Bloodfire Awakening Read online

  Oh, goodness. New thought!

  “Can’t we just wear something atrocious?” Kiz asked, switching back to Tibutani. Taking his braid into his hands, he began pulling on it till he felt it pull at his scalp. “Like—um…?”

  Koro paused mid-hack with a smile. “Fuck, you’re a genius.”

  Kiz smiled at finally saying the right thing in front of his brother. That had to have been the nicest thing Koro had ever said to him.

  “Stop smiling and go ask Haloka if she has two carotis.”

  Carotis? Kiz thought. It was a dress female Tibutanians wore when they were executed for outliving their male mate. Thinking of its effect it would have on an Earth creature became hazy. Why would the dress detour a male if he were truly aroused?

  Knowing Koro had more knowledge about earthlings, Kiz nodded his head in submission. Turning to leave, he almost made it to the door when he spotted a small plastic bag on the ground. Bending to pick it up, he turned it at all angles, watching the little sea salt-like rocks inside move with gravity.

  Heading back into the bathroom, Kiz began, “Korozia, is this yours?” He held it out. “What is it?”

  For a split second, Koro looked horrified. Then his normal glare locked into place. Snatching the little baggie, he snapped, “It’s nothing. Mind your own fucking business.”

  Jerking away in fear, Kiz fled quickly without another word.

  Once in the hall, he breathed raggedly as he looked both ways. Kiz’s body seized at the sight of Zain walking toward him.

  Shoving away from the wall, Kiz inched toward the Andarian who walked down the hall like he owned it. As they neared each other, Kiz licked his lips, wondering if today was the day the guy finally noticed him. Kiz had been fascinated by Zain for months. But it still ate at him that Zain didn’t seem to know Kiz’s name. He always called Kiz by his brother’s name. It hurt, but what did he expect from his mousy demeanor? He knew he wasn’t exactly the life of the party, but the guy could at least get his name right.

  Having long known he wasn’t attractive, and having come from a planet where homosexuality was a crime punishable by death, Kiz felt uncomfortable asserting who he was. Life seemed too precious to risk asking a male out on a date when at any minute his home-world government could show up and kill him for just having homoerotic fantasies.

  Kiz had always dreamed about his first lover. And he knew he’d only surrender his virginity for his mate. But the odds of finding him had to be near zilch considering he wasn’t on his home planet.

  And besides, he wasn’t even sure his mate could be male. Why would fate partner him with a man if his people condemned it?

  Even with the odds stacked against him, Kiz had had thousands of dreams starring various men he’d either seen from a distance while working at the bar or on TV. Over the last few months, his dream-lover had been Zain. He was large, strong, and if someone ever threatened their love, Kiz knew Zain would rescue him.

  An image of Zain’s powerful body pressed up against his made Kiz swoon. He’d seen the larger male on several occasions in the bar with a guy on his lap. Kiz envisioned himself snuggled up to the doctor in the same way.

  A smile slowly began to form on his face as he imagined Zain stopping him to talk. But just as usual, the butterfly sensation in Kiz’s stomach grew, sweat began to bead on his upper lip, he shuffled his feet…

  Their eyes locked…

  Zain jerked his head once in hello as he walked past. Kiz didn’t even have time to return the gesture.

  He made himself take ten more steps before he stopped to look back. Watching the beast of a man, Kiz raised his palm over his mouth as he shouted in his head, I should have said something!

  And then like always, he added, Next time…

  Chapter Two

  Raph jerked awake, gasping for air as someone pinched his nose closed.

  Knocking Kippy’s hand aside, he lunged, ready to rip the little guy’s tonsils out. Careful to keep the sheet tightly around his hips, he snarled just as the tiny god jumped out of his reach, “I told you to stop doing that!”

  Kippy glared at him and said, “Get ready. We’re gonna to be late.”

  Raph hesitated. Kippy knew Raph’s powers were limited, and if Raph hadn’t know that Kippy’s powers were on lockdown too, he’d assume the little goth brat was the one behind his glitchy mind.

  But even though Kippy was innocent, Raph still felt the need to smack the mocking look off his roommate’s face

  “You made it so Othiah could call me.”

  Kippy’s black lips curved into a smirk. “Actually, I didn’t. But I’ll take the blame.” He paused to stick out his tongue between his black lips. “Now get ready.”

  Raph growled. “Go away.” He glanced at his clock. “I’ve got—”

  “Five minutes till it’s time to leave,” Kippy said in a mocking tone.

  Raph’s lip twitched in irritation. Omniscient roommates were hard to come by—Raph had no clue how he’d been so lucky.

  Kippy had come to Raph knowing he was a Fallen Archangel. They’d struck up a deal. Kippy would get him on the Isherai council as the leader of the fallen angels in exchange for Raph protecting Kippy from the wrath of the Greek Goddess Hera, after Kippy had fooled around with her husband, Zeus.

  Now they lived in Kippy’s ridiculous castle on an island Raph couldn’t pinpoint on a map even if he’d had all his powers. It was off grid, Kippy’s private domain. Raph wouldn’t even be surprised if it was a realm Kippy had made when his powers had been on full blast.

  Raph sat up, quick to manifest clothes on his body. The suit that shaped to him came from his own personal closet. He couldn’t make material objects, like gods, from nothing. He had to have the items he manifested in a spot he knew so he could call it to him when it was needed. He couldn’t make something from nothing. If one could, they’d be stealing it from someone who did possess it.

  Raph pushed aside his blankets. “May I have some privacy?”

  Kippy snorted and said lustily, “Oh, come on, baby. Once upon a time you let me see your ass. Why are you so shy about it now?”

  “I’ve never shown you my ass intentionally,” he said, breathing deeply for calm. “You just always seem to walk in at the inopportune moments.”

  “Potato, potato,” Kippy said, pronouncing the two words the same. There wasn’t even a change in inflection.

  Walking to the bathroom, he closed the door behind him, wondering what Kippy’s parents must have done to damage the guy so badly.

  Standing in the bathroom, staring at the wall, he waited till he heard the door to his bedroom slam shut before walking back in.

  As he sighed in relief at his now empty room, his eyes fell to his mattress and the ridiculous outfit draped over the twisted sheets. Cursing inwardly, he knew from experience that he had to wear what Kippy left for him. Either obey or end up with your clothes being dissolved off your body, leaving you nude in front of everyone.

  Quickly putting on the ridiculous getup, he walked out of his room into the hall. Kippy wolf whistled from the stone wall across from Raph’s room. “All right, sexy. Let’s go.”

  Manifesting himself to the shadows outside of Hell’s Mouth—on the human side—Kippy appeared next to him. “You as excited as I am?”

  “Why would I be excited?”

  Kippy laughed. “That ass didn’t tell you?”

  “Tell me what?” Raph walked across the street when it was clear.

  “I’m not telling.”

  Breathe in…breathe out… He knew he wouldn’t get another word out of Kippy. But what he knew now was that people who didn’t normally team up were now in cahoots. Raph feared he was about to become a marionette puppet with insane gods holding his strings.

  As he stalked down the side entrance for quick access to Hell’s Mouth, the dark hall that had been enchanted by sorcerers to repel humans left even Raph’s head hazy.

  When he came to an intimidating, elephant-ear door,
a metal peephole slid aside. A yellow eye locked on his as a deep male voice said, “Raphael?”

  It unsettled Raph that the guard knew him when he knew nothing about the guard.

  “Yes.” He raised his chin. Turning to ask Kippy a question, Raph cursed when he saw nothing but a rippling, black vapor.

  When the door opened, Raph paused when he found Salem—the ever knowing, intrusive god—staring up at him with an impish smile.

  Not giving Salem time to talk, he barked, “Where’s Othiah?”

  “Othiah?” Salem said innocently. Then a devilish grin appeared. “He’s in the Tiki Lounge.” At Raph’s silence, Salem rolled his eyes, adding, “Otho renamed the employee bar.”

  Salem sported a smug expression a few seconds before he disappeared.

  Raph closed his eyes. He’d been to Hell’s Mouth before, but he hadn’t committed the layout to memory. And now with his powers on the fritz, he found he couldn’t even space jump into the portal room like he’d done the last few times.

  Tapping into his limited powers, he tried to call a map to his head when someone tapped on his shoulder.

  Head jerking to the guard, Raph shot the man a dirty look. It didn’t seem to affect the guy. “The bar is that way.” The stranger returned Raph’s dirty look. “Do you need a tour guide?”

  Raph managed to hold back. Now wasn’t the time for a brawl. And he knew if he picked a fight with the yellow-eyed male—the tell of a hellhound—he’d have about fifty of Otho Kapara’s hellhound legion who’d like to “play.”

  Turning away, Raph pounded down the hall into what he knew had to be the Tiki Lounge.

  As he entered the room, Raph’s eyelid twitched. The last time he’d seen the bar it had resembled a diner from the nineteen-eighties. All padded pink booths and Formica tabletops with “chrome” edging. It had even been complete with black and white tiled flooring.

  Now it resembled an over-the-top, tacky tourist bar from Hawaii. It was a flash of color and hula grass adorned with coconuts. The tile flooring had even been redone into wooden slats.

  The bar was private. It was for residents of Hell’s Mouth who didn’t want to socialize with either humans or others of their ilk. Most didn’t know there were three bars in Hell’s Mouth. One side was connected to Kensington Falls, a small human city in California. The second bar was connected to the Htrae Realm—a mirror image of Earth created by magic users. And now the third had been redubbed the Tiki Lounge.

  Spotting Salem and Kippy hovering in the corner next to a wall table, Raph spied Othiah last.

  “I’m here, Othiah,” Raph said, pausing a good distance from his brother. He didn’t want to stand too close, fearing his brother’s stupidity might be infectious.

  “Yes, you are,” the other fallen angel said, not even looking up from the paper he seemed to be doodling on. Then in a feminine voice, Othiah said, “But I’m afraid you’re a minute too late.” His brother glanced over, batting his eyelashes and finished with, “I’m afraid we just gave our last purse full of this year’s hottest beauty samples to the man before you. Try again next year.”

  Raph watched, unamused, as Othiah slid the piece of paper over to Kippy, who leaned over and scribbled something on it.

  Othiah glanced at it and then back up Kippy with a splitting grin as he enunciated, “Kipper—Gragus—Letaboo?”

  “Fuck you,” Kippy said as he took a seat, pulling his legs up to his chest, resting the soles of his platform boots on the cushioned chair. “So where is he?”

  Completely pissed by the fact he was being left out of the loop, Raph barked, “All right, what in hell is going on? What are you all up to?”

  “I’ve just become a patron saint,” Kippy said, playing with one of his dimple piercing on the inside of his mouth. The ball pulled on his cheek, making his pale face look gaunt. “Now you sign.”

  “No,” he snapped. “I will never sign that paper.”

  “Oh,” Othiah breathed in an ominous tone. “You shall. Either sign or I’ll never leave you alone again.”

  “I’m mad right now. If you piss me off, I’ll have no compunction about removing your tongue.”

  In a matter of seconds, Othiah began to release crocodile tears. “But I use that to give head!”

  Ignoring the moron, Kippy tossed the pen at Raph. “Just sign the contract.”

  He caught the pen, looked at it, and then threw it back at Kippy, hitting him in the forehead.

  “What the fuck!” Kippy spat as he jumped on his seat to be above eye level with Raph. “Take that fucking stick out of your ass. You’re not an Archangel anymore, Raph! You need to stop the whole I’m above this shit.”

  I’d sign it, too, if I were you.

  Raph growled at the sound of Salem’s voice in his head.

  Stay out of my brain, he said back to Salem as he slammed down the barrier he’d so carelessly left open.

  Salem wisely kept to himself mentally but said aloud, “Oh, here’s one of them.”

  Turning to see what had captivated everyone, Raph found a man—who had to be near seven feet tall—stalk up, looking like he’d just come from the cancer ward of a hospital. He was not only bald but had a frail frame. His cheeks were sunken, his jaw too angular. Sweat beads glistened on his brow as a peculiar, pungent order assaulted Raph’s nostrils.

  Knowing the guy was on something, Raph’s potential respect for the male dissolved. A normal being might have felt pity. Raph only felt disgust.

  “Hello,” the man said, pasting a fake smile on his face that made Raph want to slap it off. The guy was out of it. “Am I too early?”

  “Where’s Kiz?” Othiah asked, still clenching the piece of paper Kippy had signed as if it were the original manuscript of the Calium, the true testament of how Earth and its different realms and species were created.

  “Oh, Kiz is late for everything,” the drugged-out male said, sliding up to Raph to grab a hold of his arm. “Is this the earthman?”

  Frowning at the choice of words, Raph figured the newcomer wasn’t “local.”

  “Fine, I’ll ask nicely,” Raph said, removing the alien’s hand from his arm. “Will someone please tell me what is happening?”

  “I will,” Othiah said, now petting the contract. “But it’ll cost you a signature.”

  Raph didn’t find Othiah funny as the others around him appeared. Raph grew even more angered when he noticed Othiah had pressed his cheek up against the contract with his eyes closed. Raph had to ask seriously, knowing his brother, “Do you two need a private room?”

  Othiah stood up and began to take his three-sizes-too-big shirt off over his head. “Nah, I think we’ll fuck right here with an audience.” Once the shirt was off, Othiah looked at Raph with a knowing smirk and said, “You know how much I love to screw in public.”

  Raph’s eyes went momentarily to the fading, white stretch marks on the demon’s stomach, then back at the guy’s face, sure to keep his expression passive. There was no way he’d let his disturbed brother and his promiscuous history get a rise out of him. But the fact he’d seen Othiah’s ass more than any one of his lovers’ was one of the most disturbing things floating around in his head.

  “Otho,” Salem said, snapping Raph from his thoughts. “Put your dick away. Kiz is here.”

  Ignoring the new person who’d arrived, Raph focused on Salem since he was no doubt the ring leader. He was far more powerful than Raph, as well as everyone else at the table. He knew Salem liked to tinker in the affairs of others. He was certain Salem was the one tempering his powers.

  Peeking at Salem, he found the god staring at him devilishly. Is it you? he questioned.

  When Salem shrugged, Raph turned back to Othiah, who’d stripped down to nothing and now danced with the stupid document—no doubt just to piss off Raph.

  Turning back, he growled, “Salem,” as the alien at his side began to rub against him unabashedly. He even went as far as to grab Raph’s arm and pull it around his waist.

/>   Hearing someone gasp, Raph turned, ready to tell the new arrival to kick rocks.

  Raph froze in shock. Time didn’t cease to exist, but Raph felt if he so much as breathed the entire galaxy might implode. He felt inferior in every way at the sight of the ethereal being. The male was too perfect in Raph’s eyes, and he feared that if they talked, he’d find fault in the man. Raph didn’t want that to happen.

  He raised a hand to touch the beautiful stranger. He would have believed it if the perfect man had come straight out of an oil painting. He was the perfect depiction of an angel in a white gown descending from above. Raph’s heart fluttered, certain the creature must have come to take him home. To where Raphael really belonged.

  Where I belong… Raph shook his head at his slightly muddled thoughts. For some reason he couldn’t remember where exactly it was he should be. In Elysium? The Abyss? Raph didn’t care, just so long as the heavenly one, who’d come to save him, was permanently by his side.

  But seeing the creature’s eyes flash a hypnotic orange, he felt confusion blossom. He then marveled that there was no way the guy could be from Elysium. Every one of the angelic race was born with violet irises. Raph’s hope for the future elevated to new heights when he realized the guy wasn’t one of his thousands of brothers—even though those made in Elysium weren’t blood related or connected in any way.

  He could be mine for forever…

  Raph felt he could stand there for all time with those orange eyes locked on him. But when they started to flip wildly between Raph and the leech on his arm, he jerked forcefully to shake the tweaker off him. He knew that if the guy had ruined his chances with his perfect male he’d nail the scumbag to the wall.

  Hearing another sob from his mesmerizing angel, Raph turned, frightened at finding the guy running across the room toward the exit, his gown flapping around his ankles.

  Raph stood there, perplexed. Then without a thought he gave chase. When he was sling shot back into the baldheaded alien’s arms, Raph snarled up at the guy.

  Raph backpedaled when he found the same orange eyes that resembled his perfect being, only dilated and slightly rheumy. “Let go of me,” he said in a deadly tone.