Page 19 of All Out of Flux
“Yes. Sea dragons, they are. But I’d caution you to consider what else these beasts have in common.”
I squeezed my eyes shut, any lightly pleasant buzz from my beer already washed out of my system because of my budding anger. I kneaded above my eyebrows with my thumb and forefinger, holding back my instinctive desire to knock that stupid smile off the Masque’s face.
“Look. It’s been a long fucking day, and no matter how much I wish you’d be more direct about explaining your bullshit, it never comes true. Just tell it to me straight.”
I opened my eyes, my anger instantly drowned out by a flood of embarrassment. The Masque was gone. In his place was the Drag Queen of Hearts from before, glowering, a glittery scepter in her hand.
“Off with his head!” she bellowed in my face, before stomping off again in search of Alice.
“Yeah,” Leon said, pumping his fist as he walked back to me. “Off with his head. Dang. What’d I miss?”
I glanced around for a glimpse of a peacock feather. Very difficult to spot in this sea of campy costumes, and yet the Masque was definitely gone.
“Nothing,” I lied. “Absolutely nothing.”
9
LEON
Tired. Max was tired, and maybe a little grumpier than usual. That was fine. I wasn’t actually all that annoyed about the Just situation. I trusted Max enough to know that he wasn’t sneaking around my back kissing all these other cute boys.
Frankly, I was more worried about him sneaking around behind my back trying to pull off an investigation on his own. We were supposed to be partners, weren’t we? This was dangerous stuff. Tío Gustavo wasn’t just some bumbling old antiques dealer. The man was still, as Max warned me again and again, a Brillante through and through.
But again, Max was tired, and so was I, and these were all conversations we could save for the morning. The thump and boom of the music at Habibi faded and softened as we navigated the block. I followed him to the parking lot, his car keys jingling in his hand, studying the uncharacteristic slope in his shoulders.
Poor guy looked totally wiped out. Kind of odd, considering a beer at the bar wasn’t what I’d classify as harrowing, but with everything else that had added up throughout the day, who was I to judge? I stepped up the pace to catch up with him, meaning togive his shoulders a nice, solid rub, help him relax a little before the drive home.
“You okay there, tiger?” I asked, digging my fingers deep into the tight muscles of his shoulders, wondering whether this massage was meant to benefit him or me. “You’re so tense all of a sudden.”
He relaxed into my touch — a good sign — and gave me a little smile over his shoulder. “It’s nothing, really. I’m just tired. God, it’s been such a long day.”
I smiled, relieved that he wasn’t maybe all pissed off from me giving him a hard time over that Just guy. “Well, work’s over now. Which is funny to say knowing that I currently have a beer inside me, but hey. Perks of the job.”
Max swung around, grabbing me by the waist and pulling me close, so close our bellies were touching. Those rock-hard abs, those muscles at his pelvis — woof.
“A beer?” he purred. “Any thoughts on getting anything else inside you? Like my cock, maybe?”
Incredibly cheesy, but hell did it make my insides buttery and wet. I smacked at his chest, laughing and sputtering something incoherent, but he didn’t relax his grip. Were we even going to make it home at this point? Sex with Max was incredibly enjoyable, but I didn’t know if I was up for some action in the backseat.
“Well, well, well. Isn’t this sweet?”
My stomach twisted at the sound of mockery in that voice. A man stood in the parking lot, flanked by two others, all dressed in dark clothing. Each wielded some form of improvised weapon — a plank, a pipe, a baseball bat.
“You don’t want to start shit with us tonight, boys.” Max’s voice rumbled against my torso, like I wasn’t having a hard time controlling myself already. He peeled away from me and cracked his knuckles.
“Listen to the man,” I said, unclenching and flexing my fingers. “We’ve had a long night. And bigotry is so over, you guys. Homophobes, this close to a gay bar? Honestly.”
The man in the middle reddened. “Who said anything about homophobia? My little brother is gay. Love is love.”
I jabbed my finger at the air. “That’s right, love is love, motherfucker.”
Max gave me a puzzled look and shrugged. “But it still sounds to me like you’re looking for trouble, gentlemen. Let’s get this over with, already. You know who I am, and I know who sent you.”
He brought his thumbs and index fingers together, forming the familiar shape of the Brillante diamond, the clan sign. White light poured from his fingers, tracing the outline of the diamond. The tattoos that marked the three thugs gleamed under the arcane light, two on the neck, one on the forearm.
Oh. Brillante thugs. I should’ve guessed. Clever Max, always two steps ahead.
Max pointed at the man in the middle. “Why did Tío Gustavo send you?”
