~
Rob
Whoever in the universe kept score of a person’s cosmic wrongs and rights, they’d forgive me a little magical breaking and entering this time. I’d been invited into the club anyway. The guy with the key who invited me just hadn’t arrived yet.
I let myself in to Galileo and made myself at home.
Eventually, the front door opened. Orion flipped on some lights that I overlooked.
"What’s going on?” he asked as he walked in. “I felt you use our magic."
The door shut behind him. Unable to see him with the obstacle between us, I considered getting up and going over… nah. The floor was pretty comfortable.
"You weren’t here yet,” I explained. “So I had some time to kill and thought you know what I’d like to try? Base-jumping. One little cliffside detour and magical bungee cord later and here we are."
His footsteps became swift and even angry as he rushed over. “Why the fuck would you picktodayof all days to go do something sostupidly irresponsible and dangerous?”
"Dude, have we made no progress at all? I didn’t really go base-jumping."
"Don’t act like it’s wrong to suspect you of something youliterally just saidyou did—" He cleared the bar blocking us from each other and saw me sprawled there on the floor and cuddled up to some of his finest top shelf booze.
No first aid kit was sitting out in the open with a sign pointing to it and all the alcohol was right there behind the bar. So, I had naturally picked alcohol instead of traditional medicine.
“You’re bleeding.” Orion froze in place, his words tense and short. “Why?”
“Bad Mother,” I said. “It was demons obviously, not base-jumping.”
Orion’s paralysis ended and he reached me a second later, plucked me off the floor, and deposited me on top of the bar counter to get a better look at the damage. The ease with which he did this could have been hot in the right circumstances. Given that I was bleeding where my head hit the dumpster and my shoulder met knife, I felt more weak than turned on when met with his casual strength.
Orion went to gather the necessary supplies like a first aid kit. I pouted at the alcohol on the floor where I left it and also on the shelves behind the bar, not wanting to move. He returned shortly, blocking the booze from view.
“Bad Mother stopped by for a nice chat,” I filled him in. “Only he lets knives do the talking for him. The guy loves knives.”
“Fantastic.” Orion gently peeled back the tear in my shirt while examining my injury. “Why would he try to kill you?”
"Uh, because we’re trying to do the same thing to his buddy?"
“Yes, but Lex wants to drain your magical essence. You need to be alive for that. I understand scaring you, not killing you.”
“He’s angry we cut off his link to the clubs,” I guessed. Trying to figure out how an evil maniac thought really wasn’t easy, especially when I’d downed a few shots worth of damn smooth tequila.
“You’re a liability, Rob. If Lex decided you outlived your usefulness, he’d only need to break the link connecting you. Then you’d have trouble finding him and vice versa. He hasn’t, which means he still hopes to use you. How could killing you possibly benefit him more than just breaking your tie?”
“Okay… that’s kinda a good point.”
Breaking our connection achieved the same results. He’d lose the chance at getting my magic but gained more freedom from the people pursuing him. Sure, it took a bit of work to end a blood connection but still seemed easier than offing me. Something did not add up.
“Here, lift up.”
Orion helped me raise my arms and remove my shirt. I winced when moving my shoulder wrong and he frowned deeply. What, was he judging me? Not all of us were built like tanks and able to brush off knife wounds.
“Are we entirely certain this other entity is with Lex?” he questioned.
“Who else would he be?”
“Someone you pissed off in the past?”
“Hey!” It was really unfair for him to judge the injured, slightly tipsy guy.
