The Vampire's War, page 20
“I like you in your underwear.” Charon smiled.
“I think I was drugged.” Jaret wanted to figure out what had happened and to dodge the sexual tension with Charon.
“You were drugged. By Styx.”
Jaret relaxed a little and moved to sit with his legs crossed on the bed but both hands covering his junk. “Not cool.”
Charon nodded. “Not cool. But I saved you.”
Jaret smiled. “Very chivalrous. I can’t believe you didn’t take advantage of me.”’
Charon’s face fell, and he leaned over, taking Jaret’s clothes and throwing them at him. “You can hide your boner better in these.”
Jaret grabbed Charon’s forearm as he started to get up. “I was kidding. I appreciate the rescue, more than you can imagine. And I calmed down and fell asleep last night because you held me. I felt safe.”
Charon eased back onto the bed, the gleam in his eye returning. “You felt wonderful next to me. I mean, I had a raging boner when I pressed against your ass. Lucky for you I don’t fuck sleeping men. That hurt, you know.”
“A bad joke.”
“Well, you’re welcome for the save. He captured you to get my attention.”
“How do you know?” Jaret asked.
“This.” Charon waved his hands in front of himself and a magical image of Styx, about one foot tall, appeared before him and spoke. “I don’t trust my agreement with you, Charon. I’m taking something precious from you as a warning. You’ll see my power and agree to join me. If you can figure out what I’m stealing.”
“How’d you figure out he took me? And where to find us?”
“My boys have remained at the castle where I can protect them. There’s nothing out there I care about,” Charon waved a hand in the air to indicate the rest of the world. “Outside these walls and the vampires within them, I really know only you. Styx has seen us together, so I assumed he targeted you.”
Jaret grinned. “So I mean something to you?”
Charon smirked and squinted at Jaret. “I think we can presume a friendship.”
“I like to think so. But this sounds more like you’re enchanted with me.”
Charon barked a laugh. “With your ass.”
Charon’s nude presence intoxicated Jaret. His sparkling eyes. His muscles. And the fact he had saved Jaret the previous night, then held him in bed without making a move. Jaret felt stupid, sitting on the comforter and smiling like a teenaged, star-crossed lover.
Charon reached around Jaret and grabbed the back of his head to smash their lips even tighter together as Jaret latched both his hands around Charon’s huge biceps and scooted closer until his knees pressed against Charon’s enormous thigh.
They kissed, as if sucking the very air out of the room to merge themselves together. Beside himself with passion, Jaret ran one hand down Charon’s rock-hard chest, over his belly button, and then held his throbbing dick in his hand, swirling the precome around the tip with his thumb.
Jaret pinched the precome between his fingers and pulled away from the kiss so he could lick the sweet substance. At the same time, Charon reached over and ripped off Jaret’s underwear, cupped Jaret’s balls in one hand, and pushed his other hand between Jaret’s ass and the mattress, while his finger probed Jaret’s anus.
Jaret was arching his back in pleasure when Darth leapt onto the bed and wagged her tail at him. Jaret laughed and pushed himself toward the headboard and away from Charon. Though he did miss Charon’s finger in his ass. “You saved Darth too!” Jaret exclaimed.
“Are you fucking kidding me!” Charon shouted. “Cockblocked by a dog! I should have left her in Estes instead of having Jordan go get her for you.”
“She saved us from a big mistake.”
“A mistake!” Charon pointed to his cock. “We can’t leave him like this! I had you! You want me. You know it. And I want you. You overcame your shit so we could do the deed and release the tension between us! Please let’s finish.” Charon flopped onto his stomach and squirmed over to Jaret, licking along Jaret’s thigh and fumbling to hold Jaret’s continued erection.
Jaret laughed and pushed Charon’s hands away. “No. Too close for comfort. For the love of God, there’s a war going on. We can’t spend our time fucking.”
Charon sat up. “People fuck during war.”
“Not a good idea.”
“To take our minds off the problem. A little bliss and we’ll be able to concentrate better. How can we plan anything when our mind thinks of nothing but coming?”
Jaret hurried off the bed and started dressing, feeling embarrassed when he leaned over to pull on his jeans. He had no underwear because they lay shredded on the floor. He could feel Charon drooling from behind him as he watched.
“Oh, sweet Jesus, I could come from just one look at your hole.”
Jaret spun around, pulled his shirt over his head, then rushed to a dresser and yanked out shorts and a shirt for Charon. “Put these on and meet me somewhere else.”
“Where?” Charon asked.
“Anywhere but your bedroom,” Jaret answered as he whistled for Darth and exited the room. He wandered the hall for a minute.
Charon emerged from his room, grinning. “I took my time so my hard-on would go down.”
Jaret laughed. “You jacked off.”
“I jacked off!” Charon burst into laughter. “You’re so fucking hot. Please promise to finish what we started sometime. Please. I’m not used to being denied.”
“Denial is good for you. Besides, we have work to do.”
“I agree.” Charon’s face fell. “Styx pushed me over the edge last night. We’ve got to figure out our next move. He’s done playing around. But I have news of my own to add.”
“What?” Jaret asked.
“Follow me.” Charon led them through the castle. Jaret ignored any attempt to remember where they went, how many stairs they climbed or descended, or otherwise to learn the labyrinth of the underground dwelling. He tailed Charon like a good puppy while Darth stayed close to his side.
They entered an elaborate room, one of what felt like hundreds in the castle, again making Jaret feel as if he was transported to another realm altogether. “So you have a wine bar.” Jaret admired the walls of wine refrigerators, every shelf full of bottles, and the tasteful décor of wine barrel stools, tables, and a center bar full of every type of wine glass imaginable.
“Yeah.” Charon grinned. “Brian took charge of this room. He’s my boy from Sonoma. I thought he was mostly a fried-out pothead when I converted him. Sweet as hell. But I didn’t feel like he had much going on up here.” Charon pointed to his head. “Turns out he was studying to become a sommelier and knows a shit ton about wine. I developed an affinity for the high-end stuff myself, so he created this little slice of nirvana.”
Jaret took a seat at the bar. “I’m not very knowledgeable about wine.”
Charon uncorked a bottle, searched around for specific glasses, and poured them each a generous share. “Everyone has to start somewhere. I can teach you.”
“So you can get me shit-faced and take advantage of me?” Jaret tilted his head.
“Are you making another allegation?” Charon handed Jaret a glass and clinked them together in a toast, despite the edge to his question. He also smirked.
“No. But alcohol lowers my inhibitions. Makes me horny.”
Charon narrowed his eyes. “More flirting to give me blue balls. My turn to distract you. I communicated with Styx this evening, before you woke. Told him I’d join him. I made him promise to let me be alone after we won and do my own thing. He agreed, even though I knew he was lying through his fucking teeth. I was working toward getting him to meet with me, hinting we should get together. But first he suggested he wanted to show me something.”
Jaret swallowed a drink of wine. “Nice.”
“The wine or my efforts?”
“Both. Good wine. And I appreciate your joining us against Styx. We have to get him to Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. I studied a lot of places, many with potential. Notre Dame will be perfect. Its powerful and haunted, full of good and bad energy. Everything we need in the ancient dwelling. Can you get him there?”
Charon nodded. “He asked me to pick the place.”
“Do you worry this is too easy? You think he’s on to us?”
“Sometimes.” Charon shrugged. “Styx, though, I think he trusts me. Yeah, we need to be ready for shenanigans, for sure. But I can sense when he’s up to something. He believes he and I have a special connection.”
“Great. Then arrange the meeting.”
“What about the Council?”
“What about them?” Jaret asked.
“Don’t we need them involved? I thought we agreed.”
Jaret nodded. “Definitely. But they’re on their own schedule and won’t take orders. Who the fuck knows what they’re doing?”
The two vampires sipped their wine in silence for a couple minutes. Jaret did enjoy good wine and thought maybe he would take Charon up on the offer of lessons. “You’re right. I want you to teach me.”
“Great!” Charon smiled. “Rip off your clothes, hop on the counter, and give me a doggy style pose. First lesson in enjoying sex is to let go.”
Jaret shrieked a laugh. “No! Lessons about wine!”
Charon scrunched his face into a grimace. “I had to try.”
“You always think you have to try. I’d better go before this charade starts again. Let me know when and where to meet Styx.” Jaret got up and started for the door. “Oh, I need you to show me the way out of the castle.”
As they walked through the halls, a magic sphere materialized in front of Charon.
“What is it?” Jaret asked.
“You better get your swim on. We gotta get to Paris to meet Styx outside the Louvre on St. Patrick’s Day.”
“Fast. Three nights away. He’s not fucking around. You think St. Patrick’s Day has significance?”
“He told me I could pick the location, but he was choosing the time. We better go with his day. And with him, nothing is ever as random as he wants you to believe. He’ll at least want to drink green beer.”
“Maybe we should go tomorrow. Run and swim to get there fast.”
Charon nodded. “Okay. Do we need anything?”
Jaret shook his head. “If we go tomorrow, we’ll have time to take what’s on our backs and then buy or steal shit in Paris. Anthony has a flat we can use.”
“Of course he does.” Charon rolled his eyes.
“Well, he did. I don’t know how inheritance works with vampires. Maybe I got everything, maybe it’s gone.” Jaret held back the gulp in his throat at the memory of Anthony.
He took two steps forward when Charon grabbed his arm and spun him around, pulling him into a hug. With Jaret’s face pressed into his chest, Charon kissed the top of his head.
Jaret wiped at the blood tear in the corner of his eye after he pushed away. “Sweet and affectionate Charon confuses me.”
Charon grinned and tapped Jaret on the nose. “Good.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Zombies in Paris
17 MARCH 2019
Paris, France
Jaret and Charon had arrived in Paris a couple nights after the kidnapping. They traveled together along with Darth and Charon’s entire harem. At first Jaret objected to Charon’s boys coming along, but Charon worried about leaving them too far away and vulnerable. Besides, Charon argued, they could help in the war and then added the caveat that if Jaret could bring a dog, he could bring his people.
In Paris, they found Anthony’s flat vacant of humans but otherwise prepared for a visit, complete with an underground crypt large enough to house everyone while they slept through the day. They spent their first night buying clothes and other provisions. On the second night, while Charon and the boys went out partying, Jaret remained in the house with Darth to read.
Though Styx had scheduled their next meeting for the seventeenth, the evening arrived with no communication or news from him. Jordan convinced Charon to take the gang on a tour of Paris while they waited. Jaret declined to join them and looked forward to more solitude while waiting for Styx’s next move.
After watching one of his favorite movies, V for Vendetta, Jaret decided to take in a sitcom since it would be short. He was scrolling through a list of options on an online service when he heard commotion from the entryway on the floor below, followed by Charon screaming for him. “Jaret! Come down here this minute! I have news!”
Jaret patted Darth on the head. “I don’t suppose they’ll go away if we just ignore them?” She tilted her head.
“Jaret!” Charon bellowed.
Jaret got up, straightened his clothes, and sauntered downstairs. “We’re all vampires. I could hear you coming from miles away. You don’t need to scream.”
“Would you have come if I asked in a casual way? I was communicating urgency.” Charon stood rigid in front of his army of gay vampires.
“And so I stand before you.” Jaret bowed with great drama. “What news do you bring of the outside world?”
Charon’s face lit into a slight grin. “I enjoy how you make even the most serious circumstances funny. I believe Styx decided to toy with me. I don’t know if he’s testing me, threatening me, or he could be playing some stupid game to amuse himself. Whatever the reason, he created an army of at least fifty of those zombie fuckers on the outskirts of Paris. Styx sent one to me with a request to follow the zombie. So we did, leaving a lovely little club I might add, and the zombie showed us the bizarre army camped out in a field. Styx’s dead people sat around campfires like Napoleon’s army awaiting their next orders. None moved or even looked in our direction. No one would talk. Nothing. Nada. Styx never appeared either. I didn’t even sense the presence of a nonzombie vampire.”
“Matches his general insanity,” Jaret observed. “If you don’t know what he’s up to, I doubt I can add much.”
Charon nodded. “But explaining to you what I saw helped me think. You and I know, as does the Council, the beasts he transforms have no capability to threaten us. We mowed them down with ease. Even at fifty strong, I could wipe them out alone. He’s not creating an army for the war.”
“Why then? Who’s he testing?”
“The million-dollar question.” Charon nodded. “We can eliminate his sending a message to the Council. Those four could annihilate the army with the flick of a magical wrist without even coming to Paris.”
“So he’s not testing the Council, which leaves either you or me.”
“Or both.” Charon turned around to face his men. “I want you to stay here. I warded the place and will monitor your safety from afar. No going out. Hear me? Fuck each other tonight instead of finding strangers.”
As the men disbanded, chattering about what to do, Charon stepped toward Jaret. “I got it. He wants to know if we’re together.”
“Why?” Jaret asked.
“To see if we’re allies or if we have a secret affiliation with the Council. He had figured out you meant something to me, and my saving you exposed the truth. He wants more intelligence on us.”
Jaret’s heart fluttered at the thought of Charon saving him, that his action even brought Styx’s attention to Charon’s feelings for Jaret. “So what do we do?” Jaret asked.
“Styx knows you’ll kill the zombies. If I participate, he’ll know we’re working together. I say we call his bluff. You go wipe out his latest soldiers and I’ll show up after you finish. I can protect you if he attacks.”
“Won’t he realize we came to France together?”
Charon shrugged. “Maybe. He wants to see us and offered the bait.”
“In most movies, the action heroes don’t take the bait like fools without a plan.” Jaret laughed.
“Most action heroes aren’t as charming and adept on their feet as you and me.”
Jaret roared. “I’m sure you nailed the perfect approach to him! We’ll fly by the seat of our pants and pray to the vampire gods we figure out a solution in the middle of a cluster fuck!”
They laughed as they left the house.
They arrived in a field outside Paris full of dead humans transformed into Stormtrooper obedient vampire beings.
Charon backed away into a nearby cluster of trees as Jaret moved into action. With vampiric speed, he moved through the campfire clusters and murdered the zombies. Some he killed with physical force, some with magic, and tiring of the macabre scene he threw up his magical jewels and sent them ahead to blow up the campfires and alight the zombies to their death. In minutes, Jaret had annihilated them and walked out of the carnage. He enchanted a spell and watched his gems swirl into the night sky to create a rainbow of streaking light as every remnant of the dead souls disappeared from the field.
Having sensed Styx arrive at the edge of the field, Jaret ambled toward him and stood a few feet away. “Did you ever notice in Star Wars how easy it was for the rebels to mow down Stormtroopers?” Jaret asked Styx. “Those clones, or I guess in the latest movie, stolen babies, represented the Empire’s extreme power. But Stormtroopers fall like ants being stomped on by a three-year-old.” Jaret tilted his head and smiled at Styx. “I’ll give you a flare for being an evil genius. You forced me to execute innocent people. Otherwise, you seem like the Emperor with huge amounts of power but dumb ideas and an ineffective army.”
Styx chuckled. “I’m so much hotter than the Emperor.”
“Not if you peer inside your soul.”
“Nice to see you too.” Styx smiled. “I think you know I have more than simple carnage in mind. Oh Charon, you can come out of hiding behind the tree. As if I didn’t spot you from the beginning. I anticipated you’d be here.”
Charon wasted no time in coming to stand with them. “Can we not play games?” Charon asked Styx. “You forget I know how weird you get. Remember all the theatrics you created in the game to transform me? You attempt to distract with your crazy but your act gets stale. Like moldy bread.”
