Lust and Other Drugs Read online

  “Of course I can. Everyone will know why you’re suddenly on leave. But it’s a gamble. If nothing changes—”

  “I’ll be needing a new job.”

  “We both will.”

  Chapter 26

  WHILE JORDAN hadn’t told him who the other suspect was, Edra had a good idea. He’d done enough work of his own to know the mayor’s son was up to his neck in it. If his father was reelected, every mytho and mytho supporter was in danger and people like Andrew would feel emboldened.

  As much as Edra wanted to speak to Andrew, that would only make things worse, and Andrew would play the victim. Edra printed out a picture of Andrew off the internet and carefully laminated it. No one stopped him or asked him what he was doing.

  The satyrs knew Andrew was trouble, but they didn’t know why Andrew had decided to make satyrs the focus of his hate, and it was for the best that they didn’t realize Andrew had once dated the woman who’d been tutoring Darian. If there was more to it than that, no one would ever know. Having a clan of satyrs chase after Andrew would only prove his point—that they were animals only concerned with fucking and fighting.

  No. Edra had a much better idea, and he did owe Selena for finding the dick. Might as well repay the debt by giving her a replacement—a dick for a dick.

  He picked up the photo and went to the roof, where he stripped and shifted. He didn’t bother with invisibility. He was only going to fly over the bay and sweep past Alcatraz. The merfolk colony was technically still his responsibility, even though, like most sensible people, he wanted very little to do with them.

  He swooped over the old prison, where a few merfolk were lying on the rocks, sunbaking like psychotic seals. He really didn’t want to land—he needed permission for that, and he couldn’t speak any language they’d understand like this. Where was Mistress Selena?

  There was movement in the water, and a dozen heads broke the surface. Selena waved, and he beckoned with his tail to an empty rock. He still didn’t land. Setting a claw on Alcatraz would only bring trouble.

  Selena took her time swimming over. She rested her arms on the rock and stared up at him. “What do you want, Knight?”

  Edra carefully placed the photo on the rock. Andrew stood on his father’s boat, and the name of the boat was clearly visible. Selena ran her finger under the letters. She couldn’t read them, but she knew what writing was.

  She glanced back up at Edra. “For me?”

  Edra nodded.

  “Both? Man and boat?”

  Edra nodded again, but tapped the picture.

  Selena pouted. “Only this man and this boat.”

  Edra nodded again. It was always important to be clear with merfolk.

  “I’m glad my assistance was so valued.” She grasped the laminated paper and disappeared beneath the waves. Maybe it wouldn’t be the next time Andrew went sailing or even the time after, but his sunny days were numbered, and Edra hoped Andrew had a long list of things he hoped to do before he died. So he’d feel his wasted life slip through his fingers while Selena made him regret ever being born.

  Edra hovered there. He’d done what needed to be done, but he knew he’d probably broken a dozen human laws in the process, and his stomach squirmed. Jordan wouldn’t be happy.

  He didn’t need to tell Jordan.

  Merfolk watched him, and he needed to go before they whipped up a little bad weather to make it hard for him to fly home.

  For some reason guilt made the flight far harder than it should’ve been.

  TUESDAY NIGHT Edra sat in a mytho-friendly bar watching TV as the votes were counted and people gave their hot takes and predictions. There was a mix of humans and mythos, and it wasn’t exactly his neighborhood bar. Edra liked it better than his own. He came here when he liked to remember that not every human was an asshole who wanted mythos erased from the Earth.

  While he passed for human, that didn’t mean he wanted to sit around or spend money in a place full of anti-mytho sentiment. Today he couldn’t deal with that.

  Jordan came back with their drinks. Like everyone else here, he looked edgy and watchful, as though he were waiting for something to go wrong. There would be protests, no matter who won.

  While Jordan wasn’t in subdued-cop mode, he hadn’t gone all-out either—a little eyeliner, studs in his ears, and his hair just so. Edra’s heart did a little swoop. Something was different today. The lust that had burned through him and singed his fingers every time he was close to Jordan had changed. It wasn’t gone. Now it was hunger—something more dangerous.

  As much as he liked Jordan, it was the wrong time to be dabbling in cross species relations. He didn’t know if Jordan wanted to get serious, but they had reached the point where Edra didn’t want anyone else. In a dark corner of his heart, he worried that Jordan would decide it was all too much.

  “I wish they’d hurry up and call it.” Jordan put the beers on the table.

  “Too close. I don’t want them to get it wrong.”

  Jordan glanced at the TV again. “At least everyone here wants the same thing.”

  “That’s why I vetoed your idea of staying in. Better to be out with people to celebrate or commiserate.” It was also safer—he wouldn’t be tempted to push their connection. It had taken him ten years to recover after the first time he had his heart mashed. He wasn’t sure he was ready to take a chance with a human, even though his body wanted it so badly.

  “Nice work with the media.” Jordan raised his bottle.

  Edra tapped his to Jordan’s and took a sip.

  It had been easy enough to let slip that the officer who arrested Greg Holmes for killing a satyr had been put on leave. Howard ate it up and advocated that officers should be punished for stepping out of line and supporting mythos. Humans had to come first.

  A major newspaper had picked up the story, and they had been perplexed about why a good investigator was on leave. The official line from SFPD was that Jordan was on leave for personal reasons, nothing to do with the case. But if Howard wanted to come after mythos and those who supported them, Edra would give him enough rope to hang himself.

  “Lew’s ahead,” Edra said.

  “Forty-three votes doesn’t seem like much.”

  “I don’t care if it’s one vote.” Perhaps the tide was turning. He smiled at Jordan and reached his hand across the table.

  Jordan placed his over on top of it. “I want it to be more than one. I wanted it to be a landslide.”

  Edra sipped his beer. He’d given up hoping for miracles. They didn’t happen here… although Jordan had fallen into his life. Maybe there was some leftover magic drifting around, and he’d gotten lucky.

  “And who is this?” Tatiana put her hand on Edra’s shoulder.

  “Friend of mine. Jordan, Tatiana. Tatiana is a healer.”

  “He doesn’t fly often enough.” She gave his shoulder a squeeze that made him wince, and then she rejoined her friends.

  Jordan lifted their joined hands. “They don’t care.”

  “No. Unless you were part of an important bloodline and needed to have children, no one cared in Tariko.”

  “Sucked if you needed to breed, then.”

  “There are ways around it. Though wars have been fought for less.” Edra shrugged.

  “Did you fight?”

  “No. Not my role. I made sure people followed the rules of battle.”

  “Now you make sure they follow the rules, period.”

  Edra drank to avoid answering. They were still fighting, but humans didn’t even follow the rules they set for themselves, even as they expected others to.

  Jordan narrowed his eyes. “We’re going to talk about what you do one day.”

  “It’s classified—secret mytho business.”

  Jordan watched him and then shook his head. He was too observant, too smart, too pretty. He’d be a dangerous enemy.

  “Shhh,” someone said, and the volume on the TV went up.

  “By Pan, she’s wo
n,” a satyr said.

  “Really?”

  People started to chatter.

  “Close your mouths, so we can hear her talk,” the bartender shouted.

  “I look forward to serving all the residents of San Francisco,” Dr. Lew said, “and fostering relations with cities and countries who are making headway in our changed world. We cannot go back, but by moving forward, we can find new strengths, new ideas, and a renewed vibrancy for our city.”

  She’d actually won. The stress Edra had been holding on to released in a rush that made him feel ill for a moment. He tightened his grip on Jordan’s hand.

  A cheer went up around the bar.

  “There’ll be riots tonight,” Jordan said. “Best not to be out.” He stood, and Edra let himself be drawn up. “Not finishing your beer?”

  “No, I still have to work tomorrow.” And he didn’t need the headache.

  “Sucks to be you.” Jordan picked it up and finished Edra’s too. “Did you want to….” He lifted his eyebrows hopefully.

  “I want to, but I won’t.”

  “Other places to be?”

  “No.” He stepped closer. “I only want you.” He ran his fingers through Jordan’s hair and then along his jaw. His skin was smooth beneath Edra’s fingertips, and Jordan’s eyes widened and his heart beat faster. He didn’t need to be a dragon to know what Jordan wanted, because he wanted it too. He leaned in closer and brushed his lips over Jordan’s in the lightest of kisses. He fully expected it to be awful.

  Jordan’s lips were cool from the beer, soft as though ready to yield or ask for more, but he didn’t move. Edra wasn’t sure he could breathe. He liked it, maybe too much. For a moment he didn’t know what to do. He was falling over the edge of the cliff and not even trying to hold on. He wanted Jordan to fall with him, but they couldn’t rush this. They both needed a chance to explore the bond before they made it permanent. He drew back a little. Their noses still touched, and his hand hadn’t moved.

  “What does that mean?” Jordan murmured.

  “I don’t know.” But he pressed another kiss to Jordan’s lips to be sure that he liked it as much the second time as he had the first. He rested his forehead against Jordan’s and breathed him in. Lust would’ve been simple. This was complicated.

  More from TJ Nichols

  Order of the Black Knights

  Olivier Merlo works for a dangerous man. He does what he’s told without asking questions because he needs to protect his sister and niece. When someone gives his boss trouble, Olivier does what he does best. It’s a routine hit—until the victim’s brother starts poking around.

  Cody Anders left his family behind a decade ago—along with their wealth and influence—to live on his own terms. Still, he knows his twin didn’t die of a drug overdose, and he’ll do anything to find the truth. What he uncovers is a conspiracy that will topple his family and leave him staring down the barrel of a gun.

  Olivier must decide if he’s going to obey orders or free himself from the curse that has guided his hand for centuries. Cody, who challenges Olivier’s notion that no one can love him, holds the key to breaking his chains. But when the truth finally comes out, it might be more than Cody can accept.

  TJ NICHOLS is the author of the Studies in Demonology series as well as several novellas. TJ grew up reading thrillers and fantasy novels, so it’s no surprise that mixing danger and magic comes so easily. Writing urban fantasy allows TJ to make sure that evil gets vanquished and the hero gets his man.

  With two cats acting as supervisors, TJ has gone from designing roads to building worlds and wouldn’t have it any other way. After traveling all over the world, TJ now lives in Perth, Western Australia.

  Website: tjnichols-author.blogspot.com

  Twitter: @TobyJNichols

  Facebook: www.facebook.com/TJNichols.author

  Patreon: www.patreon.com/TJNichols

  By TJ Nichols

  Elf on the Beach

  The Legend of Gentleman John

  Olivier

  Poison Marked

  The Vampire’s Dinner

  The Wolf’s Résistance

  MYTHO

  Lust and Other Drugs

  Published by DREAMSPINNER PRESS

  www.dreamspinnerpress.com

  Published by

  DREAMSPINNER PRESS

  5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886 USA

  www.dreamspinnerpress.com

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of author imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Lust and Other Drugs

  © 2019 TJ Nichols.

  Cover Art

  © 2019 Tiferet Design.

  http://www.tiferetdesign.com/

  Cover content is for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted on the cover is a model.

  All rights reserved. This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of international copyright law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines, and/or imprisonment. Any eBook format cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact Dreamspinner Press, 5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886, USA, or www.dreamspinnerpress.com.

  Digital ISBN: 978-1-64405-188-7

  Trade Paperback ISBN: 978-1-64405-189-4

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2018963163

  Digital published April 2019

  v. 1.0

  Printed in the United States of America