God, did any of the top shelf liquor survive my magic? I really needed a drink and couldn’t listen to—
“But I wasn’t talking about you.” What? “You aren’t the problem, Rob.” When I finally managed to look at him again, his gaze was on Bad Mother. “Your theory is wrong. I’d never lift the banishment.”
"Oh, you don’t want a family reunion after all?” Bad Mother asked skeptically. “Why should we believe that?"
"Because I’m the one who banished my brother in the first place,” Orion said.
"…You are?" Bad Mother found his voice first, though seemed just as confused as me.
"You didn’t know that?" I questioned him.
“There’s been a breach. I’m here to clean it up.” He seemed slightly defensive as he straightened to his fully huge height. “The fugitive doesn’t sign forms filling us in on his background and his evil plan first. I know he’s an influence demon who should have been a low flight risk thanks to the banish… huh.” Bad Mother stopped abruptly as he considered something. “Ifyoubanished your brother, that’s interesting. That could explain how he came back. You screwed it up, didn’t you?”
"I consulted a respected coven and used my own blood in the ritual,” he argued back.
“You screwed it up, didn’t you?” Bad Mother repeated.
“I would have said no until recently. The killings forced me to reconsider.” Orion ducked his head. “I should have known nothing would stop him from getting whatever he wanted."
I paced around the free space in the club, but it did not help me think. I had no idea what to believe. When the surprise paternity revelations happened like this was a bad episode of some daytime talk show for demons, feelings of betrayal and foolishness overwhelmed me.
Plus, the world didn’t just hand out rich beautiful incubuses to scumbags. Being duped by the guy I was falling for seemed like a harsh yet arguably karmically appropriate kick in the balls.
But there were some issues with Orion being against me.
Until very recently, everything he’d done to work with me made me stronger than ever before. Why do that if we were enemies? And sure, he’d kept some things from me, huge things, but him keeping secrets, thatwasn’ta secret. He told me he regretted not being able to tell me everything. I knew there was some nasty history between Lex and Orion too.
I had to admit secretly being related to the guy we were after was not an easy thing to reveal.
Eventually, I found myself in front of Orion. Bound and kneeling, but the sorrow on his face was what really made him look at a disadvantage.
"You, you aren’t playing me.” My voice shook. I was terrified. How would I know the truth? Especially when there was one version I desperately wanted to believe over the other. “Why should I believe that? Why didn’t you tell me sooner?"
"How could I tell you how sorry I am? There weren’t enough words to express the sorrow, how deeply ashamed I am. It’s all my fault." Orion collapsed on top of me, nearly taking me to the ground as he begged for forgiveness.
Okay then… I wasn’t factoringthisin. For him to be sodevastated.
But he wasn’t done yet.
"I’m so sorry, Rob. It’s my fault Tommy died."
15.How the Blood Ties You
Rob
“You have five minutes,” Bad Mother growled as he untied Orion. “Then I’m coming after you.”
Getting Bad Mother’s permission to untie Orion and let us chat in private had been a whole production. Then I had a stroke of genius and magically hid his knives from him. He’d given me a truly terrifying cold look while casually informing me there were a million ways to hurt and kill someone without his favorite tools and that I might not like to see him get creative.
Things got a little heated with the bounty hunter, so Orion and I needed to sort this out on our own.
There were some private rooms in the back of Galileo for when a sex demon from Orion’s clan found a partner and they didn’t want an audience. Bad Mother was still nearby in case I needed him, but Orion didn’t seem like he was going anywhere anytime soon. He crashed down on the couch and hadn’t moved.
The couch that doubled as a bed was almost the only furniture in here so I couldn’t sit down. The table next to it offered a few amenities for setting the mood. I thought about using an appropriate fragrance from the incense and lotions available to calm us both down.
"Like I told you,” he began. “Someone from Hell came to Earth. An influence demon who’d fallen out of favor there and wanted to gather allies here found a secret pathway to Earth. I only saw a small portion of what my teacher was capable of. He didn’t just find me. He foundus,my brother and I. Mar, our master, taught us to push past our initial limits and keep feeding. He taught us how to drink in the magic, but it soon became clear we weren’t gaining control over our new strengths."
I tried not to interrupt once he got started, but man, quietly listening was hard. I kept moving in the space between us, unable to sit down and think.
