“We’re not vampires. There’s no such thing,” Will replied matter-of-factly.
“But, the”—Damien gestured to his mouth—“fangs.”
“I do have fangs that descend, sometimes of their own volition, in order to drink blood, which is an important part of our diet. I’m long-lived, with keen senses and tremendous strength, compared to a human. All those things gave birth to the vampire legend. But we aren’t the mythical monsters you’re thinking of.”
Damien almost said ‘of course not’ because he didn’t think of Will or Emil or any of them like that. Again, perhaps he should, but he knew them too well to see them in such a negative light. They were different, though, and not apparently human, by their own viewpoint.
“What are you, then?”
“Aliens.”
Damien snorted and would have laughed out loud, except Will was totally serious. He could see that. Plus, the answer made a lot more sense. He’d always been one of those people that believed there were alien species out there that could make contact—and maybe had already visited Earth. It wasn’t completely bonkers to think so.
With his hand still holding Elliot’s and his gaze fixed on Will’s, he said simply, “Tell me.”
* * * *
“Where am I?”
Damien pulled out of his slump against the bed and blinked sleep away from his eyes. “Hey, you’re awake.” Which was a mega dumb thing to say, but he was operating on fumes, for the most part. “How do you feel?”
Elliot’s gaze flicked to his bandaged wrists. “Disappointed.”
Damien squeezed the hand he was still holding. “No, it’s okay. You were under tremendous stress, and it’s just a good thing I came back into the room and found you in time. I’m sorry I left you alone,” he added, because he felt guilty he hadn’t been there for his roommate—and sort of friend—when he’d needed help the most.
Elliot stared hard at him. “No, I’m disappointed that it didn’t work. I was supposed to be free now, free of sin and weakness, and—” His eyes filled with tears.
“No! No, Elliot. No,” Damien practically shouted with dismay. “Your being alive is a good thing, the best thing ever. You are not a sinner, not damaged. You have worth, and fuck that hypocrite Warren for making you feel differently.”
Tears rolled down Elliot’s cheeks. “He was trying to help me.”
“Bullshit!” Damien fought to get himself under control. He was totally out of his depth, but also desperate for Elliot to appreciate that killing himself was not the answer.
He took a few calming breaths before continuing. “Elliot, please believe me when I tell you this. Warren is gay, actively so. He’s not someone who ‘cured’ himself, either. While he counsels you and others that you can change your sexuality, he’s going regularly to gay bars and getting his freak on with any random guy willing to get his dick sucked with enthusiasm.”
Elliot’s eyes went wide before he shook his head. “That’s not true!”
“It is. I’ve seen him myself. That’s why when my friends—the people who saved your life, actually—asked me for help, I agreed. Warren is the worst, self-loathing and destructive. He made you feel like killing yourself was the only option, when the better one is to be who God made you.”
“He was helping me,” Elliot insisted quietly. “I was the one who couldn’t make it work.”
“Helping how? By telling you over and over that all you had to do was pray your gay away? Or was he beating it out of you?” He’d seen something of Elliot’s mostly naked body and there hadn’t been any visible bruises. That didn’t necessarily mean anything. He knew Elliot had been in pain after his ‘session’ with Warren.
“No, by showing me how disgusting and painful it all is.”
Huh? “I don’t understand.” Although he was getting a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach that his ‘out there’ theory earlier was true.
Elliot licked his lips. “Could I have some water, please?”
“Sure.” Damien grabbed a covered cup on the nightstand that contained water. He helped Elliot lift his head to suck through the straw.
Elliot dropped his head back onto the pillow. “Thanks. That helped, except I swear I can still taste it and I know it’s vile but I can’t quite hate it the way I should.”
“Easy there.” Damien took hold of Elliot’s hand again. “I don’t understand what you mean.”
Elliot let out a sob. “The cum. It lingers in my mouth, no matter what I drink or how much I brush my teeth. I can taste it still.”
Sensing that a whole boatload of important shit was about to be said, Damien worked to stay calm. He really wanted someone else there. Harry made the most sense, although it was Will who came to mind. After telling him that fantastic story of how an alien ship had been marooned on Earth and the crew splitting into warring factions, he’d left to give Damien some peace and quiet, as well as time to let the truth sink in.
Man, it’s crazy and yet totally believable.
“Tell me what Warren made you do,” he demanded in the gentlest way he could.
At first, Elliot took so long to respond that Damien thought he wouldn’t at all. Then the dam broke and there was no stopping it until all the poison spewed forth. When he was done, Elliot closed his eyes and cried silently. Sitting there helplessly watching this boy’s suffering, hearing what had been happening right under Damien’s own nose, he was suddenly glad that he counted super-aliens as his friends.
* * * *
Duncan and Anderson walked into the middle of Chaos Central. The entire living room was filled with irate boys and their equally pissed-off partners. Only Harry and Damien were missing. Val had to keep a tight hold on Mackie to keep him sitting on his lap. With the morning sickness almost under control, he didn’t want his husband making himself literally sick with this problem. Pacing and ranting were not going to help the kid upstairs any. For once, this was a purely human issue, and their cop friends were going to take the lead.
Frankly, Val had been outvoted on this. He’d sided with Will, who wanted to storm the conversion camp, rip it apart and toss its leader into the nearby lake. Oh, and turn Bran to dust, for good measure. It was an awesome plan, but Alex’s logic had put a damper on it. There was a way to handle the situation that accomplished what they wanted—bring down the asshat, which would flush Bran out so that he could be dealt with under the radar.
Demi had latched onto his man and was haranguing him about taking care of this problem yesterday. Like all of the boys, he could relate to the pathetic soul who thought his life was worthless, even though Demi hadn’t suffered the depravation and abuse that the others had. It made Val hold Mackie closer, thinking of how much he’d suffered before finding Club Lux and him. It wasn’t only the boys, however. Kitty had pulled Anderson aside, and while that particular pairing still caused Val to scratch his head in disbelief, the detective was hanging on to her intense discourse. She was giving him his marching orders, no doubt.
It was Annika who brought everyone to order. “Quiet, please.” Her little girl voice cut through the others like a meat cleaver. Even the humans obeyed her command. Val had thought Will should shield her from current events, but he’d been at once overruled on the issue. The guy had been right to allow her to participate, clearly.
Duncan walked to the center of the room. “Thank you. First of all, I understand how mad you all are, but I have to establish if the law was broken. It’s not clear that I have jurisdiction over what happened, other than getting a protective order to place Elliot in a facility. He’s the only one who has obviously done something illegal so far by trying to kill himself.”
“Trey!” Demi screeched, his arms folded.
Duncan winced. “Demi, baby, please. I didn’t say I was going to do so. I’m merely pointing out that running a shitty conversion camp for adults isn’t a crime in the Commonwealth. Being a crappy counselor isn’t, either. Before I try to arrest a sitting member of Congress, I have to believe
he’s guilty of something illegal.”
“Oh, he for fucking sure is.”
Every head turned as Damien trotted down the stairs. He looked around the room, his gaze landing on Annika. “I don’t think what I have say is appropriate for you to hear, honey.” He got major props for worrying about the girl.
Will came over to his daughter and putting his arm around her shoulder, he said, “Would you please go to your room? Your being here is going to make matters more difficult for Damien.”
Oh, so it’s like that, huh? Damien apparently got a gazillion more votes than Val.
The Queen surprised him. With a regal nod, she scooped Babette into her arms and headed for the stairs. She paused only to place a quick kiss on Damien’s cheek before leaving. No one said anything until she was no longer visible. Val would have bet anything that the girl wasn’t out of earshot, not that he raised the possibility. He was as interested as anyone to hear what Damien had to say.
Before speaking, however, the boy went to the kitchen island and picked up one of the sandwiches that Emil and Jase had made, and which no one was eating. Except Damien, who took a big bite, chewed, then washed down his mouthful with water.
“Sorry. I’m starving.”
“Take your time, dear boy,” Alex soothed. “We understand you’ve had a difficult night.”
Damien nodded as he chewed. “Difficult, right.” He swallowed and asked, “Just so I’m clear on this, who’s the boss, you or Annika?”
Will took a step toward him. “Damien.”
“No, it’s quite all right,” Alex interjected. “Your boy has questions. He deserves answers.”
Will shook his head, his face a picture of misery. “He’s not—”
Alex spoke over him. “Annika. She is our Queen. I am her loyal subject.”
Damien stuffed the rest of the sandwich into his mouth. “Got it. Makes sense. I mean, Will gave me the thumbnail sketch, but I’m still trying to wrap my head around it all. You know?”
“Certainly. Perfectly understandable.”
Quinn pressed his head against Alex’s shoulder. “We’ll help you, Damien. We humans have all been there. We get it.”
Damien cleared his throat. “Yeah, thanks.” He focused his gaze on Will. “Will and I need to do more talking first, but thanks for the offer.”
With a sigh, he hopped onto one of the kitchen-island chairs. “My issues aside, Elliot is the more pressing problem.” He nodded at Duncan. “You asked if Warren broke any laws and again, yes he did. The reason Elliot tried to kill himself is because Warren’s counseling involved making Elliot suck his cock so that he could experience for himself how disgusting having a man shoot in your mouth is. Too bad that Elliot didn’t react the way he should. He loved sucking dick, which only made him loathe himself more.” He paused and took a long drink from his water bottle. “Apparently I misjudged the asshat.”
Val couldn’t help grinning over the use of his nickname. Mackie burrowed closer to him, shifting his attention to his husband. Perhaps he would bring him to Annika’s room. All this trouble couldn’t be good for him. He dismissed the notion in the next instant, knowing that while Mackie was young, he wasn’t a child. He’d handled far worse in his life than this sad tale of abuse.
Damien continued, “Because I’d always seen him in a more submissive role, I hadn’t considered that he might prey on these boys in the way he did. If you’d have asked me, I would have said that he sucked them off, maybe beat them or something, because Elliot was showing signs of pain. I just didn’t imagine he’d use his body as punishment against them. And it’s worse. He also, um, fucked Elliot—without lube, so that it would hurt as much as possible. That was also supposed to be a form of aversion therapy.” His face screwed up in an obvious effort not to cry. “Too bad poor Elliot is so screwed up that he liked it anyway. He hates himself for it.”
Understanding the complex relationship between pleasure and pain, Val could imagine how confusing the coerced experience would have been for the boy. He hoped the kid would find the freedom and confidence to figure out what he really liked and to accept that there was nothing wrong with him if he did enjoy some pain.
“Oh, Damien.” Jase made a move to offer him comfort.
Will beat him to it. With the speed of their kind, he was by Damien’s side before Jase had taken a single step. Jase stopped and leaned against Emil while Will made the bold move of pulling Damien into a tight embrace. There was a collective holding of breaths before Damien melted into him rather than recoiling.
No one said anything more for a long time. Duncan was the one to throw fuel onto the fire.
“Look, Damien. I’m sorry about your friend, but I’m not sure any laws were broken here. Sure, Warren is a total shit for what he did, and maybe he committed fraud. I’m not sure it’s a police matter.”
Damien turned his face away from Will’s chest and stared at the cop. “But it is. You see, Elliot told me that he came to the camp from Pennsylvania when he was still seventeen. His parents brought him with his blessing—or so he says. Anyway, it’s illegal here, isn’t it, to take someone under eighteen into a conversion camp then to use sex coercively as a form of therapy? On a child?”
Duncan’s expression turned flinty. “Yeah, that’s a horse of a different color. If Elliot is willing to state this for the record, we’ve got the congressman by the short-hairs.”
Damien straightened, although he kept his arm around Will. “He said he would, although I should be with him. He trusts me, even though he shouldn’t. I lied to him.”
“Not in a way that mattered,” Will finally interjected. “When he needed you, you were there for him.”
“You did more than I did. it’s a good thing you’re a blood-sucking alien vampire.” The words were spoken without heat, almost affectionately.
“They’re going to be okay,” Mackie whispered to him.
“Yup.” He kissed his boy’s head and held him that much closer.
Will seemed at a loss for words. He did the same to Damien as Val had done to Mackie. Val couldn’t help echoing the idea in his head. They’re going to be okay. It made him stupidly happy to think it.
“He told me something else,” Damien added. “He’s not the only one. The camp has been taking underage boys from the beginning. They falsify the records with the blessing of the families to get them ‘treatment’ earlier than the law allows. If you dig into them, you’ll find the truth easily enough, I expect.”
Anderson joined his partner. “Sounds like the perfect thing to take to Jefferson. Sexual exploitation of minors is his thing, after all.”
“Yeah.” Duncan didn’t look happy. “Let’s get Elliot’s statement first. Then I’ll bring Jefferson in. He’s a vice cop,” he said to the room at large. “The best.”
“He helped with the whole Cadoc thing,” Demi reminded everyone.
Oh, yeah. That was where he’d heard the name before. An old flame of Duncan’s, if memory served. Awkward.
Damien slipped off the stool. “I need to come with you. I promised Elliot I’d stay with him while he was questioned. He needs me.” Glancing over his shoulder, he said, “And I need you, Will, if that’s okay.”
Will pressed a quick kiss on his boy’s lips. “I won’t leave your side.”
“I should certainly hope not, Father Willem,” Annika called down.
Val winced. “This is going to be one fucking bumpy ride.”
“We’ll handle it,” Mackie reassured him, moving Val’s hand to his stomach.
There was barely a noticeable thickening of his husband’s body, but right at the moment, Val could swear he felt their son.
* * * *
Shocking news out of the Worcester County area today, as police descended on the controversial so-called gay conversion camp run by Congressman and Presidential candidate Jeremiah Warren. Warren was seen being taken into custody on charges of enrolling underage boys, in violation of Massachusetts law. Although the police hav
e given out very little information, we have been told that further charges may be pending involving the sexual exploitation of some of those boys, as well as adult men who were coerced into sexual situations under the guise of therapy.
Alex turned the TV off, mercifully. The last few days had been very hard on Damien. Will wanted him to have some respite. They’d needed closure on the asshat piece, and this news report, complete with awesome images of said asshat being taken out by Jefferson in handcuffs, had been a welcoming sight. The solution to the human problem was in motion, whereas Bran remained an open issue. Until they’d neutralized him as a threat, Will couldn’t relax and plan for a future—one that involved Damien, assuming the human was interested.
He and the boy had been virtually inseparable since that night they’d whisked Elliot to safety. But it had been a platonic relationship, neither making any move to reestablish their sexual connection. They’d slept together in Elliot’s room, Damien in an extra roll-away hospital bed and Will on the floor. He didn’t give a good damn where he laid his head, as long as Damien was in reach. The boy had wanted Will there for help and security, which made him feel astoundingly grateful. The truth was that being near Damien gave Will needed relief. It hadn’t been hard to keep himself in check, either. Having Damien willingly by his side and often in his arms, seeking comfort however he wanted, was sufficient for the time being. It meant that his alien nature wasn’t so repugnant that Damien couldn’t overlook it. It gave him hope for a future together.
“So, now what?” Damien asked, his shoulder pressed against Will’s, given that they sat next to one another. The casual contact was like a balm to Will’s nerves.
“We go after Bran,” Val answered. They were all there in the conference room, including Logan and the cops. After handing the case over to their colleague, they’d managed to return to help with the family’s problem.
“Indeed.” Alex sat at the head, as per usual, still in command, despite his declaration that he served Annika. He’d made a point of stopping Will briefly to impress upon him how they needed to have a little chat, as he put it, after the Bran problem had been contained. Will wasn’t looking forward to it, but after his confessional with Emil, he didn’t feel quite so worried.
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