Beyond the Stone, page 9
Bane snorted. “Too much info, dude.”
“I don’t know,” Madison said. “I know a few guys that are into that kind of thing.”
Scowling, Bane turned to look at Madison. “Really? Is now the time?”
“What, I thought gay guys liked it raunchy sometimes.”
“Not this guy. Anyway, we’re getting off track. What do I do?” Bane shook his head. “There is so much going on in my head. I don’t know where to start.”
“Well, the first thing you have to do is work on designing our uniforms. Lucille can help you with that. She’s a whiz with a needle.”
“Uniforms? Why would I start working on those?”
“Because, dumbass, you have to maintain your cover. I know you’re working with the black market, but you have to convince the powers that be that you’re doing everything you can to look into them, like you’re supposed to. I don’t believe for a second that it’s the mortals that are causing the spending hikes. That sounds like a bullshit story to me. There’s always been a black market. We have to find out what the Clocktower is after.”
“I thought that was obvious,” Claude said.
When both Bane and Madison looked at him, Claude sighed and said, “The shadow? Think of what the Clocktower patrol could do to the mortals with that kind of power behind them.”
“We don’t even know if it can be controlled,” Madison said.
“And neither do they, but when has that stopped them from taking what they wanted?” Claude said.
“Huh,” Bane said. “You’re pretty smart for a Dryad...sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it. Most other Dryads I know are always high on something and loving the earth. My sister likes to smoke catnip for fuck’s sakes, says it brings her closer to her cat if they share the same buzz.” He shook his head sadly. “Still though, our path forward is clear, don’t you think?”
“Enlighten us,” Bane said.
“Uniforms first. We could use a fashion makeover and it will be a good cover. Pick the rest of your team and we make sure that we can trust them. Then we start making it look like we’re slowly infiltrating the black market, as if we are casing the joint. We know they are probably looking for access to the shadow. So, we do what we can to protect it.”
“And after that?” Madison asked.
“You’re the psychic. You tell us,” Claude said.
She shook her head. “That’s just it. Every time I try to see how this will end or what will be the next step forward, I end up blank. It’s as if there is a block there and I don’t know how to see past it.”
“Well, then we’re stuck with plan B,” Bane said.
“What’s plan B?” Claude asked.
Bane shrugged. “We fucking wing it.”
Chapter Fifteen
Bane spent the rest of the day trying to pick out the rest of the team. It had to be people that they could trust. Claude, Madison for sure, and even his mother if it came to it, but he would do whatever he could to keep her out of this mess.
When Madison had brought up the topic of uniforms again, Claude had turned to him and said, “We should probably do the uniforms. Knowing Madison, they will end up having sparkles.”
“Hey,” she had said, “nothing wrong with a good sparkle.”
Bane had spent the morning with Claude working out what to wear and Madison went about recruiting other supernaturals that would be able to help. They had their Dryad, crystal ball and their Rook. They even had their Black Widow if it came to it. Madison said to leave everything to her and she would round up the team.
Bane had then spent the afternoon working on budget lists and spreadsheets. Claude had pointed out that they needed to have fake documentation of what they were doing, as the Clocktower watched everything. “Better to be safe than sorry.”
While Claude finished working on the uniforms, Bane had crunched numbers and written out their information statements. The governing body was really good at saying nothing with a lot more words than necessary. He just tried to write as flowery as he could. Bane knew that the higher-ups never read anything if it had too many words. It was just a fact of government life in the Clocktower.
His phone vibrated and Jackson’s photo appeared on the screen. Bane picked up. “Hey.”
“Hey yourself, handsome.”
At the sound of Jackson’s voice, warmth spread through Bane, filling him with a gorgeous heat that made Bane want Jackson more. “What are you doing?”
“Talking to you.” There was the sound of laughter in Jackson’s voice.
“Oh, right.” Bane could feel himself blushing and was thankful for the cubicle walls even though they were only half ones. Stupid office 3.0, Bane thought.
“I second that,” Madison said, from the other side of the cubicle wall.
“Hey, get the fuck out of my head,” Bane said.
“I’m sorry,” Jackson said.
“No, not you. Never you. You can be inside me as much as you want.”
“Oh gods, get a fucking room,” Madison said. “Some of us have to work, you know.”
“That sounds like a great idea,” Jackson said. “Are you busy tonight? If you’re not, I’d like to maybe pound the pavement and take you someplace special to me. If that’s okay?”
“I’d love to do some pounding with you,” Bane said, a hitch in his voice.
“For fuck’s sakes, Bane! Seriously?!” Madison said. “Don’t tell me that you can’t hear yourself when you’re speaking. Christ, Bane, think before you speak! You’re making me all hot and bothered and I’m not even gay.”
“I’m sorry,” Bane said.
“Why are you sorry? Gosh, you are cute.”
“No, not you. I think I’m turning Madison on.” Bane said, smiling despite himself.
Jackson let out a laugh. “Now that’s something I never thought I’d accomplish.”
“So do you still want to...pound some pavement?”
“Gods, yes.” Jackson replied.
“It’s a date, then.” Bane said.What time do you get off work?”
“I’m done in an hour,” Jackson said.
“I’ll see you in an hour. I’m looking forward to seeing you, Jackson.”
“So am I. Seeing you, that is.”
When Bane hung up the phone, Madison stood up and glared at him. “For fuck’s sakes, Bane. I hope you get some soon. Your smile is going to set off all the smoke alarms in the building and I’m pretty sure that you’re putting out enough heat to set off the sprinklers.”
With another curse, she sat back down at her cubicle. Bane’s smile widened.
“Stop doing that,” Madison said.
***
By the time Jackson showed up, Bane was positively vibrating.
There was just something about Jackson that thrilled Bane. He had never felt like this about a guy before. He hadn’t found anyone that he trusted enough in the past two years to let them see him naked.
As Jackson had already seen him nude, Bane figured there was nothing to be nervous about. However, Jackson made him want to take flight. There was a fire in his blood and Jackson was the spark. He wanted to kiss him again, to really truly kiss him and lose himself within Jackson completely.
When Bane saw Jackson walk towards him, Bane couldn’t contain his smile. He had planned to play it all cool, calm, and collected, but he nearly ran to Jackson, so desperate to be within his company. Bane had no idea who he was anymore, but he knew that he was better with Jackson.
When Jackson was in front of him, Bane didn’t stop running but nearly threw himself at Jackson, wrapping his arms around him and kissing him, trying to communicate everything that he couldn’t say with words into the kiss. He felt the stone move along his skin and harden, but he didn’t care, couldn’t care, as he only cared about kissing Jackson.
Jackson kissed him back just as passionately. There were no words because there was no need for them. Jackson ran his fingers through Bane’s hair, clutched at Bane in order to pull him closer, to feel all of him. He didn’t care if it was too soon, he only knew that it was not soon enough.
The kiss ended when they heard a loud wolf whistle. They broke apart to see Madison and Claude walking towards them. Bane knew that they both had wide smiles on their faces but didn’t even consider wiping them away as Madison and Claude came closer. He was happy, for fuck’s sake. And if felt good.
“Well, if it isn’t the love birds,” Madison said, with a smile of her own.
“Hey, Maddy,” Jackson said.
Bane looked at her. “Maddy?” He let out a laugh. “Seriously?”
“Shut up.”
“I would have gone with Madison, but Maddy is a close second. Or you could have just shortened it to Mad and called her what she really is.”
“I’m not mad all the time, Bane. Just with you. Always with you.”
“God, Mads, do you have to rag on me in front of my man?” Bane said.
Madison glared at him. “Don’t push me, Bane, or I’ll make sure you’ll be wearing a skirt in your uniform. We all know that Claude has no spine and will do what I say.”
“Hey...” Claude said. “I’m right here. I can hear you, you know.”
“Sorry, Claude,” Madison said.
Claude looked at Bane with something that looked like sadness. Whatever it was, he sure wasn’t happy about something. “You okay, Claude?”
“Me?” he said, his voice pitched too high. “Me? I’m fine, I think?” He shook his head. “I don’t know. I’ll finish the preliminary sketches tonight. You should have it tomorrow so that you can show them to Edwards.”
Claude shuffled away, looking dejected. Bane saw his shoulders slump. He cocked a thumb at Claude. “What’s with him?”
Madison looked at him as if he were stupid. “You really have no idea?”
“No.”
“Well, I’m not going to be the one to tell you.” Madison gave Jackson a knowing look and a wide smile. “You make sure to have Bane back in one piece, okay?”
“Sure thing, Maddy. It’s good to see you.”
“Always a pleasure.” She gave a little finger wave and walked away.
Jackson turned back to him and Bane thought that his heart would leap out of his chest. “Hey,” Bane said
“Hey.” Jackson came closer. “So, I had an idea.”
“Ideas are good.”
“Yes, they are. I was thinking I could take you someplace.”
“Did you have somewhere in mind?”
“I did, as it happens.”
“Good, but I can’t go too late. I have to check up on my mother, make sure she’s okay.”
“I promise to have you home soon. I just want to take you someplace special.”
“Yeah? Where?”
“My place.”
Bane’s heart began to beat a little faster and Bane was sure that he had begun to float, even though the stone markings had still not faded from his skin.
***
They walked into an area of town that Bane was unfamiliar with.
They had left his work and turned down a street that he did know but had gone farther down it than he ever had before. Bane had had no reason to go down this way or to walk so far down this road. He remembered his mother when he was younger telling him to avoid Callaway Road if at all possible and to only go down it to Hillside Avenue and Callaway and then turn back, not to go any farther.
Now, here he was, almost twenty years older and he felt as if he were breaking some unknown rule. As they walked farther, even the houses changed. They were rundown and looked as if they were falling apart. The houses for supernaturals were built to last usually due to their outbursts of magic. Here, everything looked as if it hadn’t been kept up in years, as if the houses surrounding him had been built on foundations that were already falling apart.
“How can you live like this?” Bane asked, quietly.
“Live like what?” Jackson said, smiling. “Happily?”
Indeed, as Bane looked around, he saw all kinds of people talking to each other and there was musical laughter in the air. He saw kids playing with each other, couples talking to one another looking content in the fading light of dusk. Everything looked as if it were covered by a soft hue of light and Bane wondered what kind of spell was being used to produce that before he realized that he was in what was known as the “Mortal Zone.”
He stopped and Jackson turned back to look at him. “It’s okay, Bane.”
“I shouldn’t be here. I really shouldn’t be here.”
“It’s okay. Just come on.”
“No, you don’t understand. Mortals don’t like supernaturals, we have all the magic while you have nothing. They resent us for what we have and what they don’t.”
“Bane, I have everything because I have you.”
“But you’re not like other mortals. You’re beyond mortal. You’re not like the rest of them.”
“We’re just like everyone else. I’m not unique among my people. Look.” Jackson pointed at the people talking and walking in the streets. “Just look, really look at them, Bane.”
Bane did and looked again at the people around him. He saw a young girl who had a woman following her, reaching out to hold her hand, but the woman was made of gossamer and smoke, more spirit than human. There was a woman who, when she laughed, the notes rang out in the air around her, brightening the outlooks and the moods of those around her. There was a man who was telling a story to one of his friends and Bane watched as the story came to life around the man, almost as if he were a magician and was able to cast spells in the very air itself.
“I don’t understand,” Bane whispered while inside he was screaming. “How is any of this possible?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, you’re all mortals. None of this should be possible. There are only a handful of different supernatural races and mortals don’t have magic. I’ve been told this since I was young enough to walk and talk.”
“There are all kinds of magic in the world. The world isn’t so black and white, Bane.”
“Why did you bring me here? I could get into so much trouble here; I shouldn’t be here. If the mortals find out who I am, what I am, they will want my magic, they will try to take it from me like they did in the olden days...”
“Hey, hey now.” Jackson embraced him and held him close. Just the feel of his body centred Bane, grounding him and made all the thoughts he was having subside. Bane just wanted to lose himself in Jackson.
“Sorry,” Bane said. “It’s hard to turn off the programming, you know?”
“Yeah, I get it.”
“Why did you bring me here?”
“Why not? I wanted to show you where I live and take you to my place so you could see me naked in my bedroom. That way, we’re even.”
“Oh!” Bane felt a blush flowing into his cheeks and the stone began to move along his skin. He could feel it and, rather than be disgusted by it or turned off by it, by how much he hated his body this way, he welcomed it. The stone almost seemed to purr in response. “Okay.” Jackson took his hand and they walked on.
As they walked down more steps, turned down other roads, Bane began to notice the other people more. They called out to Jackson, all of them greeting him like family or the best of friends. There were a few that merely waved to him, but all of them acknowledged Jackson and all of them acknowledged Bane in turn.
He felt that there was a mark on him, marking him as a supernatural, even an unknown one and thought that that made him stand out, made him a target. Bane had thought that mortals hated supernaturals. Bane knew that everyone knew he was a supernatural, due to the stone markings that covered his skin. They knew that he was anything but human, that he wasn’t a mortal. However, no one looked at him in fear and no one looked at their clasped hands in shock or horror. They all greeted him the same way that they greeted Jackson.
Jackson turned to look at him. “What are you thinking? I hear a jumble of things going on in that head of yours. I’m trying my best not to listen in, but it’s difficult. You’re talking very loudly.”
Bane shook his head. “I’m sorry.”
“Why are you always apologizing? You have nothing to be sorry for.” Jackson stopped and raised Bane’s hand to his mouth and kissed the palm. “Nothing.”
“It’s just no one here is afraid of me. We’re always told that mortals want to take our magic, that they resent us for having it all.”
“And yet, if you look around, you’ll notice that even though we aren’t tagged or catalogued, we have magic of our own.”
“They’re all like you,” Bane said, shivering as Jackson’s lips made contact with Bane’s palm once again.
“And like you,” Jackson said. “Now, can we keep walking? If I don’t get you naked and under me or naked and on top of me, I’m going to be fit to burst.”
The stone along his skin throbbed visibly. “Sure,” Bane said, swallowing thickly. “Okay.”
Chapter Sixteen
They walked faster.
Jackson helped with the speed a little by teleporting them a few blocks at a time when no one else was looking. That was a good thing as walking was rather difficult for Bane to do as he was rather constricted in his jeans. He tried to focus on other things, such as the shade of light that filtered through the trees, or the sounds of people talking that were like music in the air. The way the wind felt against his face and neck, the way that Jackson’s hand felt in his.
Fuck, he was so gone for him. Life was more beautiful when you were in love and Bane had to admit that he was in love with Jackson. There was just something about Jackson that pulled at him. Bane thought momentarily of Myko’s involvement, of playing the gods and bringing them together. Bane had to hope that Jackson and him would have met regardless. It felt like they were destined, outside involvement be damned.
“You’re thinking too loud again,” Jackson said. “I can tune into your thoughts without even having to listen in. It’s like you’re broadcasting radio.”
