Page 20 of Fallen

“A little place up north. My… My parents took me there as a kid, before…” He turned his head, looking out over the water. “It’s one of the few things I remember. I can’t even picture their faces clearly anymore, but I remember this. The heat of the sun on my skin. The sound of the waves on the shore. The grit of the sand.”

“Why did you bring us here?”

“You said I can have anything I want in my dreams. I wanted to be somewhere else. Somewhere happier.” He slipped his hands under the leather jacket on Talon’s shoulders, pushing it down his arms and off.

With his upper body bare, the sun warmed him like the heat of a fire. He couldn’t stop the way his eyes went heavy-lidded at the sensation, nor the way he turned his face toward it. Alex’s hand gently cupped his face.

“Curious,” Alex said. “I wonder how you’d really react.”

Right. Because he thought Talon wasn’t really here. He was pleased that Alex had the space in his mind to wonder about him.

“It seems we have to touch to keep the nightmares away,” Alex said, taking his hand. “So come on. Don’t let go.”

“Never,” Talon swore breathlessly. He followed Alex out into the shallows. He’d lived by the sea for decades, but he’d never bothered to go into the water. It was surprisingly warm. The waves battered their lower legs, stronger than expected.

“I’d like to come back here one day,” Alex said, staring at the sun hanging on the horizon. “Maybe when the demon is gone. When I can finally put their memory to rest.”

Something tightened in Talon’s chest. He wanted that for Alex, and the intensity of it shocked him. He’d gone so many centuries feeling nothing. This human evoked emotion within him that he’d thought himself incapable of. Alex awakened something in Talon, something he thought had withered and turned to dust long ago.

“I’ll do whatever I can to help you,” he swore, even though Alex wouldn’t know his oath was real.

Alex smiled, his thumb stroking the soft skin under Talon’s eye. “That would be nice. Revenge is lonely.”

“You’re not alone, little bird.” He slid his arms around Alex’s body. “You’ve got me. Even when you don’t know it. Even when you feel alone. I’m here.”

Alex’s arms curled around his neck, bringing their foreheads together. Noses and mouths brushing, it felt more intimate than any sex Talon could ever remember having. Sharing space and breath with another person for the simple act of feeling them there. Alex’s fingers brushed through the hair on the back of his head. His eyes were closed, and a contented smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, more breathtaking than the sunset beside them. Talon drank in the sight, swearing he could look at Alex’s handsome face for the rest of eternity and never tire of it.

And then the light began to fade. Disappointment cut through him, and he clung to Alex tighter.

“No, don’t wake up yet,” he pleaded.

Alex’s vacant gaze met his. His mind was already drifting away. “Duty calls.”

“No.” Talon crushed their mouths together, and Alex opened for him instinctively. Triumph roared through him at the blatant trust Alex gave him. If he could set Alex so at ease during a dream, maybe there was hope for it in reality, too. “Come back to In Extremis. Come and see the real me. You don’t have to be alone.”

“Not safe,” Alex said. The world was going hazy and gray. They were almost out of time.

“You’ll always be safe with me, I swear. Come and ask me if I’ve found your demon. Come and see me. You have nothing to fear there. I’ll make sure of it.”

“‘Kay,” Alex said. The weight of his arms disappeared from Talon’s shoulders.

“I’ll make you see that you belong with me, little bird,” he growled as the man faded away. “Just give me time.”

And then he was gone.

Talon opened his eyes,feeling bereft and cold. His empty apartment was cavernous and dark. Illogically, he missed the sun. It hadn’t been real, but he couldn’t deny that it had felt so.

Alex’s mind was more of a wonder than he realized. He rolled onto his side, wishing the familiar warmth of Alex’s body was waiting beside him. The real sun was creeping over the horizon, brightening the sky outside the windows of his penthouse, far less warm and inviting than the one in his human’s mind. It would be a long, lonely day for a demon who once valued his solitude.

He hoped Alex remembered what he said. He hoped he came to In Extremis tonight. The only cure for this strange feeling of absence was another hit of the human he so longed for.

No human had ever made him feel this way before. He was desperate to be in Alex’s presence again. From the moment he laid eyes on him, the rest of the world had faded away. No one else compared. His sweet scent was intoxicating, the melody of his voice was hypnotizing, and his stubborn disobedience of the guild’s rules was thrilling.

He just had to have him.

His mind drifted on the fringes of sleep for a while, but the chiming of his phone drew him back to the present. He grabbed it off the bedside table and propped himself up on the headboard.

Have you found anything yet?

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