This Dark Mirror

by Tricia Owens

  But Caled’s eyes burned into his, daring him to do the forbidden. The mercenary looked as hot as Hadrian felt with his sweat-damp hair and his lust-darkened cheeks. Keeping his eyes locked with Hadrian’s, Caled pulled out of Gam and slammed into Lio, making the thief yelp in pleasure. Caled rammed into him again and again, using his grip on Lio’s thin hips to pull and push him on the mercenary’s cock.

  Hadrian groaned and knew Caled had heard it because the mercenary nodded and shuddered. He snapped his hips forward and suddenly Lio gave a keening cry and climaxed. Caled closed his eyes and froze, holding out against the clenching of Lio’s body. After a long moment, he took a deep breath and pulled out only to re-insert himself into Gam. Once again, he took to pummeling the body before him.

  Hadrian could barely stand it. The smell of sex in the air was making him dizzy. He yearned to crawl out of his bed and into theirs and offer himself up as Caled’s next conquest. He moaned and rolled onto his stomach and finally—finally—he found relief for his throbbing cock. He shamelessly humped the mattress, driving his cock into the rough linen, imagining Caled was behind him, the mercenary’s thrusts propelling him forward.

  "Harder," Caled rasped.

  Hadrian gasped and turned his head. The mercenary was staring straight at him while Gam twisted and squirmed in pleasure beneath him.

  "Harder," the mercenary repeated roughly. Gam groaned and shoved his hips back, obeying the command. But as Hadrian watched, Caled’s lips formed another word which did not find the air. He mouthed Hadrian’s name.

  Gam cried out as he found his release and Hadrian knew he was but moments from joining the thief. He thrust against the mattress, his cock sizzling with the friction. He panted, open-mouthed, but lost his breath completely when Caled climbed down from the bed he shared with the thieves to stumble across the room to stand over Hadrian’s. Hadrian pressed his face into the pillow, shivering with lust, unable to look Caled in the face. He could smell the musk of sex rising off the mercenary’s skin and yearned to move his head the precious inches that would allow him to taste what he smelled.

  He heard Caled groan beneath his breath, he heard the sound of smacking flesh, and then the unbelievable happened—heat rained down over Hadrian’s back. When Hadrian realized what was happening, he arched against the mattress and spent himself with a broken cry.

  He kept his face hidden in the pillow as the last tremors shook his body. Caled’s release felt like drops of molten lava, burning through the thin fabric of his undertunic.

  "Jessyd wasn’t here to see it, but you got what you wanted," Caled panted. "Behave yourself from now on, Hades. I won’t be in the mood for bickering brats on the road."

  Hadrian didn’t look up as the other man rejoined the thieves. He clutched his pillow while his heart slowed its galloping pace. He hoped the words and the action meant what he hoped they had. He hoped Caled had just marked Hadrian as his.

  Chapter Three

  Caled slept solidly, dreaming of dark-haired women who danced around him, coyly evading his reach. A double moon hung overhead, full and silver like a pair of crystalline eyes. He stepped into darkness and felt pale arms encircle him from behind. Soft lips touched his ear until the touch faded like the dissipation of mist. He awoke with a smile of satisfaction on his face. Last night had been good. Very, very good.

  "That went well," he murmured to himself, congratulating himself on how he’d handled things. Travel would be much easier now that he’d settled matters.

  The body behind him snorted into the pillow. "That’s not how I’d describe last night," Gam mumbled. "What do you think, Lio?"

  "Caled’s an idiot."

  The mercenary rolled over and tugged the pillow away from Gam’s face. "What are you talking about? I played peacemaker. Now Hades won’t fight with Jessyd anymore."

  "Oh, is that what you were doing when you marked him like he was a bitch in your dog pack?" Gam tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Well, unless you’ve changed your feelings about Hadrian, I say you just made the problem worse because now he thinks you’re as infatuated with him as he is with you. You all but branded him."

  "He’s not infatuated with me," Caled protested, though he didn’t know why he bothered. Hadrian’s feelings for him could be complicated, but in some ways were very transparent.

  "The last time we were together," Lio began quietly as his eyes flicked longingly across the room, "he asked me to stop. He was only interested in you."

  Gam nodded. "And now you do this, which will confuse him. Why’d you do it?"

  "I wanted him to know that—that..." Caled trailed off, frustrated. What had he been trying to prove last night? In the heat of the moment it had made perfect sense to do what he had to Hadrian. Instinct had called to Caled to include the watching sorcerer in the most elemental way possible while also alleviating his fears that Jessyd was a threat. Too, it had seemed a way to obliquely apologize for how Caled had treated him in the boat. But perhaps he’d gone too far. Lust might have addled Caled’s brain a bit. It tended to happen often when he took off his clothes. Or whenever Hadrian was nearby.

  "It seemed like a good idea at the time," he mumbled "He acted like a possessive woman all through dinner. I was trying to head off conflict."

  "Now you’re blaming that fellow Jessyd? Honestly, Caled, you shouldn’t have listened to what’s between your legs." Gam yawned and rose up onto an elbow to look over Caled’s shoulder. "You’re such a prick, Caled. Look at how happy he looks now."

  Caled reluctantly turned his head. Hadrian still slept on his stomach, one arm curled by his head as if he hadn’t wanted to disturb the ‘evidence’ that Caled had left on his back. That made Caled smirk, his ego inflating, but when he saw the sorcerer’s expression, his amusement faded. A faint smile curled Hadrian’s lips. He looked at peace. Caled hadn’t seen such an innocent, carefree expression on Hadrian’s face since they’d been together at Rhiad.

  "He’s going to hate you when he learns you didn’t mean it." Lio scowled. "He won’t understand."

  "And are you going to make him feel better?" Caled snapped, whipping his head around to glare threateningly at the green-eyed thief. "Maybe try slipping into his breeches a second time?"

  "Jealous?" Lio challenged, meeting the glare. "I thought you didn’t mean it last night?"

  Realizing how irrationally he was acting, Caled gritted his teeth. "I didn’t. I didn’t mean anything by it." He rubbed tiredly at his forehead. "I saw him watching and—and it reminded me of before. I wasn’t thinking. Or rather—" he added when the thieves softly snickered, "—I was thinking with my cock, as you said."

  What would the two thieves say if they learned Caled had all but forced himself on Hadrian in the boat on Shard’s Point Isle? Would any explanation excuse his actions?

  "Gods know that cock of yours has the power to turn back armies," Lio said beneath his breath. "It’s no wonder you fell under its influence." A pillow smacked him in the face.

  Gam squeezed Caled’s shoulder. "You desired him once. It’s only natural—"

  "That’s right," Caled said, seizing the excuse. "It’s a matter of lust, that’s all. I’m not in love with him. My body doesn’t know any better."

  Gam cocked an eyebrow. "Never said anything about love, Caled."

  Caled gave him a sharp look. "Neither did I. I despise him, remember? Love will never be a factor."

  "Uh huh," Gam said. "You’ve an interesting way of despising people, Caled. Rather—messy."

  Lio buried his face into a pillow and let out a guffaw.

  ~~~~~

  The barmaid delivered Caled’s tomatoes and potatoes with a jiggle of her bosom and a flash of bloomers. Caled smiled at her, but his heart wasn’t in it. Though it was a matter of habit to flirt and charm, this morning he was weary of playing the game. Come to think of it he was weary, period. He attributed it to having to satisfy not one, but two men last night. As fun as it was, it was a lot of work. One lover was much easier.
r />   "Or none," he muttered as he speared several vegetables and slid them into his mouth. He wasn’t normally a man to forgo pleasures of the flesh, but perhaps it was time he did so and concentrated solely on his oath. Maybe then he could keep his mind clear instead of muddling it with thoughts of Hadrian.

  He didn’t like thinking about the sorcerer. Stoking the fires of hate was exhausting work. As a mercenary he killed easily because he held no ties to his targets. But to hate a man who had once been important to him, to actively loathe a man who had hurt him—that ate at Caled day in and day out. Some days, he wished Manix had never found Hadrian.

  It was easier to focus on the pursuit of Gavedon. Caled didn’t know the man beyond what he’d seen him do to Rhiad. Gavedon was a stranger and Caled was comfortable killing strangers, especially ones who clearly deserved death. On days like today, accepting the claim that Hadrian had been coerced by his father and was a victim just like the rest of the people of Juxtan held more appeal than it should have.

  Caled downed his mug of ale in one long gulp. He wasn’t blind to the truth. Things had changed since he’d had sex with Hadrian in the boat on Shard’s Point. It didn’t matter that his actions had been spurred by the Dimorada’s drug, that he’d been half-out of his mind with artificial lust. The aphrodisiac had had no influence over how much Caled had enjoyed being inside Hadrian once again. It was not to blame for the desperate urge he’d experienced afterward to repeat the act and make it good for the sorcerer. Some might call it pride that Caled had wanted to prove he could be a more attentive, gentle lover, but Caled couldn’t fool himself any longer. Beneath the moon of that night he had felt like a beast that had reclaimed its mate. For the most fleeting of seconds, he had been struck with the urge to run away with Hadrian and attempt to recover the relationship they had once shared. To make Hadrian happy again.

  He wasn’t supposed to feel that way about the man he had sworn to kill. It made the act of hating Hadrian a chore, rather than a calling.

  He looked up as someone descended the stair, hoping it was one of the thieves since he knew they were awake. But to his utter disappointment it was Syellen. Caled cursed and slunk down in his chair, hoping she wouldn’t notice him, but she scanned the room and swiftly spotted him.

  "Can’t you sit elsewhere?" he muttered when she pulled out a chair at his table.

  "I used to be hurt that you’d say these things to me, but now I just ignore you," she replied with a huff. She pulled her cloak around her and sighed. "Gods, I hope the four of you slept better than we did otherwise we’ll all be listing in our saddles. The three of us were up until the sun rose discussing the horrible things poor Jessyd has been enduring within the Order!" She rubbed at her eyes and only then did Caled notice how red and puffy they were.

  "Have you been crying?"

  She nodded and sniffed, as if on the verge of doing so again. Caled drew his feet under him, prepared to run if he saw so much as a shimmer in her eyes. "Well, don’t do it here," he mumbled. "Take your weeping back upstairs." He hated seeing women cry. It made him think of his mother and sister and it completely unmanned him.

  "I won’t," Syellen said haughtily, raising her chin. She sniffed again. "I wouldn’t dare offend a fearsome killer with a few tears."

  Annoyed that the opposite was more true—that he’d actually defend her honor if, gods help him, she admitted to being wronged—Caled waved off the comment. "So what did our runaway sorcerer have to say? Anything helpful? Does he know how to find Gavedon?"

  "We didn’t talk about that. Jessyd told us what it was like to be the youngest member of the Order. The other members treated him awfully." Syellen stared at Caled’s plate until he sighed and shoved the remains of his breakfast at her. She swiftly scooped up a cold potato with her fingers and pushed it into her mouth. "I’m famished. Crying takes energy. I don’t cry often, mind you, but when I do I do it very hard so that my whole body shakes and my nose runs and—"

  "What did he have to say about the Order? What are their plans?"

  Syellen shook her head, her cheeks bulging with potato. He waited for her to chew and swallow several times before she could speak. "We didn’t talk about that. I told you, we spoke of what Jessyd suffered."

  Caled leaned his chair back to balance on its hind legs. "Fine. Pray tell what did he suffer?"

  "Gavedon tortured him!" Syellen said in a ‘whisper’ loud enough to turn the head of the innkeeper several yards away. "He had the Order perform punishments when members disobeyed or angered him." Her brown eyes were as large as a hen’s eggs as she said, "They whipped and hit Jessyd. Gavedon tied a flour sack over Jessyd’s head and left it on for nearly an entire day! With no holes cut in it for seeing or breathing! Have you ever heard of anything so cruel?"

  Caled’s breakfast began to roil in his stomach. "What did Jessyd do to warrant such punishments?"

  "He claimed Gavedon ordered him to set a trap for us. Jessyd refused because it was too vicious. Gavedon was furious. That was the time when he made Jessyd wear the flour sack. Jessyd said he sprained his ankle because he could barely see between the fibers. He said Gavedon set the bag on fire twice while it was still on Jessyd’s head!"

  Caled’s stomach churned again. Gavedon was both inventive and cruel. It was a dangerous combination. "Did Manix believe all of this?"

  Syellen nodded as she scraped up the last of Caled’s breakfast. "Manix was furious." The apprentice looked up at Caled, her brow creased. "What kind of man does that to his own followers? Can you imagine what Jessyd must have gone through before he reached his breaking point?"

  Caled didn’t reply. Syellen’s story didn’t make him pity Jessyd. Instead, it prompted him to think of someone else.

  "I hope he doesn’t regale us with more tales of his suffering while we ride," he said. "Gods know the last thing I need is to listen to two sorcerers moaning about their awful upbringing."

  "Hadrian doesn’t, though, and it’s clear why." Syellen gave him a knowing look. "If he’d been treated the way Jessyd had, surely he would have told us to garner our sympathy and change the way we think of him. But even he can’t tell that kind of lie. Obviously he was treated far better, being Gavedon’s son and all."

  Caled shook his head in disbelief. "Your intelligence knows no bounds, Sy. What about the fact Gavedon told those villagers to kill Hadrian? Or what about the Dimorada he turned against us?"

  Her certainty wavered visibly, but only for a moment. "I know what you think happened, but you were under attack by all of the villagers and well, it’s perfectly normal to misread a situation or perhaps even exaggerate—though I’m not saying you have," she added hastily when Caled narrowed his eyes. "My point is, they were afraid of us and clearly uneducated. We can’t know Gavedon ordered them to behave as they did. And as for the Dimorada, well, I wasn’t there."

  "Rubbish." Caled couldn’t sit still and listen to more of her drivel. "Gavedon wants Hades dead as much as the rest of us. Maybe you should ask yourself why that is, and whether his upbringing was as wonderful as you think."

  Syellen stared up at him as rose to his feet. "Why are you defending him? Do you believe he was a victim like he claims?"

  "That’s for the Council to decide," Caled muttered, and realized with horror that he’d just done what he had vowed not to: granted someone else the power to decide Hadrian’s fate. He kicked his chair out of the way and stormed for the door. In his pursuit of revenge he knew he needed to be single-minded and not allow doubt to cloud his vision. But lately it seemed the smoke of Rhiad veiled everything, and only eyes keener than his could see the truth.

  ~~~~~

  Gam elbowed Lio in the side. "Follow my lead."

  The green-eyed thief studied him dubiously, but nodded and joined his friend beside Hadrian’s bed. The sorcerer still slept and Lio had to resist the impulse to run his fingers down the side of the other man’s face. He had never seen anyone who looked like Hadrian. Most people Lio knew were dirty and scruffy �
�Gam and Caled notwithstanding. But Hadrian—Hadrian was clean and his skin looked like a porcelain vase Lio had once stolen. His hair was as black as an onyx broach Lio had sold for a small fortune, and his eyes were like the shining silver tea set Lio had swiped a month ago. His lips—

  "Wake up, you nitwit!" Gam elbowed him again.

  "I’m awake, you prat."

  "Yeah, stop drooling, then." Gam looked down at Hadrian. "Do what I do."

  "What’re we doing?"

  "This!" Gam launched himself onto Hadrian’s bed, startling the sorcerer awake. Lio shrugged and jumped onto the mattress too. The bed frame groaned beneath their combined weight.

  "Wha—what’re you—" Hadrian rolled over and tried to sit up amidst the tangle of limbs.

  Gam laughed and pinned Hadrian’s left arm to the bed. Lio took his friend’s cue and held down Hadrian’s other arm. The sorcerer was wide-eyed as he looked up at the two thieves. "Gam, Lio—what are you doing?"

  After Caled had left the thieves’ bed to go downstairs, Gam had told Lio that it was up to the two of them to set things right between Caled and Hadrian. The mercenary was being a coward about the matter and running away from it. Lio had agreed their intervention was necessary since the last thing he wanted was to watch Hadrian moon over Caled while they traveled. It would make him uncomfortable.

  But Gam hadn’t explained his witty plan to salvage the situation, and when the scarred thief dropped his head and suddenly kissed Hadrian, Lio realized why his friend had kept it a secret.

  Lio flexed his fingers anxiously on Hadrian’s arm as the other men kissed. He was on the verge of releasing Hadrian when the black-haired sorcerer suddenly jerked, his eyes widening. Relieved, Lio shifted slightly, imagining Gam’s tongue in his mouth just as it was now in Hadrian’s. Gam was a talented kisser and his tongue could claim most of the credit for that. As Lio watched, Hadrian shuddered and his eyes slid shut. Gam’s free hand came up and gently stroked the sorcerer’s cheek almost tenderly. When Hadrian trembled again, Lio felt himself becoming aroused.