Page 43 of Bottoms Up
I jerked at the sharp pinch and stab on my arm, the scent of my own blood in the air. I felt Marco collecting it, followed by a warm, wet finger at my lips. I scented his blood, and opened my mouth to accept it on my tongue.
The magic stretched between us, and my Master said, “I, Marco, take you into my family.”
I gave him the words back, voice rasping with effort, and my soul rejoiced that I was being given the choice. “I, Julian, pledge my fealty and loyalty to you, Marco, Master of the coterie, and I fully accept entrance into the coterie and family as a free man, of my own volition.”
The magic leapt between us. Familiar and utterly changed.
Free man.The words rang in my chest like a bell — and in the same instant, Marco came with a groan, burying himself in the eagle he’d been fucking, and the room was suddenly thick with him. His lust. His magic. His ownership of the moment.
The magic between us didn’t snap into place like a steel shackle this time, as it’d done back when I’d been locked and caged into the coterie as Marco’s slave, shortly after he purchased me.
No, this time, the magic sank into me like a warm blanket — and okay, there were some barbs in the blanket, but they werethere to make sure it held on and couldn’t float free. The barbs were comforting.
For about three seconds.
Awhooshof power swept into my body. My eyes flew open and I sucked air into my lungs. I was surfacing from drowning, gasping on pure magic. I’d never felt this kind of rush before. Even with my body weak from silver poisoning, I felt power and magic in every cell of my being.
“Push the weakness out with it,” Marco said, calm as ever. “You’ll be stronger in a few days, but you have enough now to work toward your own healing.”
He sent me the shape of what that would feel like, and I reached for it, following his lead. It worked — the silver pushed from my cells, my muscles, my organs. Not all of it, but enough I felt immediately better.
“You oathed me into your family,” I said. “Not just the coterie.”
It’s another way of saying I’m in his inner circle, usually reserved for the top three or five vampires, along with a few who are especially trusted.
“Of course I did.”
Etta walked in and lifted the limp eagle shifter, still draped over the bed and completely naked, and walked out with him. Someone had walked in with her, and my heart skipped a beat when I realized it was the slayer.
“Ryan,” Marco said, his voice neutral.
The slayer took a long moment to study me before he told Marco, “Just getting a feel for him now that he has access to his own magic and power. He passed the test in every way, and he more than deserves his freedom. No arguments from me on that.”
The slayer walked around the bed, toward Silver, and told her, “I’m Ryan, born to a race of slayers. It’s my job to makesure the humans stay safe from the monsters.” He paused a few seconds, breathing in, and I got the idea he was parsing all the scents.
“Now that Largo is gone,” he continued, “there are no more monsters in this room. If you one day decide to be bitten and turned, it’ll be my job to determine whether you should be allowed to live, based on what you choose to do with all that power.”
“You let Largo live, even though you say he’s a monster?” Silver asked.
“He’s owned by Etta, and she doesn’t allow him to harm the innocent.”
“Julian could never be a monster.”
“Neveris a myth. A fanciful idea.”
“Maybe so, but he’s a kind soul.”
“He was as you say while enslaved by a responsible Master. He wasnotearlier in his life, when enslaved by a monster. Time will tell who he decides to be once he’s free to decide for himself.”
Chapter 16
Silver
I spent two evenings with Julian, but much of my time belonged to the band while we were heavy into practicing.
Will bought a warehouse down on Main Street, so we can have room to spread out and get the choreography right. We have a huge tent we can put up in his yard, and that’s more convenient when the weather cooperates, but this time of year, air conditioning beats convenience.
We were due to go on tour again in five months, but we were only doing twenty cities, and we’d be flying from place to place this time, staying in hotels rather than being on the bus. Even closer, though, were a few music festivals.
