“Soon?” Anders said. His voice broke.
“As in…?” Luc said.
“As in ‘not tonight,’” Curtis said. “I want you guys to think about it. Get back to me. Call it a graduation present. That’ll be in April, by the way.” He looked at them both. “Both of you.”
Luc regarded him for a moment, then nodded. Anders took a few seconds longer, and he had to close his mouth first.
“Okay, who wants dessert?” Curtis said.
He tried not to laugh as they all but ran from the room to get the food. Maybe that had been a bit much to spring on them all at once. He wondered if he should have left it well enough alone, but then he caught sight of the way Luc’s snug trousers cradled his butt and how Anders’s arms flexed just so when he picked up the stoneware plate the cheesecake rested on, and remembered how Luc had cradled him while he had the migraine, and how Anders was so angry when he’d learned about Mann and…
Nah. Definitely the right time.
Luc was right. The torte was fantastic, though Curtis was eyeing the cheesecake, too. He was going to have to force himself out for a winter run at this rate, but it would be worth it.
“Have you heard from your friends?” Luc said.
Curtis nodded. “Rebekah’s mother is going to be the new coven head for the Mitchell family.”
“Not Graham?”
“There’s no way Malcolm Stirling was going to forget Graham trafficked in a necromantic item, even if it wasn’t the knife. That syringe thing? He might have wanted it to help Rebekah remove the bit of demon she had, but it’s still a forbidden magic under Family rules, so…” Curtis shrugged. “I don’t think it’s enough for him to be thrown out since it, uh, vanished, but he doesn’t get to be the coven head.”
“And Stirling doesn’t want him there. Wheeler said as much,” Anders said.
“Right.” Curtis smiled, then tilted his head, the smile fading. A kind of unease was building but it wasn’t his own. Would it ever not feel creepy when they picked up each other’s moods like that? “Okay. So, one of you is working up the guts to say something. I’m serious about there not being a rush. Honest.”
Anders shrugged. “Not me.”
Curtis looked at Luc.
The vampire nodded. “I was thinking about Wheeler. And the knife.”
Curtis shivered.
“What about it?” Anders said.
“Wheeler said the knife was meant for Renard,” Luc said. Curtis leaned back in his chair, the torte souring in his mouth. The last thing he’d wanted to talk about was Wheeler. Or Renard.
“And?” Anders said.
Luc put his hands on the table, looking at his fingers for a long moment. “It’s more about what he could have done with it, had he managed to live long enough to gain access to it.”
Curtis took that thread. “Renard had more than enough magic to use it. He could have used it pretty much the same way, right?” He frowned. “Is that what you mean?”
“Yes.”
“So he could have been a looey-goo?” Anders said.
“Loup-garou,” Curtis said with a small smile.
“Whatever.”
Luc didn’t look sure. “Perhaps. But it’s more how Wheeler used it on the demons I was thinking about.”
Curtis looked thoughtful. “Renard was already a vampire, and he had some magic. You think he wanted some demon power, too, don’t you?”
“You don’t think he would have used the knife on Tyson?” Luc said. “It would have been far more effective than a Geas, no?”
When they’d first met Tyson, the fury had been magically bound to Renard, barely able to think a thought Renard hadn’t wanted him to. Renard had used Tyson like a magical battery, fueling his own fire magics through the raw demonic flame Tyson provided. But if Renard had used the knife on Tyson, the power would have been much greater, and at his own fingertips.
And Tyson would have been a corpse.
Curtis was surprised to find that made him angry. Tyson had done them no favors. He’d nearly gotten them all killed, but no one deserved what he’d endured. Sometimes, he was proud of destroying Renard, which sent his mind back to a place he didn’t want to go.
“Renard wanted power,” Anders said. “He would have done it.”
“I have to agree,” Luc said.
Curtis exhaled. “We barely beat him when he was just a vampire and a warlock. Add demon to the mix? No thanks.”
Anders started. Luc met his gaze. The thrum of worry grew louder.
“What?” Curtis said, looking between the two. “Now you’re both upset.”
“Fuck,” Anders said.
“Indeed.”
“Guys?” Curtis said.
“When the Families figured out what was going on, they shut us out,” Anders said. “They said they could handle it, right?”
“That’s what David said.”
“Except he knew it was bullshit,” Anders said. He shook his head. “It was the knife. David said once Stirling found out about the knife, he wanted us gone.”
“You lost me,” Curtis said. “Why would it matter if we knew about the knife? There’s no way I want to use the knife, and I’m the only one of us who could have used it. If I used it to take your demonic nature, it would kill you and the triad would collapse.”
“He wasn’t worried about you using the knife, babe. He just didn’t want us getting any fucking ideas.” Anders crossed his arms.
“That was my thought,” Luc said.
“If Renard had used the knife, he would have been a vampire with access to magic power and demon power,” Anders said. “Sound like anyone you know?”
“Us.” Curtis paled. “Vampire, demon, and magic. Sounds like us.”
“Exactly. And who did Renard hate more than anyone?”
Curtis groaned.
“The Families,” Luc said. His voice was calm.
“Right, so if Renard had the knife, he could have used all the power of a vampire, a wizard, and a demon to take on the Families.” Anders shook his head. “Whatever Renard could have done with that kind of power, they didn’t want us to know anything about it.”
“What did they think he would do?” Curtis said.
“Fuck if I know,” Anders said.
“The point being,” Luc said. “It required him to have access to magic, vampire graces, and demonic power to advance his plan. Whatever his plan might have been, it was certainly not in the best interests of the Families. He needed blood, soul, and magic.”
“We already have access to all those things,” Curtis said. “Our triad. That’s how it works.”
“Oui,” Luc said.
“But what exactly is so threatening about it?” Curtis said. He looked up at Anders.
“No idea,” Anders said. He cut a slice of cheesecake, forked off a bite, and swallowed. The demon winked. “But don’t you think it might be fun to find out?”
About the Author
’Nathan Burgoine grew up a reader and studied literature in university while making a living as a bookseller. His first published short story was “Heart” in the collection Fool for Love: New Gay Fiction. Since then, he has had dozens of short stories published, including Bold Strokes titles Men of the Mean Streets, Boys of Summer, and Night Shadows as well as This Is How You Die (the second Machine of Death anthology). There are more short stories featuring the characters from Triad Blood and Triad Soul in the Bold Strokes Books anthologies Blood Sacraments, Wings, Erotica Exotica, and Raising Hell. ’Nathan’s standalone short erotic fiction pieces can be found in the Lambda Literary Award finalist Tented, Tales from the Den, and Afternoon Pleasures. ’Nathan’s nonfiction pieces have appeared in Equality: What Do You Think about When You Think of Equality, A Family By Any Other Name, I Like It Like That, 5x5 Literary Magazine.
’Nathan’s first novel, Light, was a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award.
A cat lover, ’Nathan managed to fall in love and marry Daniel, who is a confirmed d
og person. Their ongoing “cat or dog” détente ended with the rescue of a six-year-old husky named Coach. They live in Ottawa, Canada, where they play video games, board games, and tabletop RPGs like the geeky nerds they are.
Books Available From Bold Strokes Books
Triad Soul by Nathan Burgoine. Luc, Anders, and Curtis—vampire, demon, and wizard—must use their powers of blood, soul, and magic to defeat a murderer determined to turn their city into a battlefield. (978-1-62639-863-4)
Gatecrasher by Stephen Graham King. Aided by a high-tech thief, the Maverick Heart crew race against time to prevent a cadre of savage corporate mercenaries from seizing control of a revolutionary wormhole technology. (978-1-62639-936-5)
Wicked Frat Boy Ways by Todd Gregory. Beta Kappa brothers Brandon Benson and Phil Connor play an increasingly dangerous game of love, seduction, and emotional manipulation. (978-1-62639-671-5)
Death Goes Overboard by David S. Pederson. Heath Barrington and Alan Keyes are two sides of a steamy love triangle as they encounter gangsters, con men, murder, and more aboard an old lake steamer. (978-1-62639-907-5)
A Careful Heart by Ralph Josiah Bardsley. Be careful what you wish for…love changes everything. (978-1-62639-887-0)
Worms of Sin by Lyle Blake Smythers. A haunted mental asylum turned drug treatment facility exposes supernatural detective Finn M’Coul to an outbreak of murderous insanity, a strange parasite, and ghosts that seek sex with the living. (978-1-62639-823-8)
Tartarus by Eric Andrews-Katz. When Echidna, Mother of all Monsters, escapes from Tartarus and into the modern world, only an Olympian has the power to oppose her. (978-1-62639-746-0)
Rank by Richard Compson Sater. Rank means nothing to the heart, but the Air Force isn’t as impartial. Every airman learns that rank has its privileges. What about love? (978-1-62639-845-0)
The Grim Reaper’s Calling Card by Donald Webb. When Katsuro Tanaka begins investigating the disappearance of a young nurse, he discovers more missing persons, and they all have one thing in common: The Grim Reaper Tarot Card. (978-1-62639-748-4)
Smoldering Desires by C.E. Knipes. Evan McGarrity has found the man of his dreams in Sebastian Tantalos. When an old boyfriend from Sebastian’s past enters the picture, Evan must fight for the man he loves. (978-1-62639-714-9)
Tallulah Bankhead Slept Here by Sam Lollar. A coming of age/coming out story, set in El Paso of 1967, that tells of Aaron’s adventures with movie stars, cool cars, and topless bars. (978-1-62639-710-1)
Death Came Calling by Donald Webb. When private investigator Katsuro Tanaka is hired to look into the death of a high-profile lawyer, he becomes embroiled in a case of murder and mayhem. (978-1-60282-979-4)
The City of Seven Gods by Andrew J. Peters. In an ancient city of aerie temples, a young priest and a barbarian mercenary struggle to refashion their lives after their worlds are torn apart by betrayal. (978-1-62639-775-0)
Lysistrata Cove by Dena Hankins. Jack and Eve navigate the maelstrom of their darkest desires and find love by transgressing gender, dominance, submission, and the law on the crystal blue Caribbean Sea. (978-1-62639-821-4)
Garden District Gothic by Greg Herren. Scotty Bradley has to solve a notorious thirty-year-old unsolved murder that has terrible repercussions in the present. (978-1-62639-667-8)
The Man on Top of the World by Vanessa Clark. Jonathan Maxwell falling in love with Izzy Rich, the world’s hottest glam rock superstar, is not only unpredictable but complicated when a bold teenage fan-girl changes everything. (978-1-62639-699-9)
The Orchard of Flesh by Christian Baines. With two hotheaded men under his roof including his werewolf lover, a vampire tries to solve an increasingly lethal mystery while keeping Sydney’s supernatural factions from the brink of war. (978-1-62639-649-4)
Funny Bone by Daniel W. Kelly. Sometimes sex feels so good you just gotta giggle! (978-1-62639-683-8)
The Thassos Confabulation by Sam Sommer. With the inheritance of a great deal of money, David and Chris also inherit a nondescript brown paper parcel and a strange and perplexing letter that sends David on a quest to understand its meaning. (978-1-62639-665-4)
The Photographer’s Truth by Ralph Josiah Bardsley. Silicon Valley tech geek Ian Baines gets more than he bargained for on an unexpected journey of self-discovery through the lustrous nightlife of Paris. (978-1-62639-637-1)
Crimson Souls by William Holden. A scorned shadow demon brings a centuries-old vendetta to a bloody end as he assembles the last of the descendants of Harvard’s Secret Court. (978-1-62639-628-9)
The Long Season by Michael Vance Gurley. When Brett Bennett enters the professional hockey world of 1926 Chicago, will he meet his match in either handsome goalie Jean-Paul or in the man who may destroy everything? (978-1-62639-655-5)
Triad Blood by ’Nathan Burgoine. Cheating tradition, Luc, Anders, and Curtis—vampire, demon, and wizard—form a bond to gain their freedom, but will surviving those they cheated be beyond their combined power? (978-1-62639-587-9)
Death Comes Darkly by David S. Pederson. Can dashing detective Heath Barrington solve the murder of an eccentric millionaire and find love with policeman Alan Keyes, who, despite his lust, harbors feelings of guilt and shame? (978-1-62639-625-8)
Slaves of Greenworld by David Holly. On the planet Greenworld, the amnesiac Dove must cope with intrigues, alien monsters, and a growing slave revolt, while reveling in homoerotic sexual intimacy with his own slave Raret. (978-1-62639-623-4)
Men in Love: M / M Romance, edited by Jerry L. Wheeler. Love stories between men, from first blush to wedding bells and beyond. (978-1-62639-7361)
Love on the Jersey Shore by Richard Natale. Two working-class cousins help one another navigate the choppy waters of sexual chemistry and true love. (978-1-62639-550-3)
Final Departure by Steve Pickens. What do you do when an unexpected body interrupts the worst day of your life? (978-1-62639-536-7)
Night Sweats by Tom Cardamone. These stories are as gripping as the hand on your throat. (978-1-62639-572-5)
Soul’s Blood by Stephen Graham King. After receiving a summons from a love long past, Keene and his associates, Lexa-Blue and the sentient ship Maverick Heart, are plunged into turmoil on a planet poised for war. (978-1-62639-508-4)
Corpus Calvin by David Swatling. Cloverkist Inn may be haunted, but a ghost materializes from Jason Dekker’s past and Calvin’s canine instinct kicks in to protect a young boy from mortal danger. (978-1-62639-428-5)
Brothers by Ralph Josiah Bardsley. Blood is thicker than water, but you can drown in either. Jamus Cork and Sean Malloy struggle against tradition to find love in the Irish enclave of South Boston. (978-1-62639-538-1)
Every Unworthy Thing by Jon Wilson. Gang wars, racial tensions, a kidnapped girl, and a lone PI! What could go wrong? (978-1-62639-514-5)
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