Page 23 of Resurrection

He had a sort of visceral longing for those strands to encase him. The Focus bond would be deeper than a handful of pretty ties. It should encase them completely, much like he imagined the witch would feel right now, with water running over his skin.

For a second, Gabe was upstairs, thoughts laced over Seiran’s, feeling the heat of the water, almost too hot, as it pounded over their skin in a fierce rhythm. Standing for a long time under the spray, more than to wash physically. Was he washing away the memories? The blood? Or the tears that blended with the water?

Gabe withdrew as though burned by the thought. Back a day, and already tearing the witch apart. Maybe they hadn’t been well suited. He’d have to ask Max if there were other options. Perhaps they could maintain distance as a sort of partnership. He didn’t want to force himself on the man, even if they were bound.

The golem began to fidget. Odd. He’d been so still before. Gabe could feel the golem tied to him through the witch, faint as it was. The sudden action almost felt like a tug on their connection. The golem tapping its feet and drumming its hands on its thighs seemed abrupt. Gabe stared another moment longer, then he heard the shower turn off upstairs.

Something yanked hard on the tie to the golem. Gabe gasped, reacting by grabbing that tie for himself, and holding it in place. He could vaguely recall spells. Binding things, more vampire related than he thought actual magic. It was the type of things a sire could use on a fledgling vampire to control it. Gabe extended that strength over the golem, trying to keep it from going nuts again. If he had some of the Focus’s blood himself, he’d have been stronger, or even if the golem had been a vampire rather than a creature made up of magical death, he might have been able to hold it firmer. But it did stop moving, gaze turning Gabe’s way, eyes dark and vacant, like a revenant waited there.

Okay, that wasn’t a good sign. Gabe set the empty cup in the sink and slowly moved around the counter. The golem’s attention firmly on him, but Gabe didn’t feel like he had any better control of it. The witch’s magic was threaded through the spell as though Gabe had pulled from a well not his own. Had Seiran noticed? Would he be mad? Maybe that was what Gabe had done before, perhaps not accidentally.

He wondered how far the control went, but wasn’t about to start pushing his boundaries. The last thing he needed was a witch on the warpath any more than he needed the golem to go nuts right now.

What had they named the creature again? Names had power. He studied the scattering of symbols, finding the one on its forehead glowing a little with power. Was someone else using its name?

Gabe sorted through memories like wading through high tide until the symbol popped up with recognition. Forest. That was it. “Forest,” Gabe said, addressing the golem. “Stand.”

The creature stood, though the fidgeting returned, his…itsgaze remaining on Gabe. Gabe kept his grip on the bonds tight, like holding a brand-new vampire back from its first kill. That had never been easy. Vampires often found themselves back home, slaughtering loved ones because the memories of humanity mixed with those of the revenant. Was this one trying to return to those who had once loved it? Or was it merely being called?

Gabe glanced upward. Maybe they should stay close to the witch. At least until Gabe was strong enough to hold a baby vampire again. Or until he tasted the witch from a vein.

His body reacted to that in a way that almost startled him. And he found himself suddenly standing on the stairs instead of beside the counter. That small amount of blood, and the idea of drinking from the witch made him hard, needing, and almost brought the revenant to the surface to take it.

He sucked in air, gripping the railing, and hearing it crack beneath his strength.

The golem moved behind him, standing at the bottom of the stairwell looking up, still fidgeting, but gaze solely on Gabe. Fuck. Distance for the golem seemed to be bad, meanwhile, Gabe was fighting to keep himself in place. Maybe they both had to stay near the witch.

Gabe swallowed hard and said, “Forest, come,” as he headed up the stairs. Maybe the witch would put him back in the ground today. And that might just be okay.

Chapter 9

Seiran emerged from his shower to find Gabe and Forest in his room. The golem sitting in a chair near the door, and Gabe staring at the contents of Sei’s bookcases.

At least he hadn’t emerged naked from the shower. Years with kids taught him that naked around the house meant someone was getting an eyeful. But the robe still made him feel vulnerable near Gabe. He had to work not to grip it tight like his virtue was in question.

He headed to his closet, a giant walk-in thing, which was better organized because Jamie was sort of obsessive about everything in its place these days. Not that Sei’s wardrobe had lots of color to work with anymore, or variety. Most everything was work related. He had a few suits, but did so few formal affairs anymore, he didn’t know if they would fit.

His mother had talked of having an old school coming out party for his kids, like one of the balls of yesteryear. He had put the kibosh on that fast enough. The point of those things was to make good matches among the witch families. Teenagers didn’t need to be married off like cattle, and he’d told his mother if she tried something like that, she’d find herself on his bad side, and cut off from access to her grandchildren.

She was much more wary of him than she’d been when he was a child. But he’d also done a handful of pretty damn near impossible things that had made her realize the true strength of his magic. Tanaka Rou had always been a ball-busting tiger mom, but she treated his kids with a lot more compassion and grace than he’d ever seen as a child. Fear of him? Or love for the babies? He didn’t care as long as it produced results.

“Creepy,” Sei said to his unexpected visitors as he pulled out clothes for the day and set them on the bathroom counter. “There’s a thing called boundaries.”

“The golem is calmer close to you,” Gabe answered still not looking his way. Sei wondered if he was completely back or his eyes would still be black.

“He should have stayed in the chair. I gave him a direct order.”

Gabe said nothing. Seiran returned to the bathroom and closed the door, like it would stop either of them from busting in on him. But he dressed in a hurry, brushed his teeth, and combed his hair back.

He felt a bit self-conscious stepping out of the bathroom. But he’d chosen a pair of pale brown skinny jeans, with a long-sleeved black T-shirt instead of his usual slacks and button up. If he was interviewing the jocks today, maybe it would help if he looked less like some stuffy office worker, and more like one of them. Though as he pulled his hair up into a small pony tail, he stared into the mirror and felt weirdly young looking. Closer to forty than twenty, but he still looked like a kid. Witch genes or the Focus bond? He sighed, and made his way back to his room. His appearance wasn’t why people didn’t take him seriously, that problem was mostly related to his gender.

Forest still sat in the chair, but he was fidgeting. Tapping his feet, drumming his hands on his thighs, while his eyes looked oddly hollow. Gabe stood across the room, arms folded across his chest like he was hugging himself, but his fists were clenched and eyes closed. Was he still fighting the revenant? Maybe remembering things? Or was being this close to Seiran difficult for him?

“Maybe you should sleep?” Seiran offered. “Since it’s daytime?”

“I did sleep for a while,” Gabe said. “At dawn. I laid down on the bed you said was mine. Slept for a few hours until I felt the golem.”

Gabe had felt the golem first? Or heard it? “You felt it throwing itself at the wards?”