Credo Quia Absurdum

by Sophie Martin

  Reality 3

  Credo Quia Absurdum

  Timiny Jones has a huge problem, his time in captivity left him with an incurable affliction known as dust overdose. The last thing he expects is for human, Joel Simmonds, to be willing to help him.

  After being kicked out by his girlfriend Joel is thrust smack-dab in the middle of a paranormal mess. After discovering the beautiful pixie’s secret, Joel decides to help him, consequences be damned.

  But Tim’s dust problem isn’t his only secret. He has another, much deadlier one. When pursuing the leads on disappearing paranormals, they discover a possible fey connection. Not everything is as it seems and Joel’s investigation is less puzzling than his growing feelings for Tim.

  So who is truly behind the trafficking ring? Why did Linda dump Joel’s ass? Who is that Viking-like dude calling himself a royal? Is Joel truly straight? And what the hell does Credo Quia Absurdum mean?

  Genre: Alternative (M/M, Gay), Fantasy, Paranormal

  Length: 63,083 words

  CREDO QUIA ABSURDUM

  Reality 3

  Sophie Martin

  EROTIC ROMANCE

  MANLOVE

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

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  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  IMPRINT: Erotic Romance ManLove

  CREDO QUIA ABSURDUM

  Copyright © 2015 by Sophie Martin

  E-book ISBN: 978-1-63259-720-5

  First E-book Publication: September 2015

  Cover design by Harris Channing

  All art and logo copyright © 2015 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  PUBLISHER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  Letter to Readers

  Dear Readers,

  If you have purchased this copy of Credo Quia Absurdum by Sophie Martin from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.

  Regarding E-book Piracy

  This book is copyrighted intellectual property. No other individual or group has resale rights, auction rights, membership rights, sharing rights, or any kind of rights to sell or to give away a copy of this book.

  The author and the publisher work very hard to bring our paying readers high-quality reading entertainment.

  This is Sophie Martin’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect Sophie Martin’s right to earn a living from her work.

  Amanda Hilton, Publisher

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  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  CREDO QUIA ABSURDUM

  Reality 3

  SOPHIE MARTIN

  Copyright © 2015

  Chapter One

  His arms and legs ached, stretched wide and chained to the wall. Goose bumps covered his shirtless upper body, caused by not only the cold air but the knowledge of what was coming as well. He would have gritted his teeth if he wasn’t gagged with a dirty rag. He knew what was about to happen. He hated it and at the same time his body craved it. A black cloud of despair shrouded his mind and he felt himself drown in it. He was only partly aware of what was happening to him. He knew the drill. His captors had had him for months now, so he knew what to expect.

  He let their voices flow over him, his heart going to his brother, wishing he could see him one more time. When a rough hand grabbed and pulled at his wing roughly, it didn’t startle him. But then, there was a bark of a voice and someone else took hold of his wing.

  The other hand felt different, gentler, and he concentrated to hear what the man was saying.

  “That’s amazing. Feels like pure silk,” the unknown man said in reverence and it seemed to be some kind of signal because there was a sudden noise and the man stepped closer to him, whispering, “Take a deep breath and hold it as long as you can.” He had no idea what was happening but he did as instructed. He’d learned a while ago to follow the instructions or suffer.

  Not a minute had passed when somebody was once again talking to him.

  “You can breathe now, Tim,” they said and his mind snapped into focus. How did they know his name? Just a moment later the gag was removed from his mouth and he could croak out the question through his parched throat.

  “How do you know my name? And who the hell are you?” This had to be a trick. His captors were playing some kind of sick game with him. But then someone freed him from the chains and Tim grew even more confused. What was the little human doing here? The last time Tim saw him he was chained to a vampire’s chair. His head hurt from all the thoughts swirling in it. His body was heavy with tiredness and the only thing he wanted was to see his brother. Jim was so sweet and naïve. How was he dealing with being alone in a human world? Tim should have been there to help him. Jim would get into trouble if he wasn’t there to prevent it, he just knew it. He should be there to take care of his little brother, he should…

  With a start, Tim woke up. It was just a nightmare. He wasn’t imprisoned in that brothel anymore. He was back with his brother and the man who helped to save him, Dominic. He was in Dominic’s spare bedroom and it was early morning.

  Tim wiped his hand down his face. The nightmare seemed so real. He could still feel the ache in his arms and legs. He felt… Shit, not this, not now! Tim took a couple of deep breaths to try and steady his heartbeat. He had a problem and he knew it. Fortunately his brother and Dominic were going to visit their friends today, so he would have some time alone to figure it out. Groaning loudly, Tim threw one arm over his eyes. Figure something out, easy to say! Tim turned to lie on his belly and hid his face in the pillow. I
will figure something out. I must!

  * * * *

  Tim waved at his brother once again, giving Jim a reassuring smile. He was happy that Jim decided to accompany the big wolf shifter to their friend Tyler’s house. Tim loved his twin brother, but right now he needed some distance from him. The other fey had been worrying about him constantly since he’d gone missing. Tim didn’t mind. He knew he’d do the same if something happened to Jimmy. Jim could be an airhead, but when it came to their twin bond, he was very perceptive. That was why Tim needed him away for a while.

  While he pretended that his time in captivity didn’t leave any lasting effects, it was simply a lie. Forget even the nightmares he still had of cold, unfeeling eyes surrounding him and equally cold hands touching him all over, stroking his wings… They weren’t the worst. No, what Tim wanted to hide from his brother was much, much more dangerous to Tim’s health.

  Once Tim’s captors had realized that he was a pixie, they knew he was able to produce the most potent drug in his wings. They then forced his body to produce dust for their clients over and over again, and that right there was where Tim’s real problem stemmed from. Just like the dust was extremely addictive to other paranormals, producing large amounts of it over extended periods of time without actual mating had a hugely damaging effect on the pixie’s body. Basically, a pixie got used to producing so much of the hormone that it simply couldn’t go back to normal.

  During the wars that caused fey to retreat from human world, pixies had been captured and forced to produce dust. Those that had been rescued suffered from horrible aftereffects, and unfortunately, only the ones who managed to find someone to mate with survived that. The rest succumbed to an illness known as dust overdose. Their bodies tried producing dust constantly, and since pixies needed someone else to stroke their wings for this. The dust poisoned their bodies from the inside. They got hyperactive, irritable, and prone to diseases and accidents. Sooner rather than later, they died from one of those.

  Tim knew all about it. As pixies were so rare, he had spent lots of time as a child learning all he could about being one. Jim often teased him about being a walking encyclopaedia, but Tim didn’t mind. He had his reasons to try and gather as much knowledge as he could.

  But all the knowledge in the world couldn’t help him now. After being kept by those psychotic bastards for so long, his body was producing way more dust than he could manage, and there was no one to help him get rid of it through the wings. He couldn’t ask Dominic. It was clear that the wolf shifter and Timiny’s brother were sweet on each other. He couldn’t ask Tyler either, as the tiger was now mated to two men. Tim was left to deal with the problem on his own, and he was failing.

  He knew himself, knew his body, and right now he wasn’t acting like his usual level-headed self. He was moody, jumpy, and overactive. He felt the need to do something, go somewhere, constantly. It was as if the energy within him expanded to the point where he thought he was going to explode, but there was nothing he could do.

  Well, that wasn’t one-hundred-percent true, but he was not going to go back to fey world with his tail curled between his legs. The twins had escaped their overprotective family and Tim was not about to go back and admit their experiment of independent life had failed.

  He kept his smile firmly in place until Jim and Dominic drove away and disappeared from view. Only then did he let it slide from his face. He didn’t feel like smiling. Nope, he felt anything but. He was antsy. He needed to do something to make himself busy and jump into some kind of physical activity. It wouldn’t help for long, but a good sweaty workout would leave him calmer for a little while, at least.

  Tim went back to the apartment the brothers now shared with Dominic, jumping two, three steps at once. As soon as he was inside with the door closed and locked, he got rid of the shirt he was wearing. It was an oversized T-shirt, but it still felt confining as it rubbed his oversensitive wings.

  Tim spread his wings wide open and made them flutter, sighing with relief. It was good to stretch the appendages, work all the kinks out. It was the worst part of living in human world—the necessity to hide their wings. Sure, there was a spell that could conceal them from human view, but they could still be felt. Tim often used the spell when personally dealing with their clients, but Jim was too forgetful. He could never remember even the easiest or most important spells. Like he forgot the mating-related one, hence the whole “Dominic’s heat” ordeal.

  Timiny smiled, thinking of how his twin had broken into the PI’s apartment and ended up dosing the owner with his mating dust. It was so very much like his brother to forget a spell that could save him from a crazed wolf shifter in dust-induced heat. Even though they were twins, Timiny had always felt responsible for his brother. Jimmy was just so innocent, and it often landed him in trouble. Timiny had lost his innocence a while ago. It was the moment he learned the truth about pixies, a truth hidden from other fey. It made him bitter, sarcastic, and distrustful, and it was when he was still merely a teenager. Ever since, Tim had become very careful and very sceptical. He never believed what he heard or saw without double-checking it, and he had big problems trusting people.

  Tim shook off his wings once again and went to prepare himself some lunch. Before readying all the necessary ingredients, he turned on a playlist on his phone and put his earphones in. The music calmed him somewhat. Soon he was singing under his breath, and when one of his favourite songs came on, he turned the volume up, closed his eyes, and started singing and dancing in earnest.

  * * * *

  It wasn’t the best day of Joel Simmonds’s life, to put it mildly. His girlfriend of many years had dumped him and kicked him out of their shared apartment. Okay, so maybe it wasn’t so completely unexpected. His and Linda’s relationship had been nearing its pitiful end, and Joel was aware of that. Still, to kick him out of the place he had lived in for the last several years was a bit harsh.

  Joel hitched his duffel back higher up on his shoulder and used his key to unlock the door to Dominic’s apartment. As a temporarily homeless person, he decided to go to the only place he knew he was always welcome. Dominic was his cousin on his mother’s side and they were close like brothers. Dom had just recently left military and was now working for their uncle as a private investigator. Joel helped in the agency as well. The reason he was here now, was the spare bedroom that Joel sometimes used. Dominic didn’t mind. He liked having his cousin around and Joel was looking forward to spending the next few days with Dom, probably drinking himself into a stupor over the years he wasted with Linda.

  As soon as he stepped one foot into the apartment, however, he knew that someone was there, and it wasn’t Dominic. There was a man singing at the top of his lungs while preparing a meal in the kitchen. Joel left his duffel bag next to the front door and took a few silent steps, stopping in the doorway. He shouldn’t have bothered being silent as the man had earphones in and didn’t hear him coming. He had a knife in his hand and waved it in the air as he swayed to the song only he could hear. Soon the song pulled him in and he abandoned the knife to throw his hands in the air. At the same time, he threw his head back, his long, blond hair touching the middle of his back.

  It was a very nice back, adorned by two pairs of huge, translucent wings. As Joel watched, speechless, these wings started moving. It didn’t seem like they were a mechanical invention, too. They looked surprisingly real. And they were real, as proven by the man suddenly jumping up, doing a pirouette, and staying suspended in the air for a long, long minute. When he finally landed in a kneeling position, facing Joel with his arms spread wide like an opera singer finishing his great aria, Joel could actually feel his jaw hanging slack. The blond man’s eyes were closed and he breathed heavily after finishing the song. Joel couldn’t help himself—he started clapping. The loud clap, clap, clap sound seemed deafening in the sudden silence. The man’s eyes shot open as he looked straight at Joel in alarm. The man’s face went suddenly blank as if he couldn’t belie
ve what he was seeing. Right back at ya, buddy! Joel was first to come out of his shock. Normally, behave normally!

  “Hi, I’m Joel Simmonds, Dominic’s cousin. And who might you be?” he said, listening to his own advice, and stretched his hand out in greeting. The man shook off his shock and stood up, accepting the offered hand.

  “Nice to meet you, Joel. I’m Timiny Jones, Dominic’s temporary flatmate.”

  “Flatmate? Dominic didn’t mention anything about finding a flatmate.”

  “Yeah… It’s a fairly recent development,” Timiny said, releasing Joel’s hand and wiping his own on his jeans nervously. “Um, would you like a cup of tea?” he offered.

  “I think a cup of tea might be just what I need, especially if you add a few drops of that whiskey my cousin hides in the cupboard there.” He tipped his head, pointing at the furniture in question.

  “Yes, you might be right,” Tim agreed and went about preparing the drink while Joel tried to convince his legs to carry him to the table. His knees felt suspiciously weak, but he managed to take the few steps that separated the table from the doorway, where he stood. He sat down heavily then accepted a cup of hot brew. Tim took a seat across from him, and they watched each other quietly while sipping their hot beverages. The silence stretched uncomfortably until Joel decided to break it.

  “Soo…” He trailed off, puckering his lips and lengthening the sound this way. “Nice wings.”

  “Thanks.” Yep, not the most talkative guy.