Nysys

by Catherine Lievens

  Nysys peeked at the clock again. “Shit, we have only fifteen minutes left!”

  He disentangled himself from Morin’s arms and ran to the bathroom. Morin wasn’t far behind, and while seeing his body slick with water was definitely a treat, Nysys didn’t dare touch him. They just didn’t have the time to play around that morning.

  They rushed through their shower and Nysys left Morin in his room to dress. He quickly pulled the pair of dress pants he’d worn when he’d met Sandra out of the closet, along with a sedate light blue shirt, and put them on. He left his hair free of gel, knowing his mate preferred it that way. He didn’t mind one bit, and besides, he didn’t have ten minutes to dedicate to it at the moment.

  “Are you ready?”

  Nysys twirled around and faced his mate. “As ready as I’ll ever will be. Are you ready?”

  Morin opened his arms and turned himself. Oh, he was definitely ready. He had put on some dress pants and a shirt, like Nysys, but he’d forgone his usual tie and jacket. He looked a bit more relaxed than he usually was. His dark brown hair was still wet and curled around his ears. The first few buttons of the shirt were open, showing a bit of hair. The shirt stretched over his shoulders and made Nysys want to strip it off, but he resisted.

  “Ready to go?”

  Morin nodded and held a hand out for Nysys to take, like the other times they’d shimmered together, but Nysys reached for his waist instead. He enfolded Morin in his arms and concentrated on Dominic’s office, then shimmered them away.

  “Nysys, Morin.”

  Nysys looked up and smiled at Dominic. He gently disentangled himself from Morin, but his mate clearly wasn’t ready to let him go. Morin stepped forward and shook Dominic’s hand, then slid his arm around Nysys’ waist. Dominic arched a brow but didn’t ask questions.

  “This is my mate, Ani.”

  Morin shook Ani’s hand without even letting go of Nysys. The smile the alpha mate gave both of them was radiant, and Nysys knew he was going to have to answer questions. So many questions.

  “Is my father here?”

  “No, but we’re not having the trial here. We’ll shimmer to the jail your father is held in.”

  That was news to Nysys, but he could see why they were doing it away from the house. No kids in the jail, no way out except for those who could shimmer.

  “I’ll shimmer the four of us,” Ani said. Dominic pulled his mate close and Ani held his hand out to Nysys. Nysys smiled and took it, then felt the familiar sensation of shimmering.

  The room they arrived in was a conference room, and already full of people. Nysys recognized all of them, since they were his fellow council members. He stayed back with Morin while Dominic walked to the scattering of people around the room and cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention. “Everyone, this is Morin Glass. Morin, these are the council members. You already know Nysys and me. The big man with tattoos and piercings is Cole Hunter, the lovely lady to his right is Celina Barrera, then we have Neil Andrews, Quincy Wallace, Malik Ayodele, Kameron Rhett, Selena Higgins, Jared and Chogan Sykes and last but not least, my PA, Keenan Ellis.”

  Dominic pointed at everyone as he presented them and Morin left Nysys’ side to shake hands. He looked relaxed, even if Nysys knew he was anything but. He hadn’t realized he’d gotten to know the man so much in such a short time, but Morin’s tense stance was obvious to him, as was the way he worried the lobe of his ear when his hands weren’t occupied with something else.

  “So. Don’t you have something to tell me?”

  Nysys arched a brow at Ani. “I do?”

  Ani smacked his arm. “You’re not funny.”

  “Maybe you should get Dominic too. He needs to hear this. too.”

  Ani frowned, but he went to get Dominic from where he was talking with Keenan. Keenan shot Nysys a curious look but he stayed where he was, and Nysys could only be grateful for that. The last thing he needed was his friend bouncing around and announcing to the entire room that he was mated. Not that the other council members seemed to have anything against Morin, but it didn’t mean they actually liked him. He wasn’t his father, but it wouldn’t stop some people from holding what Rayford Glass had done against Morin.

  “Something wrong?”

  Nysys turned to look at Dominic, but kept an eye on Morin. The man was talking with Celina, and while Nysys knew Morin was both very gay and very mated to him, he couldn’t help the twinge of insecurity that twisted in his chest. “The killer attacked again yesterday.”

  “What happened?”

  Nysys finally turned to the alpha. “Morin had ordered takeaway. The killer attacked him when he opened the door.”

  “You’re both fine, though.”

  “Yeah. He fought back and I shimmered the killer away.”

  “Where?”

  “I didn’t think when I did it. I know I should have taken him here, or at the mansion, but—”

  “Don’t worry about it.”

  “I took the man to the Sahara desert and dumped him there.”

  Dominic smirked. “It’s going to take him a while to come back.”

  “Hopefully.”

  “Did you see him well? Can you identify him?”

  Nysys shrugged. “Not really. Everything went so fast... I can only tell you it’s a man, about six foot tall, lots of muscles but not bulky. His face was covered.”

  “That describes about half the people I know.”

  “I know, sorry.”

  “It’s okay. Just try to remember to bring the man to the mansion or even here if he attacks again.”

  “I’ll do what I can.”

  Dominic nodded. “Is there something else?”

  “Yeah. I won’t be coming back to the mansion.”

  Dominic’s eyebrows rose high on his forehead. “Oh?”

  “Morin is my mate. We mated last night.”

  “That explains why he seemed so keen on making sure we knew you were with him earlier.” Dominic smiled and enveloped Nysys into a bear hug. Nysys froze in shock.

  While he’d obviously talked to the alpha quite a lot, they’d never been particularly close. Nysys awkwardly patted Dominic’s back. “Uh, thank you.”

  “We’ll see how your mate comes out of this and organize a small party sometime soon.”

  “Yeah, sure. I’ll ask him if it’s okay with him.”

  Nysys really didn’t think his mate would be up for that soon, but it wouldn’t cost him anything to ask. He was striding toward them, his expression set in a serious determination. He stopped in front of Dominic and looked at the alpha. “Can I see him?”

  * * * *

  Morin waited for the alpha’s answer. He couldn’t do much if the man said no, but he felt he owed it to his father. He owed him an explanation about what he was doing with the man’s beloved company before he had to give it in front of all the people in the room.

  “Of course. I’ll lead you to him.”

  Morin saw Nysys move and he shook his head. He took his mate’s hand in his and kissed his cheek. “I have to do this on my own. Please.”

  Nysys didn’t look happy but he nodded, and Morin felt his heart swell with affection. “It won’t take long. I’m sure my father won’t be happy once I tell him I’m selling the company.”

  “Just... you’re doing the right thing. Don’t let him hurt you.”

  “I’ll try.”

  Morin followed Dominic outside the conference room and along hallways. The alpha stopped in front of a guarded door and nodded at the man standing there. The man opened and Dominic entered what was clearly the jail part of the building they were in.

  “Treat him right.”

  Morin smiled slightly. “I will.”

  “He’s not an easy man to deal with, but he deserves to be happy.”

  “He’s a very easy man to deal with, actually. You just have to understand him and look under the shell he built around himself. He�
�s scared, and he acts up to hide it.”

  Dominic gave Morin a sideway look, but before they could continue talking, Dominic stopped in front of a cell door. “Your father is in here. Do you want me to come in with you?”

  Morin shook his head. “No. Like I told Nysys, I need to do this alone. He won’t hurt me.”

  “Yes, well, I’ll stay right here anyway. Yell if you need something.”

  Morin gave the alpha a nod and waited for him to open the door, then slid inside. The door banged closed behind him, the sound of the locks closing ominous.

  “Morin. What are you doing here? Are you taking me out of this place?”

  Morin looked at the man sitting on the small bunk in the corner. It was his father, but it wasn’t. He was so different from what Morin was used to. Gone were the elegant suits and leather shoes, the ties and the gold tie tacks. Rayford Glass was wearing a gray outfit with his name and a number stamped on the front. His feet were in soft slippers and he wore no jewelry, not even his wedding band, not that Morin knew for sure if he was still married or had already divorced his latest wife. He probably had, though, or his wife would’ve called Morin when his father disappeared. That, or she didn’t care much, which always was a possibility.

  “No. You’re going to go on trial today.”

  His father scoffed. “Trial. We both know this is not a real trial. They’re not even human. This is going to be a massacre, nothing more, nothing less.”

  “Like the one you committed on them?”

  Morin’s father narrowed his eyes at him. “Why are you here?”

  “To watch you be tried, and hopefully declared guilty.”

  “And are you going to witness my murder too?”

  “They won’t kill you, but I doubt you’ll ever see the sunlight again.”

  That was true. Morin hadn’t seen openings in the walls—neither doors nor windows. It made him wonder if the only way in was to shimmer with a Nix, but his father distracted him when he rose from his bunk.

  “You’re on their side.”

  He gave his father a short nod. “I saw what you did.”

  “You were never good enough to work with me. Too soft.”

  The words hurt, but Morin would be damned if he showed it. “I’m actually glad to hear that. I wouldn’t want to be like you.”

  “I made a mistake thinking you could take my place. I should have left the company to the board of directors.”

  “Yes, you should have, because when I’m done with it, there won’t be a Glass Company left.”

  “What did you do?”

  “I gave the survivors money. I fired the scientists and had them arrested or put in this jail. I’m going to sell the company.”

  Morin’s father took a step toward him. His hands were clenched in fists at his side and his expression was hard, but Morin was confident he could take the man if he attacked. He didn’t want to, but he could do it if he needed to. Still, he raised his hands to stop his father. “Don’t worsen your case with the shifters. You know what you did, and you know you deserve anything that comes your way.”

  “You can’t sell my company!”

  “I can, and I will. It’s either that, or closing it completely, but I won’t do that to the employees. Most of them don’t know what you did. They don’t know about shifters, about the labs you set up, about the tortures and killings you had your scientists do. They don’t deserve it.”

  “You’re ruining everything!”

  “I’m setting things right.”

  “I knew I shouldn’t have left you the company. You’re a faggot, no good. You were never any good.”

  “You can say whatever you want, it won’t change anything.”

  “What about your siblings? They might want the company.”

  “Even if they do, I’m sure once I tell them what you used it for, they’ll change their minds.” Morin’s father opened his mouth but he continued before the man could spout other hateful words. “Besides, you left it only to me. There’s not much they can do about that, not if they don’t want to alert the law about it. Not that they care about your company anyway. Ana is happy in Texas and she has no intentions of coming back to New York. Matthew... you haven’t even seen him in the past four years. I have. I see him every week, in fact, and I know he’s a good kid. He doesn’t want anything to do with you, and I don’t blame him.”

  There really was nothing else to say, so Morin banged on the door. It opened, and after one last glance to his father, he left the cell. He heard Dominic close the door again, then a hand landed on his shoulder and squeezed. “Did you get what you needed?”

  Morin shrugged. “I didn’t need anything. I just thought he deserved to know what I was going to do before I tell the council.”

  The two men were silent as they walked back to the conference room, and once again Morin noticed the lack of windows. “Are there even doors in this building?”

  Dominic smiled ruefully. “Nope. We did this on purpose. The only way in and out is with a Nix. We haven’t had anyone escape yet.”

  “Do you have many inmates?”

  “I wish I could say no, but it would be a lie. We have several of your father’s scientists and more than a few shifters.”

  “How did you manage before you built this place?”

  “Each shifter group took care of their own criminals. In many cases the criminals themselves were the ones in power, though, so the system didn’t work at all. Even when it did, punishments often weren’t fair for the crime that had been committed.”

  “This council is a good thing.”

  “It is. I just wish they’d elected someone else at the head of it,” Dominic said with a grimace.

  Morin knew from Nysys that the lion shifter was the head of the council, and he could understand why the man didn’t like it. He hated being the head of the company, even if he knew it would be only for a little while. “I want to sell my father’s company.”

  Dominic gave him a sideway glance. “Really?”

  “Yes. I just have to find another company that knows about shifters and would be able to use the results my father obtained. I know it sounds bad, because he obtained those results torturing people, but we have them. I think we can use them to really help people.”

  “We’ll have to discuss that later on, but I’m ready to listen. I can’t say I understand most of what your father did, but our doc can explain it, if you’re ready to talk about it with him.”

  They stopped in front of the conference room door. “That’s fine with me.”

  “I also might have someone in mind to buy your company, but it’s not something I can decide, so you’ll have to wait.”

  “Let’s get this over with before we start thinking of the future.”

  “Are you all right?”

  Morin wanted to say yes, but he didn’t actually know if he was. His emotions were all over the place, fluctuating between sadness, worry, happiness, delusion. Not one of those emotions prevailed against the others, and it made Morin confused on top of everything. He shrugged. “I don’t know. I will be, sometime in the future.”

  Dominic opened the door and Morin followed him into the room that would see his father’s future.

  * * * *

  Nysys was tense, and he knew he’d stay that way until Morin walked back in the conference room. He didn’t even listen to the gossipy crowd around him, even if he was dying to find out more about the new demon member of the council. It was the first time he’d seen her, even if Dominic had told them all about her.

  She looked exotic, just like Noah had looked to Nysys when they’d first met. Her swirls weren’t blue like Noah’s, though, but black. Like Noah, her hair was the same color, but unlike him her eyes weren’t swirling. They were pitch black, exactly like Troy’s when he shifted into his half harpy form. The fact that her eyes were slanted didn’t really help make it less creepy, but Nysys couldn’t deny she was beau
tiful. Scary, creepy, but beautiful.

  “He’ll be fine.”

  Nysys smiled weakly at Ani. “I know he will. I just wish he didn’t have to do this. No one should have to testify against their own father.”

  Ani shrugged. “After what I’ve seen some fathers do, I can’t say I share your view.”

  “My father wouldn’t have won a father of the year award, but he did what he could.”

  “You never told me about what happened to you. Not in detail.”

  “Don’t take this wrong, but I don’t think I ever will. I more or less told Morin, and that’s enough for me. It’s in the past.”

  “Maybe you’d feel better if you talked about it.”

  “Do you think you would?”

  Ani thought about it, then shook his head. “I did the same thing you did. I told Dominic, and Finn and his mate know, but I have no intention of telling anyone else.”

  “So let’s just agree we’ll keep our own secrets.”

  Ani smiled. “Fine by me.” He looked around the room but no one was paying attention to them. “So, when did you tell him you were mates?”

  “Last night.”

  Ani looked surprised. “And he agreed to mate right away?”

  “Pretty much. We’d been... circling around each other since the beginning, to be honest. He’s always tried to get me to accept him as more than a friend, even if he didn’t know why.”

  “How did he take it?”

  Nysys grinned. “Since we’re mated, I’d say quite well.”

  “So... what are you going to do after this?”

  “Go home.”

  “Is Morin’s house your home, too, Nysys?”

  Nysys had to think about that. Of course, he’d known from the start that one of them would have to move. They would discuss it, but the easiest solution was to have Nysys move in with him. He could shimmer back to the mansion whenever he wanted, and he just had to remember to always wear his hair down or a hat when he went out.

  It wasn’t only the practical side that suggested he should be the one moving, though. Morin’s house did feel like home to Nysys, even more than the mansion. Maybe it was because the mansion was home to so many other people too, while Morin’s house was really only theirs. Nysys didn’t know the reason, but yes, Morin’s house was home. “Yeah. Yeah, it is.”