Chapter 10

Ten

T he following afternoon, Bryn left Everly in Arawn and Merlin's care, claiming he needed to blow off steam and set off for a short run to the university. It wasn't difficult to find the Anthropology Department and Nox's classroom but Bryn was stopped in the hall by a young assistant professor who introduced himself as simply "Tony."

"You're a friend of Professor Mac's?" Tony said as he barred the classroom door, his arms crossed over his chest as he eyed Bryn dubiously. "I know most of the professor's friends and he's never mentioned you."

"I'm a newer acquaintance. I'm crashing at the professor's place while he and Merlin help me with a…unique situation," Bryn explained.

Tony made a knowing sound. "If Merlin's involved, it's definitely a unique situation but that doesn't mean that Nox is cool with you interrupting his lecture," he returned, striking Bryn's temper. But he respected the fact that Tony had been trusted with several responsibilities as a fledgling professor and appeared to take them seriously.

"Swear I won't."

"Cool. I'm still going to need you to wait out here until I check with him. You don't have a badge and he didn't clear you first," Tony said before gesturing for Bryn to wait in the hallway. It took close to ten minutes before Tony reappeared and led Bryn to a seat at the back of the room. "It's a full house and the professor wants the freshmen in the front when he covers metamorphosis in mythology," he whispered as they climbed.

A picture of a yellowed, ornately illuminated Latin manuscript was projected on the screen behind Nox. He was studying it, his back turned to his audience. All eyes were on him as Bryn lowered into a seat and waited to see if Nox lived up to the rockstar lecturer hype.

"Here, we have a depiction of the deification of Julius Caesar. In the year 8, Ovid wrote this: Metamorphosis ." Nox turned and pointed at the screen over his shoulder. "As we discussed earlier, we have the hare and the lion. Ever abundant vitality, sexuality, and fertility in one, and courage, strength, leadership, and royalty in the other. Two immediately recognizable codes based on nature and universal consistencies across numerous lores." He clicked a remote hidden in his hand, enlarging the image.

"Looking closer, we see a cow's skull and a god with ram's horns in the border. We often see a cow or a cow's skull in creation myths. But the Romans didn't have any major gods with horns in their pantheon. There was Faunus or Inuus who was later conflated with the Greek god, Pan, another minor pastoral deity. Faunus was an old king who was raised to deity after his death. This is significant because the cult of Pan was concentrated to Arcadia and had no known connection to Caesar. In fact, Ovid makes no mention of either and while there are very few depictions of Faunus or Inuus, he is never depicted with horns."

A hand raised and a young woman stood after Nox gave her the floor. "I read that Inuus was the embodiment of sexual intercourse. Is that why he was connected to Pan?"

Nox groaned appreciatively, as if he'd just tasted something sublime. "You get an A, mademoiselle." He gestured for her to sit down and went to the long chalk board and quickly wrote out a single word.

INCUBUS.

"Now, watch what happens!" He crossed out two letters. "Tadah!"

IN C U B US

"Inuus wasn't a god of the forest like Pan, despite the Roman's success at merging the two. Inuus was a god of sex, who the texts say engaged in acts with animals . And just like that, we see one god transforming across mythologies in the span of just a few hundred years. But, let's get back to this horned god because his transformation—his metamorphosis—is particularly fascinating. Ovid didn't mention Pan or Faunus because he didn't associate those gods with these horns or connect them to Caesar. He was probably thinking of this guy." Nox clicked again and a collage of images depicting a god with horns appeared.

"Meet Amun, the Egyptian god of air and creation. An invisible god, Amun was later referred to as Zeus Ammon and Jupiter Ammon after Caesar defeated Ptolemy XII in 47 BC. That's when we begin to see a god with horns, like this," Nox said as he went back to the early illustration of Ovid's Metamorphosis. "This poem about Caesar turning into a deity happened approximately fifty years before the first accounts of Jesus's life. Jesus mentions Caesar many times in his teachings. He and his biographers studied the Greek and Roman gods and their legends. That's why we do, too. We learn more about ourselves and our own beliefs when we study mythology. And mythology is essentially the study of cultural metamorphosis through language, symbology, religion, war, arts, and the stories people tell to make sense of the changing world around them."

With that, the lights came on and Tony clapped, breaking the trance that had fallen over the room, including Bryn. "That's it for today. Check the syllabus for this week's readings and your first deadline. We're doing peer reviews on Tuesday and you don't want to come empty-handed. Three strikes and the Professor will assign an oral presentation on Sisyphus."

There were laughs and excited whispers as bags were packed and students began filing out of the room. Bryn waited until the door closed behind the last student to make his way to the long desk at the front, where Nox was tidying his notes and scribbling in a planner.

"Excuse Tony, he's an assistant professor now, but he still thinks he's my TA. We're coparenting a few classes until he's stronger at the podium. But between you and me, he's having a tough time. New job, a rough breakup, and his best friend turned out to be a twisted killer," Nox said without looking up. "I'm all Tony's got at the moment. Except for his mom, so you have to be nice to Tony too," he warned and finally addressed Bryn with a wary, cocked brow.

"Understood. Do you have a few minutes, Professor?" Bryn asked, flashing Nox an awkward grin.

"I've got the next period free. What brings you here, soul catcher?" Nox asked as he hopped up onto the desk, his unlaced boots swinging back and forth. He looked more like a student than a professor, but Bryn no longer had any doubts about Nox's abilities as an educator or a lecturer. "You can turn right back around if you want to tell me how to do my job," Nox said and twirled a finger, making a shooing gesture at the door. "I promise, nepotism and divine luck didn't earn me this podium. I had to prove myself as Lucas MacIlwraith's son and those were impossible shoes to fill."

Bryn shook his head and waved. "You definitely know what you're doing in here," he conceded and took a deep breath. "You might be right about the other thing, too," he admitted as he pushed his hands into the pockets of his track pants, grimacing at his feet. "I've been fighting the battle one soul at a time and waiting for my shot at glory for so long, that I've forgotten how real the stakes are for the living when gods and monsters fight."

"Glory is a hell of a drug, though," Nox observed. "Many have died chasing it and once you get it, there's no coming down. I'd like to build my way up, you know? Start small with little wins in here, and slightly bigger wins on TV and in magazines, then prevent a few tragedies and catastrophes with the FBI, before I try to save the world. And I need time to build my team. I just found my spectral hounds," he said with a finger gun, making Bryn laugh.

"Waiting and planning have never been my strong suit, but I'm learning."

Nox waved it off. "You're a hellhound ! You're the tip of the spirit spear and the most fearsome thing in the afterlife! You're supposed to be frothing and ready to hunt. " he said as he snatched at the air and pumped his fist dramatically. "I'd be climbing the walls on this side of the veil too if I was bred for glory and vengeance. But the spoils are different now. This world doesn't exist in terms of chieftains and clans and the maps are all set, for the most part. Half of the world are nonbelievers and that's for the better, if we're both being honest. Too many still think in terms of one true god and one true people and they're willing to wipe out generations so their team can inhabit a few square miles of Holy Land for a handful of decades."

"It's such a mess!" Bryn concurred, rubbing his temple. "I thought you could settle it once and for all, but a dog is most dangerous when it's hurt. And I do think you're right, there are fundamentalists in every religion that would rather see the whole world burn than a real god rise and end their cult and their chosen god."

"Then, we can have peace?" Nox asked as he gestured between them. "That's not why you're here, though."

Bryn shook his head, ducking sheepishly. "I need help with Everly and my instincts tell me that Merlin isn't the one to ask for…romantic advice," he attempted.

A loud laugh burst from Nox and he slapped the top of the desk as he shook his head. "Not if you want to be able to sleep at night! He is absolutely trying to curse you to an eternity of sexual torment."

"I get why he'd want to get back at me, but why bring Everly into it?" Bryn asked and Nox snorted.

"Have you seen yourself and have you met Merlin? In no way is that a bad setup by his calculations. I bet if you offered him the position of full-time hellhound rider , he'd ask how much he'd have to pay you ."

"Gross."

"Meh," Nox said with a dismissive swat. "He's pretty attached to Jeff right now so he's just goofing around when he grabs your ass."

"Goofing around?" Bryn's tongue pushed against the inside of his cheek as he recalled the last time Merlin grabbed his ass. "He moaned and it sounded real." He shuddered as he recalled the feel of Merlin's breath wafting against his bicep.

"You can hit him." Nox nodded quickly. "Knock him through the study wall the next time he does it and teach the creepy little shit a lesson," he suggested, his eyes lighting up and watering as he stared past Bryn. "But only if I'm there. It's my wall and I'll pay for it, just make sure I get to see it. Bonus points if you give me a chance to record it. Clancy would be tickled to bits."

"Your family is…so strange."

Nox hummed happily. "I love that about us and you'll get used to it. How can I help you with Everly?"

"Right!" Bryn's cheeks puffed out as he searched for the least uncomfortable way to start. General biology seemed like a good idea. "As far as I can make out, Ev's kind of like a Gremlin and we don't want to…feed him too soon or get him wet until he's had some time to develop his own magick."

"That's the gist," Nox said, his lips twitching. "He died and his soul was just about as weak as a soul could get when you saved him. What was left was stained by that curse when you brought him to us. We weren't starting from scratch, by any means, because I'd bet that Everly's always been this pure and gentle. Merlin and I simply cleared away that Abhartach's stink and healed as many of Everly's scars as we could. I've never felt a soul so lonely, but I patched it with the light of all souls! His aura is so clear and so fresh now," Nox whispered giddily, knocking the wind out of Bryn and bringing tears to his eyes.

"You did that for him?" He pressed a hand over his mouth to hold back a howl of intense gratitude as it overwhelmed him.

"We were happy to help." But Nox shook his head, grimacing at Bryn. "I was scared shitless, if I'm being honest, because reanimating a changeling is…scary! I don't know if I would have if it weren't for you. I could see how attached you had become and it seemed too…inhumane after he'd spent so long lingering. But playing god like that… What did Frankenstein and an entire genre of horror teach us?"

"Everly isn't evil," Bryn stated. "He could never be."

"Of course, not!" Nox agreed quickly. "We didn't have a recipe or a text we could consult so Merlin and I hedged our bets with all the white magick we could muster. As insurance and to heal and to protect Everly. All the best parts: his honesty, his kindness, his courage, his generosity… He came with all that. It was just a matter of what else would get added into the mix. What do we train his little fae battery to run on?"

"You're teaching him how to be an empath," Bryn realized but Nox shook his head.

"I don't have to teach him . The leannán sí are hyper empaths. They feed on emotions and can draw real strength from them. Send a fledgling sí into the brothels or an army camp and you'll wind up with a succubus or an incubus. And you know how they can be twisted and turned into dark horrors that seek out grief and sorrow. They take whatever you pour into them, rearrange their magickal DNA to match it, then amplify it."

Bryn nodded slowly. "Ev's very sensitive to emotions, especially my emotions when you and I are taking shots at each other."

"You're trying to be better and you're here because he matters to you," Nox said encouragingly.

"He does," Bryn agreed. "So, what are you and Merlin teaching him?"

"Pretty basic stuff," Nox replied and squinted. "Crystals and moon cycles. Merlin taught him how to make some useful salves and I'm helping him learn how to read Tarot cards, but you know how literal Everly is…"

Bryn frowned, slightly disappointed. "That's it? You've been incredibly generous but we can't hide at your place forever. Everly deserves a chance to have a real life and be free."

"Stay forever," Nox said and held Bryn's gaze so he knew it wasn't a flippant statement. "I'd fight you for Everly, but he'd follow you to the Otherworld and back."

"I think he would." Bryn laughed and blushed. "I've never had anyone but Arawn. And then there was Fletcher and I love him almost as much as Arawn. But I've never had anyone who was just for me. I know you and Merlin think he's this hollow thing to be carefully molded, but Everly was already perfect and I was in love with that little slip of soft blue before he woke up," he admitted. "Saving him was the right call, Nox."

"I think so too and that he'll do good and make the most of this new life he's building with us."

Just the thought of Everly having a home and a family made Bryn weak, he wanted it so badly for him. Even if Bryn wasn't lucky enough to be a part of it.

Could he?

"What if I wanted to…be with Everly?"

"Like, date him?" Nox asked, his head cocking. "I kind of assumed you two were…dating."

"No!" Bryn shook his head. "I've done my best to keep us both out of trouble because I don't want to turn Ev into an incubus. He deserves more than that. He wanted to be an accountant," he said and Nox pressed his fist against his lips, smothering a laugh.

"He's really bad at math, Bryn. I tried to explain the basic ratios we use for teas and I thought I'd killed him again."

"That's not the point," Bryn snapped. He gave Nox a pointed look. "I'm trying, but it gets to me when you make jokes about Ev. He knows he's not a scholar like you and Merlin or a brilliant scientist and surgeon like Arawn. He doesn't have to be because everything's already right in the world, if you ask him. He sees beauty in everyone and everything. He just wants to be a part of it and be useful and I think that makes him better than the rest of us."

Nox answered with a stunned, watery gasp, nodding jerkily. "You're right and I am truly sorry. I might be a scholar, but Everly could teach me a great deal about the world."

"Thank you," Bryn replied, bowing his head. "So, when will you teach Everly how to control the effect he has on humans and protect himself from that new Abhartach? Or whatever it is," he added with a sneer.

"I'm not going to teach Everly any of that," Nox answered, confusing Bryn.

"What? Why?"

Nox held up a finger, smiling. "Remember what Jesus of Nazareth suggested. Everly's teaching himself. He has always been sensitive and strong. He just didn't know what was possible before." Nox wagged the finger at Bryn. "I make jokes because I'm a smartass, like you, but I don't see something hollow when I look into those deep, dark eyes. That's curiosity and Everly's curiosity is like a well and it's vast. When I toss an idea in there, I see it rippling in Everly's eyes," Nox explained in a hushed whisper, growing more excited. "I told him how I pinch the flame out of a match and hold onto it and guess what Everly was doing on the back terrace half an hour later?"

"What?"

"Burning the almighty shit out of himself with a book of matches," Nox said and they both lost it, giggling and gasping until he coughed and became serious. "Everly lit the fire in the study this morning. It took me years to learn that, Bryn."

"Wow… That's scary, actually."

"It's a good thing he's good , isn't it?" Nox said. "Everly's teaching himself elemental magick and he's somehow figured out how to pass through the veil. I think he's learning those things from us and he's absorbing our magick. I'm just letting him…marinate, but you've imprinted on him and you have cared for him. You sleep at the foot of his bed like a loyal friend and that can only be good for him. And you," he added, his eyes sparkling.

"That's what my gut tells me too," Bryn said with a soft chuckle. "So, how will we know when he's ready to…date?" He rolled his eyes at the banality of it, but Bryn got a tickle in his chest and he'd swear his tummy actually flipped at the idea of quiet dinners, holding hands, holding Ev… Bryn ached to hold Everly without worrying he'd ruin him.

Nox's lips pursed and his cheeks puffed before he made an exploding sound. "I honestly assumed that things had already…progressed and Everly had figured that out on his own too."

"What?" Bryn asked, backing toward the door.

"Yeah," Nox nodded. "An incubus can't survive in the Nothing or start fires. He has an astral body! I think it's pretty safe to assume Everly can handle sex now."

"Oh?" It came out as a dry croak and Bryn mouthed an apology when he backed into the door.

"He can't drain us like a parasite, the way a leannán sí would and like he used to, because of who we are. Instead, Everly's figured out how to draw strength from his love for us."

"Our love is making him stronger," Bryn realized out loud, causing Nox to smirk and sigh happily.

"That's the way it usually works!"

The wheels were finally turning and Bryn was catching up quickly. "I might make him even stronger by loving him more…"

"Seems highly likely," Nox confirmed.

Bryn spun and threw the door open. "I have to go! Thanks!" he called as he attempted to run but was immediately blocked by a stream of students when he came around the corner. He had to weave his way through and finally found a breezeway. A quick leap over a balustrade and Bryn was free as soon as his feet hit the grass. He took off, sprinting across the lawn and leaping over backpacks and blankets as he sped toward Nox's house.

It was a short trip and Bryn had barely broken a sweat by the time he burst through the front door and listened for Everly. He heard him and Merlin in the kitchen and rushed down the hall.

He peeked around the door and smiled when he found Everly on a stool, looking on as Merlin prepared the vegetables for dinner. Bryn assumed they were having Kung Pao Chicken because that was the only meal Merlin knew how to cook.

"Can I see you for a moment?" Bryn asked Everly, swinging his head toward the stairs.

"Sure! How was your run?" he asked as he slid off the stool.

Bryn reached for him, impatient but so happy because he could finally hold Everly without worrying about losing control. "Great!"

He caught Everly's hand, babbling some excuse at Merlin before he rushed them around the staircase. "What's going on?" Everly asked as he hurried to keep up.

"I have to tell you something." What else could Bryn say? He was shaking so hard, his tongue felt like it was vibrating as his lips trembled into a wide smile and his teeth started to chatter.

"Is it a good thing? You're very warm and you look like you're going to cry?" Everly said, then yelped when they reached the top of the stairs and Bryn bent and swung him over his shoulder.

"Good," he managed, too aware of how close Everly's ass was to his mouth as he kicked the bedroom door open. Bryn set him down, gathering Everly's face in his hands and capturing his lips for a hard, hungry kiss. "Talked to Nox. You are amazing," he babbled as he licked and sucked, swatting the door closed behind them.

"I am?" Everly laughed and leaped when he was lifted, his legs winding around Bryn's waist.

Bryn tangled his fingers in Everly's hair, pinning his gaze. "I love you, Ev, and I want to… love you ," he said with a pained wince. "I wish I could say this without sounding like an idiot, but I want to love you and only you until there's nothing left of me."

Tears welled in Everly's eyes, making the dark pools glitter and Bryn saw himself reflected in them. "I knew you did," he whispered. "I can feel it when you love me and you do most of the time. I just didn't know if you wanted to love me or if you wanted to keep me."

"I do!" Bryn choked out, his voice a ragged rasp. "You were mine from the moment I found you laying on that sidewalk. I wasn't letting anything take you from me and I haven't been able to let go since."

"I don't want you to. Never let me go." Everly rested his cheek on Bryn's forehead and hugged his neck tight. "We can have sex now?"

"Til this room smells like sulfur and the ceiling and the curtains are dripping with sweat and semen."

"Really?" Everly asked dreamily and Bryn laughed and nuzzled into the corner of his neck.

"Really," he murmured as he nipped an earlobe, easily juggling Everly and unzipping his jeans. They were whisked off and Bryn groaned in delight as he ripped the front of Everly's boxers open and dumped him on the bed. "Tell me what you want, how to make you glow," he growled as he kicked off his sneakers and crawled to Everly.

"You always make me glow," he said and gasped and giggled as Bryn's tongue dragged over the arch of his foot and curled around his toes. "That's so long!"

"Mmmhmm…" Bryn had an unusually long tongue and he knew exactly how to use it. He sucked the sweat from the back of Everly's knee, growling at the trace of salt and savoring the goosebumps spreading along his thigh. "Want me to kiss you here?" His lips nudged Everly's sac gently.

"Yes."

"And here?" Bryn whispered as he traced the cleft of Everly's ass with his lips, earning a flat, but strained plea.

"Yes. Anything you want, Bryn. I like everything you like."

"That's not possib—" Bryn started, then recalled what and who he was talking to. He might have been an indestructible hellhound, but Everly's species were known as fairy lovers because it was one of their few innate gifts. Despite Nox's assumptions , Everly could still have incubus powers. And based on Nox's "theories," there was a chance that Bryn was about to supercharge those powers. "For glory," he declared and opened wide, sucking, lapping, and lashing at Everly's sac and cock with wild abandon.

"Oh, Bryn! You're so happy, I can feel it!" Everly giggled euphorically as his head lolled on the duvet. His legs were wrapped tight around Bryn's head so that wasn't really a surprise. Everly tasted like ambrosia, sweet nectar dripping from the end of his cock and intoxicating Bryn as he sipped and suckled.

"So happy. So good," he rumbled and spit on Everly's hole before massaging it with the pad of his thumb.

"Yes! More, more, more…" It was a light, almost robotic hum, but it made Bryn hotter and harder.

Bryn's thumb pushed into slick, clenching tightness and Everly's wavering moans grew louder. "Gods, you are so wet!" he noted and Everly nodded drunkenly, gulping for air.

"I'm always wet for you, Bryn."

"Fuck me!"

"Now?" Everly sprang upright and reached for Bryn's shoulders.

"Later!" he laughed, shoving Everly back down.

He held onto Bryn's hand, hugging it like a bouquet as he feasted. "Good," Everly sighed several moments later.

"So fucking good…" Bryn had never tasted anything as soft and as sweet as Everly's ass and his hole. He sucked at the tender, flinching folds and was rewarded with another burst of nectar and more of Everly's siren-like whimpers. Bryn's gaze slid up Everly's body as his tongue drilled and probed and he had never witnessed a more beautiful sight. There was a hazy blue glow around Everly, his skin dewy and pearlescent as he panted and rode Bryn's tongue, begging for more, more, more while his heels dug into the bed.

Bryn rose and easily flipped Everly onto his stomach, licking up his spine and nipping the back of his neck. "Up," he ordered and Everly's back arched, obediently presenting his ass and his hole.

"Please!" Everly gave his backside a frantic wiggle as his fingers twisted in the covers. "Take me, Bryn!"

But he was already sliding into tight, silken heat. Bryn nodded as his eyes crossed at the intense pleasure, what was left of his control going up in flames.

"Holy fuck, Ev," he said as his body curled around Everly's and he was locked against Bryn's chest. His hips pumped faster and faster as Everly held onto Bryn's arm, his head bobbling loosely as he took each thrust and sobbed for more. There was a shredded cry and the smell of Everly's cum as it dripped onto the comforter was the final straw. Bryn's mouth watered and he was rough, drooling and swearing as he bit at Everly's shoulders and neck and hair, his hips hunching at a brutal pace.

"Don't…stop!" Everly cried, but Bryn was just about to touch the sun by the time he had said it. Pleasure and pounding pressure pushed from his core and into the base of his shaft, causing it to swell. "Ohhhh…"

Cum pumped from Bryn's cock, flooding Everly's passage as they were locked together. Bryn shuddered and jerked through another giddy tremor, then tried to ease out so he could hold Everly but was truly stuck. "Damn it!" He hung his head, mortified as Everly squirmed and panted beneath him. "I've never had this happen before. I usually don't…" The insistent pulsing was already subsiding and Bryn could feel cum leaking from Everly's hole, around his shaft. "I don't let myself get carried away like that but I— You're so?—"

"I don't mind! I liked it!"

Bryn had no excuses for what he had done, but it looked like none were needed as Everly scooted and slid forward until he was free. He twisted until he was on his back beneath Bryn, his hair matted and stuck to his face.

"You're sure you're alright?" Bryn crashed onto the bed next to Everly, his chest heaving like he'd just returned from a long, hard run as their hands intertwined. "I try to be less…canine when I'm with normal men, but I couldn't help myself. You were incredible," he said, laughing in disbelief. "A normal man probably would have called the cops. Or a vet," Bryn mused and stifled a groan, he felt drained like he'd just gone for a bruising run to Annwn.

"I feel great," Everly informed Bryn as he sat up and turned to him. "Can I have a turn now?"

Bryn's eyes snapped open wide and he felt a rare flash of fear. "A turn?"