Prophylaxis - 10. Chapter 10

I woke when Takashi scooted slowly out of the bed. I curled myself tighter in the covers, finding the warm spot he’d left. I figured he was off to drain the dragon until I heard the knocking coming from the front of the apartment. I heard the front door open and close, then muffled talking. I yawned and pulled the blanket over my head.

I must have dozed off again. Takashi pulled the covers off my face and was smiling at me gently as he knelt next to the bed.

“Wha-?” I rubbed a hand over my face. One side of my mouth felt crusty. Had I been drooling? Gross. God, I hoped Takashi hadn’t noticed.

“Riley’s here.” He said softly.

“Okay.” I hummed and closed my eyes again.

“Wake up, pet.” He chuckled. “I need to make sure it’s alright with you that he’s here.”

I sighed and forced my eyes open. I rolled to face Takashi. “Riley?”

Takashi gently stroked a finger down the bridge of my nose. I think he was petting me.

“Yes, Riley’s here. Should I send him away?”

I sat up. “Is he okay?”

Takashi grimaced. “He’s not terrible, but he’s not doing wonderfully. I’d told him to come here if he ever needed someone.”

I remembered Takashi giving Riley a card at the strip club and speaking to him so earnestly.

I shook my head. “Then if he’s here, he’s not okay. Is it the skin-starved thing you mentioned before?”

“I think so. I didn’t ask him directly.”

“What does that mean, skin-starved?” I asked.

“Well, Riley’s fae.” Takashi looked at me like that explained everything.

I stretched, feeling myself wake up a little more. “Okay, and?”

“He hadn’t been touched by another fae in decades. That’s why he was so clingy at the club. I’m a decent substitute for a fae for him. I spent a few years in the Unseelie Court when I was younger.” Takashi leaned back in his heels, giving me room to swing my feet to the floor.

“So, he needs a cuddle?” I asked as I stood.

Takashi nodded.

“Do you want me to help or do you want me to go?”

“I think your help would benefit him greatly.” Takashi smiled gently.

I nodded. “As long as his emotions aren’t too wild, I don’t mind.” I snagged my shirt and undershorts then stepped to a likely-looking door. Takashi confirmed it was a bathroom when I asked. “I just need to have a little potty break. Go ahead and get Riley settled.”

When I got back, Riley was sitting up at the head of the bed while Takashi fiddled with the blankets. Riley’s green eyes were wide and vulnerable. Poor guy. He was wearing his glamour. His eyes, hair, and skin could easily pass for human. Takashi pulled the covers up Riley’s legs and then slid between them himself. I did the same on the other side.

“You can let your glamour go here, if you want to.” Takashi murmured as he scooted close to Riley. “I’ve been told it’s not comfortable to wear all the time.”

Riley opened his mouth to speak then closed it abruptly. He looked from me to Takashi, then down to his lap where his fingers tangled together. He let out a sigh as the air around him shimmered. When it passed he was that unearthly creature again, with hair like licking flames and smooth sun-kissed skin. I kind of missed the freckles, though.

I’d felt pulled to him the moment I came in the room, but when his glamour dropped it was magnified. I was about to scoot up to his side when he spoke hesitantly, still staring at his hands in his lap.

“You can… Will you drop your glamour too? So, I’m not the only one?”

I looked at Takashi. He had a glamour? Holy shit! I wondered what he really looked like. I couldn’t imagine his eyes getting wilder, maybe his hair and skin changed. He’d insinuated he wasn’t fae, I wondered what he was that he could do glamour, too. I waited expectantly to see what he would do.

He gave me a long intense look.

“I don’t mind.” I told him and waved my hands in a shooing motion. “Go ahead if you’d be more comfortable.”

Riley looked up from his lap to stare at me.

Takashi’s eyebrows lifted in surprise. “He was talking to you, pet.”

I blinked stupidly for a moment, then chuckled. “Oh, I’m just an empath. I mean I know I’m kind of plain. But this is me.”

It must have been how my hair is all one color of plain brown with no highlights or lowlights and my eyes are so bland without any color variations. That must have made him think it was a glamour to tone down how I looked. I understood why he’d think that. I was kind of boring-looking. I mean, I was halfway cute, but Takashi and Riley were both way out of my league of hot. I thought maybe I should ask the lady who cuts my hair if I should get highlights or something.

I pulled myself out of my bleaching thoughts when I realized both men were staring at me. “What?”

Riley looked to Takashi. Takashi leaned forward to stroke my cheek. It was like he was trying to learn something through touch.

His head tilted to the side. “Aren’t you fae, Mick?”

I shook my head. “No. I’m an empath.”

Takashi raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t ask your abilities. I asked who your people are.”

“Oh.” I shook my head. “I don’t have people. I’m adopted.”

“And there’s no information on your biological parents?” He asked.

“No. I was left in front of a hospital when I was just a little dude.”

Takashi and Riley exchanged what appeared to be a meaningful look. Riley pushed the cover down and crawled to me. He was just in a t-shirt and what looked like silk boxer-briefs. It was a nice sight. He cupped my face in both hands and looked into my eyes with his nose nearly touching mine. His touch flooded my mind with his thoughts and feelings. They flew so fast, I couldn’t catch a bead on what exactly he was thinking so hard about.

“Uh, hi.” I said awkwardly.

He turned back to Takashi. “You smelled him?”

Takashi nodded. Well, that was kind of gross. Was I stinky or something? I mean, I’d washed up before I went out. The sex was a bit vigorous, I may have gotten a little sweaty. I tried to give myself a subtle sniff to check for B.O. when Riley spoke.

“Changeling?”

Takashi gave a graceful shrug. “You would know better than I would. Wouldn’t he have been collected when he was nearing adulthood?”

Riley bit his lip and nodded. “You’d think so.” He thought for a moment. “Maybe…” He turned to me as I was desperately trying to understand the conversation. “How long ago were you left at the hospital?”

It was awfully late at night for math, but I did the quick subtraction in my head. I was thirty, I was abandoned when I was two. “About 28 years ago.”

Riley paled. “Oh.”

I sighed. “Right. Someone needs to start talking sense, or I’m going back to sleep.”

Takashi rubbed a hand over his mouth, thinking. He looked to Riley. “So, certainly a changeling?”

Riley nodded. Riley and Takashi seemed to be having a silent argument over who would explain.

I flopped to one of the pillows. “Closing my eyes now.” I threatened. I closed one eye and glared with the other.

Riley lost the battle of wills with Takashi. He sighed and leaned back on the pillows again.

“You don’t know your parents? What you really are besides an empath?” He started gently.

“Yeah.” I tugged a strand of my plain brown hair. “You know what I am?”

Riley nodded. “I think you’re a sifter left as a changeling.”

I blinked and shook my head. “I’m not a shifter, I never change into anything.”

“Not shifter.” Takashi interrupted. “Sifter.” He spelled it for me.

“Okay, so what is that exactly?” I tugged harder at the lock of hair, feeling the sting in my scalp.

“Sifter were fae in the Seelie Court. They were empathic, but more than that. They were powerful. They were truth-seekers and would deal with those suspected of being oath-breakers.” Riley shivered. I thought he was probably remembering what got him tossed from the Seelie Court so long ago. “They were supposed to be the left hand of the queen. They were always present at a judging. There were so many things they could do.”

“Why do you keep saying ‘were’?” I asked.

“I wasn’t around for it, but I heard things from creatures who’d speak to an exile. Our queen turned on the sifters. She named them traitors to the Seelie Court, all of them. She claimed they’d conspired against her and wanted to take the throne.” Riley shook his head. “She called down the wild hunt to gut all of them.” His mesmerizing jade eyes caught mine. “Even the children.”

My chest felt tight, like it was hard to catch a breath. “How long ago? When did it happen?”

He grimaced. “A little more than thirty years ago. The hunt took most of them. Assassins and bounty hunters took over when the magic of the hunt faded. It took them a few years to catch the ones that fled. They said,” he paused, looking at me then away. “They said the sifters were wiped out. That none were left alive.”

“Except maybe me?” I asked, stunned. “A sifter changer? Changing?”

“Changeling.” Takashi said. “It’s when the fae leave a child with humans. They’re glamoured and sometimes bindings are laid on their abilities. I’ve always heard it that a changeling child is substituted for a human child the fae want. If there’s a seeing of a baby that will grow up with a valued talent or ability sometimes the fae will get interested and take the child, putting a fae in their place.” Takashi rolled his eyes. “They claim it’s to protect the precious gift the child has that would be crushed by ignorant humans. Sounds like a pretty excuse to me.” Takashi’s brow furrowed. “But I’ve always heard it was a lesser fae put in the baby’s place, and the changeling is always collected and reintegrated into fae society before they reach adulthood. Not to mention that you didn’t replace a child, Mick, it sounds like you were abandoned.” He looked to Riley.

Riley held his palms up and shrugged. “You always bring changelings back before they get too old or the humans taint them. Besides, the binding and glamour isn’t meant to stay on forever.” He shivered. “It’s unnatural.” He looked at me quickly. “Sorry.”

I licked my lips and wrapped my arms around myself. This was all too much, too fast. “But the timing and me being empathic could just be coincidence.”

Riley bit his lip and Takashi frowned as they exchanged meaningful looks again.

I threw a downy pillow at Takashi’s head, he caught it easily. “Stop doing that and tell me.”

Takashi scooted closer and took my hand. I instantly felt calmer and let him rub circles on the back of it with his thumb.

“Your glamour tries to cover it, but I lived with the fae. I know how glamour feels and I know how fae smell. Under the glamour you smell like a court fae. High or low, I can’t tell with my nose, but definitely court fae.” He said and kissed my fingers.

Riley patted my knee comfortingly, I felt his worry in the touch. “I could just feel it. I’d missed my kind so much. I was drawn to you. I’d hoped you were maybe exile, too.” He looked down and pulled his hand back. “If you were, I thought we could comfort each other.”

Even without him touching me, I felt his pull. I crawled awkwardly over the rumpled covers and the pillow I’d flung at Takashi, to wrap myself around the hurting fae. I wiggled an arm behind his shoulders, the other curled across his chest. I flung a leg over his thighs and pulled him close, squeezing him tight. I would have felt suffocated in his position, but he leaned into me. He buried his face in my shoulder and sighed deeply. At the club, I’d held him while we were both fully clothed. Now I was just in my undershorts and shirt and he was in a tank and boxers. There was a lot more skin touching, and it was almost blissful how right it felt.

Takashi laid a hand on the back of my neck, his touch warm. I expected his touch to free me from Riley’s pull, but my arms tightened around the redhead as though I was afraid Takashi would try to pull me away.

“Well, this looks familiar.” Takashi murmured. “Although it is a pretty picture.”

I felt a blush color my cheeks as I curled around the smaller man.

“Can you let go?” Takashi asked.

I tried, I did. I was fucking stuck. I blew out an exasperated breath. “He wants me to hold him. He really affects me.”

“You’re sure it’s just him?”

I looked at Takashi, startled. Was it just Riley’s need to be touched what made it impossible to let him go? With Takashi’s touch on my skin I was able to look inside Riley without being overwhelmed. I felt Riley’s need. It was a massive ache inside him, I don’t know how he lived with it. It tangled into everything else, tainting and pulling.

I blinked hard, pulling my mind back. I laid my cheek against his hair. I expected it to be stiff with gel, but it was unbelievable soft. How did it stay up in those cute wavy spikes?

“Will you let me help?” I whispered to him. “I think I can make you feel a little better.”

He was quiet for a long time and I felt his thoughts churning. Finally he nodded.

I sighed and let my eyes unfocus as I slipped back into Riley’s head.

It was a mass of angry red knots. It had a strange curve and flow to it I’d never seen before. The threads were slippery. I finally grabbed one and gasped as it tingled like a shock back into my own head. I didn’t drop it but held tight. I followed it to its source and teased it free. I tried not to intrude on the memory that surfaced. Something with a painfully handsome man with shoulder length hair the color of sapphires. The strange color caught my attention, but I looked away quickly when I saw the blood.

I lost track of time as I pulled at knotted guilt and tangled fears. My mind was buzzing with static by the time I was done, and I’d seen too much of his thoughts and fears. Riley had suffered and I didn’t want him to suffer anymore.

I pulled back with a gasp, aware again of Riley’s arms around me. Takashi had curled behind me, his lips and cheek pressed to the back of my neck and his arms holding both of us.

“Hey,” Takashi murmured, sitting up a little. “You’re back.” He stroked the hair back from my face, fingers threading pleasantly through the strands.

“Yeah.” I breathed.

Riley shivered and my attention turned to him. I tipped his chin up and was lost in his eyes. The varying greens seemed to glow as fat tears gathered then escaped in shining tracks. His teeth dug into his lower lip as he fought to keep quiet.

“Hey,” I squeezed him. “It’s okay.”

That was a lie, lots of things weren’t okay, but that’s what a person says in these situations.

“I just,” he said on a shuddering breath, “it’s been hurting for so long, and it’s just gone. It doesn’t… I miss him. I still miss him so bad, but it doesn’t stab me. I can see his face smiling again. Since I left I could only see his face bloody and his eyes dead.”

I knew the image he was talking about. It had hit me at every turn in his mind. His lover, broken and dead on the ground looking more like road kill than a man. I wasn’t looking forward to my nightmares.

“Thank you.” He said, his voice getting stronger. “Thank you.”

He kissed me, sudden and hard. His tongue swept into my mouth and tangled with mine. It was intensely erotic, but it was more gratitude, relief, and joy flowing from Riley than any sexual feeling. He finally broke the kiss with a languorous sigh as his body relaxed against me.

“That was amazing.” Takashi said quietly, and I realized he wasn’t talking about the kiss. “You broke it, he’s not skin-starved.”

I closed my eyes and enjoyed the feeling of the men around me.

“You should be able to let him go now.”

I nodded. Without Riley’s feelings overwhelming me, I should be able to hug him and be able to have my arms back after. This could only be good. I had to work Tuesday, and though I’m sure Lori would enjoy Riley’s presence, it would be pretty fucking hard to get any work done with me wrapped around him like a baby howler monkey.

I tried to relax and pull away. Nothing happened. I still couldn’t let him go.

“What the ever-loving fuck?” I hissed.

I looked into Riley’s mind. The pull wasn’t there. Hesitantly, I turned to my own. There it was. A tangle hiding down deep that I’d never noticed before, one that looked a lot like Riley’s minus the trauma and guilt. I usually didn’t look in my own head. For whatever reason, I can’t untangle myself. Poking around in my head is just pointless and frustrating. Looking at the ugly tangle and my reaction to Riley meant I was skin-starved.

It was true, I was fae.

But I wasn’t just fae, I was a sifter. Whatever that was. That meant the queen of the Seelie would want me dead.

It meant I was hunted.

Well, fuck.