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The cabin was empty and it smelled stale. Nobody had been home for a long time.
Octavius left Saint and Jayden in the cabin and walked the overgrown yard to a half-rotted picnic table perched on the edge of a drop. He sat on the table part, boots up on the seat, and stared at the town’s lights and how they tried to compete with the stars scattered above.
Jayden approached with all the stealth of an elephant through the long grass. “I er guess you want to be alone—”
“That is why I’m out herealone.”
“Okay, I just… Saint lit the fire, and there’s some food, mostly tinned food, but it’s something… Although, I guess you’ve already eaten…”
He prattled on, trying to backpedal his way out of talking aboutfeeding. He likely felt an attraction toward Octavius too. Probably thought it was normal to lust after a man he’d only met a few days ago, since he believed Saint’s lies about not being addicted.
“Imagine if you’ve spent your whole life believing you were doing the right thing, making a difference,” Octavius said, interrupting Jayden explaining how he was going to see if he could bake cookies with limited ingredients. “And then imagine your whole life spans several thousand years. Now take that time and belief, and throw it away. Everything you believe is now in ashes. You burned it all down. You have become the very monster you’ve been fighting against for millennia.”
Jayden shuffled in the grass. “Sounds bad.”
Octavius almost laughed.
“There’s cocoa?” Jayden offered.
“Cocoa is not going to fix me, Jayden.” He glanced behind him and was struck by how disheveled and vulnerable Jayden looked, standing there, defenseless against the world that wanted to kill him. Defenseless against the two nyks who now had him in their clutches. He didn’t stand a chance. He’d die, either killed by Saint or Octavius, when feeding got out of control. Because by Nyx, Octavius wanted to taste his neck, sink his teeth in, and that… that couldn’t ever happen. He… liked Jayden. Foolishly. Ridiculously. Against his better judgment and common sense. He liked the kid, and this fucked-up world was going to take him from them. It always did.
“Look,” Jayden huffed, flicking his hair. “I know you think I’m some stupid himbo who’s in way over his head, but I have eyes, and I’m not as ignorant as you assume. Saint says you saved my life, although I don’t remember much of it—”
Octavius snorted. “We’re tied together as nyk and feeder because you have my blood in you. I didn’t envenom you, but frankly, it’ll probably happen. Fuck, Jayden. What you think you feel is not real, none of it is real—I don’t care about you—it’s all chemicals in the brain. I am nyktelios, and while I look and talk human, I’m not. What I am inside is designed to hunt and kill. I will do everything in my power to find and secure a food supply—you. It’s the same with you and Saint.”
Jayden moved around the table and sat on the seat slats next to Octavius legs. He stared at the view. “He says it’s not like that.”
“He’s lying to keep you compliant. It’s been like that since the dawn of time. Since prehistoric humans worshipped nyktelios as gods.”
“I think you’re wrong.”
Now Octavius did laugh. “A human thinksI’mwrong. Get a few thousand years behind you and then tell me I’m wrong, and I’ll listen.”
“You know what I think is really happening?” He tilted his head, side-eyeing Octavius.
“I’m sure you’re about to tell me.”
“You’re lost and hurting. Not long ago you had everything under control, and something bad happened to take that away from you. You feel like you’ve lost everything, including yourself. This might surprise you, but I know exactly what that feels like.” He blinked soft doe eyes. “Just because I’ve only been alive for a few decades, it doesn’t mean I don’t get how you’re in pain.”
Octavius didn’t even have the energy to argue, when Jayden wouldn’t believe him. They were as different as night and day. Jayden couldn’t understand what it meant to be shunned for so long that you began to believe you deserve it. That you were wrong, different, broken.
“Also.” Jayden stood and brushed grass seed from his trousers. “You should come inside or I might let slip to Saint how you’re hot for him.”
“I’m not—that—what you saw—it was bloodlust, nothing else.”
“It’s okay to want to fuck him.” Jayden grinned. “If you take the stick out from up your ass, you might even enjoy it.”
“I told you I don’t need that.”
Jayden glanced back at the house, then hooked his thumbs over his trouser pockets. “When was the last time someone was kind to you, Octavius?”
Jayden’s words rocked him like a physical blow. He opened his mouth to reply but had none that would suffice.
Jayden smiled a soft, understanding smile, one with warmth that touched his freckles. “Come inside.” He ducked his head and ambled back to the cabin.
Octavius stared after him.
There was a slim chance he may have underestimated Jayden.
