Page 44 of Radiant

The morning was slow and delicious. Auris knew that I was pliable after the night I’d had, and he made a slow game of it, pushing his hand down my pajama pants and touching me until my body surrendered and quivered as I came in his hand.

It was yet another lewd experience, him dressed and barely a strand of hair out of place, me gasping and sweaty. He pulled my pajamas back into place after I’d come, teasing me with the mess underneath the fabric he smoothed out over my body. I felt spoiled.

We did exactly nothing productive all day. We managed to sit through a whole documentary on the British monarchy, and Auris forced me to help him decide where to hang the last of the prints of mine he’d bought.

I eventually settled in to do a little work in the evening. I couldn’t spend all day being lazy and not moving from the couch. When Auris’s eyes had turned black, I decided to download all the photos I’d taken in the city the day before. I spotted Brother Christian in the crowd in one of the photos it looked like I’d taken accidentally because of my icy fingers.

“Auris!” I called from my office.

He flashed into my room almost instantaneously, throwing the door open without his usual knock. “What?” He looked around before his gaze focused on me.

I pointed to my screen. “Have a look at these.”

He walked around my desk and leaned over my shoulder.

After a long moment, he said, “I never saw him.”

“He was hiding in the crowd.” I zoomed out of the photo, which made Christian’s presence far less obvious. “See? And he was keeping his distance.”

Auris didn’t say anything, but he brushed my hand off the mouse, carefully pushed my chair out of the way, and went through all the photos himself. “They were there. Not just Christian. I failed to see them. Here.” He pointed at a head in profile: One of the priests, though I didn’t recognize the man.

“Don’t beat yourself up. That was before sunset.”

“You’re right, and you’re also wrong. I gave you my word that I would protect you, and yet here we are.”

I turned in my desk chair. “We are both safe. I’m pissed that date night was ruined, but we’re safe.”

Auris was opening his mouth to say something when there was a knock on the front door. That never happened. Eva wasn’t scheduled to come up today, and she didn’t come in the evenings, not unless she was supposed to cook dinner. Auris looked annoyed for a second, then his features hardened, his eyes narrowing as if he were a predator ready to strike.

“How unusual.” He stood and headed toward the front door.

I followed. In comparison to him, I was noisy as I bumbled through the rooms, my humanness never more obvious than in contrast to him.

In the central hallway, Auris stopped dead about four feet away from the door. I waited by the doorway to the first sitting room. He eyed the front door for a long time, and his body language reminded me of a big cat ready to pounce. Quite slowly, he stalked forward and opened the door.

“Hello,” said a man standing on the other side.

The hallway light had gone off, and he’d been standing in the darkness, waiting. Past Auris’s back, I saw spiky black hair and unusually green eyes set in a swarthy face. The guy wore a leather jacket that wasn’t really made more suitable for the weather by the dark green infinity scarf around his neck. He also had both hands up, palms facing outward. The guy was standing very still as if he were afraid of what might happen if he didn’t.

“Walking up to someone’s door is an interesting choice to make their acquaintance, particularly when it’s unclear how you came to know this is my door,” Auris said, sounding a lot as if he were discussing the weather.

The guy on the other side of the threshold grinned. “Right. Failing manners. My name is Lucas. I’m sorry, but I’m sure you can tell that my heart is racing. I walked up here thinking there was a good chance you wouldn’t just stand there. I’m really glad you’re just standing there, believe me. My profound apologies for intruding and following you, but there’s a reason for all of that. You managed to survive a Gladius agent last night, and unless I was seeing some sort of mirage, you took him alive.”

“Gladius agent?” I asked. “Brother fucking Christian is an agent now? Well, fuck me.”

The new guy, Lucas, didn’t look at me, he looked at the ground and in my general direction instead. “It’s what they call themselves sometimes. You know, I’m sure there’s a lot of information we have that you don’t. Maybe we could share? We mean no harm, not to you or him, I promise. I waited until after nightfall to come to your door to show you that we mean no harm, that we want to bring no violence.”

“What are you?” Auris asked.

“Ah. I’m a little surprised you can’t tell by scent. I’m a bear, and the two downstairs are wolves.”

My jaw dropped, and I took a step closer to the door.

“I never had the pleasure of meeting one of your kind, I’m afraid,” Auris said. “Tell your friends to join us. Perhaps a conversation is in order.”

The staircase of the apartment building was echoey in the way that a lot of staircases in a lot of apartment buildings are, yet, I heard no footsteps, and no one bothered to hit the light switch, but after not all that long, two more people crowded behind Lucas.

Auris stepped aside. “Please, enter our home and be welcome.”