"Yes, though that’s not necessary. You were connected to my brother somehow and hunting for treasure in one of our establishments. I bought what you were after just to be safe.”
Bless his rich, beautiful ass.
"So, does that mean we’re getting closer to a plan? We can’t find Lex, but if we had something else that he wanted…"
Orion nodded. "Then he’ll come find us."
18.With Feeling, Once More
Rob
“First you invite me to your club, now your home,” Lex said as he stepped across the threshold. “I’ve heard of keeping enemies close before but this is pretty damn intimate.”
His footsteps were the only sound in the otherwise quiet apartment, so they sounded incredibly loud. He took his time and even commented on the artwork decorating Orion’s walls while taking his sweet time.
He was clearly working his way towards us carefully and expecting a trap. But he was here. He couldn’t resist coming to collect his prize. All we did was make it clear that Orion had the cuffs in his possession and wait. Lex received word and he came to us.
"You know I’m not your actual brother now, so what’s up, Orion? Got a crush on me?"
I imagined Orion’s silent scowl on the other side of the room, but he did nothing to give away his position.
Lex himself did nothing tohidehis presence when he arrived in the living room. He suspected we were watching anyway. “Oh, look at this lovely present on the table. It’s just sitting there so unguarded and so not an obvious trap. I’ll just take it and go.”
He waited in front of the cuffs with a grin when I stepped out from my hiding place. Orion did the same on the other side of the room.
Lex gasped dramatically, snapping his fingers. “Shoot, looks like you’ve got me cornered.”
“Do you have to be so cocky?” I complained. “You still have to get through us with those things first.”
“Yes, and that might sound terribly difficult if I hadn’t already kicked your asses once.” He nodded in my direction. “To be fair, my own plan for securing this relic was a total bust. I put you on the right trail and expected you to steal it ages ago!”
"Shows what you know! I’m a better person now. I was barely even tempted to steal it."
Guess that confirmed it. Lex put the cuffs in my path on purpose. He expected me to see dollar signs and steal it for him. Then when he came to collect me, he’d have me and the cuffs in one go.
Orion was right, they had planned all this out. I’d even bet Lex dropping bodies and getting Orion chasing after him was part of the it. After all, he needed him for the un-banishing ritual. All Lex had to do was stay a few steps ahead of him until he was strong enough to get the drop on Orion and pull off the ritual.
But now it was our turn. We got him here. Now we needed to stop him.
The only hiccup with this whole setup? Everybody knew the real score. We lured Lex here to stop him. Lex bet he could avoid our trap. It meant everybody was being cautious this time, waiting to see if anyone had new tricks up their sleeves.
Nobody wanted to make the first move too soon. But Ihatedwaiting. So, I started talking.
“What’s the deal, man? You’re into freaky ancient sex handcuffs, huh?” Both him and Orion blinked at me. "Hey, I’d normally say you do you and wouldn’t judge but because it’s you? Ew."
"What-they, these aren’t handcuffs,” Lex stammered slightly, not expecting that. “This is a valuable relic, not a sex toy! The devices allow for communication and summoning between the planets.Hello,the whole un-banishing my master from Earth and bringing him here thing? Us being demon kings who devour magic freely here? That’s my whole thing. That’s obviously what these are for."
"Maybe you have hobbies!” I mean, I figured they were part of his plansomehow.I just wasn’t sure how freaky ancient sex handcuffs fit in. His explanation that this ‘relic’ only looked like cuffs and was really something else made more sense and now both demons were both looking at me funny. “What, so nowI’mthe fucked up one?"
Nobody answered my rhetorical question, which was probably for the best. Apparently, Lex was also low on patience. He got tired of waiting and rushed forward and picked up the not-cuffs.
Everybody tensed and froze.
Lex held the not-cuffs and just stood there. He waited, looking around and expecting something to happen.
“This is almost sad.” He gave a mocking laugh when nothing happened. “You’re just handing me the cuffsandRob. I wondered if I lost my chance there, but what’s the saying? If you love something, set it free?”
"Gross," I said.
