“The Hive is a genetics lab?”
Oscar chuckled darkly. “Yes, but to outsiders, it was simply a home for troubled youths.” He sat quietly for a moment, apparently gathering his thoughts before continuing. “See, I never knew that being a Moonlighter was a bad thing until I came here and the others told me. We were kind of like the golden children in The Hive, because only those of us with white coats were Desirables.”
Demitrius would bet everything he owned that it was because of the breed’s powerful magic. That meant that whoever was in charge of this lab understood how that magic worked and had been able to not only control but manipulate it. That bit of information was troubling, but he pushed it to the back of his mind to discuss with Xander and the others later.
“D-212 is injected into the hip through a cylinder with five needles.” His face took on a pinched look, and Oscar rubbed absently at his hip—no doubt the same location where he’d received his own injection. “I’m no scientist, and it’s not as though they let me in on their evil schemes. I honestly can’t say how they developed the formula. Sorry.”
Taking his lover’s hand, Demitrius caressed the knuckles with his thumb and smiled. “No one would expect you to know that. Tell me what else happened, Oscar.” Gods, he didn’t know if he wanted to hear anymore, but he knew Oscar needed to get it out, to finally tell someone about the hell he’d endured.
“The first few years were spent learning how to control and alter my physical appearance at will. When I turned sixteen, I began learning about the human body, especially about how to encourage relaxation and relieve stress. From there, I moved on to the different pleasure points and how to manipulate them. After my eighteenth birthday is when the real fun began, though.”
Demitrius didn’t need it spelled out for him, and thankfully, Oscar didn’t go into great detail about the training he’d received in how to be a proper sex slave. Companion, my ass. His blood boiled with barely suppressed rage, and Demitrius wanted to find this place and burn it to the fucking ground.
First, there were still a few questions he needed answered. “Okay,” he said slowly, still trying to sound as though he wasn’t mad enough to spit nails. “You said that I somehow changed you. Care to explain that?”
“Once we finish our training, we are then eligible for contracts. To seal the contract, we must exchange blood with our new Master, forming the link that will allow a Desirable to interpret and anticipate a Master’s every desire.” Oscar spoke in a stilted monotone as though reciting directly from a handbook.
“I’m not your Master, Oscar.” He wanted to be very clear on that subject. Just thinking about his sweet little angel being owned like a pet was enough to make his stomach heave.
“I know.” Blinking several times, Oscar shook his head as though coming out of a daze and finally met Demitrius’s worried gaze. “This morning, you wished I wasn’t so small. I also know that red is your least favorite color, and that dark blue is your most favorite. So…”
“Oh, Oscar.” Demitrius didn’t think it was possible for him to feel even worse than he had just seconds ago, but he did. He felt like the fucking scum of the universe. “Come here, sweet baby.” Gently, he pulled Oscar back into his arms and held him lovingly. “You can be whoever the hell you want to be. If this is what you want, I’m happy. Yes, I was afraid of hurting you, but I don’t ever want you to change for me or anyone else.”
Oscar appeared to be thinking it over for a long time before his lips split into a wide grin. “Really? You’re okay with how I looked?”
“You are gorgeous no matter what, but those amazing green eyes were the first thing I noticed about you when we met in the kitchen. They hypnotized me like magic, and I knew right then that I’d never want anyone else.”
Before he’d even finished speaking, the dark blue slowly began to lighten and change, until Oscar’s eyes were once again a dazzling green. “Better?”
Yes, but that wasn’t what he’d meant at all. “Is it better for you?”
Oscar nodded firmly. “The way I came to Haven is how I look without any modifications. I really just want to be me, Demitrius.”
“Then be you. As long as you’re happy, I’m happy.”
That sweet, innocent smile returned, and Oscar craned his neck to whisper their lips together. “Oh, I’m very happy right where I am.”
“Music to my ears,” he teased, twirling one of Oscar’s curls around his finger and tugging gently. “So, tell me something. This place you came from sounds like friggin’ Alcatraz in terms of security. How the hell did you escape, let alone get your friends out with you?”
“Those tranquilizers you told me about? I think you called them Inhibitors? Well, they gave us something like that to keep us from shifting at will.”
Demitrius kept his expression neutral, but he didn’t like what he was hearing. As far as he knew, members from the International Council for Preternatural Justice had been the ones to develop Inhibitors—as well as Inducers—as a way to control prisoners within the system. Hearing that The Hive had the same type of pharmaceuticals could be just a coincidence, but it certainly raised suspicion.
“A couple of months ago, I found out that a Master had not only purchased my contract, but Cicero, Zuriel, and Zavion were coming with me.” Oscar squeezed his eyes closed and growled under his breath. “I couldn’t let that happen to them. The day we were supposed to meet this guy, they didn’t give us the Inhibitors because he wanted to see us shift into our animals.”
“That’s how you got away,” Demitrius surmised. “You shifted and ran.”
Oscar bobbed his head in agreement. “No one is allowed inside The Hive, so we were taken to the ground level—the ‘staging area’ is what they called it. I convinced one of the Trainers that it would be more impressive if we appeared as animals first and then transformed to our human skins. When the front door opened, we ran like hell.”
“Loyal, sexy, brave, and intelligent,” Demitrius said as he beamed with pride. “Is there anything you can’t do?”
“I think you’re a little biased.” Snuggling back into his arms, Oscar pressed his lips to the skin just over Demitrius’s heart. “I can live with that.”
A perfunctory rap sounded at the door before it opened and the vampire Enforcer, Raven, stepped into the room. “Hey, Oz, have you seen Demi—oh.” Stopping in his tracks, he took in the scene before him and a slow, devilish smile spread over his face. “The meeting starts in ten minutes. You might want to get dressed, man.”
Oscar’s cheeks flushed such a deep red that his skin was almost purple. “Hi, Raven.”
“If you were looking for action, you should have said something. I’d have been more than happy to warm your bed, and then you wouldn’t have had to settle for this mangy asshole.”
Before he realized the intent to do so, Demitrius was out of bed and had his hand around Raven’s throat, pinning him to the door. “Watch your mouth, bloodsucker.” Growling viciously, he pulled the vampire toward him and then slammed him violently against the door again. “Talk to my mate like that again, and you’ll be getting up close and personal with the sun. Are we clear?”
To his irritation, Raven continued to smile, and his eyes lit up with merriment. “Relax, Dee. I was just fuckin’ around. I have no designs on your mate. Congrats, man.”
Closing his eyes briefly, Demitrius groaned as he released the Enforcer and stepped away. “I really hate you sometimes.”
Raven laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. “C’mon, I have to give you a hard time.”
“I suggest you find a different topic in the future.” While Demitrius had a certain fondness for the smart-ass, no one disrespected his mate and got away with it.
“Wow, I thought sex was supposed to make people mellow.” Raven looked over Demitrius’s shoulder to Oscar and arched one dark eyebrow. “Maybe you’re doing it wrong.”
“Damn it, Raven!”
“I’m just sayin’ that you’re
kind of growly. With those eyes and teeth, I can’t tell if you’re going to fuck him or eat him.”
Demitrius was two seconds away from ripping Raven’s balls out through his navel when the cutest giggle he’d ever heard reached his ears. Glancing over his shoulder, he found Oscar with both hands pressed to his mouth as he tried to contain his laughter.
“See,” Raven interjected. “He likes me.” Pulling the door open, he paused inside the doorway and winked roguishly. “By the way, no one here cares what you look like. Stop hiding behind the sunglasses, dude. They make you look like an idiot.”
“Told you so,” Oscar called in a singsongy voice, and he even went as far as to stick his tongue out. “You’re freakin’ hot, love. Stop trying to hide it.”
Everything had happened so quickly that Demitrius hadn’t even thought to shield his appearance before attacking Raven. It was too much to ask that everyone in the coven would be as accepting of his condition, but with Oscar at his side, he finally felt like he was home.
Chapter Seven
“I’m bored. Why can’t we shift and go play down by the pond?” Zavion flopped down on the sofa in the common room of their new dorm and pouted.
Everyone had come together and worked hard to construct the two five-bedroom cabins for the resident Moonlighters. It was only supposed to be temporary until they could finish building the private cabins, but since Oscar and his friends had never been on their own, they weren’t in any hurry to be separated.
“Because it’s freezing-nuts cold out there, dumb ass.” Keeton smacked Zavion in the back of the head as he dropped down on the cushion beside him.
“Plus there’s a freakin’ foot of snow on the ground,” Braxton added, curling his nose at the white fluff as he stared out the window.
“I love the snow!” Zavion and his twin, Zuriel, exclaimed in unison.
“What are you guys even doing here?” Oscar asked Braxton and Keeton as he bounced across the room to crawl up into his mate’s lap where he was sitting near the fireplace. Wrapping his arms around Demitrius’s neck, he nuzzled their cheeks together and hummed. “Hello, handsome.”
Long fingers slid into his hair and massaged his scalp. “Hello back, sweet baby.”
He loved when Demitrius called him that. Even more, he loved that though Demitrius was a big, tough warrior, he was so sweet and gentle when they were together. It had been almost three weeks since they mated, and though the L word had yet to be uttered by either of them, he could see it in his lover’s eyes and feel it in the man’s touch.
Oscar’s heart felt full to bursting, and he was happier than he could have ever imagined. Still, there was a dark cloud that continued to hang over their heads, and he knew he wouldn’t truly rest easy until the threat from The Hive had been eliminated. He found it strange that no one had come for them yet, but it was just a matter of time. They were all too valuable—and knew too many secrets—to hope that they’d been forgotten.
“Ugh!” Keeton sighed dramatically and fell sideways into Zavion’s lap. “Logan has abandoned me.”
“They all have,” Braxton agreed, and his lower lip slid out as he turned away from the window to face them. “Since they became Enforcers, I never see Xander anymore. I am feeling very neglected.”
Oscar didn’t know exactly what was happening, but he did know the Enforcers had been really busy lately. Demitrius said it was best for him not to know too much, and in this case, Oscar had to agree. He had been able to get a bit of information out of his mate, though. Apparently, shit had hit the fan shortly after their arrival, and a nearby coven was in some deep trouble for the kidnapping and slavery of fellow paranormals.
“You’re crushing me, you goof.” Zavion shoved at Keeton, sending the man tumbling to the floor. “This place is boring.”
“I could paint your nails.” Keeton rolled to a sitting position and held his hand up in front of his face, wiggling his fingers as he admired his own nails. “We could do whole makeovers!”
“That’s my cue to leave,” Demitrius muttered just loud enough for Oscar to hear. “The full moon is tonight, so I’ll be back before the sun sets.” He kissed Oscar’s temple and ushered him out of his lap before raising his voice to address the rest of the room. “No one leaves until I get here. Understood?”
The twins grumbled their agreement, and Cicero nodded obediently. Thankfully, they understood the need for discretion and why none of them could wander off on their own, so their easy acquiescence wasn’t because they were afraid of Demitrius. Oscar kind of felt bad that his mate had been assigned to babysit them. On the other hand, it was nice to have him so close all the time rather than roaming the country with the other Enforcers.
One last peck on the lips, and Oscar sighed as he watched Demitrius step out into the harsh winds and blowing snow. It wasn’t often that they were separated, but he always felt a little sad when he had to watch his lover walk away. It was only temporary. He’d see the man in a few hours, but that didn’t mean that he had to like it.
Then again, why did he have to sit around and wait? Demitrius didn’t have any pressing business that required his attention. He just didn’t want to get caught up in Keeton’s eagerness to fluff, gloss, and primp everything in sight. If he hurried, he could probably catch up before the big cat got too far away.
“You’re not serious!” Zuriel looked absolutely horrified with his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open.
Instead of closing his eyes and groaning like he wanted to, Oscar stiffened his spine, squared his shoulders, and glared at his friend. “Stay out of my head.” After spending years in The Hive with Zuriel, he should have been used to the man’s telepathic abilities, but there were still times like this where it caught him off guard. “Besides, you just said that you wanted to go out there. Don’t be a hypocrite.”
“Uh, big difference,” Zavion defended his twin. “We’re arctic foxes, dude. We’re kind of made for the snow. No one would find your little pokey butt until the snow melted.”
Good grief, it wasn’t like he planned to shift into his hedgehog and burrow through the mountain of snow after his mate. Why was everyone making such a big deal about it, anyway?
“You heard what Demitrius said,” Braxton reminded him. “No one leaves until he gets back here.”
“I’m going to get him.” It was so hard not to stomp his foot and roll his eyes. “It’s practically the same thing.”
“What has gotten into you?” Zavion demanded. “You’ve been acting weird for weeks now. What gives?”
Oscar couldn’t stop the growl of jealousy, but he did cut it off quickly when every set of eyes in the room turned to look at him. Keeton’s knowing smirk was the worst, but he was getting used to it. The guy was such a busybody that he knew absolutely everything about everyone.
“He’s all pink and glowy like a cute little lovebug,” Keeton cooed. Then the asshole started making kissy faces as he crossed the room and began pinching Oscar’s cheeks. “Oscar’s in loooove.”
It was bad enough to have someone inside his head, listening to private thoughts, but for the most part, he was able to block Zuriel out when he wanted. Keeton was a whole other ball game. With his ability to see auras, everyone’s emotions were wide open to him. And emotions were much harder to control than thoughts—if not totally impossible.
On the other hand…
“What do you see when you look at Demitrius?”
It really was underhanded, but there were still things Demitrius was keeping from him. Though he hid it well and never spoke of it, there was something sad and almost broken about the man.
Oscar wasn’t deluded, however. He was self-aware enough to realize that he had just as much emotional baggage as his mate. Maybe that was why fate had led them to one another. Separately, they were fragmented, but maybe together they could finally be whole. Unless he knew what was wrong, he couldn’t repair the damage.
Keeton grew very somber, an expression so foreign to his visage t
hat Oscar almost recalled his question. “Red. There’s a lot of anger there.”
Anger wouldn’t put the look on Keeton’s face like that. There had to be something more. “What else?”
“Gray. Dark, depressing gray. I don’t think I have ever seen that much sadness in one person before.” Huffing dramatically, he crossed his arms over his chest and wouldn’t look Oscar in the eyes. “I’m not saying he’s perfect, but under all that, well, whatever that is, he’s a good guy.”
“I knew that.” As far as Oscar was concerned, Demitrius was perfect. His heart was pure, and he was one of the most selfless people Oscar had ever met.
He didn’t know where the anger was coming from, because Demitrius always seemed so sweet and mellow around him. The sadness, however, he had detected, and it broke his heart. More than anything, he wanted to take away that shroud of gray and bring his lover back into the sunlight where he belonged.
“Don’t go doodling your names inside little hearts just yet,” Keeton warned, pointing a finger in Oscar’s face. “Did you completely miss the whole anger and sadness part? This guy is like…I don’t know. Damaged.” His hand flopped back and forth on his wrist as he waved it around the room. “Being mated to that man isn’t going to be all glittered-coated butt plugs and shavings of chocolate confetti.”
There was a heartbeat of silence before Braxton groaned and the rest of the room erupted into unrestrained laughter. It wasn’t the first time something like that had come out of Keeton’s mouth, and Oscar highly doubted it would be the last. It did prompt another question, though.
“Do you seriously own a glittery butt plug?”
“In three different colors,” Keeton answered without skipping a beat. “So, are we going to do these makeovers or what?”
During his years in The Hive, he hadn’t been allowed a stitch of clothing—not even a damn loincloth. Things were different now, and though he seldom asked for anything, Oscar had found that he absolutely adored colors. Painting his fingernails didn’t make him feel feminine, but it did make him happy. A little lip gloss never hurt anyone, either. So what if his clothes sometimes didn’t match? The more colors he wore and the brighter they were, the happier he felt.
Let the Rain Come Down [The Moonlight Breed 6] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove) Page 6
