Dracul took it with some annoyance. Human technology could be useful but also a distraction from the simple pleasure that he enjoyed—such as a tight and unwilling hole. Knowing that neither Marius nor Petru would dare to bother him with something trivial, he took the device and tapped the video to life.
He found himself watching some kind of outdoor area with brick buildings and people milling about. Unlike where he lay, it was still daytime wherever this was. Everyone was bundled with obvious cold. Humans were so pathetically susceptible to being chilled. Then again, if he wanted to be charitable, his species hated warm weather. No, he didn’t want to be understanding. His was a superior nature to humans.
At the moment when he’d started to lose patience, there was a loud noise, followed by an avalanche of smoke and debris. Then a sound that made him crow with delight—screaming.
Chapter Nine
“Haymarket is hundreds of years old. People in Boston have been buying fresh produce and fish in this place for generations. It gives you a real sense of history and it’s still a great way to buy fresh, local stuff at a good price.”
Emil wasn’t sure if his tutorial meant anything to Jase. The boy’s face was hard to see, bundled as it was in a puffy parka loaned by Quinn. Since leaving the club, he’d been taking in the pedestrian sights of the Boston streets as if seeing the world for the first time. It made Emil appreciate better how limited Jase’s life had been for a long while. It made him want to extend what had been intended as a short shopping trip into something more interesting.
“Once we get what we need, we can pile it into the SUV and maybe grab something at a restaurant. How does that sound? It can be nice eating something I haven’t cooked.”
Jase turned to beam a smile at him. “That’s sounds wonderful, Chef. Thank you.”
“It’s a date, then,” he said with a firm nod. He instantly regretted his use of the D word, but honestly, after what had happened a few nights earlier, his word choice hardly rated as an issue to fret over.
By silent agreement, neither he nor Jase had mentioned the jerk-off session in the bathroom. Emil had had to bite his tongue to keep from begging forgiveness. That was only going to make him feel better and serve to force Jase to relive the experience. That couldn’t be healthy for the boy, so Emil plastered a smile on his face and went about business as usual.
Their unexpectedly shared lives had fallen into a decent rhythm. Every day, Jase helped Emil in the kitchen, learning new skills and proving to be a hard worker and an adept learner. At night, Emil would help Jase settle down with a back rub while they sat in the chair. Once Jase was asleep, Emil moved him to his bed. Then Mackie or Quinn watched over him while Emil continued to work. Hours later, Emil would slip in, often after jerking himself in his office, like a dirty old man. It helped him keep his sanity while he was with Jase, however, and it ensured that there would be no chance that the boy would feel obliged to help.
And Emil slept on the floor. As big as his bed was, nothing was wide enough when it came to keeping him from the temptation that was Jase.
So he had a good plan and stuck with it. Part of it included that—it being Saturday—it was market day. If he was going to teach Jase cooking, there was no better lesson than where to go for good, fresh food and how to pick out the right stuff. He’d driven, as usual, although this time he was sure he was being tailed by someone. Duncan had been right about being surveilled. He didn’t care. He had nothing at all to hide. This wasn’t a ruse. He really did go every Saturday to buy fruit and vegetables in Haymarket.
The Faneuil Hall area was bustling with people, despite the cold weather. Given the proximity of the garage where he’d parked, he estimated that the walk back and forth wouldn’t be too taxing for Jase. They could catch an early dinner at one of the local spots easily, as well. It wasn’t exactly waterfront, but it had its own charm.
The explosion occurred in the next instant, a deafening sound followed by a split-second of utter silence and a sense that time had actually stopped. Then it was chaos, a rain of debris with people screaming and running for their lives. Emil grabbed Jase and raced to the side of a building, not caring if his superhuman speed was noticed. Crouching down, he covered Jase with his body while he scoured the area for the source of the blast. He didn’t spend a moment analyzing the what or the why—or even the who. He had those answers already. What mattered now was keeping Jase safe.
Or so he thought. Through the carnage, the smoke and the frantic humans, he spotted the source of the evil. Marius stood on the top of a nearby building, holding up a phone with his one hand and grinning wickedly.
He’s filming it. Whether it was for Dracul’s edification or Marius’ own dickless jerk-off session later on, the sight of it infuriated Emil. And it was a chance for him to do something to stop it. He was torn between protecting Jase and protecting all the people of Boston. There could be yet another explosion and Jase was far from out of danger. But there was no choice here, none at all.
Bending down, Emil shouted into Jase’s ear to make himself heard. “Stay here! Do not move until I return. I will be angrier than you’ve ever seen me, than you’ve ever seen anyone, if you do. Understand?” The boy turned a frightened face toward him and nodded.
As sure as he could be that he’d done all that was possible to keep the boy from harm, Emil launched himself from his position and took off through the crowd. He had to be careful not to give himself away or to bowl over the delicate humans he dodged. He hardened his heart to the bodies lying mangled near him as he sprinted around the center of the blast. The dead were beyond his help and the dying needed more than he could give anyway. Getting Marius was his goal, and no one other than him was going to be able to do it.
If luck had been with him, he would have reached the guy’s position without detection. It wasn’t. Emil happened to look the moment Marius spotted him. The man’s grin didn’t fade as much as he turned from his position and disappeared from sight. Emil poured on his speed, heedless now to being observed. He headed for the side of the building he judged Marius must have leaped down from. As he rounded the corner, he spotted his quarry climbing into an SUV with tinted windows.
A roar escaped him as he jumped the remaining distance and onto the hood of Marius’ vehicle. At first surprised, the guy recovered to grin maniacally. With his half-ear and some missing teeth, not to mention scars from long-ago burns, he looked every inch the monster humans would think him to be. He stared straight into Emil’s eyes and gunned the SUV forward. Emil had to clench his fingers around the bottom edge of the windshield. Marius swerved as he drove effortlessly with his one hand, not only down the crowded streets but on the sidewalks, too. The explosion had sent chaos throughout the area as people tried to both stop to gawk and flee from the scene.
Emil swayed with each turn, but he didn’t let go. This was his best chance to bring Marius down. He spread his legs to hug the hood better before releasing one of his hands. Then he punched at the glass in front of him. It held, sending a shock of pain up his arm. He ignored it and punched again, throwing as much of his strength into his arm as he could. On the fourth try, the windshield cracked but it didn’t shatter, a safety feature of newer vehicles that he would have admired in any other circumstances.
Through the spidery lines, he could see that Marius was no longer grinning. That was some comfort. It was short-lived. With a sudden jerk of his wheel, the guy sent the SUV careening into a wall. He braked right before it crashed fully. The impact, though, was sufficient to jolt Emil’s hold. He yelled as much in frustration as anything else as he tumbled off the hood and onto the sidewalk. By the time he picked his battered body off the pavement, Marius had sped away.
Only the presence of a few frightened humans kept him from roaring in frustration. Thoughts of Jase sent him loping back to where he’d left him. In the log jam of people, cars and emergency vehicles, one large man with a scraped jacket, ripped jeans and a bloody hand hardly registered. He forced
himself back into the war zone and stopped only when a cop corralled him.
“I’m sorry, sir. You can’t go past this point. We need space to help the wounded, which you look to be one of. We have EMTs right over here.”
Emil pulled up short and glared down into the earnest young woman’s face. To her credit, she didn’t back down, even though he was sure his expression must be terrifying. He knew this because that was how he was feeling about Jase being alone in the carnage.
“I’m fine. My boyfriend’s over there. I have to get to him.” He didn’t question his use of the B word, not for a moment.
“I’m sorry, sir,” the cop began.
Emil stopped listening to her. Over her head, he saw something that made his heart skip. Out of the smoke-filled air and swarming emergency crews, Jase came running. He didn’t stop until he’d plowed right into Emil’s waiting arms.
“I’m sorry, Master,” the boy sobbed against him. “I couldn’t stay. I needed to know you were all right. I don’t care about the punishment.”
Emil pulled him into his arms, indifferent to any stares. Who cared what two men did when so many people lay dead and dying? “It’s okay, baby. It doesn’t matter, so long as you’re safe.”
He carried the boy away from the scene of death and his own failure. “We’re going home now.”
* * * *
“Mr. Stelalux, you are telling me that the only reason why you chased this man you claim to not know was because he was acting suspicious?”
“Ma’am, please believe me that no matter how many times you ask that question, my answer is going to stay the same. I saw him recording the horror and it seemed to me that he was enjoying what was happening, so I went after him. I thought at the least he was disgusting, and I didn’t want him uploading people’s dying moments on the Internet. I wasn’t thinking clearly.”
“Given that you left your boyfriend where another bomb could have gone off, I’d agree.”
Trey looked back and forth between Franklin’s minion and the chef. The interview was being conducted in Emil’s office. It wasn’t as spacious as Alex’s and lacked a second visitor’s chair. He was stuck holding up the wall again as his only choice. Jase sat curled in Emil’s lap, looking like a frightened yet secure kitten. When Agent Markey had started to insist that they be interviewed separately, a short, intense stand-off had ensued. There had been threats lobbed back and forth involving “…taking you down to the station” and “Do I have to call my lawyer?” It had surprised Trey to hear that the aliens had legal counsel. Maybe they didn’t and it had been a bluff. If so, it had been a good one. Emil had won the battle of wills, leading to this little party.
“And, Mr. Purdue, your testimony on this remains unchanged?”
“Yes, ma’am.” The boy’s voice was muffled by Emil’s T-shirt.
Markey eyed Trey before sighing. She didn’t seem convinced with the story, nor should she be. It was far-fetched, and Trey couldn’t wait to hear what had really happened, although it wasn’t hard to guess. It was surprising that anyone had noticed what Emil had done at all, given the circumstances. The agents tailing him had immediately gone running toward the blast to help victims, no longer interested in following Emil.
“You’re lucky you weren’t killed being thrown from the hood of the SUV like that.”
“My aching body is admonishing me as we speak,” Emil intoned. His hand was wrapped with an ice pack. The bruises on the knuckles of one hand looked painful, to be sure, and his palm on the other had lost some skin. Those were the visible injuries.
“Hmm…” Markey closed her notebook and put it away in her jacket pocket. “We have twenty-one dead and dozens wounded from this so far. We don’t need to increase the body count with a vigilante.”
Not surprisingly, Emil didn’t respond. He simply out-stared her until she turned and left. Trey started to follow her. She stopped outside of earshot, or what she thought of it as being. Likely, Emil could hear every word.
“You seem to have a good rapport with these people. Franklin wants you to stick around and see what you can learn. Something is off here. We know none of the Stelalux family planted the bomb, because they were all under surveillance. Eye-witnesses describe the man this one pursued as looking just like them. It seems obvious they at least know who the bomber is.”
“Yes, ma’am. I hate to think they are involved at all, but I know my duty. You can count on me.”
“Thanks. Check in later with your report, no matter how meager.”
Trey rolled his tense shoulders before returning to Emil’s office. “She’s gone,” he said, closing the door and taking her vacated seat. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’ve had worse.” The way he said it indicated he was trying to downplay his injuries to protect Jase. “Are you being imbedded as a spy?”
“Something like that.”
“Well, let’s go see Alex, shall we?” Emil stood, somehow detaching Jase’s hold on him and setting the boy effortlessly on his feet.
Jase didn’t protest, merely clutched at Emil’s hand instead. He’d been forthcoming with Markey, yet withdrawn and obviously freaked out by the day’s events, as well he should have been. He and Emil hadn’t been that far away from ground zero. A few more minutes, a few more yards, and the boy could have been maimed or killed. So could Emil have been, for that matter.
They trudged down the hall to Alex’s office where the rest of the family waited, including Quinn and Mackie. Not Lucien, though, or Demi. Harry’s quiet demeanor hid a core of steel and a man determined to shield his family from everything bad. He didn’t subscribe to Alex’s and Val’s more modern notions of equality, either. He was clearly the boss of his husband and son, and while Lucien appeared fine with that arrangement, Demi was obvious chafing at the constraint. And, God, didn’t Trey know all about that.
“All done?” Alex asked.
“Yes,” Emil answered. “I won’t be surprised if there are more interviews on the subject. I’m sorry,” he said to the room at large.
“There is nothing to apologize for,” came Alex’s stern reply. “We do need a debriefing, however.” He looked pointedly at Jase.
The boy wasn’t, as far as Trey knew, privy to all the aliens’ secrets.
Emil grimaced before saying, “Hey, Mackie, Jase could use some fun. How about you teach him pole dancing.” Jase looked at him with obvious surprise. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you, Jase? I see you bopping to the music when you’re working in the kitchen.”
“Yes, Master, I would. Thank you.”
Mackie grinned broadly and pulled away from Val’s embrace. “Sure…sounds like fun. And the club is pretty quiet right now, especially for a Saturday night. No one really feels like a party, you know? Come and help, Quinn.”
“Sure thing.” The other boy stood from his place on Alex’s lap. “You’ll love it. I do, and I haven’t been doing it long. It’s easier than it looks.”
The two boys each grabbed one of Jase’s arms and herded him away before he could get in a word to the contrary, not that he would have. He was clearly devoted to Emil and although Stockholm Syndrome crossed Trey’s mind, he had bigger fish to fry. The boy was in a safe place, and that was all that mattered for the moment.
He closed the door behind them and flopped down on the couch. “What a fucking awful day. I wasn’t even in the thick of it and I’m still sick to my stomach.” He glanced at Emil. “It was this Marius guy, I’m assuming.”
“Yes.” Emil’s tone and posture spoke of fatigue and failure. “I nearly had him.”
“Markey was right about your almost being killed. You guys are immensely strong, but an SUV is like two tons or more. Add in a few laws of physics and you’re lucky to be alive and walking.”
Emil cracked his neck. “I’m fine.”
“I wish you’d let me be the judge of that,” Harry said peevishly.
“There’s no time for fussing over my booboos, old man. I need your help do
wnstairs.” He changed his attention to Alex. “With your permission, I think we need to make some assumptions about what Marius is doing and work to counter his explosive materials. Tracking him down isn’t going to do us any good if we can’t stop this destruction, once and for all.”
“Agreed.” Alex flicked his gaze toward Trey. “Would you mind helping on this? Your forensic training may come in handy, whereas Val and I are useless with this stuff.”
Trey climbed back to his feet. “Sure. My experience with explosives is very limited but anything I can do to help. My people are dying. I need to stop it. And I’ve sniffed around to see if I can get you some of the evidence. No dice, I’m sorry to say. If I’m of any use on this end, let me have at it.”
“I’m happy to have you,” Emil said. “Come on.”
Trey followed the chef and the doctor to that secret door and staircase where they kept stuff that no human should see. This time, instead of going into Harry’s lab, they went through the opposite door. The front part of this room contained an impressive, and highly illegal, array of weaponry. The back end was a sea of greenery. Well, not in the literal sense. Many of the plants growing on stands were different colors, although they were embedded in water instead of soil. The smells they gave off were indescribable from a human reference. Some of them were pleasing, others not so much. Trey had to cup his hand over his nose at the barrage of scents.
“Sorry,” Emil said. “Not all of this is human-friendly.” He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. His expression revealed how much he enjoyed it. “This is our last bit of home.”
He walked around the long table, running his fingertips across the leaves and flowers. “I carry the seeds we were able to rescue wherever we go. I can only grow them in a place like this, hydroponically and sealed. None of this can be allowed to spread in your world. They would choke out natural vegetation and poison wildlife.
Slave Dance Page 14
