Page 21 of Mutual Obsessions

Cubby laughed. “You called me last night and said you were going insane. Did you think I wouldn’t come back to check on you?” I didn’t remember calling him, but after what I’d seen, anything was possible.

Cubby was dressed in vacation clothes. “I called you?”

“Yeah. About two in the morning. Rory and I were just getting back to the house when you called and begged me to come save your life. Tell me you didn’t let Lance talk you into drinking some of that ‘shroom-spiked moonshine he got from that Voodoo woman again.”

I stared at him for a moment, and then his words sunk in. “You were with Rory Tremblay?”

Cubby laughed and pushed his way inside my room, sitting in the wobbly desk chair by the window. “Dude, we hit it off immediately, Rory and me. Did I tell you I met him at a club before we went to The House of Tremblay for dinner? That’s why he was acting so odd that night. We hooked up in the restroom, and he wasn’t sure if he should act like he knew me or not. I’m so gone over the guy. It’s not funny.”

“Oh, that’s good, I guess. How old is the guy, actually?” Rory appeared to be sixteen or so. I prayed to heaven he wasn’t that young.

“He’s twenty, so only six years younger than me. I’m taking him with me to Portland when I move. He’s only ever lived here, and his skin is sensitive to the bright sun, so Oregon should be kinder to him.” Cubby glanced around the room before his eyes settled on me again.

“Why the fuck did you go to the beach, then, if he can’t take direct sunlight?”

Cubby laughed. “They have a sweet beach house. There’s a covered pool and hot tub, so we hang out at the house during the bright hours of the day, go to the beach in the evenings, or get up early and go shelling. It’s been fantastic.”

“You’ve only been gone a few days.” Something was up with Cubby, I could tell. I had no idea what.

“I lose track of time when I’m with him, Ryker. He’s incredible. I feel like I’ve been drifting aimlessly through life until meeting him. He’s more than I could have ever imagined.” Cubby’s eyes lit up when he spoke of Rory. I was glad he was happy.

“Now, what’s up with you? I thought you and Uncle Etienne hit it off. Rory said Uncle Stephen was having you do work—”

“You’ve met them? The twins?” Part of me wanted him to confirm there were two of them. Part of me wondered if the straightjackets would show up if I told him about my nightmare.

“The twins? Yeah, of course. Why? Did something happen with them?” Cubby studied me, his expression very serious.

I walked over to my bed and sat, cuddling one of my pillows as if it were a stuffed animal like the ones I was given as a kid when I went to a new foster home. “I didn’t go drinking with Lance. I think he’s already gone, as a matter of fact.” I hadn’t even checked.

“Yeah, he let me in when he was leaving. Tell me what’s wrong, Ryker.”

I exhaled. “I went to Tremblay’s last night to talk to Etienne and Stephen. I sat in the bar to have a drink while I waited for one of them to meet me, having planned to go for pizza with either of them. Hell, I can’t remember which one I made the date with in the first place.

“Anyway, Sabine acted as if I was trying to kill one of them, and then Thomas basically threw me out, so I left and went around the back. I snuck in through the kitchen and went up to the third floor. They were arguing—well, I think that’s what they were doing. I can’t explain what I saw, Cubby. Stephen could see!”

Cubby chuckled. “Yeah, when Etienne relinquishes control, Stephen can see. They struggle with sharing time, Ryker. Rory and his beast have merged into one entity, but Etienne refuses to merge with Stephen, even going so far as to make him use a different name. He blames Stephen for the death of Farrah, who Etienne thought was his soul mate. She wasn’t, but Etienne still can’t accept it. It’s been going on for centuries. The family seems to believe you might be the one to convince them to come to terms with it.”

Oh god! Oh god! Oh god! “Have you been drugged?” I stared at my best friend, wondering if this was another nightmare.

Cubby stood and grinned. “No. Well, not in the sense you think. Rory is a vampire too. He makes me feel good, Ryker.” Then, the asshole dropped his pants and showed me his thighs. He had pink marks that reminded me of the ones on Lance’s neck that I’d seen…hell, I couldn’t remember when.

“Oh, god, it’s a fucking cult. What are they doing to you, Cubby?” My best friend, who was one of the smartest, most level-headed guys I’d ever met, was saying shit that was off the charts on the sanity scale.

The whole fucking bunch of them had lost their minds, and now they were trying to take mine.

Chapter Twelve

Etienne/Stephen

Stephen

I paced the restaurant trying like hell to come up with a reasonable solution to our problem. Etienne was moping and silent, which wasn’t surprising since it was his fault in the first place.

The whole family was present, and I metaphorically prayed that someone, anyone, had some insight into how to fix this problem with Ryker. Had he not walked in on Etienne and me arguing, I was sure we’d have chosen a better way to explain who and what we were, but we were so pissed at each other that we hadn’t heard him—which was monumental because we could hear ants crawling. It was a fucking disaster.

The House of Tremblay was closed that Wednesday. We’d canceled the reservations, citing a water leak because Etienne was too distraught to deal with guests or staff. I was right there with him, but it was his fault this whole thing was happening in the first place, so I made him do the announcement.

His stubbornness and refusal to see Farrah for the manipulative shrew she had been was Etienne’s downfall and my cross to bear, and I had no idea how to change his mind. He’d relinquished control to me after Ryker ran out of our apartment—sight included—but he refused to speak, especially to me.

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