“Yes, I’m aware of that,” she answered calmly. “But vampires are usually quite resilient when it comes to any addictions, and Tim said it shouldn’t start with just one dose. It usually takes three or four for my kind.” Dominic looked at her for a second before he turned back to Tim.
“And what about other effects? The ones that producing the dust have on you? What about that?”
“Wow, you and my brother have to be very close if he told you all of that,” stated Tim, clearly surprised. Then he straightened and answered. “I can deal with it. It’s just one small dose for Annette, and then we’ll be able to go home. I can do it.”
Dominic measured him with long steady gaze then nodded. “Okay, if you’re sure. Go and do it now. The people in that building are unconscious, but there is no reason to stay here any longer than we need to. The faster we’re home, the better.”
Everything after that was a rush. Annette took some of Tim’s dust and disseminated with all other captives and back again. Tyler and his two men along Dominic, Timiny and the cuberow-shifter, Jack got in the car and started driving. They all had to be pretty tired because the next thing he knew Dominic felt his eyes drooping. Only his military training kept him from falling asleep in an unknown place. He was resting with his eyes closed when something really weird happened. One second they were in a slowly moving car, next they were sitting on sofas in Jason’s living room, those previously slumbering waking with a groan each. Dominic could hardly believe his eyes. He knew he hasn’t fallen asleep, and yet, here he was without an explanation of how it happened.
Then he thought of all that happened to him lately. Learning about fey, shifters and Jason’s power. Seeing how this power made people do things they wouldn’t do otherwise. It wasn’t a big stretch to think it could teleport people from place to place. Dominic thought it better to just forget about it. There were other, more important things to do like watching the reunion of fey twins. Dominic couldn’t help a small smile seeing Jiminy’s excitement when he hugged his brother.
* * * *
Jim’s musings were interrupted by the sound of a groan coming from the living room. Tyler did warn him that their coming back might be a bit unusual, and Jiminy got that that was what he meant. He rushed, barreling into the living room, and the sight that greeted his eyes made him squeal in delight.
There he was. His brother, safe and sound, if somewhat dazed-looking, sitting on a sofa in front of him. Without a thought, Jiminy jumped him and proceeded to squeeze the life out of him. Jim was so happy he could cry, and he couldn’t make himself to let go of his twin even as they were both, along with Dominic, urged to the kitchen by Tyler.
* * * *
Dominic felt a bit lost. The rescue mission went well and they managed to save the fey. Now they were back in Tyler’s house and he had suspicions that they didn’t get there the normal way. He thought that magic might have been involved. Sure, he never believed in magic before, but since fey, shifters, and vampires were real, he reckoned magic shouldn’t really surprise him. He even considered asking Jason if he was a wizard, but decided against it. The man could be scary when he took that stony facial expression on.
Anyway, with minor trouble, they succeeded in the mission, and now Dominic didn’t really know what his place in the whole story was. Was he supposed to leave Jim alone, take the payment for his services, and pretend the whole thing never happened? Or were they expecting something of him? Did he have to swear to keep the secret to himself? He had no idea, and he didn’t like the feeling.
Dominic was a person who always liked to be in control, so a feeling of being lost was pretty hard on him. Still, he decided that it wasn’t the right time to fall apart. He followed the fey twins and Tyler to the kitchen.
Jiminy and his brother were still embracing and chatting. Or rather, Jim was talking, firing one question after another, while Tim barely managed to add a word or two. Dominic noticed with his usual perceptiveness that Jiminy had tears in his eyes from relief at having his brother with him. Tim, though, seemed tense and uncomfortable. Dom reckoned it had to be hard on him, being among so many strangers after such a long time as a prisoner. There was nothing that could be done, though. They couldn’t simply leave without discussing some things with Tyler and his men.
His musings were once again interrupted when the tiger-shifter got a sudden sheepish expression on his face and left the kitchen abruptly. Dominic had a fleeting thought to follow him and see what that was all about, but he didn’t get a chance.
“And this is Dominic Sawyer, he helped me find and rescue you,” he heard Jiminy say as the man pulled his brother toward him. “Dom, this is Timiny, my twin brother I told you so much about.”
“It’s nice to officially meet you,” said Tim with a smile that looked equal parts strained and fake. “Thank you for all your help.”
“Don’t mention it.” Dominic didn’t know what else to say. “Would you like a cup of coffee and something to eat? I don’t suppose they fed you very well in that place,” he finally offered.
“Yeah,” the other fey said with a grimace. “A big mug of coffee would be great, thank you very much.” It was then that Dominic realized he probably shouldn’t have said anything to remind Tim about his imprisonment, but it was too late. Once again, Dominic stuck his foot in his mouth. He wasn’t good with interpersonal skills and he knew it.
Dom went to the cupboard that, as Tyler showed them, held tea, coffee, and all the mugs. He went about preparing a cup of dark liquid for each of them. It gave him purpose and let him concentrate on something other than wondering about the future.
* * * *
After getting his brother back, the rest of the day passed for Jim in a blur. He was so happy, ecstatic even, to have Timiny back, that he could almost ignore said brother’s strange behavior. Almost being the key word. He kept chatting, blabbering happily, for the rest of the evening until Toby and Tyler helped them settle in a room. Dominic was given another bedroom, next to theirs, while Jack volunteered to sleep on a couch.
When they were safely in the small bed, lying next to each other like when they were kids, Jim couldn’t pretend anymore. He turned, facing his brother, and folded both hands under his cheek, staring in the darkness. Fey didn’t have enhanced senses, not like some shifters, so the darkness covered them both, giving the twins the sense of privacy.
“Tell me,” said Jim simply in a quiet voice. He knew his brother Timiny pretended to be tough, pretended he could take anything thrown his way, but Jim knew better. His twin was hurting inside really badly, and it was up to Jiminy to help him through it.
“It was horrible, Cricket,” Tim said after a long while, using his childhood nickname. “All this time, closed, without sun or moon, I felt like I was slowly dying inside, piece by little piece. I knew you were looking for me, felt your worry, but I wasn’t sure I’d survive long enough for you to find me.” Timiny sighed, his voice thick with emotion. “They knew what I was, Cricket. They knew from the very beginning, that’s why they kidnapped me. I’m only grateful to whatever god who listened that they did not realize there were two of us. They had no idea I had a twin, or they would have kidnapped you as well. I don’t know how they knew, but they did. Somebody betrayed us, Jimmy boy, and since it wasn’t Ty, from what you say, then it had to be another fey.”
Tim fell silent while Jiminy tried to stomach his words. Somebody knew what they were? Somebody betrayed them? How was it even possible? Ty was the only person Jim had revealed their true identity to, before Dominic that is, and no one else knew about it on this plane. In their home, though, it wasn’t exactly a secret. With their family being who they were, there was no hiding their pixie nature. So the only possible answer was that someone had followed them all the way from their home plane and betrayed them here, in the human one. A cold shiver worked its way up Jiminy’s spine, but he tried hard to ignore it, reassuring his brother.
“They won’t be able to get back to us, Timmy. W
e’re safe here. Everything will be okay, and Dominic will help us. You’ll see.” If only he could believe it himself.
* * * *
The next day, they got up early. Jim thought he’d have problems sleeping, but to his surprise, that wasn’t the case. He slept like the dead and woke up in a great mood. He and his brother had always been early birds and loved to mess with anyone who liked to sleep in and was useless in the mornings. That day wasn’t any different.
“I wonder,” said Tim hesitantly. “Do you think we should stay in the old apartment?”
“What do you mean?” Jiminy looked up from where he was making the bed. His brother seemed really uncomfortable.
“What if I’m right? What if someone from the other plane came after us and betrayed us? What if they’re still there? What if they find us again? I don’t want to risk it, Cricket. I don’t think I could survive something like that again.”
“Oh, Timmy.” Jim left the bed and came to hug his brother. “It’s going to be all right, honey. I won’t let them hurt you ever again,” he whispered in Timiny’s ear. They stood there for a moment, before Tim finally pushed him away and seemed to get himself together.
“Thanks, Cricket. I needed it.” He straightened and asked, “But seriously, what if they did follow us? I don’t think it safe to go back to our old apartment. Thank god they didn’t know we were twins. If it really is somebody from our plane, then they will finally realize they failed in getting rid of us. We should find another place to live,” Tim finished looking at Jim with a somber expression.
“You’re right, of course.” Jim sighed, finishing the bed, and he sat down on it. “I gave it some thought before sleep last night. I think we should move to the town where Dominic lives. It’s probably the last place where they would look for us, and Dominic is there, and Ty lives only an hour drive away if we needed any help.”
“Yeah.” Tim grinned, changing the subject as he plopped on the bed next to his brother. “What’s with you and that guy? You told him quite a bit about feys’ nature…” Tim’s grin widened as he saw a blush appearing on his brother’s cheeks. “I knew it! You like him, don’t you?”
“So what if I do? He’s nice and was very helpful with finding you. And he didn’t even mind me putting him through the mating heat, after I explained it was an accident.” Jim muttered the last sentence under his breath. His brother knew him very well, though, and caught up on that.
“You what! You induced the mating heat in him? What, how?” Tim was clearly shocked.
“It was an accident, okay?” said the other fey in a defensive voice. “I didn’t mean to. And of course I couldn’t remember the spell to lift it off him. But he was very good about it all. After I explained and apologized, that is.”
“Why do I feel like there is more to this story, twin brother?” Timiny lifted one eyebrow.
“Okay, so maybe I had to show him my true form, so that he believed me. Oh, and also he doesn’t know that he is a werewolf, but that’s all, I promise.”
“Wait, slow down, he’s a wolf shifter? And you showed him your true form? Do you know how dangerous that is? Right, who am I asking, of course you do know. You simply didn’t think before acting, am I right?” Tim made a face palm with exasperation. “Oh, little brother, when will you learn?” He shook his head with a sad smile at Jiminy’s pout.
“Hey! I’m not that hotheaded!” Jim protested. He saw his twin’s doubting look and admitted, “Okay, so maybe I am, but it all worked out in the end. And Dom was really great about it!”
“Okay, okay, I believe you.” Tim gave a small laugh. “Tell me the whole story, now. Don’t withhold anything!”
Jim gave a wicked grin and said, “So, it all started with me hiding in Dominic’s bedroom, cloaked with invisibility glamour…”
Chapter Eight
Dominic never started a day without a cup of coffee to get him going. The habit started when he was a teenager who had to study well into the night to keep his grades up. Since then, coffee became his best friend for life. He knew lots of people shared his beliefs, so he wasn’t really surprised when he entered the kitchen in the morning and realized there was a whole party of coffee drinkers gathered around the kitchen table. Jason and Jack were finishing their cups, from the looks of it, by the time he entered the room, but Tyler was barely starting.
Dominic zeroed in on the coffee machine and tried his hardest to ignore the annoying cheeriness of the fey twins who entered the kitchen directly behind him. He was doing a good job of it, too. He managed to zone out into his happy place in the utopian coffee-land sipping the dark liquid from his mug. He was doing such a good job, as a matter of fact, that when Jason suddenly fell off his chair, Dominic had no idea what had happened. Then there was a commotion with Tyler lifting Jay and carrying him to the living room while everybody followed. Everything that happened afterwards was just too complicated for his coffee-lacking, sleep-addled brain. He only understood bits and pieces.
He was still not fully awake when he followed Jiminy and his brother to the kitchen. He definitely wasn’t prepared for the conversation that the twins started as soon as they were alone.
“Listen, Dom,” said Jim uncertainly, looking anywhere but at him, “I…we have something, we’d like to discuss with you,” he corrected himself. Judging by how hard the conversation seemed to be to him, Dominic decided he’d need all his brain cells working.
“Let me get another cup of coffee while you’re talking,” he simply stated. Jim nodded and started wringing his hands. His brother simply went to the window and looked out of it without a word. Dominic made a mug of life-saving liquid and sat at the table, looking pointedly at the chair across from him. He had a feeling it would be a hard conversation.
“So…” Jim didn’t really look like he knew where to start. Thankfully for them, Timiny spoke from under the window, not looking at them.
“What my brother is trying to say is that I suspect my kidnapping wasn’t as random as it might seem.”
“What do you mean?” Dominic’s worst feelings were being confirmed. This time it was Jim who answered.
“Tim says that whoever kidnapped him knew straight away that he was a fey, and a pixie fey, at that. Since we didn’t tell anyone but Ty about it, that has to mean that we were betrayed by one of our own.” He paused, but seeing Dominic’s expectant gaze continued with a sigh. “Nobody on this plane knew we were fey. It comes as obvious that somebody from our plane had to follow us here and reveal our secret to the people who then kidnapped Tim. The thing is, if that’s true, then we aren’t safe on our own. We agreed that we don’t want to go back to our plane. We want to stay in the human realm. But we need to move somewhere where we can feel safe. After Tyler moved, we don’t really have any friends in our old town. Also we learned that Jack was kidnapped from the same town Timiny was. So we thought about moving somewhere where we know someone…” He paused, not sure how to proceed. Dominic decided to make it easier on him.
“I’ve got a spare bedroom, you know. It’s only used every once in a while by a visiting friend, so if you were happy to share…And I could use some help with this whole paranormal thing. If I am to discover that werewolf thing, I will need a guide,” Dom said gruffly.
“Wow, really?” Jim’s eyes got huge. “I didn’t mean to impose… I only hoped you could help us find an apartment close to yours. If it’s too much, you don’t have to…”
“It’s okay, Jimmy.” Dominic didn’t even notice the pet name, it came to him so naturally. “I really think it best if we keep together for now. It will be both safer for you and easier on me. You’ll help me with my family and we’ll be even, how about that?”
“Great, that’s great.” Jim had a huge, relieved grin, but when Dom turned to his twin, he saw that Timiny was watching him with an unreadable expression.
“And what’s your opinion, Timiny?” Dominic asked.
“Please, don’t call me that.” The man grimaced. “Didn’t
Cricket tell you how much we hate our full names? We never use them. Call me Tim, please.”
“Cricket?” Dom lifted a brow. “I smell a story there.”
“Yeah.” Tim laughed, seeing his brother’s face scrunch in disgust. “I’ll have lots of fun telling you all the embarrassing stories about his childhood. But back to the topic. I don’t mind, really. It was my idea to move. If you’re sure you’re okay with sharing your space with us, I’m more than happy to agree.”
Dominic couldn’t help but notice that all the smiles and laughs seemed forced. But he wasn’t a therapist. He had no idea how to help a man who had suffered such a trauma. So he stuck to his initial offer.
“Great, it’s a deal, then. You’ll move your stuff as soon as possible,” he said, setting back his empty mug. Then he heard Jason and his men going upstairs. Jim heard them, too, and called them to the kitchen. And another odd conversation proceeded.
* * * *
“Oo-kay,” said Dominic, stretching the sound, after Jason and his two men left for their bedroom, “that wasn’t weird at all.”
He shook his head, standing up to wash his mug. “I told you I’d need your help with all this paranormal shit, and it looks like I was right. I’d never think to ask Jason for permission to stay in my apartment. And apparently that would break some unspoken rule, so thanks, guys.”
Jack spoke from behind him. “Don’t worry, you’re clearly not the only shifter not knowing their shifter law, as we see from today’s experience.”
“Yeah…about that shifter part…are you sure I am one? How can you even tell?” Dom asked turning back to the man and wiping the mug dry, just to keep his hands busy. Jack frowned before answering.
“Well, now that you ask, there is something off about your smell. This is your answer, by the way. I can sniff a shifter. You do smell like a wolf, but your scent isn’t very strong. Are you a hybrid?”
Reality Check Page 7
