I dumped my key on Lucen’s kitchen table and grabbed a couple wood chips from the bag by his deck door. In his cage, Sweetpea bared his teeth at me and banged his head against the bars as I passed.
“I get it,” I told the dragon. “You hate him as much as you hate me. Get used to it, you scaly rat.”
I got another bang in response as I stuffed the woodchips into the mini troll’s cage. Yes, that mini troll. After she’d caught him in The Feathers, Steph hadn’t been able to part with him. She’d named him Marvin, but she was afraid of her landlord discovering an illegal pet. So she’d passed him to me.
I’d threatened to toss Marvin out on the street, but the bugger seemed to like me. Since no pets ever liked me, I felt guilty and couldn’t do it. I couldn’t keep him either though because of my impending travel, so I’d passed him to Lucen. Lucen had renamed him Potato and said he expected me to keep the cage clean.
I couldn’t tolerate the thought of naming the little guy after food with Sweetpea nearby, so I’d dubbed him Sir Francis Marvin the Incorrigible and feared he was going to suffer from an identity crisis if Sweetpea didn’t eat him first. But Lucen could call the mini troll whatever he wanted. The idea of sharing a pet with him made me weirdly happy.
After a shower, a change of clothes and some food, I considered my evening’s options. It had been so long since I’d had the ability to relax, I was forgetting how to do it. Obviously, going down to The Lair was a given, but I had plenty of time for that. Meanwhile, Steph had finally responded to the text I sent her before showering.
Can’t do Fitzpatrick’s tonight. Got plans.
I wrinkled my nose. What plans could possibly be more important than hanging out with me?
She wrote back a minute later. Geez. You save the world once and your ego knows no bounds.
Bitch. My ego is in perfect proportion to my importance.
Sticking my tongue out at her, I tossed the phone to the side. Fine, maybe I’d go to Purgatory later and mooch off Devon’s goodwill after I mooched off Lucen’s free booze. Or maybe I’d just stay here and read a book. But no, my books were at my apartment. I’d have to go get them and come back if I wanted to spend the night.
It was such a simple, frivolous dilemma that I indulged in angst about it for longer than it deserved. Damn, I loved non-life-threatening decisions.
I’d about decided on the book when my phone rang. Lucen had quit with the apocalyptic ringtones but not messing with my phone. His current irritatingly popular choice left a lot to be desired, but it sure beat “Highway to Hell”.
Speaking of the horned devil, he was the one calling. “Little siren, are you coming down soon or what?”
Though I could tell he was speaking loudly, the noise in the background was defiantly louder. The Lair must be bursting at its newly repaired seams. “I was debating it.”
“Stop debating it and get your perky ass down here. I have something for you.”
“First, my ass might be fine but nothing about me is perky. Second, what?”
“You’ll find out when you get here, and many things about you are perky. Just not your personality.” He hung up.
I stuck my tongue out at him too.
Sighing, I checked that my hair hadn’t frizzed too badly and went down to the bar via the back stairs that led from Lucen’s apartment. As I stepped out of the kitchen and into the bar itself, a cheer went up from the room. A crowd of satyrs raised their glasses. So did Steph.
I did a double take, bewildered. I could pick Steph out easily among the crowd since she was one of the few humans and was clearly uncomfortable being here. But she grinned when she saw me anyway.
“You… What is this?” The bar was stuffed with those friendly faces I’d been searching for earlier. Aside from Steph, Devon was here and Dezzi, Angelia and many others.
Lucen stepped out from behind the bar and handed me a glass of beer. “This is called a party. We’re celebrating.”
“Celebrating what?”
“You’re a real Gryphon now,” Steph said, raising a beer of her own. “A hero living her childhood dream.”
“And…” Devon worked his way forward. “We like you anyway. In fact, politically speaking, this is a brilliant move for us.”
I rolled my eyes. “No more nonsense about how it’s good to have a spy in enemy territory. I deliberated about accepting this job, and I’m going to take it seriously.”
Lucen wrapped an arm around me, almost sloshing my beer out of the glass. “We expect nothing less of you.”
“Unless, you know, you feel particularly charitable and want to tip us off before any Gryphon raids,” Devon said.
Dezzi poked him in the arm and gave me an exasperated look. “We all want this new partnership to succeed. We’ve seen what can happen when we do not work toward a common goal.”
“All right, all right.” Lucen let me go. “Enough with the serious talk. Let’s get back to the celebrating.”
Over the next several minutes I was surrounded by people, mainly satyrs, who wanted to wish me well, thank me for what I’d done, and—of course—proposition me. They were satyrs, after all, and apparently I’d gone from being an interesting curiosity to a highly coveted partner. I did my best to deflect the attention and politely decline the offers, but I did kiss Angelia to a few good-natured hollers. She’d earned it for the magical kiss she’d given me.
“You’ll come around to me yet.” She planted an extra kiss on my cheek, making my nose tingle with her hyacinth scent. “You can’t let the men have all the fun.”
“Sure she can.” Devon ambushed me with a delightfully clove-scented kiss. We’d already had our own celebratory reunion, at which he’d told me he was so relieved that I’d made it back alive with Lucen that he forgave me for destroying Purgatory.
When I finally made my way over to Steph, she was leaning so far over the bar that she was practically lying on it. I knew she was making her best attempt to be here for me and no doubt putting dubious trust in Lucen to protect her. Not that I thought she was in any danger. None of the people Lucen had invited were going to mess with my best friend.
Steph gestured with her beer toward Angelia. “I learn more about you each time I see you.”
“Just getting into the spirit of things.”
“Very into it.”
I pretended to punch her.
Unsurprisingly, Steph didn’t want to hang out at The Lair for too long, and she really did have other plans. Specifically, a date with her boyfriend who had an unexpected Friday evening off work. I watched her go, amazed at her change in attitude. Sure, she’d been anxious about coming, but she’d braved a bar full of preds for me. In her own way, Steph was making as much progress in dealing with our situation as I was.
“So.” Lucen stepped up behind me and nudged me off the barstool. “We need to talk.”
I followed him into the corner by the kitchen door. “This does not sound celebratory.”
“Oh, don’t be so sure.” He slid his arms around my waist, pressing me against him. I did the same and rubbed my fingers against the smooth muscles in his back.
Our bond had shattered from the blowback when the Pit closed, and although I didn’t want to be his addict, I kind of missed that magical connection. I was having a more difficult time than usual keeping my hands off him as a result. Even now, I couldn’t stop myself from tugging up his shirt in the back so I could touch his skin.
“When do you fly home from France?” he asked as though he didn’t notice what I was doing. It was a lie because I could tell he very much noticed.
I frowned. “Friday morning. Why?”
“Can you change it and meet me in Paris for the weekend instead?”
My curiosity was too piqued to continue removing his shirt, and I let the fabric fall back into place. “You want to meet me there?”
“I don’t know.” I let go of his back and slipped my arms between us, resting my hands against his chest. It was such a classic defensive move on my part that I couldn’t avoid noticing and becoming annoyed at myself for it. “I was under the impression that it’s challenging for you to travel far because you have to arrange for addict company. Unless you were thinking you’d just rebond with me when you got there?”
Lucen clasped my hands in his. “About that, there’s something I need to tell you. I let go of my last addict today.”
“What?” I gave him a slight push in my surprise and looked him over head to toe. He appeared quite happy to be so close to me and in no way suffering the effects he had in the Pit. “And you’re calmly standing here, telling me this? How is that possible?”
“I should rephrase. I let go of my last addict today who isn’t you.”
Okay, we were getting somewhere. But where? I shook my head, wondering which of us had drunk too much and thinking it couldn’t be me unless he’d slipped something in my beer. “You’re not making sense. I’m not your addict anymore. There’s no bond connecting us.”
“See, I think there is. I think it’s just not that kind of bond.” The mischievous smile slipped from his face, and his voice turned serious. “We were bonded when that magical blast hit. I felt it travel from you into me, and I’ve felt different ever since. Over the past couple weeks, I’ve been testing things out, releasing addicts one by one, and I haven’t noticed a huge change in myself. You, on the other hand, seem to be a bit more, shall we say, amorous than before?”
“You’ve always had that effect on me.” But as I said it, I remembered thinking just seconds ago how much more so I’d been lately. Lucen had a point. “I don’t understand.”
“Neither do I. The magic involved in that spell was far beyond anything I’ve studied, but I’m convinced the surge had some lasting effect on me. You too, maybe. It’s almost as if it transferred some of my satyrness to you. I’ve been spared the unquenchable lust but at your expense. It equalized us.”
I opened and shut my mouth a few times, at a loss for words. But my heart hammered. “So you no longer need addicts.”
It was probably the wrong thing to focus on when confronted by Lucen’s information. From the point of view of a Gryphon or even other preds, the potential here was amazing if someone smarter than me could figure out this mystery. But the only part I cared about at the moment was the implication for us.
I’d been resigned to needing to share Lucen; he was worth it. But if this were true, if I no longer needed to share him… I meant, assuming he was okay with that, which was making a big leap.
Lucen could certainly figure out what was causing my tumultuous emotions. “I no longer need addicts for now. I can’t promise this will last forever.”
“I know, but what does it mean for you?” What does it mean for us? That was the question I wanted to ask, but I was doing my best not to be selfish. “Isn’t your position in the domus dependent on your addicts?”
“Yes and no. My position is determined by how useful I am. Normally, usefulness depends largely on the addicts I can acquire, but they aren’t the sole factor. I’m sure Dezzi and I will have lots to discuss when I tell her. But really, this probably makes me so much more awesome that Devon might have to watch his back or I’ll steal his favored spot.” He laughed and pulled me close again. “Now ask the question you really want to ask.”
I winced at the reminder that I was so easy to read. “Fine. What does this mean for us?”
“It means I’m all yours if you want me.”
“Really?”
“Really, little siren.” Lucen bent down and took my lips in his, and I melted at the taste of him. A crazy, happy desire rose in me, sweet yet hot, and it wasn’t going to be satisfied with this tease. I wanted to tear his clothes off and dance with joy on the bar with him.
Temporarily forgetting we were in the middle of a crowded room, I slid my hand lower down Lucen’s body, chasing the length of him beneath his jeans. But a familiar laugh caught my attention, reminding me where I was and prompting more questions. Sheepishly, I pulled away and made sure to keep some distance between us. Across the room, Devon winked at me.
My love life was way too complicated, but I’d thought I’d at least been getting a handle on it. I’d had a plan. Two nights a week I stayed with Lucen, two nights with Devon, and the other three were mine to do with as I pleased, whether it was sleep alone or host a party in my bed. I kept my independence that way, and I didn’t have to run into anyone’s addicts because the men could damn well deal with that part of their lives on their own time.
Now though? If Lucen was willing to be monogamous, it seemed like I should be too. Except I was going to feel awful explaining this to Devon, and damn it, I’d miss him. I’d gotten used to the idea of my nontraditional relationship. Of thinking two incredibly sexy men were a good consolation prize for not being able to have a single one to myself.
Lucen followed my gaze and again guessed what I was thinking. “Why do you expect this changes anything? I’m the same person, little siren. My tastes in our naked proclivities are no different.”
I snorted at the naked-proclivities euphemism but pondered his words. “Oh. So this is all good with you?”
“Well, I might want to negotiate for one more night of the week since I don’t have to worry about other company. Or you could just move in and call my place your home base. That would make Potato happy, I’m sure. But we don’t have to rush things. We’ll figure it out.”
Screw keeping my distance from him. I buried my head against his chest, laughing with confusion and amazement. “You mean it would make Sir Francis happy, but you’re right. No rush. Isn’t that a nice change? If I get to keep you both, I think I’m getting the better part of this plan though.”
“Oh, don’t be so sure.” Lucen kissed the top of my head. “Besides, this way, you have to introduce both of us to your mother one day. You’re still a loser there.”
I groaned, some of my giddiness draining away at the thought. “No rush there either.”
I’d seen my mother once since returning, and it had been interesting. It was the first time we’d gotten together since the news about what I was broke, and much crying had been involved. Mostly, they were happy tears. Whatever I was, she was thrilled I was alive, and I was thrilled that she was as accepting of everything as she was. I suspected, however, that accepting what I was might be a touch easier than accepting my relationship choices, but who knew? Maybe she’d surprise me.
“No, no rush there either.” Lucen signaled to Paulius that he was ready to return to working the bar, because the poor bartender was getting overwhelmed by the crowd. Then he turned back to me. “You deserve to be happy for a while.”
I grinned. “I am happy, and you’re very right. Instead of little siren, maybe you should start calling me little Miss Sunshine.”
“No.”
“Little Miss Positivity?”
Lucen’s expression was appropriately comical, and he whipped my butt with a towel as he went back to work.
“Fine.” I plopped on my favorite stool and pushed my empty beer glass his way. “Then pour me another drink. I have more celebrating to do.”
About the Author
Tracey Martin grew up outside of Philadelphia, the lucky recipient of a drama-free childhood, which is why she spent so much time reading about other people’s lives. It was while she was working on her doctorate in psychology that she had an epiphany—imaginary people are way more fun than real ones. And so she began writing. Never able to choose just one of anything, she currently writes both urban fantasy and sci-fi for adults and contemporary stories for teens.
She likes her coffee simple, her music epic and her movies to contain explosions. A city
girl at heart, she doesn’t understand how she and her husband ended up living in New Hampshire, but writing keeps her off the mean, small-town streets. To learn more, you can visit her website at www.tracey-martin.com, or say hi on twitter to @TA_Martin.
Look for these titles by Tracey Martin
Now Available:
Miss Misery
Wicked Misery
Dirty Little Misery
Misery Loves Company
Darkest Misery
RedZone
Revive
Resist
Don’t miss these other titles by Tracey Martin
What the mind forgets, the heart remembers.
RedZone, Book 1
Alone in a train station bathroom, Sophia Hernandez has no memory of who she is or how she got there. All she’s certain of are three things: her college ID is a lie, bad people are coming for her, and no one can be trusted.
The only clue to her past is the fellow student who finds her. Although Sophia’s gut tells her Kyle is lying when he claims he can’t help her, his touch makes her heart race. Is it because of a red-hot natural attraction, or a missing memory of something far more dangerous?
As two mysterious, menacing men chase them from the station, Sophia’s memories return in frustrating fragments. So do deadly skills she didn’t know she had. In the next forty-eight hours, a loved one’s life will be on the line as she sifts through a mounting tangle of secrets and lies.
Including the most heart-wrenching secret of all. Not only isn’t she a normal college student, she isn’t even a normal human.
Misery Happens Page 27
