“No.”
“You.”
Gwil whimpered as Hyax lowered himself onto his lap. He cupped Gwil’s jaw and stroked a thumb over his cheekbone. “So pretty.”
Hyax leant forwards and kissed him. Gwil moaned. Every fibre in his body wanted to deepen the kiss and hold Hyax closer, but he couldn’t—wouldn’t—do this. Hyax was high so this kiss was not freely given, and Gwil might be a blood-sucking member of the undead but he wasn’t a monster.
There wasn’t any justice in the world. How was it fair that one of his most vivid fantasies was playing out in front of him and he wasn’t bastard enough to let it happen? Hyax was off his tits on whatever was in the Stardust, meaning he wasn’t in his right mind, and as much as he wanted to hold on and make Hyax his, he would forever hate himself if he took advantage. He pushed Hyax away gently.
Hyax pouted and then giggled. His eyes rolled back and he collapsed sideways onto the sofa, out cold. For a moment Gwil stared in growing panic, wondering if he should call for a healer, then Hyax let out a loud snore. Gwil tutted, he’d get the sparkly git into his own bed, have a wank and try not to think of Hyax riding his cock.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Hyax cracked open an eye, it took a moment to get the other to do the same. The room was bright as if he were facing into a snowdrift, and several minutes passed before he realised he was in his bedroom in the Spitalfields property.
His tongue felt two sizes too big and as if he’d been eating sand—not a combination he could recommend. He moved his head to the side, the world lurched and he had to blink rapidly to regain his composure. But he did see a glass of water had been left on his nightstand and his mission, once his body cooperated, would be to drink it as fast as possible.
Sitting up should not be a complicated feat and it might have been easier if he wasn’t still wearing his jeans. Gwil must’ve put him to bed but had not undressed him.
He managed to focus enough to grab the glass, and gulped down the water. The wash of tepid liquid was far more joyous than it had any right to be. Then he noticed the second glass and he knew he would have to be extra nice to Gwil for being so thoughtful. Washing away some of the fuzziness allowed him to be more alert, it also allowed him to glean the aftertaste of the drug, which he’d expected to be the most useful variablewhen identifying where the Stardust had come from. The base drug itself wasn’t anything special but he could latch on with his magic to the residuals and they had been manipulated into something far more potent. Meaning more customers from a single batch increased profits all round.
The taste was close to home. They’d been right with their suspicions. The soft burn wasn’t far from the original hit the base drug would give but he’d recognise the additional tang anywhere. Fae. Specifically, the Stone of Ljin had been used—he was certain of it. How the elves could have done it was the question. Then there was still the fact they didn’t know where the fuck the bloody thing was. It wasn’t the only flavour, closer to fae than he would admit, there was also a definite sour tang of elf in the mix.
The bright hue of the room was fading, the water enough to let his magic take back control and normalise his senses. It was nowhere near as bright now, and even though the curtains were open, there wasn’t much daylight coming in. He checked his watch, seeing it was after three, it was getting dark and the sun would set soon.
On the previous occasions he’d taken something to give him a little boost he’d always remembered what had happened, but after the initial hit, this time there was nothing. Maybe it was the potency of the drug, or how he’d reacted to the chemicals, but he was left with a hole in his memories from the zing across his brain to waking up.
Nearly eighteen hours gone, and he didn’t like it. He knew he’d been safe with Gwil, but others in that position might not have been so lucky, so they would need to alert the authorities about the side effects. He doubted it would only affect fae in this way, making it a boon for rapists, thieves and arseholes more than the usual blends.
Despite preferring to shower with water, he used his magic to cleanse and then changed into fresh clothes. Gwil would be up and about soon, the winter months easier on him due to the shorter days and Hyax should do something nice for him once they’d discussed the outcome of their experiment.
He was surprised to see Gwil awake and watching television, the blackout curtains in their lounge living up to their name. “Hey, didn’t think you’d be up yet.”
Gwil gnawed his bottom lip, he seemed distracted. “Well, I couldn’t sleep, and it’s not like I didn’t have enough paperwork to do.”
“Was it just the feedback over the Stardust that kept you up? Or did I worry you somehow? I don’t remember anything after snorting the stuff.”
“Nothing?” Gwil croaked.
“It was pretty strong shit. Knocked me out.”
“You were lively for a little while and you keeled over.” Gwil looked uncomfortable, and he wondered what he’d done.
“Did I do something? Hurt you? I know you’re strong but if you had to try to subdue me in some way I am more powerful physically and my magic may have also reacted.”
“Nothing like that. I was just worried. One minute you were buzzing, the next flat-out and snoring.”
He didn’t think Gwil was telling the whole story, but he knew well enough not to push. He’d wait until later and try to wheedle the details out of him. “I’m fine. I don’t like having such a large loss of time, but it’s not like I was in any danger. It’s definitely linked to the Stone of Ljin, and we need to put a stop to it.”
“We’re going to have to report it to the Met, are we?” He grunted. “Goya will be a right turd over this. That’s if he bothers.”
“They can’t ignore it, Gwil.”
“The only reason they won’t will be because of the stone. They won’t give a rat’s arse about dust heads keeling over, but pissed off fae royalty might get their attention.”
He knew Gwil was right, but it didn’t matter why the Met would act, just that they did. “Will you call it in?”
“I’ll make a start on an official report and you can review and add in your comments, then I’ll log it under urgent. I gave up calling stuff in years ago. It’s amazing how often things disappear if a desk sergeant can’t be arsed to fill in a form, or wants to lose some paperwork, or simply doesn’t like the person making the report.”