19. Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Seventeen

U lises could summon fire without much effort. He would also boil water with just a thought. And he could raise the temperature in the room. So pretty much anything fire- or heat-related came easier to him than other things. Simple things like creating a dome caused him issues.

"You're not getting the wording right." Seryn sat in front of him with his legs crossed. He was so close their knees almost touched. "Did you study the book I gave you?"

"Every night. When I can focus."

"Why can't you focus?"

Ulises sighed and opened his eyes, meeting Seryn's gaze. He couldn't get the words out before his chin wobbled. "I don't know why I'm crying over that jerk. He's a shallow asshole who needs therapy even more than I do."

"So this is about Izzy?" Seryn was such a calm presence. His voice was little more than a whisper. Sometimes their magic lessons felt like therapy because more times than not they talked about stuff that had nothing to do with magic, like his failure at relationships.

Ulises nodded. "I'm sorry. I'm wasting your time. Again."

"It's not a waste of time, Ulises." Seryn took his hand in between his. "Maybe you haven't noticed but each time you talk about what's on your mind, the magic comes easier for you. And even if it didn't, I can listen."

His biggest issue was it had been two weeks, and he still hadn't gotten Izzy out of his mind or Todd for that matter.

"Okay, well then, here's the issue." Ulises wiped his eyes and took a deep breath. "I feel like a failure."

One thread was all it would take to unravel him, and he'd be in a million pieces.

"You're not a failure."

"My body doesn’t even like me." And saying that aloud made the tears come in earnest.

"I'm sure it feels that way sometimes, but you have a medical condition. And aren't you the sum of your parts."

"Some parts are rejecting other parts. It's war in here." Ulises waved his hand up and down his body.

"And what does that have to do with Izzy?"

"It's the reason he broke off the thing we had." He couldn't call it a relationship since they had only been fucking. But Ulises had wanted more.

"He told you that?"

"Yeah."

"In those words?"

"I said something about it wasn't like he did me any favors and he looked at the tumor on my neck and said, 'wasn't I, though?'." Izzy had made Ulises feel dirty, as though he weren't good enough for a relationship. And he hadn't been able to shake it since.

"Daddy says I can't kill anyone for the next two months. But Izzy is first on my list when my time ends."

"I really don't want that."

Seryn sighed.

"Why two months?"

"It's arbitrary. Daddy will extend it if he thinks I need it."

"Are you especially killy right now or something?" Talking about murder should’ve been a scary conversation. While no one should speak of such a serious and irreversible act as nonchalantly as they were, Seryn wasn't a normal person.

Ulises knew he'd had a traumatic past. The particulars weren't common knowledge amongst the Dragon Skulls, not even to Ulises. Whatever had happened made him capable of killing with relative ease.

"Not really. It's just that I stopped working so much. Need to spend time with Daddy. The transition is more difficult than I anticipated. And we're not talking about me. We're talking about you."

Ulises pursed his lips and scrunched his nose. "Do we have to?"

"Not if you don't want to. We can go back to conjuring a dome if you want."

He didn't want to do that either. "So how do I get past Izzy and Todd as a thing?"

Seryn shrugged. "You don't want to fuck just anyone, I take it."

Ulises shook his head. "One thing I learned about myself with Izzy was that I'm not cut out for casual."

"So what about going for one of the other guys in the club? Ronin. Or maybe even Nash." Seryn's wheels were turning. "Or do you prefer someone more like Todd? Physically I mean."

Todd was hot. Ulises was very attracted. "I don't know if I have a specific type. Other than they need to be a gentle Daddy. You know the kind I mean."

Seryn nodded. "Gentle like Mitchell."

"Probably. But right now, I think I need to give it up. My tumor will grow back eventually anyway, and no one wants a guy with a thing growing on the side of his neck. I'm also a warlock who can't do magic. And I suck at dating. I can just imagine how disastrous a relationship would actually be."

Seryn raised his eyebrows. "Stop the wallowing and get back out there."

Ulises narrowed his eyes. "The closest I ever came to a relationship was with Izzy who fucked me because he thought he was doing me a favor. I have earned my right to wallow in despair, so let me just have a moment."

Seryn gave him a one-shoulder shrug that suggested he had a point. "Not to add to the sob story but Izzy and Todd are probably in my kitchen making out right now."

Ulises held up his hands and nodded his head. "See what I mean."

"Not really. You have a scientist whose made it his sole purpose to help you. And I'd hope you like being here, even if it means cleaning up my messes. And aren't you messaging a couple of guys on that app?"

"You're right. Easton is great. I honestly think he'll reduce the tumor." Ulises didn't think he'd ever be tumor-free. "And I love it here. You know I love you and Mitchell. You guys are family. And you pay me more than you probably should, not that I'm complaining."

"And…"

"And I guess I could get back out in the dating world. I mean, I really only went on one date. And that was with Todd. But one guy doesn't have pictures on his profile and the other I had to block. He got super weird. But there is another one who messaged me yesterday. I haven't gotten back to him yet."

Seryn wiggled his fingers. "Let me see."

"Let you see what?"

"The new guy. If he's fucked up, I'll take care of him."

Ulises smirked but he stood and collected his phone from where it sat on a table across the room. "Mitchell said no killing."

"I don't have to kill him to get him to leave you alone."

Ulises sat down again and handed the phone to Seryn. Their heads were together when Seryn scrolled through his messages.

He stopped on the guy who Ulises had blocked and read them. "How do I look at his profile?"

Ulises pointed to a button.

When Seryn pressed it and seemed to study each photo carefully. "This can't be him."

"Right. I think they might be stock photos or something." The whole profile seemed fake.

"Pay attention to your surroundings. If you see anything strange, let me know." Seryn moved on to the next profile, which was Todd's. He smirked at something but kept scrolling. "His love language is feeding people."

"Yeah." Ulises sighed. He had liked Todd a lot. It sucked the way it had worked out.

The next one was the guy who he was still talking to. Ulises liked him a lot but he didn't want to make plans for a date with someone who wouldn't give Ulises a photo of himself. Just a simple picture of his face would have been nice.

Seryn shook his head as he chuckled. "Moving on."

"Until he puts pictures up, I'm boycotting him."

Seryn got to the new one. The message was a simple greeting, so Seryn went to his profile. He looked at every picture. "Hmm. Says he's a Daddy. And he's sexy enough." Seryn handed Ulises phone to him. "He'll do the trick."

"What trick? I don’t want to trick anyone."

"I mean he'll drive Izzy crazy with jealousy."

Ulises shook his head. "That ship has sailed."

Seryn mumbled something that sounded like "tell that to Izzy."

“This guy seems like the type who won't bat an eye at the shit that happens in the club. Invite him there. It's a safe space."

Ulises chuckled. "You mean with a bunch of giant dragon shifter biker brothers having my back. Nothing scary about that."

"Daddy and I will come too." Seryn grin. "No way am I missing this."

Seryn stood. "Practice. I'll be back in a minute."

Ulises wasn't stupid. Seryn had mischief on his mind, which meant he'd go in and tell Izzy and Todd that Ulises had a date.

Ulises should protest. Instead, he didn't say a word. He answered the new guy’s message. Three messages in and they had a date set for tomorrow at the club.

Ulises texted Seryn to tell him he had a date. In his excitement he forgot he was encouraging Seryn with his current sneaky plan. The more he thought about it, the more he told himself he didn't care if Izzy and Todd knew. Or if they were at the club tomorrow. Let them watch while Ulises either crashed and burned again or hit it off with a great guy.

He studied his notes before practicing. The language part was so difficult. He said the words wrong. But he was hopeful he'd get the hang of it soon.