By the Red Moonlight

by Amanda Meuwissen

  “If any of those guys knew they were symbols from a tabletop game….” Ethan trailed off and shook his head. “I used to paint models, plan out scenarios, read the lore.”

  “As did I,” Bash admitted, though that had been when he was much younger. Being Alpha didn’t leave room for hobbies.

  Ethan fought back an amused grin.

  “What’s that smile for?” Bash asked.

  “N-nothing. I’m just not used to meeting many hot dorks.”

  “Did you just call the Alpha of Centrus City a dork?” Bash crossed his arms in challenge.

  “Maybe.”

  Even two yards apart with Ethan deeper inside the room, the green of his eyes was entrancing.

  Bash shifted his gaze to Ethan’s palm, but there was no glow. He held Bash captive all on his own. “I’ll have you know this house is filled with nothing but dorks—they just won’t all admit to it. But I should leave you. I promise I won’t keep you down here much longer.” He offered a nod of farewell and turned to go.

  “You’re leaving? You’re going to make me sleep down here alone?” The plaintiveness in Ethan’s voice was only slightly less moving than the emotion in his eyes when Bash looked back. “Even in Glenwood Penitentiary, I had a cellmate.”

  Just what Bash needed—his prisoner quoting the Geneva Conventions at him when he was supposed to be firm, cold, never budging if there was a threat to his people, no matter how alluring the source.

  Maybe he understood why Deanna remained skeptical, because he couldn’t refuse Ethan.

  “I want to give it a few days, maybe weeks, make sure you can feed without killing. Get a lead on your sire, too, if not find him outright, before I allow you a room upstairs. Then you can be on your own, I trust?”

  “Absolutely.” Ethan nodded.

  “Fine. I’ll stay.” Bash closed the door rather than escape through it. “But the same rules apply.”

  “You’ll likely kill me in the morning?” Ethan said. It was truly unfair how, even as a vampire, he could light up like he had his own personal sun inside him.

  “One never knows.”

  IT WAS silly to feel so giddy just from Bash teasing him and smiling in his direction. Bash was off-limits. He was engaged and basically royalty. But sleeping in bed beside him made all that harder to remember.

  Bash fell asleep quickly. He hadn’t peeked for the rest of Ethan’s tattoos when they changed for bed, but Ethan wouldn’t have minded feeling Bash’s eyes on him. He didn’t have many other tattoos, but he wished he could show them to Bash someday.

  Not as easily lulled to sleep tonight, especially since he required so little now, Ethan lay staring at the darkened ceiling, focusing on the soft purr of Bash’s even breaths.

  A faint buzz and spark of light reminded him of his cellphone on the nightstand. Bash had looked at it before bed. Still, Ethan felt guilty as he checked to be certain Bash was still asleep before reaching to see what the new message was.

  I’m glad you’re safe, Ethan, but please, tell me where you are. When can I see you?

  Ethan stared at the screen before replying to his uncle. Give me a week or two to find my feet.

  He left out—and to make sure I don’t kill someone the next time I feed.

  When I’m ready to talk or see you in person, Ethan texted, I’ll tell you. You don’t have to worry.

  Oh, Ethan, I always worry. You’re my boy. I love you.

  I love you too, Uncle Leo, Ethan sent and meant it like he always did.

  Leo had been there for him when he had nothing. Maybe too overprotective and sheltering, but he meant well. Part of Ethan wished he could call him right now, but he knew that wasn’t a good idea.

  Setting the phone aside, Ethan closed his eyes and tried to drift off.

  ETHAN WALKED through dark streets that were more familiar now, though he couldn’t pinpoint where in Centrus City they belonged. This wasn’t near Bash’s streets or any of the places they’d walked earlier that day, but there was some strange sense that Ethan had been here before.

  “Finding your place already. That’s good,” came a resonant voice from the dark. “I knew they would accept you, Ethan. I only want you to be happy.”

  Ethan knew that voice, didn’t he? He would swear he knew it.

  But why wasn’t the owner showing himself?

  “Not yet, Ethan. But soon, I promise. You don’t have to be alone anymore. Embrace those around you. You’re entitled to everything you’ve been denied all these years. You’ve earned this and everything else I can offer.”

  “I….” Ethan’s mind felt hazy, like there was something he should focus on but couldn’t.

  He did want a home with more voices than just two. He wanted friends and family. He wanted a love all his own, powerful enough to shake the world, even though that thought should have frightened him.

  “You will have everything you desire and more, my boy. My lovely boy. So long as you don’t give up. So long as you don’t let Bashir push you away.”

  “How?” Ethan blinked sluggishly, thinking he could almost make out a shape in front of him at the end of the alley ahead. It was large, looming, powerful-looking, and its yellow eyes pierced through the dark, but Ethan wanted to see more, to make out the shape of the face he thought was smiling at him. “I don’t know what to do.”

  “Of course you do. Show him that you belong together and take what’s yours. Never doubt that you deserve everything your heart desires, and nothing will stand in your way.”

  A COLD sweat gripped Ethan as he woke, unsure of the time since the cellar had no windows. For a few moments, he could barely move. Something in his dream had shaken him, but he couldn’t remember what. It slipped away like wisps of smoke. All he knew was that he didn’t want to be alone.

  Shifting onto his side, Ethan saw that this time, Bash was still there—sleeping, beautiful beside him. Ethan leaned forward to breathe in the scent of Bash that was stronger after a night of sweat and dreams and—Ethan felt dizzy as a specific scent struck him—arousal.

  He licked his lips in want of another taste, forgetting Jay and Maximus and everything else telling him he shouldn’t, and as his desires overtook him, he pounced.

  Bash’s lips tasted better than just the smell, his body feeling incredible beneath Ethan’s hands and hips as he crawled on top of him. Bash was partially hard from it being morning, easily nurtured with a rock of Ethan’s hips and dip of his tongue between Bash’s lips.

  Bash stirred with a moan, hands fumbling to grasp Ethan and settle on his waist. In the moment, Ethan didn’t see his right palm start to glow, as Bash kissed him back and woke with the same ravenous hunger as Ethan.

  Chapter 12

  BASH HAD never had anyone slot into place atop him so perfectly before.

  He craved every kiss, every grind of their hips and flail of his hands for purchase on that slim waist and firm ass the same way he needed air. He desperately needed Ethan closer and wanted to give him anything his heart desired.

  “Make love to me,” Ethan whispered against Bash’s lips. “I want to remember everything this time.”

  Yes, Bash thought, holding Ethan tighter and rolling them across the bed to be on top. He spread Ethan’s legs apart and ran a rough hand up Ethan’s thigh. Ethan wore sleep pants and underwear beneath, but Bash could remedy that.

  Thrusting forward, Bash felt how hard they both were even through the cloth separating them and knew how easily they could rut, but unlike their first night, Bash wanted this to last.

  He latched on to Ethan’s neck, sucking lewdly and grazing hungrily with his teeth. The moan Ethan released spurred Bash to keep on, and he shoved a hand up Ethan’s shirt to feel the toned abs he had yet to get a good look at. All the while, he spread Ethan’s knees farther apart and rocked into him.

  “Yes,” Ethan panted. “Your mouth feels amazing. I want to feel it lower.”

  “Mmm,” Bash purred, “but first, how about a preview?” Bash snatched Etha
n’s hand, and with a slow swirl of his tongue, sucked Ethan’s thumb into his mouth.

  Only then did Bash realize that Ethan’s palm was glowing.

  Glowing.

  Because Bash was….

  This was….

  He was….

  “Bash,” Ethan said, running his dampened thumb across Bash’s lips and bucking up into the hardness between them, “don’t stop.”

  Instantly, Bash’s mind went hazy with the urge to obey.

  No. He had to resist.

  “Stop,” Bash said, gripping Ethan’s wrist to pull his hand away, which Ethan took as a sign to rock harder. “Ethan—”

  “Please.” Ethan writhed. “You feel so good.”

  “Stop.” Bash took his hand and shoved the palm in front of Ethan’s face—the rune glowing a bright blue.

  “Oh shit.” Ethan’s breath caught, eyes clearing suddenly as he muttered, “No, no, no.” He shook his hand wildly out of Bash’s grip to get the glow to stop.

  It did, and Bash felt physically lighter and more clearheaded as the power ebbed away.

  “I didn’t mean to,” Ethan said, clambering to get away and press himself against the headboard, still hard and flushed. “I wasn’t doing it on purpose! Please believe me, it was the dream.”

  “Dream?” Bash repeated. “What dream?”

  “I-I… I don’t know. I can’t remember.” Ethan cringed as he pulled his knees to his chest to hide his arousal. “It just made me feel so… lonely, I had to touch you or I thought I’d go crazy.” Clenching his eyes shut, he looked so young and fragile then.

  Bash believed him and touched Ethan’s cheek to coax his eyes open. “Look at me.”

  When Ethan did, hesitant, eyes shimmering, Bash felt a powerful pull that drew his attention back to Ethan’s palm. It wasn’t glowing anymore. Ethan could charm Bash all on his own.

  Ethan reached out halfway to Bash but stopped, as if afraid to touch him, so Bash crawled closer, even though he knew he shouldn’t. Knees falling open, Ethan twisted his fingers in Bash’s shirt as he leaned forward. Ethan was going to kiss Bash again, and Bash should have wanted to stop him.

  Before he could, Ethan looked suddenly horrified and pulled away. “I’m sorry,” he said, obviously having trouble shaking off his sire’s control.

  “I believe you,” Bash assured him.

  “He’s manipulating me, isn’t he?”

  “Yes. I know you don’t mean this.”

  “I mean it,” Ethan said, staring into Bash’s eyes, but then he noticed his grip on Bash’s shirt and shrunk back. “But I don’t want it like this, like some puppet straining against strings I can’t even see.”

  Forcing himself to stop crowding Ethan, Bash sat beside him against the headboard and stretched out his legs, prompting Ethan to do the same. Bash could see as clearly in the dark as any vampire, but it was quieter here than most places, like they were floating in a void, just the two of them apart from the world.

  “There are no strings on me,” Bash said.

  Ethan chuckled quietly, but then sighed. “There are when this glows.” He lifted his dimmed palm. “I’m so glad you can resist it.”

  For now, but for how long? Bash wondered.

  In the vision, it had been as though Bash had no will at all. Ethan didn’t either, in the end, each of them slaves to the chain of command.

  Why this city? Why now? Why them?

  Sons of a Seer and a Focus had to be why, given the power between them, but it didn’t explain why now.

  “Nell, she can’t, like, track back to my sire somehow?”

  “No. It might work if he was already in the same room with you, but not searching across an entire city. You’ll need to start with the detective work, and I’ll do the same on my own.”

  “All day apart?” Ethan asked dejectedly.

  “That would be best.”

  Their shoulders were nearly touching, and Bash felt Ethan’s fingers nudge his and start to lace them together. “It’s just… calmer when I’m near you.”

  “Calmer?” Bash pressed, allowing the touch, if only because it came so naturally. “What is?”

  “The world. Everything. Like I said before, you ground me.”

  “There may be a reason for that.”

  “Huh?”

  Bash hadn’t intended to tell Ethan, but now it seemed he had to. “I think your mother was a Seer like me. Nell agrees. She also thinks your father may have been a Focus.”

  “What’s a Focus?”

  “They don’t have real power themselves, but their presence helps focus that of others. They’re rare, and a child between a Seer and a Focus would be even rarer. Which is why it’s troubling… that the same seems to be true for me.”

  Ethan turned his whole body to Bash and squeezed his hand. “Your parents too? How rare are we? One in a thousand? A million?”

  “If there weren’t two of us, I’d say one in all the world. We’re likely it.”

  “Then both of us being from Centrus City, finding each other like this….”

  “Statistically impossible.”

  “Or fate,” Ethan said hopefully.

  “By design is not the same as fate.”

  “But my sire couldn’t control that I was born here or that I wanted to come home after prison. He just took advantage of the situation. Everything else had to be fated. We were meant to meet, Bash.”

  Bash tried to avoid Ethan’s gaze, but it caught him as he glanced aside, holding him prisoner. “Maybe. I do believe in fate, Ethan, I have to, given all I’ve experienced, but I will not be its slave.”

  Ethan nodded, losing his brief burst of passion and falling silent for a time, though he didn’t let Bash’s hand go. “My dad, a Focus,” he said eventually. “It makes sense, the way I felt around him, like I could take on the world. Is that why I feel the same around you?”

  Flatterer. And he didn’t even realize he was doing it.

  “Maybe,” Bash said.

  “But if your dad was a Focus….”

  “Yes?”

  “He just sounded like he wasn’t a good man.”

  “He wasn’t. That’s the thing, a Focus doesn’t bring out the best in people, they bring out the most. That can be the best; it can also be the most fear or loathing or penchant for violence. They amplify in others what exists in themselves, I suppose. My father brought out the worst in everyone, even if he did make us stronger. I knew he was a bastard, just never realized it was supernaturally charged.”

  Ethan snorted, then quietly asked, “What about your mom?”

  “She wasn’t like me,” Bash said, looking forward into the dark. “Her visions didn’t overtake her. She saw them clearly. Her eyes would flash, and we’d cross a different street. Easy. Like breathing. I used to wonder why she’d ever be with a man like my father if she could see the future. Maybe because being around a Focus made it easier to control her abilities. I wonder if she knew what he was….”

  “You think she was using him?”

  “Why not? He used her all the time to make his reign stronger. He only knew how to use people. Maybe she saw something better in him once. Maybe it was enough that she had me and Bari before the end.”

  “Bari?” Ethan said in surprise.

  “I suppose that hasn’t come up yet.” Bash grinned. “I have a brother.”

  “Why haven’t I met him?”

  “He doesn’t live in Centrus. But that is another story, and we have work to do.” Finally, Bash untangled their fingers, much as the loss of Ethan made him feel shockingly cold, and he started to move off the bed.

  “Wait.” Ethan grabbed Bash’s arm. “Just a little longer?”

  Bash was still flushed, still half-hard, if he was being honest. He should say no. He should keep his distance. Giving in to Ethan might be what ruined him.

  Yet still he said, “A few minutes, that’s all,” and settled back beside Ethan, letting their fingers lace together again.

  No o
ne had ever done that with Bash before. He’d never really dated, and while touch was common among his pack members, he often strayed from it. His father had seen to that. And one-night stands didn’t often lend themselves to cuddling.

  Taking the contact a step further, Ethan snuggled Bash’s side, which should have made Bash flinch, but he sagged against Ethan in kind. “Maybe, given what we are, our intuition and strengths are even more powerful when we’re together.”

  “Perhaps,” Bash said.

  “It’s just… you know Warhammer. You appreciate good art. You see things in people others don’t. You….” Ethan trailed off as he looked up and caught Bash’s eyes. “I wonder what else we have in common.”

  Crowded close like that, their lips were only a scant distance apart. That pull between them never dwindled, only increased with touch and proximity and the heat of their eyes meeting, making it impossible to draw back when Ethan leaned in.

  The surge of completeness was so much stronger when they kissed.

  Flooded with that feeling, Bash breached Ethan’s lips with his tongue, anticipating the eager response as Ethan climbed into his lap again. Ethan’s pulse thrummed like a hummingbird’s, inhuman and captivating, until all Bash could think about was chasing that rhythm.

  No. They couldn’t do this.

  “Stop.” Bash bodily moved Ethan off him and held him in place to prevent another kiss.

  “Why?” Ethan whined. “Just one more.”

  “Ethan—”

  “My hand isn’t glowing.”

  “I know, but this isn’t possible now.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I’m promised to Jay,” Bash said, hating the truth between them and what he had sworn, but that didn’t change anything.

  It was as if Ethan had forgotten. Maybe in the moment, they both had.

  “I’m sorry,” Ethan said, sobered as he shrank back. “But tell me… do you love him?”

  “I told you—”

  “It’s not romantic. Are you okay with that? Is he?”

  Bash pulled away fully to drop his feet over the side of the bed. “It doesn’t matter. It’s the way things are. The only thing the two of us should be focused on is finding your sire. Besides Luke and Siobhan, you should utilize Deanna today too.”