Authors: Gabrielle Evans
Myst looked look down at the floor. “They never came out of the basement, and I left them there. I had enough to deal with, thank you very much.”
“We really need to work on your endurance.” Echo wiggled his eyebrows playfully, letting Myst know just how he planned to improve the man’s stamina. It earned him a chuckle, which was just what he’d been going for.
“What happened?” Mac asked quietly, his voice trembling as he spoke. “Everyone just went crazy. I don’t get it.”
“I think I can answer that.” Echo spun around to find Jinx standing in the entryway that led to the kitchen. Syn stood just behind him, looking down at the floor and fidgeting nervously. Jinx grabbed his upper arm and shoved him forward, then nodded once. “Tell them, Syn.”
“You did this?” Echo snarled and started across the room toward the vampire, but Myst snatched him before he’d even gone three steps.
“I’m sorry,” Syn mumbled, still looking down at the floor. “I can’t help it. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.” His voice cracked, and Echo spotted a single tear slip down Syn’s soft cheek. “I’m so sorry. I’ll leave, and everything will go back to how it was.” He looked up at Echo, his eyes red-rimmed and puffy. “Please let Jinx stay,” he pleaded. “Take care of him.”
Echo sighed heavily, slumping in Myst’s arms. It wasn’t fair. He wanted to hate the guy, but how could he when Syn looked so completely miserable? “No one is leaving. There’s a reason you were led here—same as me, same as Gage. The same reason my mates risked their lives to rescue Sony and Mac. We need you here, but I have to know what’s going on.”
Syn bit his lip and averted his eyes once more.
Jinx huffed, hurrying forward to wrap his arms around his friend and kissed the top of his head. Hmm, maybe they were more than friends? Echo didn’t know, but it sure looked that way. Shifting his focus to Jinx, he arched an eyebrow in question.
“Syn is a projector.”
Chapter Nine
Fiero didn’t know what the hell a projector was, or why the hell it mattered. He just wanted Myst to release him so he could get out of the ridiculous position he was in with Eyce crouched over him, his fist just mere inches from Fiero’s nose.
He may have been rendered immobile, but his body still hurt like a bitch. His muscles were sore, his face throbbed, and his knuckles ached and stung where he’d split them. He wanted his mate. He wanted answers. And he wanted to get the fuck up off the floor.
“Uh, okay,” Echo said slowly. Then he wiggled down from Myst’s arms and fisted his hands on his hips. “I’m sorry, what?”
Fiero grunted, pleased that he could actually make any type of sound. Myst was getting tired, and his hold on them was loosening. Fiero grunted again, trying to get his mate’s attention. Echo looked over his shoulder at them, and rolled his eyes. “Let them go,” he said offhandedly.
Myst sighed gratefully, and the next thing Fiero knew, Eyce’s fist plowed into his battered nose. He groaned and rolled to his side, his hand coming up to cover his face. “Asshole,” he grumbled.
Eyce winced and held out a hand to help Fiero to his feet. “Sorry about that,” he murmured as he pulled Fiero’s hand away and began inspecting the damage. Then he leaned forward and kissed Fiero’s cheek softly. “I really am sorry, baby. It’s broken, but we’ll get Hex to fix it.”
Fiero stood frozen as if Myst had zapped him again. He didn’t know what to say, didn’t know how to feel or react. No one had ever called him baby before. All these long years, the seven of them had lived together in an easy understanding with mutual affection and respect. They’d never dared to utter the
L
word, and “asshole” was as close as they ever came to endearments. Then with one angrily shouted sentence, everything had changed.
Glancing from Eyce to Echo, Fiero deflated, his breath rushing out with a whoosh. That wasn’t true. Things had been changing long before he and Eyce had admitted the feelings they had for one another. It had all started when the sweet little imp with golden-blond hair turned up in the middle of the night and rocked them all to their core.
Was it really so bad to be called baby? Fiero thought it over for a minute and shrugged to himself. If he were being honest, he actually kind of liked it. Not that he would ever say that aloud. He had a reputation to uphold after all. Still, to know that someone other than Echo loved and appreciated him made his outlook seem just a little brighter.
Returning his focus to Eyce, he gripped the back of the warrior’s neck and pulled him into a soft kiss, careful of both their injuries. Echo said it would get easier with practice, and now seemed like a good a time as any. “I love you,” he whispered softly so the others wouldn’t hear.
He felt just as strongly for his other men, but Eyce was safe—the same as Echo. He knew how the two felt for him, so the risk of rejection was nonexistent. Eventually, he’d find the courage to tell the others, but for now, he figured this was a good start.
“I know,” Eyce replied just as quietly. He brushed his lips over Fiero’s again. “Ditto.” He pulled away and cast his eyes to the side. “Don’t look now, but I think Echo’s face might split in two. I’ve never seen a bigger shit-eating grin in my life.”
But, Fiero wasn’t looking at Echo. His eyes were locked with Syx’s over Eyce’s shoulder. The big warrior smiled at him, but it didn’t reach his eyes. In fact, he looked almost sad. Damn it! He’d been so wrapped up in the moment, he’d completely forgotten about Syx.
“Don’t worry,” Syx mumbled. “You speak quietly, but your thoughts are screaming at me. I’m happy for you. We’ll talk more when the time is right.” That was Syx, always the logical one.
Fiero glanced around the room at the other men. Eyce was smiling like a fool. Echo looked much too satisfied with himself. Syx’s eyes had lost a little of their haunted look. And everyone else just looked confused.
Wanting to redirect their attention, he released Eyce and turned to face Syn. “What the fuck is a projector?” Yep, that did it. The warriors shifted as one, crossing their arms over their chests and glaring at the little vampire.
“Don’t be angry with him,” Jinx said fiercely, keeping his arms locked around Syn. “He can’t control it.”
“Okay, everyone calm down.” Echo stepped forward, smiling encouragingly at the pair. “Let’s have a seat, and you can explain.” He held his hand out, nodding kindly when Syn reached out hesitantly to take it. “I’ll admit, you weren’t my favorite person five minutes ago, but I see now that something more is going on here.”
He pulled Syn over to the sofa and motioned for him to sit, before taking the seat beside him. Jinx sat on Syn’s other side, hovering around him protectively. Syn took a deep breath, his eyes still shining with the tears that had yet to fall. “I’m sorry this happened. I didn’t mean to cause trouble.”
“I know.” Echo still held the vamp’s hand, stroking it like a wounded kitten. “Just tell us what happened.”
“When we first arrived last night,” Syn began, “I was so tired and hungry, not to mention terrified after that bloody beast began chasing us. It was an accident, but I’m sorry I didn’t explain straight away.”
“I don’t understand.” Fiero walked across the room and sat on the floor near Echo’s feet. He sighed in contentment when his mate’s fingers immediately started combing through his hair. “I didn’t have a problem with you biting Eyce last night, but today, I wanted to rip his throat out for it. Yours, too.”
“You probably would have last night as well,” Syn mumbled under his breath. “I was very happy that we’d finally made it here, and that it had all been real, not just some fanciful figment of my imagination. I also felt safe for the first time, in well, years, I suppose. Everything about this place just made me feel peaceful.”
“Go on,” Echo whispered.
“Then Eyce was holding me, after he’d just rescued me from that wolf, and I could smell his blood, almost feel it coursing through his body. I was so hungry, and I knew Jinx was as well, though he’d never admit, the sod.” Syn glanced at Jinx and smiled fondly. “We hadn’t fed in days, and only nips from animals before that, ya see. I finally had real blood, and I couldn’t help myself.”
“So, why did none of us react to you biting him?” Syx sat down on the floor facing the vampire, bending one knee and resting his chin on it. “Last night, it felt like the most natural thing in the world to watch you bite him. I felt almost happy to see you drink from his neck.”
“That was me.” Syn’s voice cracked and the tears welled up in his eyes again. “That’s what I do—what a projector is. You were feeling my mood, my emotions, and they influenced your own.”
“You didn’t do it on purpose?” Echo asked.
“No.” Syn shook his head frantically. “I’ve never been able to do it when I actually try. It always happens when my emotions are running high. I try to stop it, but I don’t always know when I’m doing it.”
“That explains a lot.” Eyce scrubbed a hand over his face and sighed. “I knew I shouldn’t let you drink from me, but like Syx said, it felt like the most natural thing at the time. Hell, I should have put you down the minute I walked in the door, but I couldn’t do it. It was almost like the world would crumble if I wasn’t touching you.”
“That was me, too,” Syn mumbled. He looked up at Echo pleadingly. “I’m so sorry. I know he belongs to you,” he waved a hand around the group, “all of you. I was so scared, and he made me feel safe. I just wanted to feel that for a bit longer, ya know? Then the whole bloody mess spiraled out of control from there.”
“And just now?” Fiero sat up a little straighter, looking at Syn intently. He was finally getting some answers, and there was a lot more he wanted to know.
“I was angry with Jinx.” Syn looked down at his hands where they were fumbling in his lap. “I was jealous because he was going on about how marvelous Gage tasted—like nothing he’d ever had before, he says. I was afraid he was going to leave me, so I lashed out at him.”
“Well, if he leaves you, it’s damn sure not going to be for
our
mate!” Sony growled, and Fiero couldn’t help but be impressed.
“Oh, shit, Gage,” Mac breathed. He tugged on Sony’s arm, dragging him toward the staircase. “We just left him.”
“Wait!” Echo held up his hand to stop them. “Gage will be fine for another minute. I want to hear the rest of Syn’s story, and you’re not going up there alone.”
“I’ll go,” Fiero offered. He didn’t look forward to being in the same room with an angry werewolf, but he’d do it for his mate.
“Thanks, love.” Echo stroked Fiero’s hair once more. “He’ll be fine, though.” Then he turned back to Syn and waited for him to continue.
Syn took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “So, I got right mad, I did. We began arguing, and everything just blew up before I could stop it. The next thing I knew, I heard Gage upstairs howling.” He paused and glared at Echo. “I didn’t know he was a werewolf, by the way.” Then he shook his head and sighed. “I heard the others fighting, and I knew what had happened, but I was too afraid to come up from the basement. I didn’t want to be sent away,” he finished quietly.
“But it doesn’t work on all of us,” Myst said as he cocked his head to the side in confusion. “I didn’t get angry or feel jealous.”
“Neither did me, Sony, or Mac,” Echo added.
Fiero looked back and forth between them all. He’d damn sure felt the jealous rage. At the time, he hadn’t even paused to think about it, but now that everyone was calm, he suddenly realized that the feelings had practically come out of nowhere. One minute he’d been worried about leaving the twerps alone in the room with Gage, and the next, all he could think about was finding Eyce and beating the shit out of him for his betrayal.
But why did it only affect some of them? Did it make him weak that he’d been susceptible to Syn’s influence? The thought didn’t set well with him.
“That’s not true,” Sony said from near the stairs. His face flushed, and he smiled sheepishly at Mac. “I was working myself up into a good mad before Gage freaked out on us. I was so jealous because he was cuddled around Mac, while I was kind of pushed off to the side.”