At Year's End (The 12 Olympians) (7 page)

“No. Just asking.”

“Do you need me to do anything? Clean or something?”

“
Nope, why don’t you go relax with Jaxon?”

“You don’t have to ask me twice
,” Elijah grinned and ran out of the kitchen. He stopped in the living room and motioned upstairs. “Are you coming?”

“He wishes
,” Justice mumbled. He got an elbow to his side from Jaxon. “Ow!”

“Yep. Let’s go watch Do-gooder and pyscho bro.”

Elijah was leaned up against Jaxon, head on his shoulder, as they watched the show. Never in a million years did he think he’d
ever be this close to Jaxon Salvatore. From the first day he’d seen Jaxon at Camp Pride, he had felt drawn to him. Something about the man called to him, and he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. It wasn’t just because the man was sexy as all hell.

Elijah shifted a little trying to hide his growing erection. Damn
, but Jaxon smelled so damned good! He cast a secret look at Jaxon and found him totally engrossed in the show. Elijah had to smile; he’d fallen in love with the show from the first episode. It kind of mirrored his own story in a way — drawn to someone you couldn’t or shouldn’t want. Elijah sighed and got a look from Jaxon.

“What?”

Jaxon shifted a bit so he could look Elijah in the eye. “What have you always wanted to do?”

“The first thing that comes to mind?”

Jaxon nodded.

“
I’ve always wanted to see dolphins up close. That and whales. They’re just so beautiful and majestic.” Elijah tilted his head in question. “What about you?”

“I’
ve always wanted to go to Australia, maybe even New Zealand. Then take some huge tour of France, Italy and Greece.”

“That sounds like fun. Immerse yourself in that culture.”

“Hey, how did the Spanish quiz go today?”

“
Bueno
,” Elijah laughed. “I can now say I have a yellow pencil in two languages.”

“Well, I should go downstairs. Let you get some rest.”

“Um, Jaxon? Could you just stay until I fall asleep? I had some weird dreams last night.”

“What kind of dreams?”

“I don’t know. I was in pain, though.” Elijah shivered. “Someone was hurting me.”

Jaxon sat up against the headboard and pulled Elijah into his side. The night before it had taken everything for him to get out of Elijah’s bed and head to the couch.
He just needed to stay in control. That was all. Easy, right? Jaxon almost laughed out loud.

Yeah right.

“Close your eyes, okay?” Jaxon began to thread his fingers through Elijah’s hair. He knew it calmed the younger man, so why not? He turned the TV back to regular programming and settled in on the news network.

“Oh yeah, that’s going to help me fall out real quick
,” Elijah chuckled.

“Good
,” Jaxon sighed and closed his eyes. Elijah’s hair slipped through his fingers like silk.

“
Buenos noches
, Jaxon,” Elijah sighed sleepily.

“
Goodnight, Elijah.”

Jaxon waited until the soft sound of Elijah’s breathing signaled he was asleep. He tried to move carefully, but Elijah
whimpered and grabbed his arm. Jaxon smoothed Elijah’s hair back and kissed his temple.

“You’re okay
,” he whispered. “I’m right here.”

Elijah settled down and Jaxon sighed. He wasn’t going anywhere.

Warmth radiated through Elijah as he spread out with a satisfied yawn. His hand met with silken flesh and he opened his eyes. Jaxon was in bed with him. Elijah’s mouth dropped open in surprise and he pinched Jaxon’s nipple.

“You’re supposed to pinch yourself
if you think you’re dreaming,” Jaxon chuckled.

Elijah stared at Jaxon’s chest. “You
do
have a nipple piercing.”

“Yes, I do.”

Elijah touched the silver ring. “Did it hurt?”

“Not really.”

Elijah sat up on his elbow. “Not that I’m complaining, but why are you in my bed?”

Jaxon leaned in with a smile. “You wouldn’t let me leave.”

“I wouldn’t?”

“Nope. It’s okay
, though. I slept like a rock.”

This was true. He’d spent so many nights guarding Elijah and staying up all night
, that he hadn’t gotten a good night’s sleep in months. Besides the fact that it felt so good to finally hold Elijah in his arms.

“Oh, okay then.”

Jaxon smiled at the rising blush in Elijah’s cheeks. He ran the pad of his thumb over his cheekbone.

“Did you sleep well? Any bad dreams?”

Elijah knew his cheeks had to be fire-engine red. Oh yeah, he’d had some dreams, some
really
good ones. Jaxon kissing him, fondling him. Yup. Awesome dreams.

“Nope, no bad dreams. I guess you chased them away.”

“Well, at least I know I’m good for something.”

Elijah bit the
inside of his cheek to stop himself from blurting out the first thing that came to mind. He covered his mouth instead and backed away.

“Okay, well, I’m going to take a shower and brush my teeth. Then I’m going downstairs to see if anyone needs help with breakfast.”

Jaxon nodded. “Okay, I’ll go do the same. I’ll meet you down there.” Jaxon slipped out of bed and adjusted his pants. “What do you want to do today?”

“I don’t know. Let’s see what happens.”

Jaxon walked to the window and pulled up the blinds. He frowned as he noticed it was raining. Probably sleet would come and there went his hopes of riding his bike.

“Great, it’s raining
,” Jaxon sighed.

“It
is
Washington State,” Elijah grinned, grabbing some clothes from his bag.

Jaxon made it downstairs first. He was never one to linger in the shower. Soap up, rinse, and get out. He’d been avoiding taking long showers, especially after he’d met Elijah. Showers seemed the best place to get some much-needed release, and Jaxon didn’t want to be thinking about Elijah until he was old enough to be thought about that way.

Voices floated from the kitchen and Jaxon stepped in the kitchen nook area.
Justice had his nose buried in the morning paper, and Stone, Ryder and Nate all wore shit-eating grins. Talk came to a stop and Skylar grinned at him.

“What?”

“I see you didn’t sleep on the couch.”

Jaxon shrugged
and made his way to the coffeepot. “Elijah asked me to stay until he fell asleep, and then he had a grip on me — so I stayed.”

“Uh huh.” Skylar nodded slowly. “Okay.”

Jaxon sipped his coffee as he regarded all the faces smiling at him.

“What?” Jaxon sighed in exasperation. “Nothing happened
!”

“Oh, we know.” Justice turned the page on his morning paper.

“How do you know?” Jaxon raised a brow.

“There was no moaning from his room
,” Stone snickered.

“Pervs
,” Jaxon mumbled. His phone rang, startling him. He looked at the caller ID; Caden was calling. Jaxon swiped ‘talk’.

“Morning
, Caden.”

“I have gotten a moving truck. I will be ready in an hour.”

“Okay, Justice and I will be here at Skylar’s. We can’t ride our bikes in this crap so you’ll need to pick us up.”

“You should
buy a real vehicle,” Caden chuckled.

“
We have a Jeep; we’re just used to riding our bikes all the time.”

“Why does everyone own a Jeep? I must buy one.”

Jaxon laughed. “We’ll see you soon.”

He
hung up and nodded to Justice. “Caden’s coming to get us with the moving van.”

“On it.” Justice pushed away from the table, dropping a kiss on Skylar’s head. “Be good and study.”

A crack of lightning made everyone jump and Skylar let out a small hiss.

“Damn
, that was loud!”

“That was so cool, I’m going outside!” Ryder sprang from the table.

Justice raised his brows at Jaxon and gave him a knowing nod. Ryder was the child of Zeus; it wasn’t strange to them at all to see the young man drawn to the lightning. Jaxon peered out the back door to see Ryder standing on the porch, hands stretched towards the heavens.

The sound of footsteps on the stairs
made Jaxon glance over his shoulder. Elijah came down freshly showered, looking yummy. He made his way to the coffee and poured himself a cup. Turning to his friends, he grinned.

“So what’s the plan?” he asked.

“Justice and I are going to your house to get your stuff. We’re going to clean out your whole room. Do you want your furniture?”

“Oh
, hell no!” Elijah’s nose twitched. “They bought me that mattress used; I have plastic bags all over it. I swear, when it gets humid I smell piss.”

Jaxon took a deep breath to calm his anger and plastered a smile on his face. “Okay, no mattress. Anything we should look for?”

“Nope, just pack it all up except for the furniture. My new clothes are hidden in the back of the closet.”

Elijah set his cup down and walked to Jaxon. He stopped in front of him and looked up.

“Thank you, for all of this. Please tell Caden there aren’t enough words to thank him for all he’s done.”

Turning to Skylar, he smiled and embraced him. “Thank you, for taking me in.”

“You’re my family, Elijah.” Skylar hugged back. “Family sticks together.”

Elijah pulled away from the hug and noticed Ryder out back.

“What’s he doing?”

“Communing with nature?” Stone answered.

“Breakfast is almost ready,” Skylar announced.

“Okay, thanks.” Elijah looked outside again. “I’m going to go see Ryder.”

“I’ll let you know when we’re leaving.” Jaxon sat down and picked up a piece of toast.

Elijah opened the sliding glass door and stepped out onto the back deck. Ryder’s arms were outstretched, palms up. He looked so peaceful. And handsome. He had skin the color of milk chocolate and the most arresting gold-brown eyes.

“Hey
,” Elijah said softly.

Ryder opened his eyes and looked over at Elijah. “Hey
! Big day, huh?”

“Yeah,
Jaxon and Justice are waiting for Caden to get here with the moving truck.” Elijah fidgeted and then glanced back up at Ryder. “Um, remember when you said you saw a huge wolf?”

“Yeah, you guys thought I was full of shit.”

“
I
didn’t.” Elijah looked at the rain, afraid to see Ryder’s face when he revealed his own story. “I had one in my yard almost every night. At first I thought it was a hell hound coming to get me.” Elijah waited for the snort of laughter from Ryder, but it never came. He went on. “Then it came out of the darkness and sat by me on my back porch. It was so beautiful, Ryder!”

“Is it still there?” Ryder’s eyes widened.

“It has been, but now he stays on the other side of the fence. I don’t know if I scared it or if the assholes did. I hope he finds me here.”

“He?”

“Well, yeah. I kinda, well, you know, saw his, um, balls.”

“So you believe me?” Ryder turned to face Elijah.

Elijah nodded. “Yeah, I do. I believe in all kinds of stuff; I have to, you know? There has to be something that makes this world better.”

“Besides Jaxon?” Ryder grinned.

Elijah sighed. “He’s all I’ve thought about from the second I saw him. I hope things are changing between us. I keep getting mixed signals from him.”

“At least he talks to you
,” Ryder sighed. “I haven’t seen that Dane guy since the benefit. God, he is just so…damn!”

Elijah
giggled. “I bought the DVD from the striptease benefit. And a spare in case something happens to the first one!”

“So did
I!” Ryder cracked up.

“So
, you
have
‘seen’ him then,” Elijah chuckled.

“Yep, all of that juicy butt on display? Wow.”

“Whose butt is juicy?”

They both turned to see Nate
wearing a huge grin.

“Breakfast is ready!” Skylar called out.

“So we eat, and then we practice for tonight.” Ryder pulled Elijah into the house. “We have a full night ahead of us. Let’s start planning who’s singing what and when.”

“On it.” Skylar placed the platter of food on the table.

“Well? Let’s dig in!” Justice winked.

~*~

The moving van slid down the streets as the rain did
indeed turn into sleet by mid-morning. Caden seemed to be humming as he drove, and Jaxon knew the older man was thrilled to see Elijah moved out of the house.

Jaxon
had spent many nights in the yard and on the roof, listening to Elijah cry in the dark. He was ecstatic to see Elijah so happy and vibrant at Skylar’s.

Th
is
was the Elijah he’d met at camp — not the new, confused, reserved one he saw now.

Caden pulled up n
ext to the curb in front of the old house and immediately Jaxon knew something was wrong. They all jumped out and ran to the house. The stench of death filled the air as Jaxon kicked the door down. The room was splattered with blood; fur seemed to be all over everything and the smell of rogue was strong. Thanks to Chance, they’d finally honed their ability to smell rogues somewhat and the smell in the house was almost stifling.

“This
used to be the parents.” Caden’s brow furrowed.

“So was this
,” Justice said from across the room.

“Dammit!” Jaxon seethed, balling his fists. “They
’re covering their tracks again! I knew something was off with the parents!”

“It seems so,” Caden walked around the room slowly. Books were pulled from the shelves, couch cushions ripped, pictures were off the walls. “It also seems as if whoever did this was looking for something?”

Jaxon crossed the room and searched the dining room. Chairs were upturned, as well as the table. The house had been ransacked.

“I will call in Stefan
Santorno’s cleaning team.” Caden pulled his phone from his pocket, stepping away to make his call.

“I don’t like this.” Jaxon shook his head.

“Well, it makes sense. They had to have known it was us who killed Skylar’s fake parents.”

“So what?
Now they kill their own guys so they can’t talk to us?”

“They
’re rogues.” Justice shrugged.

“Something has to be here, something they didn’t want us to find.”

“Then why kill the rogues before getting that info?”

Jaxon’s brows furrowed. “I don’t know
. Maybe they were trying to use it as leverage?”

“But what? What could be so important?”

“I have no idea.” Jaxon sighed in frustration. “I’m just glad Elijah wasn’t here.”

“Speaking of that, we need to go check his room.”

Caden came back in, frowning and shaking his head.

“The team is on their way. We should pack up anything Elijah may need. I will stay here and wait for them.”

“How far out are they?” Justice asked.

“A few hours. They won’t be long.” Caden walked around the room slowly. “I wonder wh
at was so important they had to not only turn the house upside down, but kill their own people?”

“We’re wondering about
that ourselves. Maybe we should bring in Chance? He did that spell on Salina’s house when he went looking for her books on magic.”

Caden nodded in approval. “Yes, it would be worthwhile to bring Chance in.”

“I’ll get on that right away.” Jaxon stepped out onto the back porch and looked over the backyard where he’d spent so many nights. The thought of Elijah being here when everything went down turned his blood ice cold. He dialed Chance and the warlock answered on the second ring.

“What’s going on?”

“How do you know something’s going on?”