Afternoon sun shone in through the windows, creating patterns around the room. AJ watched them dance across his lovers face. There were times, like this one, where AJ marveled at the beauty of the man he was with. If he had ever lost faith in the mortal race, and he had come close a few times, all he had to do was look at Brian to reassure himself that it was all worth it.
AJ closed the drapes over the window to give Brian privacy and make it easier for him to continue to sleep. Then he tiptoed from the room, shutting the door gently behind him.
The whole night had been just a little too much over Brian’s limit. When he had crashed in the car, he’d crashed hard. When Howie had finally stopped at a marina, AJ had barely been able to get Brian to wake up enough to walk from the car to the boat. Once there, AJ had tucked him in and gone back up on deck to help Howie steer the ship. With their magic, they arrived at their destination a lot faster than most would have.
Once they’d gotten on the boat, AJ had known where they were going. There was an island out there, off the Florida coast, which Roth didn’t know about. There wasn’t really anybody but him and Howie who knew about it. They’d be safe there, at least for a while. Long enough to figure out what the hell they were going to do.
AJ wasn’t surprised to realize that the house they had built there still stood. A native from the next island over would come periodically and maintain the place for them, in return for things from the mainland. Each time they were in Florida, or near enough to escape, one of them would come and deliver what was needed.
The people on the next island were superstitious folk. They understood magic, and respected it. Being off the charts meant that the rest of civilization had yet to touch their culture. Visiting there, for AJ, was like a refreshing blast from his past.
But now he stood on the beach of his own personal paradise, and he couldn’t find it in him to enjoy any of it. There was too much on his mind. That Roth had found him was troubling, but not cause for great concern. He had felt, just once in a while, a ripple of magic from him that let AJ know he was nearby.
Coming out in the open like that, and with Howie so near, didn’t bode well for anyone. For Roth to do something like that, he must be feeling brave. Cocky. That would mean that he had something to feel brave about. Anything that made Roth happy would be horrendous for the rest of the world.
What had AJ shaken as well was how close he had come to losing Brian. In a split second, his lover could have been gone, burnt just as quickly as the house. All because of being close to him. For a split second, AJ had debated leaving Brian at the house. But two things had stopped him. One, it was too late for that. Roth already knew how much Brian meant to him, so it would be easier to keep Brian safe if he was with him. Two, he couldn’t bear the idea of being apart.
“He was going to come sooner or later, Alyck.”
AJ didn’t bother to turn. He had felt Howie coming, and heard him as he got close. His gaze stayed locked on the ocean; the waves were soothing to him. “I know that, Howi. He won’t stop coming until this is done.”
A warm hand laid on AJ’s shoulder in a gesture of support. “Now he knows about your lover, which will make things harder for you.”
“Oh you can bet he already knew. The question is, how far he will go to hurt me.”
Howie gave a deep sigh at the rhetorical question. The both of them knew the answer to it. Nothing would stop Roth from hurting AJ in any way that he could. There was only one way that Howie could see to even the odds, and he knew that AJ wasn’t going to like it. In fact, he thought, that would be putting it mildly. AJ was going to hate it. But Howie knew he had to bring it up.
“You could remove the threat before he gets there.”
Slowly, AJ turned to face Howie. It was a sign of his distress that he didn’t notice the water suddenly sliding up the beach toward their feet. But Howie watched, keeping an eye on it as the water surrounded AJ’s feet, making a circle around them, and halfway up his calves. “You want me to what, Howi? Kill him?”
“No! Of course not, Alyck! Geeze. Give me some credit here.” Howie tried to mock glare at his friend, but he was watching AJ’s face very closely, waiting for the realization to hit. One of AJ’s temper tantrums might not hurt him, but Howie didn’t have any desire for their island to be destroyed.
A light went off in AJ’s face, and the realization of Howie’s words sank in. The water around him dropped, soaking into the sand. His mouth dropped open, and for a second all he could do was stare at Howie. Finally he found his voice. “You want me to make him one of us? Are you fucking crazy! Doom the man I love to eternity?”
“An eternity with you, Alyck! Think of what that might mean to him, or to you. To have someone who’s your equal. Not only in life, but inside as well. You felt what’s in him! I know you did the same as I did the first day we met him! Once he’s turned, he could be almost as strong as you are!”
“None of that is reason to make him one of us!” AJ shouted, slicing a hand through the air. The ocean was responding to his mood, the water becoming choppier, with slightly bigger waves. Though the earth didn’t tremble with a quake, it did quiver slightly under their feet.
“Get a grip before you sink us.” Howie warned. He held his hands out, trying to quiet things around them. “Don’t tell me you haven’t thought of this! What if it’s something he wants, huh? For all you know he might want to be one of us, just to stay with you.”“He would have no idea what he was agreeing to!” This time AJ’s anger was peaking high enough that Howie decided to take measures into his own hands. AJ was livid, and he needed to cool off before he took them all down to the bottom of the sea. So, without a bit of warning, Howie used his magic to scoop up a bunch of water, and proceeded to dump it over top AJ’s head.
His friend stood there for a minute, dripping wet and glaring. Then suddenly the water flew out of his clothes and off of his body, condensing into a solid ball that he threw at Howie. The force of it sent Howie flying backwards. “You bastard!” AJ shouted, striding forward. At that moment, he looked the part of the angry wizard, the wind whipping his clothes, his face dark with anger. “What if his heart isn’t strong enough? He has to want it, more than anything! You know that! What if he doubts, even a little bit? It could kill him!”
Howie was wrapped in flows of air and lifted from the ground. He stared down at AJ, knowing the temper for what it was. AJ wasn’t railing at him so much as venting his frustration at everything. There was nothing he was going to say that would be right. Still, he couldn’t help it. “If it means saving your life, keeping you safe, saving the world, and all that jazz, our little Bri will be all for it and you know it!”
With a primal roar of pure rage, AJ sent Howie flying into the forest. He was still panting when Howie nimbly came running back out. “You’re only pissed cause you know it’s true!” he called out in a sing song voice.
The anger came again, gripping AJ. How dare Howie treat this like it was all some kind of joke? He had no idea that Howie intended this to happen. That, indeed, his friend wanted him to get everything off his chest so that they could talk reasonably later on. Plus, he firmly believed that the safest thing for Brian was to be an immortal.
“You wanna go rounds with me, Alyck, we’ll go!” HE said, stepping up until they were nose to nose. “But you know I’m right!”
“The fuck I do! There has to be other options!”
“Who’re you to decide for him? Ask him what he wants! Spend the night talking, explain it all to him so your mind is at ease, and ask him what he wants for fuck’s sake!”
“Ask me what?”
The last question had the two immortals spinning. Standing not five feet away was Brian, his arms folded over his chest. There was still a slight sleepy look to his face that showed that he’d just woke up. But his eyes were dead serious. “Ask me what, gentlemen?”
Since AJ wasn’t taking the initiative, Howie sighed. “About being one of us, Brian. I was telling him to ask you if you wanted to be immortal.”