Page 14 of Blood and Bone

He nodded as she walked away and when he looked back at Ari, he winked. “Okay, listen up,” Eoghan said. “If you don’t want to run, fine, but I’m not taking it lying down. I don’t want to see you dead at fifty, so you can have your pie if you promise to let me find another way for you to work off all that spare energy you seem to have.”

Ari grinned back at him. “I think I can agree to that, no problem. And how about this? If I can peel my ass off the bed in the morning, I’ll do your damned run with you.”

Eoghan smirked. “I figured.”

Chapter Four

Eoghan parked the Charger in front of the stairs leading up to the second floor of their motel. This one was one of the older motels, most likely waiting renovation after being bought by Hilton, so it still had a U-shape where the rooms looked out onto a courtyard parking lot. All Ari cared about were clean sheets and a hot shower after his planned run in the morning. As he tromped up the stairs after Eoghan, he reluctantly admitted to himself that he probably shouldn’t have had that pie. It had been wonderful, though. The crunchy, cinnamon sugar topping over warm pie with melting vanilla ice cream was the best way to end a meal.

It was a good thing that they didn’t eat this way all the time. Eoghan was right about one thing. Living on the road all the time, meant if he wasn’t careful, he’d have a paunchy belly in no time…especially as he got older. He was nearly thirty-five. He’d noticed the physique of several marshals in the office who didn’t take the time to work out the way he and Eoghan did and it didn’t paint a healthy future for them. He stopped him at the door to their room.

“I forgot to bring my water bottle from the car.” Ari held out his hand. “Give me your keys.”

“I don’t think we have any in the car. I finished mine,” Eoghan said. He held out the keys and dropped them in Ari’s palm. “Ask at the front desk.” He leaned in and pecked Ari on the mouth before pulling back with a blush on his face. It was such an unexpected and sweet gesture; Ari just stood there watching him for a second as warmth surrounded him.Once again the L-word hovered on his lips. He sighed before stepping back.

“See you in just a minute.” He walked down the corridor, listening to Eoghan use the keycard to open their door. Sure enough, the only water bottle in the car was empty so he asked for water at the front desk.

“Unfortunately, our machine is broken but there is a machine at the auto body shop next door. They’re closed at this hour, but they keep it stocked,” the blotchy, young night clerk at the reception desk told him.

“Thanks,” Ari said, knocking his fist on the counter and startling the kid. He smiled as he turned to walk away. Feeling parched, he headed next door and found the machine against the building’s brick wall. It was weakly lit under a single, buzzing light bulb. As he bent to look at the selections of pop, hoping against all hope that there’d be a bottle of water, something scampered over his foot. Ari jumped back, alarmed as the small creature scurried around the back of the machine.

“Hello?” He stood back from the rickety, old machine, staring at it, wondering if he’d imagined the whole thing. “Who’s there?” Only empty silence and the creeping dread that resulted answered him back. It was probably a rat. This job was bad for his imagination.

Still, he reached for his Glock, pulling the weapon as silently as he could, yet still hearing the whisper of the gun leaving his holster. He didn’t know what he was facing or if his weapon would even have an effect on it—should it be necessary to shoot—but having the weight of it in his hand made him feel a lot better. He held the gun out as he peered around the side of the machine, trying to get a glimpse of whatever he’d seen. Knowing what he knew now, he probably wouldn’t be surprised at anything. Still…that didn’t mean whatever it was, wasn’t dangerous.

It was quiet this late at night up here in the mountains except for the incessant humming sound—which Ari originally thought was the buzz of the light bulb. In fact, it wasn’t that at all. The low frequency hum was coming from the narrow gap between the machine and the wall. Chills ran up and down his spine as he was reminded of the chanting he and Eoghan had heard all those weeks ago.

What followed…stumbling upon the remains of Oberon and Titania’s offspring, hanging from stakes in the Sequoia Forest clearing, still made him shiver. The sight of the half-devoured, rotted corpses had been horrific but what had made it even worse was the otherworldly thrumming sound. A snap on the asphalt behind him, made Ari jump and reflexively spin around, gun straight out in front of him as he pointed into the darkness.

“Hey! It’s me, Ari! Jesus, put down the gun,” his lover said as he stepped into the low gleam of a streetlight, casting a weak shadow on the cracked blacktop.

“Fuck, Eoghan,” Ari said, blowing out a long breath as his heart thundered in his chest. “I could have sworn…oh, Christ,” he said, feeling lightheaded with relief at the sight of his partner.

“Hey, what’s got you so jumpy?”

“I don’t know.” Ari frowned, turning back to look at the soda pop machine. “I could’ve sworn something ran over the top of my foot and behind that machine. Shit, maybe I’m just seeing things.”

Eoghan walked over to the machine and approached it cautiously, looking where Ari was pointing. The thrum was still in the air and by the way Eoghan cocked his head to the side, he’d probably picked up on the sound as well.

“You hear that?” Ari asked.

“The hum, yeah…it’s familiar.” Eoghan stood with his hands on his hips, Ari by his side, still holding his weapon straight out, ready to shoot. “Oh, fuck. I know what this is,” Eoghan said. He glanced over at Ari and pushed down on his gun hands. “You can lower the weapon. They’re harmless.”

“They?” Ari asked, looking at him skeptically. “What arethey?”

Eoghan offered him an encouraging smirk before turning back to the gap and then squatting. “Elroy! Stop chanting and come on out. No reason to call on the gods. It’s Eoghan Sapphire. This is my partner at the I.S.R. He’s not going to hurt you or your people.”

“It hasss a gunnn,” something hissed in a low, almost reptilian growl.

“What the fuck?” Ari asked, alarmed as he stepped back, raising the weapon again.

“It’s fine, Ari,” Eoghan encouraged, looking at the weapon. “Put your gun away. The Powmays mean us no harm.”

Something took a slurpy inhale as if swallowing spit and then spoke. “The Powmaaaaysss mean Sssapphiiire no harm,” the hissy voice said again. “No gunnnsss.”

Eoghan turned back to Ari, nodding at the gun. “Seriously, holster your weapon. The Powmays are one of the gentler alien races.”

“Um…all right,” he said, reluctantly holstering the gun.

---