Page 20 of Dead Air (Moon Murder Mysteries)

Fourteen

M ethods used to distract Niall:

“You know what you need?” Cenn asked as he ran up the steps and got the cabin’s door for Niall.

He cast a wary glance at Cenn as he passed. “Normally, I’d suggest sex, but I think we found my daily limit. ”

Cenn shook his head. “I wasn’t going to suggest sex.

” He was. “You need a long, hot bath and a massage. I can work on dinner while you soak and feed you after the massage,” he suggested with a lift of his brows.

He scooped Niall into his arms and danced him toward the bed so he could rest while Cenn got everything ready.

“Maybe later.” Niall wiggled out of his grasp and went to close his curtains. “Enough stalling, Cenn. You promised you’d show me what you look like.”

“Was I stalling?”

“Cenn.” If his tone wasn’t warning enough, the stubborn twisting of Niall’s lips confirmed that Cenn’s time was up.

Cenn sighed and booped Niall’s nose. “You’re adorable when you run out of patience. Did you know that?”

“Then I’m about to be really adorable. Stop stalling.” The tapping foot and crossed arms were precious too but Cenn kept that to himself, not wanting to set Niall off.

“Alright!” Cenn said and shushed to calm him.

Niall pointed firmly at Cenn. “No tricks!”

“Um.” Cenn gestured at himself. “This is a trick. Tricks are all I do,” he reminded Niall, making him stomp a foot.

“On me,” he clarified. “Don’t play any tricks on me so I’m not scared or I forget if I do get scared. I’ll get over it on my own.”

He was so marvelously brave, psyching himself up and preparing to comfort Cenn if he was as hideous as Niall imagined.

“Oh, Niall…” Cenn had to kiss him. “My sweet Niall,” he groaned as he tipped Niall’s face back and claimed his lips.

There was a strange, new tickle deep, deep, deep in Cenn’s chest. It was the faintest, tiniest flutter, like he might sneeze but from the inside, deep in the middle of his being.

Cenn had no idea if it was good or bad but he knew that Niall wouldn’t turn on him if he was ugly.

“I’m not capable of love but you make the place where my heart should be feel less empty. ”

Niall grabbed the front of Cenn’s shirt, twisting it and blinking back tears. “I swear, if you’re just saying this to?—!”

“I’m not,” Cenn stated and kissed Niall until he was breathless. “Are you ready?” he asked, earning a rapid nod from Niall.

“I’m ready and I won’t let you down.”

“You couldn’t.” There really was no point in delaying any longer so Cenn set Niall away from him and took a few steps back. “Now, keep in mind that this is only one of many forms I can take, if you find this unacceptable.”

“But it’s the real you, right? I want to accept you for who you really are, not just the body you created to make me like you,” Niall verified.

“Why, if you don’t have to? I can hide my true form when I’m with you, it’s not hard,” Cenn said and didn’t understand why Niall found the idea upsetting.

“I’m not worried about the effort, Cenn.” Niall’s head cocked as if it was obvious. “You can’t love someone unless you accept them for who they are, inside and out.”

“Love me? Do you think you could?” Cenn asked, his voice cracking as the tiny tickle in his chest grew stronger.

“Maybe.” Niall’s shoulders bounced and he turned red. “I might already, a little,” he mumbled, then cleared his throat. “If you stop stalling and show me. I won’t cast you out if you look ancient or scary.”

“You say that…” Cenn said, then held up a finger. “We aren’t talking about hiding scars or a missing eye or a humpback. This isn’t about being shallow or open minded, it’s about seeing the face of darkness.”

“Cool. So let’s see it,” Niall said as he crossed his arms over his chest. “You’ve been snooping around in my life and my dreams for months, it’s my turn to see what you’re really like. I want to know exactly what I’m getting into.”

Cenn threw up his hands. “Fine! I’ll show you, but if I sense that you’re scared, I’ll change back and you’ll never have to see it again.”

“Okay. But I won’t be,” Niall insisted and took a deep breath, bracing himself.

“Sit on the bed. I’m going to darken the room and slowly lighten it.” That way Cenn would appear gradually and Niall wouldn’t be hurt if he fainted.

He hesitated but Niall eventually backed away and dropped onto the bed. His head snapped up and he looked around the room as Cenn blocked all the light in the cabin, plunging them into absolute darkness.

“That’s a little scary,” Niall whispered, his voice a tiny squeak.

“How’s this?”

Cenn had already turned to smoke. He raised a billowy hand, lifting it in the dark between them and igniting a speck of blue flame on his palm. His hand and wrist—wisps of gray and black bones and tendons and a film of pale smoke skin—were illuminated by the soft, blue light.

“Oh…wow!” Niall breathed and his fingers were trembling as they extended and touched Cenn’s hand.

“It’s solid but…it’s not!” he noted then gasped when Cenn made his hand as hard and cool as stone before returning to smoky vapor.

“That’s incredible!” Niall tried to touch the light from the flame but Cenn drew it back, clicking his teeth.

“A demon’s flame doesn’t just burn, it consumes. Only those who bind themselves to darkness can hold it,” he explained and made the glow around his hand bigger, revealing his chest and the lower half of his face.

Niall’s jaw fell and he sucked in a startled breath, his pulse quickening but Cenn only sensed some wariness, mostly curiosity. “It’s all smoke!” he said and Cenn nodded.

He allowed the light to spread around him so the room wasn’t pitch black and Niall could make out the walls and furniture.

Cenn was a great deal taller and broader than a mortal man and didn’t want to seem even more overwhelming.

“You’re safe and I’ll never hurt you,” he reminded Niall as he brightened the light, revealing his entire face, his horns, and the curling, undulating waves of smoky hair that floated around his shoulders.

“This is what I really am,” Cenn said, making his eyes burn and filling the cabin with their blue glow, revealing his entire form.

“Oh.” Niall swallowed loudly and his eyes grew larger as they swept upwards to meet Cenn’s. He nodded jerkily. “I can see how that would be terrifying if you weren’t expecting it,” he admitted but Niall wasn’t scared as he slid off the bed.

Cenn extinguished the flame in his hand and turned the lamp back on. He held still as Niall drew closer.

“I can be terrifying when I need to be,” Cenn warned, earning a distracted nod from Niall.

He touched a strand of hair, then poked Cenn’s sternum. “You’re so beautiful!” he whispered in wonder, surprising Cenn.

“Do you think so?” he asked and Niall nodded quickly.

“I’ve always thought that humans were the weirdest things in nature. We’re pretty poorly designed and incapable of surviving on our own. But you’re…elemental and you feel natural and endless, like touching the water in the creek or the side of a mountain.”

Again, Cenn was struck and could only nod. “Yes… That is exactly what I am,” he finally managed. “All magick is elemental and dark magick is magick at its most elemental. Dark magick isn’t chaotic and destructive because it’s evil, it is those things because nature is chaotic and destructive.”

Niall nodded. “I feel almost the same as I did when I was this close to that mama bear,” he said and Cenn laughed as he shook his head.

“This is nothing like that! She was absolutely going to maul you but I jumped inside her head and stopped her.”

“Really?” Niall deflated. “I thought we had shared a moment and she was thanking me for helping her cub.”

“No. She wanted to rip your head and arms off, Niall. Because she’s a bear and she’s chaotic and destructive, like nature.

You don’t have ‘moments’ with nature, you just coexist and stay the hell away from bears and their cubs.

” Cenn had hoped that Niall would take heed but he let out a disgruntled huff.

“I guess.”

“No, don’t guess. I’ve been inside a bear’s mind on several occasions and they’re not interested in befriending forest rangers.”

“No way!” Niall grabbed Cenn’s hand, seemingly unbothered by the fact that it didn’t have actual skin and was made of smoke. “What’s it like? What other animals have you tried?”

Cenn was relieved that Niall wasn’t afraid of him, but he had adjusted and moved on rather quickly. “What other animals…? Niall, I can be anything I want or control anyone I choose.”

“Right, but there aren’t a lot of things cooler than being a bear. Maybe a whale. How long would it take to swim across the ocean if you turned yourself into a whale?” Niall asked and Cenn stared, momentarily baffled.

“It depends on the ocean and which way one was going. Possibly a month but I wouldn’t turn myself into a whale. I might possess one for a moment or two but I can’t imagine why I’d want to.”

“So you could be a whale! ” Niall’s arms waved wildly. “Do you know how big they are and all the cool things they must see?”

“There are documentaries about the ocean. We could watch some,” Cenn suggested and Niall brightened.

“I don’t miss TV but I wouldn’t mind that. You know how much I love it up here but I miss the ocean sometimes.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

Niall gasped and gave Cenn’s hand a squeeze.

“For a date night! Demons do date nights with their boyfriends, right?” Now, he was teasing Cenn because Niall had realized how surreal the moment had become for both of them.

“It’s been a while so I don’t know all the rules, but can demons date and do they make good boyfriends? ”

Cenn laughed, changing back into his lumberdaddy form so he could hug Niall. He didn’t want to push his luck, Niall had handled everything well so far. “We often do, as I’m sure you’ve noticed. But it depends on the demon. I’ll be a very good boyfriend because you only deserve the best.”

“Was Andy…?” Niall asked in a hushed whisper but Cenn shook his head.

“No, just an extremely shit human. He’s still relatively young so there’s no reason why he couldn’t be, if he doesn’t see the light and change his ways.”

“Ew.” Niall drew back and gagged. “I don’t want to think about Andy or worry about what’s waiting for him.”

“That’s probably wise.”

Willoughby didn’t sit well with Cenn. He had offered Niall revenge and closure against his former tormentor in one last desperate throw to save himself .

Anyone would understand and most people would have taken their shot at revenge, calling it “closure and justice” the way Cenn had posed it.

If he had accepted, Cenn would have granted him all the closure and justice he desired and wouldn’t have thought twice about taking Niall’s soul in return.

But once again, Niall had chosen grace and mercy and he had taken a wild leap by putting his trust in a demon. Not even Cenn Cruach, the darkest and the father of all demons, could betray a heart so pure and selfless. Instead, he had vowed to protect Niall and preserve his soul at all costs.

I will tend to Willoughby soon enough.

Niall might not want closure and justice but Cenn did. He would punish Willoughby for all the times he hurt sweet Niall and for all the others—past, present, and future.

“I still don’t understand why me, though,” Niall said, his focus returning and sharpening.

No matter how cleverly Cenn danced around the answer or flattered him, Niall couldn’t shake his suspicions.

His instincts warned that Cenn was withholding something crucial and it was both fascinating and maddening as Niall learned to match wits with a demon.

“Why not? You’re more deserving than most.”

“But how did you even find out about me? I’m so far off the radar, no one except a handful of people know I even exist.”

“Someone whispered your name,” Cenn began, picking out the more fanciful parts of the truth and doing his very best not to lie. “I heard that there was a beautiful, lonely ranger with a pure and generous heart hiding at the top of Hawksbill Mountain and came to see for myself.”

“Who whispered my name?”

Cenn waved a hand vaguely. He wanted to enchant Niall and make him forget but he’d caught on to that trick too and had prohibited it. “One of the handful of people who know you exist.”

“They must be someone cool, if they cared enough to notice that I was lonely…” Niall said and Cenn hummed and nodded.

“Possibly. Do you know what’s more exciting than being a bear or a whale?

” Cenn asked, changing the subject. It worked because Niall shook his head, more interested in anything related to nature than talking about himself.

“An ant. Stronger than a bear and capable of fitting into just about anything! I’ve brought many picnics and parties to an end with the help of ants. ”

“Ants?” Niall paused to consider, then smiled. “I like that. It’s chaotic but a lot safer than bears.”

“And easier to summon at a moment’s notice. How are you doing?” Cenn asked, serious again. “You seem fine and like it didn’t bother you,” he said and Niall snorted as he leaned back in Cenn’s arms.

“I told you I’d be fine, but you weren’t ugly scary; you were cool scary and beautiful. I would have wanted to have sex with that but I’m too darn tired and I’m afraid my nuts or a nipple or my butt will fall off,” Niall scolded, his pout returning.

“I’m sorry. There’s always tomorrow.”

The pout turned into a smile. “There is! And you promised me a long, hot bath and a massage.”

“And dinner,” Cenn reminded Niall, sweeping him off his feet. “Can I bathe you?” he asked and was rewarded with another blush.

“If you want. I’d ask you to join me but there’s only room for one and it takes a while to heat up the water.”

“Not anymore, my love. There will be plenty of room and all the hot water you want.”

Niall’s brain was filled with a barrage of filthy possibilities, making him smile. “I love my new demon boyfriend!”