by Julia Talbot
“We’re waiting for you two.” Deke sounded tickled to be interrupting them, which made sense.
“Mmm. Damn it.” He put an arm around Yves and steered him toward the door, baring his teeth at his packmate.
Deke chuckled, the sound grating on his ears. Asshole. He wanted to drag Yves back to his cave and cover him and keep everyone else away. Whoa. Weird.
That was... hugely unexpected.
“Stop,” Deke said. “It will pass. You just have to breathe.”
He looked to Deke, confused as hell, but grateful too, because goddamn.
Deke winked and mouthed, “I’ll explain.” Then he led the way back to Jonny’s fancy-assed lounge.
Luc was there, wrapped in a huge fluffy robe, and Kasey paced the floor, making fairly effective wolf growls. “Took you long enough,” he snarled.
Reuben just grinned. “Looks like it didn’t take you long at all, toothy.”
Kasey stuck his tongue out, a surprisingly comical maneuver. “Two minutes flat. You inspired us.”
Yves gave him a raised eyebrow and Reuben winked, went for the feint. “I found part of that scroll deal you were looking for.”
“Where? I need it.”
“It’s here. Kasey got your shit from the bus station.”
“I need to see what you’re doing, Yves.”
“I’m translating.” Reuben could see Yves vibrating.
“Translating what?” Kasey asked.
“A series of spells, I hope. I’m almost done.”
“Spells.” Jonny frowned. “Black magic never works as you would wish.”
“Don’t worry.” Yves growled.
“Don’t worry. You want to make a zombie, honey.” Reuben was worried.
“A zombie?” That was Kasey, but it was Luc who rowled.
“You can’t bring him back! He’s gone!”
“And it’s my fault! I have to try!” No one understood. Not even Luc.
“You can’t bring people back, Yves.” Jonny shook his head, frowning mightily, which made Reuben growl.
“Everyone chill the fuck out,” Deke said. “Reuben, stop rumbling at everyone. Jonny, sit. We need to know all the deets.”
Kasey scowled at Deke. “You just used the word deets.”
“I did! I’ve been following along with the newbies.” Deke looked so proud.
“Give me the rest of the parchment, pup? Please?” Yves was laser focused, eyes burning some.
“Soon, baby.” He hated the parchment all of a sudden, even though it had brought them together. Nothing should -- infect his kitty like this.
“Sit. Everyone.” Jonny’s voice was calm, but shot through with a steel thread that none of them -- not one -- could ignore. They all sat as a unit. “Much better.”
Even Yves didn’t fidget. They all simply waited for Jonny to take the lead.
“Now. I think we should start at the beginning, yes?” Jonny steepled his fingers and skewered first Luc, then Yves with his gaze. Luc had to feel that, even if he couldn’t see it. “Luc. Begin with the emeralds, if you please.”
“Uh. I stole them. A pair of perfect ones. I had a buyer. I delivered them on time.”
“And who was the buyer?” Jonny asked, the very picture of patience.
Luc’s eyes rolled and the twins were trying hard not to look at each other. “I was just supposed to leave them. The buyer was going to retrieve them at a later date.”
Did they think they were fooling anyone?
“So, one assumes Silvia was hiring you to steal something from me to kill two birds with one stone. He could sell the information he acquired, and have access to you, and thus the emeralds.” Jonny turned that shrewd, cold look on Yves. “Now, explain how the emeralds affect your activities.”
“There are four gemstones, all identical. They are a vital part of the ritual, apparently, something to do with payment.”
“Payment to a demon. You fail to see why I find this alarming, but I do.”
Dude, if it worried Jonny, then... Dude.
“It’s my brother. Our brother.”
“He’s dead!” Luc snapped. “Gone. There’s not even a body left.”
Kasey spoke up next. “So really? This is all to bring back a dead brother?” It sounded so... sordid in that clipped British accent.
Yves’ normally expressive face went totally still and he stood. “Reuben, where are my things?”
“They’re here, babe. Can you all excuse us?” Reuben stood and put a hand under Yves’ elbow. He could feel how done Yves was. How close he was to losing his shit.
“I just need the last pieces.” Yves met his eyes, sure. “I don’t think I can stop now. It’s all coming together.”
Why did that sound so ominous?
And why in the hell did Reuben want to go against all good sense and give Yves all those parchment pieces?
It didn’t make any sense.
None of this made sense.
His head hurt, his body beginning to ache as if he was coming down with something. “Let’s go sit and see what we have, okay?”
“Yeah. Okay.” Yves leaned against him, resting a little, body warm where it pressed to his.
“Cool. Sorry about the inquisition. They’re just trying to help. Seriously.”
“They don’t understand. I have to do this. I don’t have a choice.”
“Why not?” The urgency vibrating through Yves thrummed in Reuben’s body too.
Yves held his hands out. “I have to.”
“I don’t understand.” Reuben was up and moving, though, grabbing bags and boxes.
“I have to.”
God. Stop this. Stop. Stop.
He couldn’t though. Before he could even count to ten, he had all the pieces of parchment together, laying them out on the bed in the room they’d taken over. He felt as if his hands didn’t belong to him.
“Good man.” The voice that came out of Yves wasn’t his kit’s. “Stand by the door, now. Bar it.”
“Yes.” Okay. He could do that. Reuben’s feet took him to the door.
“Excellent. Stay there and you’ll be rewarded. Now, we’ve waited long enough, haven’t we?”
Cold chills racked him, and Yves began reading aloud, putting pieces of parchment in order with jerky, automatic movements. Reuben kinda thought he would lose his lunch.
Something was wrong. Really. Really.
He heard Deke calling his name, the sound worried.
Yes. Yes, come on. Help me. They were pack. Surely Deke would understand. Reuben couldn’t make his mouth move, his voice frozen.
Then Deke was hollering for Jonny and Reuben felt the jibbering in his brain easing.
Soon, he thought as hard as he could at Deke. Before it’s too late.
From the deep laugh echoing from Yves, he thought it was too late.
Chapter Five
Yves burned.
His eyes were flames, his hands nothing but blistered, rotting things. He stumbled through the weirdness of his brain, trying to escape it. Trapped. He was trapped and if he didn’t figure this out he would die and he would never get Girard back.
Keep working.
“I’m trying! You’re hurting me!”
Keep going. Don’t stop.
“Leave me alone.”
He swatted at the voice as if it were a fly or a bee. Buzz.
The words seemed to glow, to move across the parchment like fireflies in the night. He transcribed as quickly as he could, but some of the words escaped him. Gibberish.
Pay attention, then.
“I am!” he screamed. “Leave me alone!”
His head was going to split.
“Reuben! Someone help me!”
“Yves!” Reuben seemed so far away, separated from him by a fence of steel wool or something.
“Reuben! Help me!” Please.
Keep working.
“I can’t.”
Burning claws dug into his temples. Keep. Working.
; “Yves! Come back to me!” Reuben’s barking growl almost snapped him out of the clutches of the -- spell? Whatever it was.
Then those claws pushed even deeper and he couldn’t bear it, could do nothing but scream and sink into darkness.
***
The door burst open, slamming Reuben in the back. He staggered forward, his paralysis broken. Oh, God. Yves.
“Yves!” He stumbled forward, stopping short at the white fire in his mate’s eyes. “Help me!”
“He’s bloody possessed or something.” Jonny pushed at him from behind, and Reuben was glad it wasn’t an attacker.
“What do I do?” Reuben shouted, sprinting for Yves.
Jonny grabbed a blanket, threw it over Yves and it immediately began to smoke.
“Holy shitballs.” That came from Deke, who skidded to a stop next to Reuben. “What the fuck?”
“Demon possession. Kasey? Have a bath drawn.”
Kasey speeded from the room, and Reuben turned on Jonny. “Demon possession? What do I do!”
“Your job. You may be the only one that can.” Jonny looked to Deke. “Are they bonded?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I think so.” Deke gave him a shove. “Take him to Kasey.”
“You got it.” He snatched Yves up and ran. His hands hurt with the heat radiating from Yves’ form. How could anyone survive this? “Kasey!”
“In here! Hurry!”
He rushed into the room Kasey indicated and dropped Yves into the deep tub. Yves arched, a deep guttural cry filling the air.
“Holy shit. This is going to kill him.”
“If it does, we couldn’t have saved him. What the hell were you thinking?”
“What? Me? I didn’t do anything.” Had he? Was this his fault?
“No. No, man. Yves. I have a necromancer that can come, tomorrow. Maybe help.”
“Oh. A necromancer?” He started splashing the water on those pale cheeks. “Yves. Mate. Come on.”
“Mate. Mate. Mate.” Yves’ voice was soft, low.
“There you are.” He vocalized a little, his wolf wanting out, but not taking over.
“That’s it, man. You have to keep him here.”
“I’ll try.” No, fuck that. He would. He would keep Yves away from whatever was trying to hurt him. He crawled into the tub, almost howling at the heat of the water.
“You’ll have to do more than try, Reuben. The mating bond is strong. Stronger than nearly everything.”
“Please be true.” He gathered Yves into his arms.
“Don’t doubt it. Don’t doubt him. Deke, I need your help in here!”
Deke burst in, the door slamming back on its hinges, they looked at one another, obviously communicating, then Deke knelt by the tub. “You can hear him, yeah? Feel him?”
“I don’t know.” He thought so.
“You know.” Deke smiled at him. “You felt it before, the ache.”
“Yves.” Yves. He echoed the call over and over in his head.
Reuben.
Oh. Oh, there he was. Yves, come back to me. He kissed Yves’ neck.
Reuben.
Yves took a deep, deep breath, filling his lungs.
“There. You’re doing it.”
“Yves. I need you, love. Need you right here with me.” Reuben licked water off Yves’ skin, testing the heat there.
Reuben. Please. I’m scared. Don’t tell Luc.
Never, love. Never. He nuzzled that skin, which cooled more every second.
“It’s a demonic possession.” Jonny stood there with another man, who would have been stunning were it not for the shattered horns and black, empty eyes. “A major entity.”
“What do I do?” The guy gave Reuben the heebie-jeebies but if Jonny trusted him, so be it.
“Is there a safe room? Somewhere we can keep him long enough to convince the demon to try another being?” Those black eyes seemed to look at Jonny.
“There can be. Kasey. The green room down one level. Have it prepared right away.”
“You got it.” Kasey streaked off, moving too quick for Reuben to follow with his peripheral vision.
“We’ll take you to the room. You’ll stay in it until the entity chooses someone else.”
“Someone else?” What the fuck? “Who?”
That mouth opened into a smile that made his balls crawl up into his body, tiny needlelike teeth glinting as the dude’s lips pulled back. “My vote would be me.”
Jonny rolled his eyes. “Malachi, contain yourself, would you? Reuben, you’ll have to control him, keep him busy, focused on you and living.”
“I -- okay.” That was going to be... interesting. With an audience. This was the Bloodrose, though. There was always someone watching.
“If you can’t do it, I can find someone willing.” Seriously, Jonny just needed to shut the fuck up.
“No.” Yves shook his head, reaching for him. “Don’t go.”
“Not going anywhere, love. I got you.” He shut out everything but Yves, those green eyes finally open and focused on him. Only him. “There you are. Hey.”
“Hey. I was lost.”
“Is this where I say ‘and now you’re found’, or it that inappropriate?”
Yves snickered. “A little, yeah. Why are we wet?”
“It was bath time.”
“Bath time with company. Goodie.”
“Ignore them. There’s just me.” He took Yves’ mouth in a kiss, pushing his tongue in, knowing his kitty would fight back.
He got a low growl, a deep, weirdly happy sound. Yes. Nothing existed but them, their need to connect. To reinforce the bond.
“Let’s move them.” Jonny’s voice was soft, nearly gentle. “Quickly Deke.”
“You bet.” Deke touched him, but Reuben felt no urge to growl or defend.
He lifted Yves, who wrapped both legs around him, undulating against him. Fuck, yes.
“Good. Come on, I’ll help. There’s food, water. It’s going to be weird for him. Who knows how long the demon’s been in there, squatting?”
What an awful image. Reuben blocked it out. Jonny and the horned dude could deal with demons. He was here for Yves, and he yielded to Deke’s gentle prodding, moving out of the room and toward the elevator.
“No,” the Malachi guy murmured. “In case of demonic possession, use the stairs.”
“Oh for fuck’s sake, can’t you put him back in whatever box you let him out of?” Deke’s growl was prodigious.
“I think it was a lamp,” Jonny said.
Reuben wanted to growl, too and tell them all to shut up. Now. Instead, he moved faster, trotting down the stairs.
They were all going down like a train of incredibly freakish creatures -- one wet hound, a naked feverish kitty, a growling wolf, a blind panther, a vampire, and one... whatever that other guy was. It was like that St. Ives poem...
Kasey met them at the door to the room. “It’s all set. Just the two of them, right, Boss?”
“Just the two of them.” Jonny stared him down. “I’ll come for you when it’s safe. Understand?”
“I do.” He understood, all right. They were about to get their asses locked in a dungeon, even if it was cushy. He’d always liked the green room, with its cabinets full of toys and the restraints and all.
Still, dungeon.
“You can just leave me in here...”
“Don’t be stupid,” Reuben snapped. “We have to keep you safe, and I’m right here.” He stepped into the room, and the door slammed behind them.
Yves stiffened, a worried look crossing his face.
“No.” He barked the word out. “Look at me. Just me.”
Bright green eyes fastened on his. “Something’s wrong.”
“We’re gonna fix it.” He had to believe that. Had to. Otherwise, they’d never beat this thing.
“I... I can’t...” Yves stood, began to pace.
No. If that too-hot body was going to do anything it wasn’t going to be pacing. Reuben reached out with one
hand and reeled Yves back in. “Do you need me to tie you up?”
“For what?”
The heat was fading, dissipating like it had never been there. So much better. He just had to keep it going.
“So you stop trying to run away from me. I have plans for your ass.”
“What? We were... we were working, right? The spell?”
No way. No thinking about the magic.
“You were having demon issues.” He pinched that sweet, tight ass. “I think we need to take a break and fuck.”
“You’re insane.”
It was possible, but he intended to keep Yves sane however he had to do it.
Reuben grinned, feeling very big bad wolf. “Must be, to mate with a cat and end up with Jonny as my in-law.”
“Cats and wolves don’t mate.”
Still, Yves didn’t say they weren’t mates. Reuben knew they were, knew it deep down in his wolf soul, so he didn’t bother to argue.
It didn’t matter. What was true was true.
He really needed to get out of his soaked clothes. Yves was bare still, but Reuben had gently steamed in his pants and shirt.
He stripped down, and Yves began to pace again, exploring the room and he swore he could see the kit’s ears twitching. Jonny was so right. He would have to keep Yves occupied. Solidly.
“Come here, love.” He tried for a little of the Alpha command Deke did so easily.
Yves stopped, a soft, curious, totally kittenish sound leaving him.
Oh, that worked. Look at him, being all wolfy. “Come on, kit. Get over here.” He held out one hand, beckoning with two fingers.
“Is that supposed to be sexy?” Reuben knew it was -- he could see it in the way Yves’ body responded.
“Mmm. It’s supposed to get you over here.” He growled the last two words, hoping he didn’t sound like a bad sparkly vampire movie guy.
Yves came to him, gaze holding him, watching him closely.
Yes. Hunt me, kitty. Backed away, moving toward a nice, wide couch.
Yves growled softly, called to him, and the little chirrup made him want to howl.
Instead he played it cool, stretching out on the couch, hands behind his head. He spread his legs, letting his scent fill the immediate area.
Yves groaned, then the sounds faded and he was being stalked. That sinuous body moved, muscles pulling under hot skin. Reuben’s cock rose, his ass clenching. That was what he needed, Yves’ attention.
