Demon Heart

by Rhys Lawless

  “You’re gay now too?” he asked him.

  Winston looked like a deer in headlights. I didn’t know how much progress the two had made, and at the end of the day, it didn’t matter if he was ready to be out as long as they were both happy and working through everything together.

  “I meant sides in the war, but yeah, Winston’s gay too.” Hew chuckled, and Winston huffed at his comment.

  “Bi, thank you, and that’s not the point right now. We’ve got agents too scared to do anything, fearing for their lives.”

  “I thought everyone died,” I said.

  Winston turned to me. “Only the ones on shift, thankfully. But that’s, like, half the force.”

  “Christian might come after them. They need to stay low,” I said.

  Winston nodded. “That’s exactly what I was thinking.”

  Hew sat on the stool by the kitchen counter and rubbed his chin.

  “Why would he come after the Blades? He spent years shaping you into his minion—“

  “Hey!” Lloyd shouted at him.

  “Whatever you want to call it, you were doing his bidding. Get over it. He built your force. He went out of his way to make sure no one cared about Nightcrawlers, and you only went after witches and their magic. He trained you to be expert killers. Why would he turn on you?”

  “Because they turned on him? Maybe?” I offered. “My question is how the fuck is he still alive? I activated his life crystal and killed him on the roof of the White Tower. He was bound to that crystal. How the hell did he survive it?”

  Hew shrugged.

  “The ley lines?” he said. “When you died in that pentacle, maybe he fed on the ley lines making his life crystal redundant? But I don’t know.”

  Wade stepped into our conversation both physically and verbally.

  “Do you think maybe he’s connected to those missing witches? Maybe they’re not going underground. Maybe he’s feeding on them and disposing of them.”

  That was a possibility. And if it was true, then I had no freaking idea how to stop him.

  “I think we need to freshen up on our knowledge about dhampirs,” I said.

  Eight

  Wade

  The surviving agents all went into hiding, Lloyd included, and for the rest of the week, all four of us did our research.

  Winston and I had a lot to learn about the Nightcrawler world, and I couldn’t believe that even the force had caught up when I still didn’t know half the things Caleb was talking about. So, while Hew and Caleb researched about dhampirs, Winston and I did all the Nightcrawler 101 that we’d missed out on all these years.

  “How is it going with you two?” I asked Winston a few days into our hardcore reading sessions during a beer and pizza break.

  Winston looked up and offered me a grimace.

  “I don’t know. Good, I guess. It’s all so weird, you know. I know it’s almost been a month, but it’s hard to take it all in. Like, when I’m with him, I can’t keep my hands off him, and I can’t stand the thought of him getting hurt, and it’s like everything makes sense. But as soon as he leaves, I miss him like crazy, and I don’t know why.”

  I chuckled.

  “Sounds a lot like you’re in love.”

  He shrugged.

  “Or it’s that damn bonding that’s causing all this,” he said.

  “Nah. That’s exactly how I feel about Caleb.”

  He froze for a second, I assumed while he made sense of what I was telling him, and then he seemed to deflate like a worn out, over-rubbed penis.

  “So, this is what it feels like, huh?” he said.

  “What? You don’t like it? Is it not what you expected?”

  If it wasn’t, I couldn’t really blame him. Unlike me, he’d chosen to keep his distance from women while he’d thought his heart was cursed. The fact that Christian didn’t loathe him like me had also helped keep his heart intact and his trauma at ease.

  But he’d still suffered, and he knew all the details of what Christian had made him forget.

  “No, it’s…I don’t know. It’s better, I think. I mean, it’s weird that it’s with a guy, and fuck me, there’s a lot to learn. Did you know what douching is?”

  I shook my head.

  “Me neither. Hew explained it to me, and fuck me, is it hard work. Like, I always thought dudes could just fuck whenever and wherever. But no. There’s all the prep and toys—“ He snapped his mouth shut, realizing what he’d said.

  “Wait a minute. Toys?” I raised an eyebrow but kept my laughter in. For now.

  “You haven’t used toys?”

  I shook my head, and he grimaced.

  “Really? I expected Caleb to be into this kind of stuff,” he said.

  Well, maybe he was, but I wasn’t going to tell him that we both liked playing rough with each other. That was for Caleb and me to know.

  “So, what? You just fuck each other without easing into it?” he asked.

  “I haven’t… It’s Caleb that usually…”

  I shouldn’t have felt awkward, but I’d never had such intimate chats with my brother, especially not about sex, or gay sex even, and I didn’t know what to make of it.

  We’d been denied a brotherly connection, surely a thing of Christian’s doing, as Winston had found out. He’d liked to make us turn on each other every once in a while, just so that we didn’t get close.

  Winston clapped his hands and sat back on the couch, dropping a slice of pizza back in the box.

  “Dude, what the fuck are you waiting for? You’ve got to try it.”

  I raised my eyebrow again, and he laughed.

  “What?” he said. “You only live once, right? Unless you’re Caleb, I guess. I was scared at first, but it’s nice once you get some…practice.” He cleared his throat at the last word.

  Was I really talking with my brother about anal? And was he really being open and nice about it when a few weeks ago he didn’t want to be touched by Hew in any shape or form?

  God, Hew must have been good in bed if he’d convinced Winston to bottom. It hadn’t even crossed my mind to try it, and Caleb hadn’t mentioned it, but then again, this last week we’d both been busy trying to find a way to stop Christian. Again.

  Maybe he wanted to try and he was afraid to say so?

  Nah. If there was one thing about Caleb, it was that he wasn’t scared to speak his mind. Ever. Even when it was best to keep quiet.

  “Anyway,” I said in a desperate attempt to change the subject. “How’s the muscle for hire thing going? Any takers yet?”

  Winston pursed his lips and shook his head.

  “No witches yet. They’re all too scared of an ex-witch hunter. I can’t blame them. But Hew is hoping things will change once they see we’re trying to help. He’s taken on a few cases for Nightcrawlers to try and smooth things over. He thinks it’ll be easier to convince the Nightcrawlers, and once the witches see the good we do, they’ll come to us too.”

  “How is that working?” I asked, knowing the answer already.

  “Well, his brothers are hellbent on seeing me destroyed even if it means Hew will die too,” he said as if it was a matter of throwing an out-of-date food item in the bin and not as if he was talking about life and death.

  “Why the hell would they want that?”

  “Things were already shit with his siblings. Considering he’s one of the few half-witch, half-familiars to exist—“ he started, but he’d already lost me.

  “What do you mean? Aren’t his siblings witches too?”

  Caleb had tried to explain things to me, but when he was talking, it was hard to focus on his words. His lips were so damn irresistible.

  “No. Their mother is. And she married a familiar that wasn’t her mate before she met her true one. So, she had Hew, and he was born a half-breed. Then, when she met her mate, she had his siblings, but from a familiar–witch bond, your child is one or the other. Never both. Hew’s considered a freak of nature. Which is why he was neve
r close to his brothers. So you can imagine what they think of him now that he’s bonded with a human.”

  Wow. I would never have known. I’d read some things about familiars and their shifting abilities, but never anything about their mating. Poor Hew. He had a lot on his plate. As if seeing dead people’s spirits everywhere wasn’t enough.

  My phone pinged, and I turned to read the message from Caleb.

  “Crap, I almost forgot,” I said, springing up and grabbing my coat.

  “What’s going on?”

  “Caleb and I are on babysitting duty tonight. I’ve got to go.” Winston stood up. “Stay. Read up. It’s fine, Win. You don’t have to go.”

  He put his hands in his pockets and raised his shoulders.

  “If you’re sure.”

  I stepped around the coffee table and stood in front of him, taking both shoulders in my hands.

  “Of course, idiot. You’re my brother. Christian might have taken our bond away from us, but we’re still brothers. And we’re free of him now. We can be proper brothers again. I trust you.”

  His gaze moved from my stare.

  “If only you knew what I’d done to you, you wouldn’t.”

  “Whatever you’ve done, that wasn’t you. This, right here, is you. And I trust you now. I’d trust you with my life,” I said and took him in my arms. “Whatever we’ve done to each other is all in the past.”

  I felt his hands lifting up to hug me right back. It felt good being a brother again. It probably felt weird for Winston who didn’t remember a life without Christian’s control, but I could. And we were in this shit together.

  When I got to Caleb’s house, Annabel opened the door. They were all sitting at the dining table. Annabel feeding Nora, and Caleb studying a book that looked as old as the house we were in, if not older.

  “Hi, Wade. Are you ready for another sleepless night?” Annabel asked as soon as she saw me.

  Caleb raised an eyebrow, but before he could say anything, she tutted.

  “Not that kind of sleepless night, you slut. Honestly, do you ever not think about sex?”

  “Uhm, excuse me, but I haven’t had any in a week, so you can fuck off if you think you can victimize me like that. I’m deeply offended,” Caleb fake-cried.

  “Oh, shut up, you whore. You’ve gone on longer than that and you’ve been fine.”

  “Any luck?” I asked, interrupting the happy banter that both were enjoying way too much.

  I stood behind Caleb and leaned over him to read from his book. The calligraphy on the page made everything look as if it was a different language, and I struggled to read anything.

  “Nothing. It seems dhampirs really are rarer than blood diamonds because not much is written about them other than the basics,” he said. “I’ve also looked into that binding spell Danielle’s girlfriend performed on Christian, and it’s conclusive that once the crystal is destroyed, so is the person. I can’t understand why Christian is still alive.”

  “It must be the ley lines,” Annabel said.

  “Exactly, but there’s no information anywhere about stopping those surges or on how to seal them back again.”

  Annabel stood and placed Nora over her chest, patting her back waiting for her to burp, although she already looked ready to sleep.

  “Give it a rest for tonight. Watch a film. Rome wasn’t built in a day, Caleb. Don’t expect miracles.”

  Caleb slapped his hand on the table and let his body collapse onto it.

  “I know, Ann. But the longer it takes, the more people get hurt. I’ll just have to keep reading and hope I find something sooner rather than later.”

  I placed a hand on his back and looked at his red eyes and the dark circles under them. He was working himself into the ground and had been doing so for more than a few days now.

  “Jeez, Caleb. When was the last time you slept?” I asked him.

  Annabel put Nora down in her crib and turned to us again.

  “Probably five days ago. He keeps taking that caffeine boost spell he sells at his shop to keep him going. All he does is read,” she said.

  “Baby, you have to slow down,” I said.

  Caleb shook his head as if I’d suggested he give up his firstborn to the devil.

  “No. What if I stop and he comes after you next, or Ann, or Nora, or anyone else? I can’t lose you guys. I won’t let him take you away from me. Not again.”

  Annabel and I exchanged a look and she bit her lip. I shrugged.

  “I’m going to regret this,” Annabel said, taking her shoes off. “Babysitting is over. You’re off tonight.”

  “What? What are you talking about? You’re going out with your girlfriends,” Caleb said.

  “No. Not anymore. You’re going out with your somewhat handsome boyfriend and giving yourself a night off and a good night’s sleep, or banging,” Annabel said, and I looked up at her.

  The nod she gave me was barely noticeable, but I got the message. “You’re welcome,” it said.

  “No, no, Annabel. It’s fine. I’ll stay in and watch Nora,” Caleb insisted.

  Annabel came over to us and closed the book Caleb had been reading and then took it in her arms and held it there, out of Caleb’s reach.

  “If you stay in, you’ll give yourself another dose of that wretched spell, and you’ll keep reading. Gee, Caleb, I love reading as much as any other girl, but you’re taking this to a whole other level. Take the night off. Go have dinner somewhere poncy or something. Have some fun. Then come back here tomorrow and get back to work. You deserve it. Both of you do.”

  Before Caleb could protest again, I dragged my hand down to the small of his back and gave him a kiss on the neck.

  “Listen to Annabel, baby. She’s right,” I whispered in his ear. “Come on. Let’s go out and grab some dinner.”

  I felt Caleb melt under my touch, and I knew I had him now. I helped him get up and followed him to his bedroom. Before he closed the door, he stood to the side and turned to Annabel.

  “I hate you, bossy lady,” he told her and grabbed the door handle.

  “Love you too, asshole.” She chuckled just as the door shut, and we were left on our own.

  “Do we have to go?” he cried. “Do you want me to take some reading material with us?”

  I shook my head and took his hands.

  “No reading allowed. Get dressed. I’m going to take you somewhere nice,” I said and led him to his wardrobe.

  Once he’d got dressed and splashed some cold water on his face, we were on our way to the city center.

  I’d never ventured much into Soho, especially not anywhere past Chinatown, but I knew there were lots of gay bars in the area where we could escape from the Nightcrawler witch world and feel normal for a while without being stared at, whether because of our witch and hunter relationship or because of our sexuality.

  I took us into a gay pub and ordered us two pints of lager while I got Caleb to loosen up and put Christian to the back of his mind.

  “I was talking to Winston earlier,” I said.

  “Wow. Well done. Great accomplishment.”

  I could see he was still mulling over all the crap he’d been reading before we’d left the house. But I wasn’t going to give up so easily.

  If I knew one thing, it was what Caleb really liked more than anything.

  “He mentioned douching. Do you know what that is?”

  As expected, his eyes darted to mine, and the expressionless face turned into a curious one.

  “Of course I do. But why were you two talking about douching?”

  “Well…” I started and looked at the other patrons around us. No one seemed to be paying us much attention, although I did get a couple of mischievous smiles from guys dressed in leather. “He was saying how he and Hew have tried, you know, bottoming, and he was shocked I hadn’t.”

  Caleb choked on his beer, and I patted his back to help the liquid go down the right hole.

  “Well, would that interest yo
u?” he asked when he managed to find his composure.

  I shrugged. “Is it something that you want? I’d never thought about it, but…if you’d like to fuck me…”

  Caleb caressed my cheek and gave me a tender kiss on the lips, only when he pulled back, he bit down on my bottom lip and didn’t let go until he saw me wince.

  “I mean, sure, we can try. But I like—no, love—you fucking me,” he slurred, and if my dick hadn’t sprung to attention with the biting, it certainly did with the words that came out of his mouth.

  “I love fucking you too,” I whispered in his ear, and I heard a little whimper escape him.

  He traced his hand down my chest, and just as he groped me, he stood up so he hid the move with his body, but that didn’t stop a few whistles from some of the patrons.

  “Baby, you better stop this unless you want me to come in my pants,” I said in his ear.

  “Do you promise?” he whispered back and bit my earlobe.

  And we were officially in trouble. Which was good. At least I’d taken his mind off Christian. But now he had sex on his mind, and there was nothing we could do about it.

  “Have you ever had sex in a public bathroom?” he mumbled.

  His hand tightened around my cock, and I bit my lip to stop myself from growling.

  “No, why—“ I started saying, but before I could finish, he grabbed my hand and led me down the other side of the pub.

  As I walked behind him, hand in hand, a guy slapped my butt, and when I gave him evil eyes, he licked his upper lip and winked at me.

  “Lucky bastard,” he said to me.

  Fuck!

  Was this really going to happen? In public? It wasn’t that I’d never thought of it, but with a killer instinct, I’d preferred to keep it in the house where there had been plenty of ropes and cuffs to keep me from hurting people.

  Caleb led the way down a narrow staircase and pushed the door with the male figurine on it. As we entered, I saw two guys standing at the urinals next to each other, their hands crossed over the other man’s dick. They both turned to look at us, and they looked horny and high.