Branded (17 page)

“Oh, yay. Can we go to Disneyland?”

“Whatever. I can take you places far better than Disneyland if we can just leave now.”

“Fine. Hop on.” Of course offering sex would work. José should have thought of it sooner. Asher was an idiot sometimes, but at least he was a predictable idiot.

José climbed onto the dragon's back before the paranoid crowd could attack again.

“I'm gonna hold you to that promise,” Asher said as soon as José had settled.

“I know.” A cool wind blew over José’s face as the dragon spread its wings and took to the air.

***

The lavalight had sat down on José's shoulder once they started flying. “Finally got control of your dragon, huh?” she said when they were airborne with no one following them.

José ignored the remark. Over the sound of the wind, Asher wouldn't hear his part of the conversation, but how he handled 'his dragon' wasn't any of the lavalight's business. “How long has this civil war been going on for?” he asked instead.

“Too long,” the lavalight said, bristling. “It’s time we won.”

“We? What side are you on?”

“I’m with the good guys. But you don’t have to worry about that. We're almost there, now.”

“Really?” Excitement welled up in José as though he were a little kid again. Maybe, just maybe this friend of the lavalight’s would know how to get them home. He'd get to see his family again, sleep in his own bed at night. He would never have to fight again, or run into trees. Well, maybe he'd still run into the occasional tree, just not as much.

“We’re pretty close,” the lavalight said. “My friend’s in a village where there's no racism against half-breeds and mixed couples. It's a beautiful place, you'll see.”

“So how lon—”

“There's more smoke!” Asher cut him off. José felt him lean to the right and he had to tighten his grip so he wouldn't fall off as the dragon changed direction.

“Another burning village?” José raised his voice to be heard.

“I don't know. I wanna check.”

“It's okay,” the lavalight said, “that direction's good enough.“

“If we really get to go home…” José said, “how am I ever gonna thank you?”

“Oh, that's alright. Don't worry about it.”

***

José jumped off the dragon after they'd landed and Asher transformed back. The relatively long flight had taken a good chunk of Asher's energy, so hopefully there would be no more fights or tantrums for the rest of the day.

“Where are we?” José asked. Smoke entered his nostrils, made him scrunch up his nose and wave a hand in front of his face.

“'Nother burned down ghost city,” Asher said as the lavalight flew off to scout the area.

“You realize what it would look like to anyone coming by if they saw us here?”

Asher took a few steps into the village and José followed him in spite of the bad feeling he was getting about all this. “We'd look like insane pyromaniacs,” he continued speaking when Asher remained quiet.

“So what? I am a pyro.”

“But you’re not responsible for this.” José gestured at their surroundings. “You're not burning houses.”

Asher scoffed and muttered something José didn’t quite catch.

José wasn’t sure he wanted to know what Asher had said. There had been a burning house in Asher’s dream. The one Asher hadn’t wanted him to see. José could ask about it, but it seemed like such a personal thing. Asher’s violent reaction to it in the dream certainly made it look like a matter close to his heart. It was none of José’s business, really. After all, this wasn’t a relationship he wanted to sustain in the real world, was it?

But what did that make him? One in a long line of men who used Asher for his body.

Then again, Asher had made it very clear last night that he wasn’t offering anything more than that.

“There’s no one around,” the lavalight said, coming back to José “We should set up camp somewhere, and tomorrow we'll reach my friend's house.”

José relayed the information to Asher and they agreed to look for food and settle for the night somewhere in the forest nearby.

***

“Asher?” he asked later, after they'd had dinner and were sitting around a small fire.

“Yeah?”

“What's the first thing you'll do when we get back?” He'd asked himself this question, too, thinking that maybe he'd go to his parents' house and hug everyone available… and then call up all his older siblings, all his friends and relatives, even the ones he hadn't spoken to in years. Maybe he'd invite the half-deaf old lady who lived next door over for coffee. Mhm… coffee.

“I dunno.” Asher let himself fall onto his back. “Take a shower. Get a haircut. Smoke a cigarette.”

José couldn't help but laugh.

“What's so funny?”

“You're so simple.”

Asher huffed. “Whatever.” It was almost cute, the way he tried not to sound insulted.

“Don't be mad.” A smile tugged on José’s lips. “Sometimes, simple is good.” He climbed over Asher, his hands on the ground above his shoulders. He hadn’t forgotten his earlier promise, and if this was their last night here, he had to make good on it. “So you're gonna take a shower, get your hair cut and smoke a cigarette.” José lifted one hand to trail a finger down Asher's chest. “What then?”

“Mhm… get laid,” Asher said, giving José the answer he had expected before he leaned up to kiss him, putting a hand on his chin and running a tongue over his lips. José responded without hesitation. He wasn’t sure how things would turn out, what he’d want to do about Asher back in their world, but he was very sure what he wanted to do to him right then.

Everything else, he would worry about another time.

Chapter 19 - Crossing that Bridge

Asher almost dozed off on his watch, but then he heard something. He wasn’t sure what, though. Their camp fire had almost burned down. Asher looked around in the darkness and listened, but the forest was as quiet as any forest could be at night. A twig broke to his right and Asher tensed. Sitting up he turned to face that direction. A dark figure emerged from the trees.

“Who's there?”

“Shh,” the stranger said, putting a finger over his own lips as he stepped onto the clearing. “It’s just me.”

“Fangs?” Asher narrowed his eyes. “What the hell were you doing there? Were you watching?”

Fangs shot him a blank look. “Watching what? I was only passing by, saw you, and thought I’d impart a word of advice.”

Yeah, right.

“It’s late. Come back tomorrow.” That said, Asher lay back down and rolled onto his side, facing away from the pseudo vampire who didn’t keep to normal visiting hours.

“I’m afraid that’s not possible.”

“You heard him,” Blind Guy spoke up. Asher blinked. He hated never being able to tell whether José was awake or not. “He doesn’t wanna talk to you.”

Fangs sighed, but didn’t walk away. Why the hell did he insist on talking to them in the middle of the night? “It’s not going to take long,” he said. “I’m only here to give you a word of warning.”

“What would that be?” Asher said, looking back at Fangs over his shoulder. “Use protection?”

“I’m not sure what you’re talking about,” Fangs said, “but you should always use all the protection you can get. I’m not here to tell you that though.” He took a step closer toward them and his eyes narrowed on Asher. “What’s that on your shoulder?”

Asher covered his tattoo with his hand.

“Get lost,” Blind Guy said, “We don’t need your advice.”

“There is no need for you to be so hostile.”

“Yeah? Tell me, what did you do in that village where we met you? Where half the population died?”

“I was passing through.”

“Yeah, I’m sure that’s all you did.”

Fangs remained silent for a second. Asher let his gaze wander between him and Blind Guy, who had sat up. “You’re implying that I’m responsible for their demise?” the vampire asked.

“Let’s say I don’t trust you very much.”

“You may want to reconsider who you trust,” Fangs said, sounding bitter. His eyes glanced to the side and into the forest as though he was thinking of something else. He shook his head and redirected his gaze at them. “Let me ask you one last thing. Are you really from a different world?”

“Yeah, really. Ours is a lot better, too,” Asher said. “Can we go back to sleep now?” He didn’t care whether Fangs had had anything to do with the death of the army penguins. He cared about his own life, of course, but if Fangs had wanted to kill him, he’d be dead by now.

“Right, I should be going,” Fangs said, turning around. “I’m certain we’ll meet again.”

“Totally looking forward to it,” José said as Fangs walked away. “What was that all about…” he muttered when he was gone, still not lying back down. Asher replied with a yawn.

“Who cares?”

***

The village they reached later the next day might have been described as peaceful, scenic or even lovely— by other people. The only thought that came to Asher’s mind was
fucking lame
.

The laughter of children filled the air as Blind Guy and he walked through the streets, past small huts and houses that smelled like pie and freshly baked bread. The only thing missing from the perfect picture was a rainbow in the sky and unicorns galloping through the roads.

“Give me a break…” Asher muttered, listening to two women discuss what a lovely day it was.

“What?” José asked.

“This place is so perfect, it’s creepy.”

“I’m sure it’s not that bad.”

“There’s only women and children here and… Oh God, does that kid have three eyes?” A lot of villagers looked weird, now that he thought about it. Asher had gotten used to a lot of things, but people with dog tails and goat feet all in one were new even to him.

“C’mon, don’t go insulting the villagers now.”

Asher rolled his eyes, but kept walking, following Blind Guy and the lavalight. As they trudged on, a large fortress rose up in their view above the roofs of the other huts. Made of dark stone and lined up in front of a mountain range, it looked a lot more impressive than the rest of the village. A place like that would be hard to set aflame, and would take forever to burn out.

“That building looks depressing,” Asher said as they drew closer, eying the bars in front of the windows. Blue light radiated over the whole building, emanating from a high tower to the side. “But those sparks are pretty.”

As they approached, two guards denied them entry. They were the first men Asher spotted around here, but they weren’t worth a second look. It was as if this place had a law against being pretty. Asher sighed as one of the uglies retreated into the fortress.

“Lavalight says we gotta wait a second,” José said. The little bitch fluttered away from him and vanished inside.

“What, does the old man have to hide his dirty underwear before we can go in?”

“Asher…”

“What?”

“Just wait.”

***

Their steps echoed off the thick stone walls as a guard led them through the building. Asher rubbed his arms. What he wouldn’t have given for a nice hot fire. The dark fortress seemed to eat up all the warmth of the sun. Asher grabbed one of the torches that hung on the walls and waved it around in front of him.

“Put that back,” José said beside him.

“No,” Asher said. “Their fault for not having proper heating and lighting.”

José didn’t try arguing and Asher considered himself victorious—until the fire just went out. “Bastard!” He glared at Blind Guy.

“Must have been the wind.”

Asher narrowed his eyes at him. “Yeah, sure.” He threw the dead piece of wood into a corner where it landed with a clonking sound. As they walked on, Asher almost regretted not hitting Blind Guy with that stick.

“Are we there yet?” he asked after they had been passing through empty hallways for what seemed like forever. This place bored him even more than the libraries back home had. Except for the torches, anyway. Those were cool.

The guard cleared his throat. “Just a second. The general is going to receive you outside in the gardens.”

“Oh, don’t tell me he’s a hippie.”

“I highly doubt that,” José said. Asher opened his mouth to respond, but then his eyes fixed on the light at the end of the tunnel. Or rather, at the end of the hallway.

“Sunlight!” Asher picked up the pace, passing the guard to get to the brightly lit door. He almost ran right into the head of a spear. “Whoa!” Hadn’t seen that new guard there at all!

“You need authorization to—”

“He’s clear!” their guide shouted from behind and the weapon was lifted, allowing Asher to go on. He made a rude gesture at the guard who had tried to skewer him, and stepped onto a stone path that led him farther into the garden.

Blossoming trees filled the air with pink petals. The whole place looked almost as gay as Asher felt. His eyes followed one of the petals as the wind carried it toward a pond. A wooden bridge led across the water. It would have looked peaceful if not for the guards standing on either side of it, seemingly ignorant of the beauty that surrounded them.