopped nagging at him.
“Do you want me to be?” Kolt asked, completely shameless, and the guy’s eyes immediately went down to Gideon’s crotch. “Will you tell me then?”
It wasn’t like Kolt was repulsive — far from it — but Gideon knew better than to sample his boss’s merchandise. Even if he was going to indulge, it wouldn’t be in the middle of the casino while he was working. “I’m not the one who fucks on the clock, Kolt.”
“I can be discreet. Leandro will never have to know,” the incubus continued, incorrigible. “It can be our little secret…” Kolt purred, leaning in closer to him still.
If Kolt believed that, Leandro really did prefer looks to brains. Leandro always knew. It was uncanny.
“Do I need to talk to Leandro about getting your hearing checked?” Gideon replied. “Like I said, I don’t know what it does, Kolt. Don’t make me call Leandro out of his meeting to tell you the same fucking thing.”
They both knew that wouldn’t go over well.
Kolt looked hurt for a moment before annoyance took over. He pulled the arm with the bracelet back, taking took a hold of his drink. “Why do you have to be such a dick?” he asked.
Gideon arched a brow. “How am I the one being a dick? You’re the one who won’t stop nagging me to tell you secret information I don’t even have,” he countered.
“Because you’re not telling…” Kolt admitted in a surprising move of mature honesty. “And because you’re always threatening to get me in trouble with Leandro. You’re a goddamn tattletale.”
Threatening was the key word there, but Kolt didn’t have to know that. As far as the incubus was concerned, Gideon told Leandro everything. If that was the case, Kolt would be in a lot more trouble a lot more often.
He didn’t bother to say so. Even if Kolt believed him, it would only cause more problems.
Gideon grabbed Kolt’s hand, looking down at the bracelet, and he ignored the tingle that ran up his arm at their contact. He didn’t dare touch the piece of jewelry. Where Leandro was concerned, it was better to be safe than sorry. Touching an incubus was risky enough without taking what was probably a cursed item into account. “I’m getting tired of repeating myself,” he said curtly, dropping Kolt’s hand and meeting his eyes. “I. Don’t. Know.”
“It’s punishment,” Kolt said shortly. “For fucking the human,” he continued, even though Gideon pointedly didn’t ask.
Whatever Leandro and Kolt got up to was none of his business.
“You know how pissed he was,” the incubus went on, running his fingers over the bracelet.
Gideon hesitated despite himself. He didn’t want to hear about Leandro’s punishments. The glimpses he got of possibilities alone were more than enough — and he inflicted enough at the fae’s orders to know how cruel they could be. “You did that to yourself,” he said harshly.
Kolt laughed humorlessly and smirked at him. For a hot minute, he looked disturbingly like Leandro, but Gideon tried not to see the similarities.
“Right,” Kolt muttered. “The incubus who can’t keep it in his pants, cheating on sweet, innocent Leandro and hurting his feelings. If you really believe that, you’re even dumber than you look.” The incubus didn’t have any other settings than trying to charm his way into someone’s pants and insulting them, as per usual. The words all sounded bitter, even though that smirk on Kolt’s lips barely wavered.
Realistically, Gideon knew Kolt hadn’t had much of a choice. Leandro might’ve thought that throwing tokens at him would make it impossible for him to lose, but Barsum was good at the tables. “He’ll brag to you sooner or later,” he mumbled.
“He spends more time bragging to you.” Kolt was like a little yappy dog, refusing to let this go.
If he’d known the answer, Gideon might’ve spilled the beans just to get the incubus to fuck off and leave him alone.
“You never heard him talk about… spells he wants to try? Does he want tits again?” Kolt asked without even a pause to change gears.
It threw him, and he blinked at Kolt. “...what?” Did Leandro want tits? Again?
Right. He wanted to know if he was trying to make Kolt grow tits.
“If I have to say, ‘I don’t know’ one more time, Kolt, you’ll have to explain why you ended up gagged to Leandro.”
Kolt rolled his eyes, but at least now he was leaning back against the bar instead of practically against Gideon’s shoulder. “In other words… wait until your daddy gets home, Kolt.” The incubus leered at him. It was always a marvel how the creature could turn anything dirty. “Do you guys, like… talk at all? Or do you just tell him about the number of fights you broke up, how many kneecaps you busted and families you’ve ruined, to ensure your Christmas bonus?”
“Do you ever stop talking?” Gideon retorted.
“Yes,” Kolt answered right away. “But you didn’t want me to suck your cock, so…”
It was stupid to let the incubus get to him, but fuck.
“Go do what you’re supposed to be doing, who you’re supposed to be doing, whatever.” Gideon set his glass down on the bar. Why did he feel like he was running away? It wouldn’t matter even if he was. This wasn’t his fucking business.
Kolt grabbed Gideon by the elbow before he could turn away, pulling him back with surprising conviction and strength. It was only when he turned back to look at the incubus that he realized Kolt had stood up, bringing them face to face, mere inches apart. Half of him expected to be told that he’d rather be doing him, but the look on Kolt’s face was different then. Or maybe it was the proximity…
“Can you try to find out?” Kolt asked. “Please?”
If Gideon didn’t know any better, he’d think that “please” was sincere.
“Even if he told me, why would I tell you?” Gideon asked shortly. “You aren’t going to seduce me to get your way. Save that for him.” Whether Leandro wanted to admit it or not, the fae was enamored enough with Kolt to spoil him rotten.
“Yes, well, I’m tainted now, so he’s not buying what I’m selling either,” Kolt muttered, not letting go of his arm. “Besides,” he continued. “You’re not a dick, right?”
“I don’t know,” Gideon said, an edge to his voice. “You asked me why I was one earlier, so I guess I am.” He sounded butt hurt even to his own ears. Fucking lovely.
“So prove me wrong,” Kolt challenged sweetly.
“It won’t change anything, whether you know or not. So just be patient. He’ll tell you eventually.”
Or Kolt would figure it out, probably at the shittiest time possible.
“I’d rather know. You don’t know what it’s like or the shit he comes up with…!” Kolt hissed at him, his voice turning bitter.
Of course Gideon knew. He’d seen enough, done enough. He’d been there when Leandro had given some fucked-up orders before, and he’d seen what the fae could do when he got pissed off.
“Think of the worst thing he could do to you without you noticing right away,” Gideon said tersely. “You aren’t stupid, Kol’tso, even if you’re acting like a moron right now.” He jerked his arm back, yanking free from the incubus’s grasp with more force than was necessary.
“Gee, thanks for the compliment,” Kolt muttered indignantly, even though he made no move to stop him from leaving a second time.
Gideon rolled his eyes. “Don’t act like you’re offended. Go do something to get on his good side,” he advised.
That was the best he could do. Even if he found out what Leandro had done, he wasn’t likely to tell the slave — even if it might shut him up. There were mistakes, then there was just fucking stupidity. If Leandro wanted him to know, he would know. Ruining the fae’s fun was dangerous.
He stalked off, hoping that one of the lesser otherkin would do something stupid so he’d have someone to take out his frustration on.
It sure as hell couldn’t be Kolt…
Chapter Six
Whatever happened between Leandro and Kol’tso was none of his business.
Gideon had to remind himself of that yet again as he tore his attention away from Kolt, feeling like a broken record was playing in his own mind.
Leandro was his employer, and in fae society, slavery was accepted.
As little as he liked the practice, those two seemed to have an arrangement he couldn’t even begin to understand. It was nothing like the typical master-slave relationships he’d seen. The incubus fawned over Leandro, who in turn seemed infatuated with Kolt.
Trying to figure out just what they were to each other would only give him a headache — or rather, another headache. The past few days had been strange and tense, throwing everyone in the casino into an uncertain state. Gideon hadn’t expected Kolt to decide to challenge Leandro by fucking a human, and he’d never have guessed that Leandro would decide to put said human on retainer. He certainly wouldn’t have thought Kolt would come to him for answers about what the fae was up to.
Guilt nagged at him when he thought about how easily he’d dismissed Kolt, but it couldn’t be helped. He wasn’t there to counsel Leandro on his relationships. He was there to work security.
He wasn’t stupid, but he wasn’t brilliant by any stretch of the imagination either. Jobs like this were right up his alley, as they relied on his superior physique, and he didn’t have a chance of doing much beyond playing the role of glorified bouncer.
What had Kolt called it? Personal security? He — grudgingly — liked the ring of that.
His eyes flicked toward the incubus again, where he was flirting with one of the bigwigs. Gideon fought the urge to drag Kolt away from the greedy asshole who had more than a few issues with rules and boundaries and back into safety. But the incubus was doing what Leandro told him to. The fae was mercurial at best, and it didn’t take a genius to know he was still pissed off about the human. Sending him to a man like Markant seemed like some kind of test.
He couldn’t give Kolt the information he’d asked for, but he could at least continue to do what he’d always done: try to keep Kolt out of harm's way as best he could, provided Leandro wasn’t the one causing the harm. Kolt would never notice or acknowledge his efforts, and Gideon wouldn’t admit to them, but it gave him some peace of mind… for now.
Gideon started toward the incubus, but before he could get more than a few feet closer to the slave, the hair on the back of his neck stood up. Seconds after he felt it, the door opened.
Every vision of the near-future had led to Bryce Ackerman's arrival, though the possible outcomes were too wildly different for him to anticipate.
Fucking lovely.
The detective had a swagger in his step, showing the same cocky, arrogant attitude that he’d had the last time they’d met. Gideon made eye contact with Darcy, the other bouncer, but neither of them moved. Ackerman was one of Leandro’s pawns, and that meant they couldn’t just kick him out no matter how much he disliked everything about the guy.
He didn’t have a good feeling about this at all. He followed the detective’s gaze as it took in the crowd, then finally focused on Kolt.
The incubus was still too busy playing up being enamored with the brute Markant to notice much of anything else, and he was oblivious to his newfound stalker.
Within two minutes, Bryce Ackerman had discarded the jacket he’d been wearing at the coat check and gotten himself a drink… and Gideon didn’t need visions to know that the human was heading straight for Kolt.
“Incubus,” Ackerman said when he came within speaking distance. Everyone at the table he was interrupting stopped and looked up at the human in their midst. “You’re an incubus.” He pointed a finger at Kolt and drew more than a little attention to himself.
Motherfucker.
Did the asshole really have to come in and create a scene? It wasn’t even like he was presenting any new information. The regulars knew what Kolt was.
The timing couldn’t have been much worse. Leandro had little patience with those who annoyed the rest of his clientele, pawn or not. The fae was undoubtedly invested in whatever Kolt was up to with Markant, or the incubus wouldn’t be there.
All the human was going to do was get on Leandro’s bad side and make an ass out of himself — but then, he seemed to be pretty fucking good at that as it was.
Gideon strode to the table, stepping in between Ackerman and Kolt. “Kolt’s busy at the moment, Detective. Is there something I can do for you?”
Like kick him out the door.
Ackerman smirked then narrowed his eyes at Kolt, who only seemed a little surprised by the human’s appearance.
“I doubt it. You’re just the goon who keeps everything nice and quiet, and we’re all getting along so well, aren’t we?” Ackerman asked, and his attention didn’t waver. He hadn’t even looked directly at Gideon, his gaze trained on Kolt. “Kolt, is it?”
“Yeah,” Kolt said, looking quizzical.
“See, I didn’t even catch that last time. I’m Bryce, by the way. I’m… here to help,” Ackerman said with a toothy grin.
Markant’s arm looped more possessively around Kolt, like he thought his fun time with the incubus was over. At this rate, it probably was; the appearance of a human determined to be a killjoy usually ruined things.
“He’s busy,” Gideon repeated. “If you want to add more to your tab, you can wait like everyone else.” As though Leandro would ever let the human touch Kolt again, but Gideon did not feel like dealing with the scene that was about to go down. “I’ll spot you a drink at the bar while he finishes up,” he said, gesturing to the bar.
“He can speak for himself, I gather,” Ackerman said, glancing at him for the first time before looking back at Kolt just behind him. “You really busy?” he asked pointedly.
“Fuck off,” Markant said with a grunt.
In Gideon’s mind’s eye, the situation was already escalating. He could just see it happening, the future that was more probable than not. The human getting into it with Markant, wh
o would leave nothing whole of him…
“Is this—” Ackerman continued, unabashed, gesturing at Markant just as shamelessly. “—what you really want to be doing tonight? C’mon, you’re better than that.”
Gideon glanced at Kolt, whose impersonation of a deer in the headlights was truly award-worthy, and shook his head. The detective was the only human in the vicinity, which meant this wouldn’t go well for him if things went south.
He always preferred to try to de-escalate situations instead of making them worse, and if the human wanted to hear it from Kolt… “Kolt,” he said quietly, “tell him he has to wait.” He met Kolt’s eyes, trying to convey the fact that if he made Gideon’s job harder, he was a hell of a lot less likely to get his help.
“Oh, don’t you worry,” Ackerman cut in before Kolt could so much as open his mouth to speak. “I’m not here to get laid. No, that’s not what this is about. But really, you wanna coach him his answers?” He scoffed.
“I’m not a fucking child,” Kolt snapped.
“Get him the fuck out of here, Gideon,” Markant added.
“You can go to the bar to wait for Kolt, or you can leave,” Gideon told Ackerman, his voice flat. “You’ve already made enough of a scene for one night.”
“Oh no, I’m just getting started, my friend,” Ackerman said, reaching into his back pocket and pulling out the badge.
Gideon never should’ve returned it to him.
“Y’see, I’m with the Organization,” he continued, holding up the badge and making sure more than just the people behind him noticed it.
It wasn’t a good move. The Organization wasn’t particularly welcome here. Most of the people who frequented the casino had something to hide, or they were being less than forthcoming about their disclosures to the Organization — which aimed to keep track of otherkin, as well as deal with disputes and crimes against mankind.
Now, with their sudden interest in the fae, they were trusted less than ever. Like most otherkin, Markant liked his privacy, and his annoyance had turned several shades darker.
