Page 24 of The Stars and the Stage
“Oh.” Diego wasn’t sure what that knowledge did to them, but their body relished it, venom filling their fangs and a little moan rising in their chest. Or maybe that was just the way Maddox had started moving his fingers. They pressed their lips to the reddened skin they’d agitated atop his pulse. “And now all you have to do is ask.”
“Take from me,” Maddox whispered. “Take everything.”
They sunk their fangs in slowly, savoring the way his body shifted under them, his blood welling between their teeth, warm and delicious. They teased him with their venom, giving a hint for every grunted sound of pleasure his fingers managed to produce from them.
He unzipped their jeans for better leverage, and they rewarded him with a bite deep enough that he flinched and began circling their sensitivity like he was born to make them come. Finally Diego did, slow and long, not quite the peak they’d hit during their night at his apartment, but a more stable, comforting pleasure, half sensation and half knowledge: Maddox belonged to Diego now, their prey and their consort and their savior.
They were going to take so very much more from him and give it all back in equal measure.
They licked and sucked his wound closed with slow, strong intervals, leaving a light bruise on his skin and Maddy himself a moaning puddle beneath them, soft and pliable except for the half-hard form between his legs. They’d help him with that once they felt like standing again. After all Maddy had done for them and their home, all that he’d risked over and over again for vampires he didn’t even know simply because they needed someone willing to do so, Diego could happily kneel for him once more.
He deserved that, and so much more.
“You’re in a vampire rescue league,” Diego marveled. “You.” It wasn’t shocking, they realized, just thrilling. Of course Maddox wouldn’t be a hunter. Of course he’d be a liberator instead.
It made so much sense that it surprised them when he replied, “I’ve been thinking about leaving, actually.” He trailed his fingers up and down their back, his gaze distant and his expression yearning. “I initially joined out of guilt, and I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished. I’ve done so much good in these last three years. But then I came here, and I’ve gotten to experience another type of good that humans can do, the way we can support our vampires not just by dropping in to save the day, but by forging community with them. I’ve been dancing from job to job, spending more time tearing down the people we’re fighting from the inside than building a home for those I’ve been protecting. I don’t just want to be a blade anymore. I want to be a shield, too.”
“That…” Diego’s throat felt tight suddenly, and they had to force themself to inhale through it, wiping a bit of moisture from their eyes. It took them a moment to place exactly where the emotion was coming from: it was weakness. Not a lack of strength, but the thought of being able to let go. Ofhavinga shield. Of being able to breathe, and to breathe deeper, because there was someone standing at their back. “That sounds incredible.”
“Does it, truly?” Maddox seemed hopeful, but that optimism shifted to a stoic determination as he sighed, lips pressed to Diego’s hair. “Well, it’s a dream for tomorrow. Right now the Celestial Club needs a blade, and I’m the only one they’ve got.”
Diego was afraid they were going to need a lot more than that.
They found Serina already discussing the night’s progression with Abigail, her scene-creator, and this event’s back-stage manager, Adrian, while Valentine patiently took notes.
Maddox pulled Valentine aside first to apologize for the fear he’d inadvertently caused, beaming with affection when Valentine had immediately gone in for a hug. He’d cradled Valentine and kissed the side of his head, and for that one moment Diego didn’t think they’d ever been happier. Then Maddox gave Serina a look so serious it zapped all joy from the room. She hurried all five of them back to her office. It was a tight fit, the boarded window making the room claustrophobic. Diego leaned against Maddox, tracing the little raised line that still remained on his wrist as he explained the situation.
Serina wasted no time. “How long do you think we have before the Paladins show up?”
“Twenty-four hours was what they decided,” Maddox replied. “They want to burst in as the event is in full swing, take out as many vampires as possible, then light the place up.”
Abigail nodded. “That should give us plenty of time to contact everyone, tell them the event is postponed until further notice?”
“And the club itself?” Adrian glanced at Serina, as though validating all the love and attention she’d put into the building’s furnishings, from its elaborate set designs and expansive wardrobe to the precisely placed lights that mimicked the stars on the ceiling. “If we’re not here, what’s stopping them from burning it down?”
Serina looked miserable. “I won’t put anyone in danger just to save my business.”
“This is more our home than any of the places where we sleep,” Diego objected. “What would we even do without it? We could run small sessions out of people’s houses for the money, but that would shatter the community we’ve built here. Weneeda space that’s large enough to gather in, or we’re not a community at all, just a bunch of fangs who happen to live in the same city.”
Valentine watched Maddox, his eyes dark and his attention unwavering. “Do you think we can get everything out in time?”
Maddy shook his head. “Once we start moving things, they’ll notice. I’ve been keeping close tabs on who’s watching this place, and there’s enough gaps for me to slip in and out on Juliet, but if we try to move an entire warehouse of stage supplies out, that’s going to catch their attention. They won’t need to stop us from leaving as long as they can follow to wherever we drive next and transfer their aggression there instead.”
The room went quiet, a silence of anxious contemplation as everyone stared into the distance, brows tight. Maddox wrapped his hand around the back of Diego’s neck, his long fingers absently feeling the places the holy metal chain had run. Anyone else Diego would have snapped at and shoved off. Even from Maddox, the implication of a collar disquieted them. He seemed to notice, and tugged his hand back, bowing his head to them.
They growled in response. Grabbing his fingers, they lifted his wrist to their lips, kissing it before placing it back on their neck. They would not submit to this—but they could demand it of him instead. This was their narrative too, and like they’d done with the hunters, they could work alongside Maddy to turn it into something good.
With Maddox’s steady presence at their side and his fingers tracing their neck once more, they felt the spark of an idea forming. “If we flee with the club’s stores, they’ll follow wherever we go next. But what if they don’t have a reason to hunt us down again?”
“How do we do that?” Valentine asked.
“We give them exactly what they want. They’re not just trying to momentarily close the club, they’re hoping to put it out of business and then kill or disband the vampires who rely on it. And we can give them that.” Diego grinned. “It’s what we do, isn’t it? Supply people with their fantasies.”
The hope that flooded Serina’s expression could have set a hunter on fire. “I had better start sewing.”
11
The closer they came to setting their plan into motion, the more doubts assaulted Diego. When Maddox left to rejoin the hunters momentarily, their stomach seemed to fall away entirely, leaving a tumbling void beneath their ribs and the taste of bile in the back of their throat. What if this didn’t work? What if they didn’t have the skill to pull it off?
