“I won’t hurt you,” he tried.
Nothing.
Everet pushed a hand through his hair, disordering the thick black strands. It was impossible to tell how much damage he might cause if he simply picked the boy up and carried him out of there but giving him any more time would be too big a risk.
Everet placed his hand on one bare shoulder.
The figure twisted away from him, scrambling back on the floor. He kept his head down, making it impossible for Everet to see his face, but Everet didn’t need to see his expression to know how much pain he was in, how afraid he had to be.
“No touching without paying!”
Everet mentally raised one eyebrow at the huddled figure, but at least the boy was conscious and able to talk. “What’s your name?”
“You said you were sent to fetch me.”
Everet looked toward the door for a moment, wondering how much cash he’d have to hand over to make the boy come quietly out to his car. Probably far more than he had on him. The guy was a magpie after all…
“Names aren’t my specialty.”
The boy lifted his head a fraction. His hair was dirty, the blond strands bloodstained. It hung down in front of his eyes, obscuring Everet’s view of his face.
Finally, the magpie blinked. “Kane.”
“Everet. Raven.” He held his wrist out so Kane could see that he was indeed a raven shifter, even if he happened to be in human form.
Kane glanced at the tattoo inside Everet’s wrist, but he didn’t seem to care what symbol was tattooed there.
“You’re a magpie?” Everet prompted.
Kane didn’t take the hint.
Everet frowned. Kane couldn’t have lived among humans for so long he’d have forgotten even that basic a piece of avian etiquette, could he?
Everet peered more deeply into the shadows below the hunched figure. He could just make out the way Kane kept his right arm huddled tight in against his body. That explained that then.
“Are you going to come with me quietly?” His orders were to take Kane back to the nest and that’s where Kane would go. Quietly or not—that was his only choice. Everet didn’t even consider pretending differently.
Kane lifted his left hand and pushed his hair out of his eyes. He knew the score. He might not like it, but he seemed to be too sensible to fight it—or at least too exhausted.
Kane finally uncurled his body. He tried to stand. A startled cry left his lips before he was even halfway to his full height. Everet’s reactions were only just quick enough. He caught Kane less than half a second before he hit the floor.
Wrapping his arms around Kane’s torso, Everet brought them both to their feet. Kane pushed against Everet’s chest, but even if he hadn’t been injured, a magpie would never have been any match for a raven’s strength. He quickly stumbled and collapsed against him.
Everet frowned. Forget being a magpie, it was consisting of little more than skin and bone that was Kane’s problem. Everet easily scooped the fragile form up into his arms. He weighed next to nothing.
“What the hell do you think you’re—?” A pain-filled gasp made Kane stop short.
Everet stepped forward. Doing his best not to jostle the other man any more than necessary, he made his way out of the back room. Checking in every direction, he found the bar empty. The exit wasn’t far away. He took his chance.
Kane squirmed in his arms, but it was just the fussing of a child who didn’t understand what was going on, or that the adults around him were helping him.
“Put me down.”
Everet ignored the petulant demand.
By the time they reached the other side of the bar, Kane’s head had dropped to rest upon Everet’s shoulder. His breathing remained steady, but any sign of consciousness quickly seeped away from him. The same bouncer that had let Everet in stood by the door. It was closed and bolted.
Everet tilted up his chin. “I have permission to take him back to our nest.”
“Good riddance. He was a nasty little sod.” The guy didn’t seem to be in any rush to unlock the door. “Always sucking up to the boss. Never hesitated to play the cock tease with one of the boys then throw him under the bus when the boss caught them.”
Everet waited with outward patience until they were finally ushered out into the darkness of a grubby back alley.
Whatever level of consciousness Kane maintained, it allowed him to shudder when the chill air caressed his skin. He curled in closer to the only available source of warmth—Everet’s body.
Marching down the alley, Everet had all his senses on high alert. Were they being watched? It felt like it. He strained his hearing, but nothing other than the normal sounds of a human city reached his ears.
His whole body ached with the desire to simply forgo all the human bull, take to his wings and soar high above the mess and confusion of the human world. As a raven flew, it wouldn’t have taken him any time at all to be back among his own kind, back to where no one would have beaten the hell out of someone like Kane for being a thief. Even the most stupid avian would know not to expect any better from a magpie.
A whimper made Everet look down at his charge. Kane stirred and pushed weakly against Everet’s chest.
Damn. Everet looked along the alley. There were far too many shadows, far too many places where a threat could lurk.
“Hush,” he hazarded, in a half whisper.
Kane only squirmed more.
“It won’t be long. I’ll soon have you back in the nest.” Everet frowned, aware that his voice sounded loud and rough in the otherwise silent alley.
Kane fell still and passed out again.
Everet walked more quickly. For the first time in almost as long as he could remember, he was acutely aware that he wasn’t in a position to deal with any threat a human could pose.
His custody of Kane made him vulnerable in a way he hadn’t been since he reached his avian maturity, and Everet didn’t like that feeling at all.
Turning a corner and spotting the car he’d driven from the nest was a blessed relief. Luck was on their side. It hadn’t been stolen. As far as Everet could tell as he approached it from the rear, it hadn’t even had its tires slashed. Considering the neighborhood, that alone was little short of a miracle.
Hurrying to the passenger side, Everet carefully propped Kane against the side of the car and opened the door. The boy didn’t stir as Everet awkwardly maneuvered him into the passenger seat and did up the seatbelt around him. It was probably just as well. Consciousness could only have made the process more painful for him.
Everet jogged around to the other side of the car and got behind the wheel. The dashboard lights came on, casting a strange light across Kane’s face and body. Or perhaps they just made the color of his bruises more noticeable.
Shaking his head, Everet put the car into gear and pulled away. The sooner he got the boy back to his own kind, the better it would be for him. Seeking out any kind of humanity among the human population obviously hadn’t done him any good at all.
* * * *
Bastard.
The only thing Kane was aware of as he stubbornly fought his way back toward consciousness, was the whole-body ache that came from being denied his fix. Crenshaw must be holding out on him again. There wasn’t a single part of his body that didn’t hurt.
His lips were dry. Opening his mouth far enough to lick them set off an explosion in Kane’s jaw. Wincing made a shaft of rusting metal stab into his left eye. Other thoughts and realizations gradually made their way into Kane’s mind. There’d obviously been a beating—a bad one if he was able to feel any of it through whatever was left from his last high.
His face…
Crenshaw must have really had enough of him if he hadn’t told his guys to avoid messing up his face. No point going back there then. He’d have to get what he needed elsewhere.
His face…
Kane mentally cursed. That would cost him over the coming days. No one would pay top money to screw a guy whose face was a mass of bruises. Frowning painfully with the effort, Kane managed to lift his hand toward his face.
“No.”
The voice didn’t sound especially angry with him. That was good. It probably wasn’t one of the guys who’d delivered the beating. Hell, it might even be someone who could get him a fix.
Kane brought his hand a little closer to his face, ignoring both the ache in his shoulder and the other man’s words.
“No.”
A hand came to rest on Kane’s forearm. It pushed Kane’s hand back down to rest at his side. The voice sounded stubborn. At any other time, that might have made it a challenge. Right then, Kane couldn’t summon up the energy to show some jumped up prat that there was only one man in the room who’d get his own way in the long run.
First a fix, then some money, then Kane would show him.
Kane struggled until he finally managed to open his eyes. A bright light shining straight down on him made sure he knew that it was a mistake. He tried to lift his hand and protect his eyes.
“I said no.”
That same hand returned and trapped Kane’s arm at his side.
Kane turned his head toward the voice. A blurry outline gradually resolved itself into a man. A young, attractive man with black hair slicked back from his face and serious brown eyes. Kane rushed his gaze to focus in on the details a little more quickly.
It had been a long time since he got a pay-out from anyone within a decade of his own age, even longer since he’d been screwed by anyone as hot as this guy. The man staring down at him didn’t look like the kind who’d have to pay for it. That alone made him a customer worth having.
Mr. Tall, Dark and Sexy also looked mildly pissed off with the world. Kane smiled as much as what felt like a severely split lip would allow. In his experience, a poor worldview was nothing a good blowjob wouldn’t fix.
The guy had said no to Kane three times now, but, that could easily change.
“What would I need to do to make you say yes?” Kane asked. The words came out slightly slurred.
“Stay still, I need to finish checking out your injuries now you’re awake.”
Kane knew then that, despite appearances, the man sitting alongside him had to be exceptionally short. How the hell could a hint that obvious have gone straight over his head otherwise?
“I’ve heard that one before,” Kane said. “Let me guess, I just have to get naked and bend over for the
exam
, right?”
“You just have to stay still,” the guy repeated.
Seriously? There was no way anyone, of any height, could miss flirting that blatant! Kane grunted his disapproval and squirmed irritably on the—
He squinted at his surroundings. He lay on a sofa in a room he didn’t recognize. “Where am I?”
“You’re in our nest. You passed out on the way to the car.”
Kane did a quick assessment of the room. It was richly furnished with lots of deep red velvet and gold brocade. Very promising. “This is one of your rooms?”
“Part of a guest suite,” the guy said, running his hands over Kane’s body in a dispassionate way that made it clear he really did want to check for injuries rather than simply check him out.
Kane nodded slightly. The room still looked encouraging. Apparently this particular nest had done very well for itself. “You said a nest. Which one?”