Page 46 of Always Eros

“You mean, we just go somewhere else?”

“I don’t believe in hell or heaven or paradise or eternal bliss. It’s all just bollocks to control people. When one person wants to control the world, they are the evil they warn you about.”

“That’s obviously true of Nightsky. The one thing I wish I understood is how or why my parents joined.”

“Sometimes the answers we seek never appear. We have to find our own path to peace.”

“You’re happy?”

“I’m content. My life is…” How do I find the words? “It’s so much more than I ever thought I could have. Even more so now that I’ve met you. My family consists of a crazy group of men and two lovely women, and I can’t imagine what I would do without them.” I reach across the seat and pull his hand into mine. “Life is what you make it, Justice. Happiness is a perspective. I chose my path, as radical as it was, and I’ve never regretted a day of it. To me, that is peace.”

I exit the freeway heading to my building, brimming with the anticipation of having Justice in my space, his scent on my sheets. It’s almost too much to contain my beast, but I must tread carefully. I don’t want to use any compulsion on him.

When I glance at him, he’s gazing down at his folded hands.

“Are you okay?” I ask.

He lifts his head, smiling. “Yeah. I really like what you said. I’ve spent most of my life feeling like a bad person because I couldn’t obey all the rules. I lived in fear of being discovered again. I woke up with this heavy weight on my back as the calendar ticked closer to my birthday. For the first time in a long time, that weight is gone. I don’t understand why anyone would choose rules over freedom.”

“Some people need structure and ritual to feel something. Some of us would rather die than be told how to live.” After I enter the parking garage and pull into my spot, I shut the car off and turn to face Justice. “You have a chance to remake your future. You get to decide what it looks like.”

He nods, chewing on his bottom lip. “They told us at the safe house they can help us get paperwork and stuff we need. Job training, things like that.” His eyes turn glassy as he speaks. “Maybe I do understand why some people let others control them. This is a lot.”

“Is there a time limit for how long you can be at the safe house?”

“No. Carina said most people stay between nine and twelve months, but everyone’s on their own path. Some people never leave and become employees of the house.”

“Good. Then there’s no rush. You’ve only been away from there a few days.”

Justice smiles, blinking away his sadness. “Right. That’s important to remember.”

“It is. Are you ready to go upstairs?”

His smile grows. “So ready.”

As we enter the building and ride the elevator up to our floor, I realize too late that I should have warned my brothers I was bringing a mortal into their midst. It’s unlikely anyone is there other than Yves though. Most of them will either be tucked away with their lovers in their own units, or out working. I’m sure it’s fine.

But as the elevator doors slide open, the strong scent of flesh and blood hits me. I go to reach for Justice’s hand to take him away, but it’s too late. He’s out before I can stop him, rushing toward the same scent luring me.

I’m behind him quickly, but he’s already backing away, his eyes wide with fear as he stares ahead at the macabre scene before us. Hale is on the leather sectional, actively feeding from the neck of a nearly unconscious man while Thorn drinks from the man’s wrist.

Yves looks on with mild disapproval on his face, his eyes flicking up to see me and Justice, his expression morphing quickly to terror.

“Bl-bl-blood,” Justice stutters, falling onto his butt and scrambling backward. “Supreme…” He shakes his head, eyes locked on Hale as he mutters words that make no sense.

“Dammit, Eros,” Yves says, stomping toward me while I’m still trying to understand what’s happening. “Compel him before he passes out from shock.”

“You know them,” Justice accuses. “You know the disciples.”

“What?” I ask, kneeling and grabbing his shoulders.

Justice shakes me off, a look of terror and betrayal all over his features, but I am confused as fuck.

Yves intervenes, scooping Justice up by the arms, and compelling him to sleep in the blink of an eye. Yves puts Justice in my arms. “To your unit. Now.”

Walking past the scene in a haze, I take Justice to my bedroom and lay him down on my bed, falling to my knees beside him.

I feel Yves’s commanding presence behind me. “What the fuck, Eros?”