Nysys

by Catherine Lievens

  “Morin? We’re here.”

  He shook himself. “Sorry. I have a lot on my mind.”

  His mother looked at him as if she were trying to read him, and she probably was. “I’ll do what I can to help, but you have to tell me everything.”

  They climbed out of the cab and walked inside the building. Morin nodded at the concierge and followed the clickety sound his mother’s heels made on the marble floor to the elevator, then inside of it. Once they were on her floor, she guided them through her door and pointed at the couch. “Sit down, boys. I’ll be right back.”

  Morin sat, expecting Nysys to take one of the armchairs or the other couch, but he sat next to Morin instead. “Are you okay?”

  Morin gave the man a small smile. “Yes. It’s just not easy to find a way to tell your mother your father is a monster.”

  Nysys bit his lower lip and hesitated. Making a decision, he reached for Morin’s hand and took it in his. “It’ll be fine.”

  Morin snorted. “Sure.”

  “It will. She strikes me as a reasonable woman. She probably isn’t going to be happy, but it’s not your fault.”

  Morin noticed that Nysys’ gaze was riveted on the windows. His knee was bouncing and he looked nervous. “What’s wrong?”

  “Can we close the curtains?”

  “Why?”

  “You said someone shot at you. They could try it again, and with all those windows...”

  “I’m sure my mother wouldn’t mind.”

  “I’ll do it.”

  Nysys rose from the couch and closed all the curtains. He’d just finished when Morin’s mother came back, a tray with a bottle of water and three glasses in her hands. She shot Nysys a curious glance but didn’t question his sudden need for privacy. She put the tray on the coffee table and sat in front of Morin, twining her fingers together on her lap. “So. What did your father do this time?”

  * * * *

  Nysys held his breath and waited. He didn’t know what Morin would tell his mother, but he knew exactly what his father had done. He’d seen it with his own eyes, even if sometimes he wished he hadn’t. He still had nightmares about it.

  “It’s bad this time, Mom. Really bad.”

  Sandra sighed. “Just tell me, Morin.”

  “I’m not even sure how much I can tell you.” Morin looked sideways at Nysys and Nysys suddenly realized he himself wasn’t sure about it. He was a council member more in name than in fact, and he’d never had to make a decision like this one. There always had been someone else to make them and Nysys only had had to say yes or no. He sighed and sat next to his boyfriend.

  “She doesn’t know?”

  Morin shook his head. “Tell her, then.”

  “You’re sure about this?”

  “Do you trust her?”

  “Of course I do! She’s my mother!”

  “Boys, could you please tell me what you’re talking about? I really don’t like being talked about as if I wasn’t even here.”

  Morin look sheepish. “Sorry. There’s just a lot at stake here, and not only for me and for the company.”

  “He was involved in something illegal, right?”

  “It’s even worse than that, Mom. He experimented on... people. He kidnapped them, put them in cages, and let his scientists do whatever they wanted.”

  Nysys looked at Sandra. He knew she’d divorced Morin’s father nearly twenty years earlier, but it didn’t mean this would be easy for her. Nysys wasn’t used to dealing with women, and he was scared to death that she would cry or something like that, but she didn’t.

  Her hands tightened in fists and her lips thinned. “Where is he now?”

  “Some of the people he took, well, most of them actually, they... they’re not human, Mom.”

  “He was stupid enough to kidnap shifters and think they wouldn’t retaliate?”

  Nysys gaped. “You know about shifters?”

  “Mom! Why am I hearing about this only now?”

  “Morin, I was there when your father found out about shifters. I was there when he rambled about what they could do for humans, how they could improve our medicine. I just never thought he’d kidnap them, but I should have. He’s not the man I married anymore—hasn’t been for a while.”

  “How did he find out? I didn’t, until I had to take his place in the company.”

  Sandra frowned. “How did that work anyway? I’d have thought the board of directors would’ve taken advantage of it.”

  “They wanted to, but dad was adamant. He wanted me to have the company if something happened to him. It was all in his documents. The board could have fought me on it, but it might have become public, and they obviously have good reasons to avoid that happening.”

  Sandra nodded once, then asked, “So, where is he? Is he... dead?”

  “No, but the shifters captured him, and I don’t think he’ll see the sunlight soon.”

  “Are they going to kill him?”

  Morin looked at Nysys again, searching for an answer Nysys didn’t have. “He’s going to be held for trial, Sandra. By the paranormal council.”

  “What’s that?”

  “I’m not sure how much you know about shifters and the other paranormal creatures, but we’ve always been scattered, until a few months ago. Then a man decided we needed to present a united front to the Glass Research Company, and all the other menaces that might target us, and he created a council. Every paranormal species has a seat, and we make decisions together. Those include what to do with a man who did so much to hurt us. We can’t hand him over to your justice because we’d have to reveal our existence, but we also can’t let him loose, not after what he did.”

  “You said we. Does that mean you’re a shifter?”

  “Ah, no, but I’m not human either. I’m a Nix.”

  “I’m afraid I don’t know what that means.”

  “It’s a type of water fae.”

  “You’re a... fairy?”

  Nysys chuckled. “You could say that.”

  “And are you two really together?”

  Nysys hesitated, but Morin answered for him. “We are, Mom. It’s a coincidence.”

  That answered Nysys’ silent question. Morin still wanted to play that game and was probably going to keep the fact that someone was trying to kill him silent. Nysys had to play along, so he reached for Morin’s hand and took it in his. He could feel Sandra’s gaze on him—on them—probably trying to understand if this was just another lie.

  He slid closer to Morin and leaned into his side, surprised that the man’s warmth really was soothing. It shouldn’t have been. It should have been a job, nothing more, but Nysys wasn’t known for being good at separating stuff. Besides, Morin wasn’t just a man. He was Nysys’ mate, even if Nysys wasn’t about to admit it to anyone.

  Morin played along. He slid an arm around Nysys’ shoulders and pulled him closer, then kissed his temple. Nysys looked up, intending to smile at Morin, but his lips froze when he saw the heated look Morin was giving him. Oh, that’s not good.

  He turned back to Sandra. “Anyway, Mr. Glass is going to be tried, and I don’t think he’ll get free. I’m sorry.”

  “I’m not. I haven’t seen my ex-husband in years. I’m only sorry for Morin, because he’s going to lose his father.”

  “I think I already lost him. I just hadn’t realized it until now.”

  “What... what did he do? You said he experimented, but you didn’t say what he did.”

  “I don’t think you want to know, Mom. I still have nightmares about some of the pictures I saw.”

  “He kidnapped and changed humans into shifters.” Nysys answered her. She had the right to know. “He created kids in-vitro to make them stronger and faster. He... he amputated limbs to see how the shifter body would react, how long it would take it to heal. He tore apart mated pairs to see what would happen if one of them was hurt or died. He turned one of my friends i
nto a half harpy and unknowingly gave him the means to get pregnant. He sold some of the shifters to his associates as sex-slaves.” Nysys felt his words flowing, as if he was trying to get all the images still seared into his brain out.

  He felt Morin’s arm tighten around him, fingers stroking the side of his neck, trying to sooth him. Nysys gulped down a mouthful of air and tried to calm down. “Sorry.”

  He was scared to look at Morin, at his mother. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said all that. I wasn’t even in the labs.”

  “But you’re living with the aftermath,” Sandra pointed out.

  “Yeah, but I’m not the one who was hurt.”

  “It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t feel horror or pain. It’s obvious you know a lot about what happened.”

  “I’m fine.”

  “You should talk about it.”

  Nysys straightened, and Morin’s arm fell from his shoulders. “I don’t want to, but thank you. I think I want to go... home, if I can.”

  He stood from the couch and felt Morin stand beside him. “You can stay if you want,” Nysys told Morin without looking his way. He knew they shouldn’t separate, but he didn’t want to take the man away from his mother when he was the one throwing a stupid tantrum.

  “No, I’ll come with you. Just let me call a cab and we’ll go.”

  “There’s no need for that. I’ll shimmer us there.”

  Nysys could see the questions in Sandra’s eyes and the wariness in Morin’s, but he still held his hand out to the man. “I’m sorry, Sandra. It was a pleasure to meet you, but I wish it could have ended better.”

  “Don’t worry about me, and go rest.”

  Nysys smiled at her just as Morin made a decision. He strode to his mother and hugged her, whispering something in her ear, then kissed her cheek. “I’ll see you later this week.”

  “Take care.”

  Morin clasped Nysys’ hand in his and looked at him, and Nysys smirked, in spite of everything. “Ready?” Morin nodded. “Concentrate on the part of your house you want to go to.”

  Nysys gave one last wave to Sandra, and shimmered them out.

  * * * *

  Morin hadn’t known what to expect, so he’d closed his eyes when Nysys had waved to his mother. He wasn’t sure it was the right thing to do now—opening them and finding himself in his bedroom rather than in his mother’s living room was weird, to say the least.

  “Bedroom, huh? Interesting choice you made.”

  Morin looked at Nysys and realized he was still holding the man’s hand. He snatched his hand back and Nysys laughed. “Nice reaction, too. Don’t worry, I don’t bite. Unless you ask me too, of course.” Nysys winked, and Morin wished he wasn’t so sexy and enticing. It was the last thing he needed at the moment.

  Deciding to keep as much distance between them as possible while they were alone, Morin ignored the flirting and took his jacket off. “I’ll show you your room, but you didn’t bring your bag with us. You’ll have to wait until tomorrow, but—” Nysys disappeared in front of Morin’s eyes. “Yeah, that works too, I guess.”

  He sighed and took his tie off next, placing it on his dresser, then he opened the first few buttons of his shirt. Nysys popped in again, his bag swinging from his raised hand. “Honey? I’m home!”

  “Nice. Now, follow me, I’ll show you to your room.”

  Nysys pouted and Morin had to resist the urge to grab him and bite into that supple lower lip. “What, I don’t get to sleep in here with you? I promise I don’t need that much space.”

  “There’s no need for you to. We’re not really together, after all.”

  Something passed in Nysys’ eyes and he sobered. “Right. How stupid of me to think you’d want to spend some time with me. I’m just the help, after all.” He strode past Morin and toward the door. “Just tell me where the room is, and I’ll be out of your space.”

  “Uh, the guestroom is just in front of this one, but I can show you.”

  Nysys waved at Morin without even looking back at him. “Oh, don’t worry. I think even my bird brain will be able to find a room that’s in front of yours. I wouldn’t want you to have to spend more time than necessary with me.”

  The door slammed closed behind him, leaving Morin bewildered. What the heck had just happened? Why had Nysys’ behavior gone from flirting to downright rude and self-deprecating in two seconds flat? Morin didn’t want to care, but he was going to have to spend quite a bit of time with the guy, and not being at each other’s throats would help.

  Morin sighed and rubbed his temple. He needed to talk to Nysys, but first he wanted to take a shower and change. Hopefully the other man would still be awake when he was done and Morin could show him around the house and apologize, even if he didn’t know what for.

  The shower didn’t take long, though Morin would’ve preferred to spend a bit more time under the warm water. He towel-dried his hair and put on an old pair of pajama pants, then a T-shirt that dated from his college years and went in search of his complicated new housemate.

  Morin knocked at the guestroom door and waited. Nysys didn’t answer, and he was about to go try the kitchen when the door swung open and Morin’s jaw dropped to his chest at the vision in front of him.

  Oh, resisting Nysys was going to be even harder, especially if the man decided to really flirt with him. He wore only a pair of tight, neon-yellow boxer briefs. The color wasn’t that great, but the garment was so tight it left nothing to the imagination.

  Morin let his gaze wander down the strong, pale legs and follow a dragon tattoo down Nysys’ thigh to his ankle. The dragon’s tail wrapped around it as if it were hugging it, the dark greens and purples of its scales a heavy contrast with Nysys skin. A flock of birds in flight rose from Nysys’ other ankle to his knee. That thigh was bare, the skin still undecorated.

  Morin’s gaze skipped over the briefs, even if it was hard to not stop and stare at the bulge in them, and followed the soft lines of Nysys’ stomach. A feather was tattooed there, the hard tip dipping under Nysys’ underwear, the soft one reaching just below his ribs. His navel was pierced, as were both his nipples. A floral tattoo climbed from one wrist to his neck and there was a heartbeat line tattooed on his chest with the words just live at the end of it.

  “Like what you see?”

  Morin’s eyes snapped to Nysys’ face. The face that was so beautiful it hurt, even with all the piercings. Heck, it was enhanced by them. Nysys was arching a brow in question, but he didn’t seem to be angry anymore, if the smirk on his lips was indication of his mood. His hair was still wet, a drop of water slowly inching down his neck over the swirls tattooed there, and Morin wanted to lick it away.

  Realizing he couldn’t just jump the man who was supposed to protect him, Morin decided to answer. “Actually, yes, I do. I love your tattoos.”

  “Aww, thanks. I’m touched. Now, are you going to tell me what you want?”

  “I wanted to apologize and show you the house.”

  “Can’t it wait until tomorrow?”

  “Sure. Let me just show you the kitchen. That way if you want a drink or anything else, you’ll know where to go.”

  Morin had expected Nysys to go back inside the room and dress, but the man walked out instead. “Lead the way, then.”

  Morin walked to the kitchen and turned the light on, then looked at Nysys. The man had an interested glint in his eyes as he looked at the appliances.

  “I don’t cook much,” Morin offered, “but you’re welcome to do it if you want to.”

  “You’d let me? After I told you I make things explode?”

  Damn. Morin had forgotten about that, but Nysys looked so excited at the thought, he didn’t have the willpower to say no. “Sure. I have the money to buy new stuff if you do. Just... try not to make holes in the walls and stuff like that.”

  His arms were suddenly full of pink-haired man. Nysys squealed and hugged him tight before stepping away a
nd bending to take a better look at the oven. Morin couldn’t resist the tight, high ass Nysys had just about stuck in his face. His gaze locked on it and his imagination ran with it. Images of how the man would look naked, on his hands and knees, popped into Morin’s mind, and he had to restrain himself from reaching out. He didn’t manage to stop the tiny moan from escaping his throat, though, nor could he hide the boner he now sported.

  Nysys stood up straight and turned to face Morin. “Are you okay?”

  Morin nodded and bit his cheek. Nysys looked at him with worry in his eyes, then he seemed to realize what the problem was. Morin didn’t know how such a perfect mix of bratiness and shyness was possible. Yet instead of making a smart remark about how Morin might not like him but a certain part of him sure seemed to, Nysys bit his lower lip and blushed. His cheeks turned almost the same pink as his hair and he looked away from Morin’s groin.

  “I, uh, I think it would be better if I went to bed. You know, to sleep. Yeah.”

  Morin cleared his throat. “Of course. I’ll see you tomorrow morning. I get up fairly early because I go running, but you can stay in bed until seven AM. To sleep.”

  Nysys nodded and swung around. “Good night.” In his haste to get out of the kitchen he stumbled on something—Morin wasn’t sure, but he could gave sworn it was on his own foot—and nearly fell flat on his face. His hand shot sideways and he held on to the counter, never looking back as he made his escape.

  Morin shook his head. He didn’t know what to make of Nysys, but he did know he really would like to start something with the man. They were very different, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t work—even if Nysys had his own life in Whitedell, a life he’d go back to as soon as whoever was trying to kill Morin was stopped. Morin couldn’t really afford to grow fond of him, but he didn’t want to cut opportunities before considering them. He could feel they’d be good together and have something that could last.