Cataclysmic Shift

by Tara Lain

  He let out his breath and looked at the sky. Light paled the horizon.

  Soon it would be time for work.

  GONE. LUKE sat in the car and stared out the windshield. He didn’t want to get out. He didn’t want to go into the clinic, and that fact made him ill. No one and nothing had stood between him and having his dream job for the past ten years. He’d done things no guy ought to do so he could be a vet, and here he sat, paralyzed because some street kid he barely knew had left him.

  But those were the facts.

  Maybe it was just the sex. After years of having sex multiple times a day, he’d thought he wouldn’t care if he never did the nasty again. But now his well was pretty damned dry most of the time. Maybe last night reminded him of how much he missed it.

  He hammered his hand on the steering wheel.

  Shitfire, who was he kidding? He’d never had a night like that in his life.

  After throwing open the car door, he slid out and slammed it. Then froze. That was the first time since Luke had walked out on Nicky that he hadn’t looked for him before stepping out in the open. Damn, forgetfulness like that could get him in a world of hurt.

  Okay. Get it together.

  He walked into the clinic, and Madeline looked up from the desk. “Morning.”

  “Morning.” He strode past toward his office as if in a hurry. Chatting just wasn’t in his skill set this a.m. He dumped his backpack and pulled on the lab coat that made him look older and more experienced. All he wanted were the animals. They always made him feel better.

  As he approached the boarding room, some happy barks and a couple of meows welcomed him. Good. He pushed open the door…

  …and sucked in his breath. Alain balanced the black-and-white cat on his shoulder, held the big fat cat, Ernie, under his arm, and was feeding dry food by hand to the Rottie. He glanced over at Luke and smiled. “Good morning.”

  Embrace or kill? He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Try again. “I thought you were gone.”

  Alain’s wide blue eyes crinkled. “Yes. I had to leave in the night. I find it hard to say why, but I felt compelled to go to this place, where I found this woman.” He shook his head. “It’s hard to explain, but I was early for work.” He beamed.

  Crap. Heat pressed behind Luke’s eyes. What the hell was wrong with him? “I, uh, thought perhaps you’d decided to leave for good.”

  Alain poured food into the dog dishes without dropping either cat. “Why would I do that? Where’s Amelia?”

  “Uh, at home. I thought maybe you didn’t like what we, uh, did and—”

  “At home? Oh, she won’t like that. I’ll go get her. I loved what we did. Didn’t you?”

  His heart leaped. “Yes.”

  “Good. Then tonight you can teach me more gay things. But now I must get Amelia.”

  He fucking wanted to cry. “No. I’m sorry I left her. I’ll go get her. You keep feeding the animals.”

  “Okay.” He turned his cute butt in the new black jeans toward Luke, put the cats down carefully, and started cleaning the cages. Maybe it wasn’t Alain who was crazy. Maybe it was Luke. His hands wouldn’t stop shaking.

  “Alain?”

  The kid turned with a warm smile. “Yes?”

  “I’d like to teach you some gay right now.”

  He smiled. “You would? Humans don’t seem to like sex in public.”

  What did he mean by that? “I wasn’t thinking of sex. Would you let me kiss you?”

  Those crooked teeth flashed. “Oh yes.” He took one bounding step and hurled himself at Luke, until he grasped behind Luke’s neck and his feet dangled inches off the floor.

  Luke grabbed Alain’s cheeks, slanted his head, and gently closed his mouth over those soft, full lips. For a moment, Alain’s mouth stayed loosely closed. Luke traced his tongue along the seam of his lips. Back and forth.

  Alain moaned deep in his throat and opened his mouth, sucking Luke’s tongue in with the same authority he’d applied to his cock last night. Sighing, Luke fell into the sweetest, deepest warmth he’d ever known.

  With deep reluctance, Luke released his hands and let Alain slide down his body. Didn’t want to let go. They both might fall over. Alain’s head fell against Luke’s chest, and Luke kissed his sweet-smelling hair. “I’ll go home and get Amelia. She’s gonna be so pissed at me.”

  “She’ll forgive you. She loves you very much.”

  “She does?”

  “All the animals are very fond of you. That’s how I knew I would like you too.” Alain smiled.

  Yes, Luke should be considering ways to get Alain into the loony bin, but somehow he’d rather get into his pants. He kind of enjoyed Alain’s craziness. “Okay. Clean up and go back to work. I’ll see you in a little while.” He kissed Alain’s nose and got an equal and opposite kiss on his.

  The phone in his pocket buzzed. He grabbed it. “Dr. Elliott.”

  “Hey, Luke. It’s Blaine.”

  He put a hand over the speaker and mouthed to Alain, “It’s Blaine.”

  The blue eyes widened. He sure did like that guy.

  “Hi. What’s up?”

  “Killian and I wondered if you and Alain might like to go to the opening of that new gay club tonight. It’s supposed to be great, and Killian got special tickets to the opening.”

  “Wow. Yeah, I’ve heard about that place.” He took a deep breath. “I’m not much of a social butterfly.” Damn, a gay club was the last place he should show up. Lots of old clients there. Alain stared at him with clear interest.

  “We’re not either, but this is kind of a big deal.”

  “Oh yeah, don’t think I don’t appreciate being asked. But…. Hang on.” He looked down at that pretty face. “Would you want to go to the opening of a gay club with Blaine and Killian tonight?”

  Christmas trees never got so bright. “Oh, that would be delightful.”

  Blaine started chuckling in Luke’s ear. “I gather he wants to go.”

  “It seems so.”

  “So, what’s the verdict?”

  Hell, how likely was it Nicky could find him in one night out? He’d better not answer that. “Great. We’d love to go.”

  “I’ll email you the address, and we can meet there. Then we can all share a cab home if we want to. We can go early and have dinner. How’s eight o’clock?”

  “It’s a date.”

  Alain beamed and clapped his hands. That was damned cute.

  “See you tonight.” Blaine hung up.

  Alain was bouncing. “Tell me.”

  “You need to get all dolled up, so we better go shopping after work.”

  He frowned. “No. I can’t let you spend any more money on me. I’ll create an outfit from what I have.”

  “But it’s my money, and I like—”

  Alain held up a hand. “You’ll be paying for dinner, which is more than enough. Leave it to me.”

  “Okay.” Luke smiled.

  Alain stood up to his full five foot ten or so. “Now I must go to work, or my boss will be angry. You must stop distracting me, wicked man.” He grinned.

  “Okay, smartass. I’ll go get Amelia before she comes looking for us with a gun.”

  He walked down the hall and saw Madeline in the second examining room with a black Lab and its owner. He stuck his head in. “Hi. Sorry to intrude. I need to do a quick errand. I’ll be back in a few.”

  She smiled and kept palpating the Lab. “We’re good.”

  He hurried out the front door and took a deep breath. The world sure looked brighter than when he came in this morning. If you didn’t count one pissed kitten and the impending trip to a very public club.

  He walked to his car.

  SO THAT’S where he is. Nicky yanked his fedora down farther and pulled back into the shadow of the building. What the fuck was Luke wearing? He was dressed up like some kind of doctor or something. Yeah, PhD in cock sucking. Nicky laughed. Luke didn’t look like a pretty baby anymore. More like a g
orgeous man. But what the crap happened to his beautiful hair? Still, the boy had skills, and he owed Nicky big-time.

  Whatever he was doing in the Elliott Veterinary Clinic, it didn’t look like he’d be vanishing anytime soon. Good. Nicky had time to figure out a way to collect.

  Chapter Eight

  “ARE YOU going to tell him?”

  Killian caressed Blaine’s hand and leaned in to speak over the noise in the restaurant. “I don’t know. Let’s observe and see how much he’s remembered. If he seems close to recalling who he really is, then perhaps we should step in.”

  “What about Luke? Are you going to tell him?”

  “Gods, no. We only tell humans of our existence on a need-to-know basis.”

  Blaine nuzzled his ear. “I’m sure glad I needed to know.”

  “You didn’t make it easy on me. As you may recall, my darling physicist, I had to set a bush on fire with some lightning to get you to even pay attention.”

  “Yeah, but I finally figured out that quantum physics doesn’t discount the possibility of witchcraft.”

  “I’m so happy not to be discounted.” He gave Blaine a snarky smile.

  Blaine glanced up and pointed at the entrance to the large, high-ceilinged room with its plush, peach-colored decor. Killian followed his gaze. Luke and Alain stood in the doorway, talking to the maître d’. They looked over at the table, nodded, and started threading through the spaces between diners toward Killian and Blaine. Now that was a gorgeous sight.

  Luke still hid his pretty face behind the dark-rimmed glasses and dyed hair, but he couldn’t cover up the perfection of that tall, lean body. The blue suit he wore might be a touch conservative for this place, but no one would call him less than fabulous. Still, even Luke paled next to his companion.

  Killian had to smile. If any creature on earth had a flair for drama and performance, it was Aloysius. The cat wasn’t just powerful. He brought his power to play with style and plenty of theatrics. Clearly, his sensibility had translated into this human form. Alain wore slim black jeans that hugged his legs and a long-sleeved black T-shirt. Over this simple costume he could have bought in a big-box store and likely did, he had layered a vest. Far too large for him, the vest appeared to be antique and perhaps made of Japanese silk, in colors of turquoise, spring green, and red. Around his neck he wore a long, scarlet silk scarf he’d wrapped several times, so it formed a high collar to his chin with two tails dangling onto his chest. Somewhere he’d found some high boots, maybe also antique and probably originally a woman’s. They covered his lower legs to the knee with a slight heel that raised him an inch or two and made his walk even sexier. And the hair. Just as Killian had left his waist-length gold mane hanging loose, so did Alain’s midnight-black tresses fall like a curtain of silk around his pale, oval face. The outfit was a statement about the young man—original, flamboyant, and unafraid. Or was it a statement about the cat?

  Killian stood. “Good evening. Thank you so much for joining us.”

  Luke smiled, though his gaze darted around the crowd. “Thanks for inviting us.”

  “Alain, you’ve stolen the show.” Blaine stood beside Killian. “No one will speak of anything else tonight except seeing you.”

  The pretty cat/human’s eyes sparkled. “I hope not. I worked over an hour on this outfit.”

  Killian laughed. Yes. That was certainly Aloysius.

  They all sat down, and an obviously gay, very cute blond waiter came to the table immediately. This was a big night, and the VIPs at the tables would make or break the club based on their word of mouth. The full staff would be on and making a special effort.

  “Hi. I’m Danton. I’ll be your waiter.”

  Blaine cocked an eyebrow. “How very revolutionary of you.”

  “Excuse me?”

  Blaine smiled.

  Danton’s eyes rested on Killian, switched to Alain, then back. “What can I get you lovely people to drink?”

  Killian ordered champagne, Blaine had beer, Luke opted for sparkling water, and all eyes turned to Alain. He stared at the drink menu. “I don’t know what’s good.”

  “It sure looks like you know what’s good to me.” Danton looked a little surprised at his own comment.

  Killian glanced up and got a wink from the waiter, who in turn got a glare from Blaine.

  Danton stared at his order pad. “May I recommend a Kir Royale? It’s quite refreshing.”

  Alain beamed, and Danton caught his breath. That was easy to understand. Alain was devastating. “That sounds perfect. I’ll have that.”

  Danton scurried away.

  Blaine harrumphed. “Cheeky bastard.”

  Killian took hold of his arm. “Now, now. Let’s not be a fuddy-duddy.”

  “The very fact that you said ‘fuddy-duddy’ makes you way more of one than me, baby.” Blaine’s green eyes danced.

  Killian shrugged. “It’s very hard maintaining one’s cool over time.”

  Blaine kissed his nose.

  Alain grinned and took a not-very-professional grip on Luke’s arm, gazing up at him, then turned those amazing eyes on Killian. “What do you teach at the college, Killian?”

  “History.”

  Blaine delivered his sauciest grin. “Yes, his most popular class is the history of witchcraft and the witch trials.”

  Alain’s eyes seemed to cloud over for a moment. “How frightening.”

  “Yes.” Killian gazed at Alain. “I hope it provides many cautionary lessons for my students about the importance of tolerance and making your own decisions.”

  Luke clearly shuddered.

  Killian smiled at him. “Something you don’t like, Luke?”

  He looked up. What a stunning face he had. “Oh, sorry. My mother was a big believer in all that crap. It gave me the willies.”

  Blaine glanced at Killian. “Yeah, I hear you. But then I married it.”

  Killian gave him a raised eyebrow and got a grin.

  The waiter arrived with the drinks and stayed long enough to watch Alain sip his Kir Royale. When he giggled and smiled, Danton got his reward and left. Killian raised his champagne flute, and they all clinked glasses. “To wonderful discoveries and grand realizations.”

  Blaine glanced at Alain. “Hear, hear!”

  Killian sipped. Oh my. He loved champagne. “So, Alain, how are the memories?”

  Alain took another drink of his champagne-and-liqueur mixture. “I remember a little more every day, but I also feel compelled by things that I don’t understand. The other night I scared Luke badly when I left the apartment and wound up at an antique shop in the retail district.”

  Blaine frowned. “That sounds like our place.”

  Alain’s eyes widened. “It does?”

  Killian sat forward. “Yes. Blaine and I live in an apartment over an antique store.”

  “Is there a small park next door?”

  “Yes.”

  “Oh my. I must have come to your house.” Then a crease appeared between his eyebrows. “Oh no. You must be careful. I saw a woman and two men near your apartment. I thought she was going to go in the door, so I distracted her and led her away.”

  Luke grabbed his arm. “You what?”

  “Yes. I didn’t know where I was going, but I sensed danger and felt I needed to run to that place. There she was. Dark hair and very sneaky. I almost felt like I might know her, but I couldn’t find a name or place in my mind.”

  Hells. Al was trying to protect him even unconsciously. Killian worked to keep his face neutral. “How did you distract her?”

  “I meowed.”

  “What?”

  “It was all I could think of to do. I don’t know why, but she followed me.”

  Luke ran a hand through his hair. “You could have been hurt or killed.”

  “I suppose. But honestly, I couldn’t think of a single thing except protecting….” He looked at Killian, then at Blaine. “I guess protecting you.”

  Luke stared at Killian
with his eyes narrowed. “Why is that? Do you have any idea why Alain feels this need to take care of you?”

  Uh-oh. Just what this complicated situation needs. A jealous lover. Killian shook his head. “I can truthfully say I never met Alain until your men’s group meeting.”

  Luke’s eyebrows drew together. “I keep wanting to ask if you’ve found your cat.”

  How interesting he should ask that now. “He hasn’t come home.” Killian glanced at Blaine. “But we feel certain we know where he is—and he’s fine.” That was an overstatement, since Killian had no idea how to return Alain to his feline state. Even assuming he wanted to be changed back.

  “Where is he?”

  Blaine sipped his beer. “With friends.”

  “Have you decided on dinner?” Danton stood poised to take their order. Just in time!

  Alain leaned toward Luke with his menu, and they discussed the choices. Killian ordered tilapia, and Blaine chose Cornish game hen.

  Luke looked up. “The chicken cordon bleu, please.”

  Alain smiled. “I’ll take the salmon.”

  Danton noted it. “And what kinds of vegetables would you like with that?”

  “Can I just have a double helping of salmon?”

  Blaine sputtered, grabbed his water glass, and took a quick drink. Luke glanced at him, but Killian wasn’t telling Luke that Aloysius liked to sit on the counter nibbling their best canned salmon.

  The waiter left. Luke glanced around. “This is quite a place. How did you happen to rate a table among the movie stars and politicians?”

  Hmm. Best not to say the owner was a witch and respected his Witch Master. “My family is fairly well-known in New York. We’ve been here a long time.”

  Luke pointed to the low-hanging LEDs that glistened like a curtain of stars from the ceiling. “The decor’s amazing. And it’s really a gay club?”

  “They don’t discriminate, of course, but anyone coming here should know that many tables will be occupied by same-sex couples.”

  Alain took another sip of his drink. “I heard music when we came in. Will there be dancing?”

  Killian nodded. “Oh yes. The restaurant is a convenience for those who arrive early, but it’s primarily a club with all the dancing you could desire.”