Necromancer Legacy - 7. Green is the warmest color

Sasha didn’t even turn on all of the lights at the pool. He said he liked it better like this—dim and calm. This way it made it seem different from when he had to work here. Apparently, he often came here at night to swim and it helped him relax.

Well Nick didn’t feel relaxed at all. The strong smell of chlorine made him feel sick to his stomach.

“What are you waiting for? Get changed,” Sasha said, putting down his sports bag and towel on a bench.

Sasha just wore his swimming trunks—the sporty square cut kind. He was all lean and athletic and his skin was that beautiful pale gold shade all over, and he had those really defined hip bones that formed a V shape.

“Nick my eyes are up here.”

“I don’t have any swimming trunks,” he blurted out.

Sasha rolled his eyes. “I assume you don’t have any of those either?” He motioned at the swimming goggles on his head.

“Oh, sure I do. I just forgot them at home with my swimming championship trophies.”

“Thought so. Lucky for you I have extras.”

Sasha went back to the dressing room. While he was gone Nick eyed the water warily, like it might randomly turn into a giant liquid monster and attack him. They had gotten inside the pool area with Sasha’s key, and then Sasha had punched in a code to deactivate the security system. They were completely alone here. Nick felt a bit cold even though the place was heated.

Okay, was he crazy, or was the water starting to turn red? Nick closed his eyes and opened them again, and the water was not red; he was crazy.

“There.” Sasha came back and threw goggles and swimming trunks at him. “Don’t worry, they’re clean. And I’ll make sure to wash them after you use them, too.”

“Of course. Homosexuality is, after all, a highly contagious disease. Wouldn’t want you to catch it.”

Sasha parted his lips like he wanted to throw a retort at him, but no words came out.

Nick started to get changed, and Sasha turned away. Nick wasn’t self-conscious or anything but he was kind of glad Sasha didn’t look—okay, so maybe he was a little self-conscious.

He jumped in the water where it reached up to his chest.

“Thought you were afraid.” Sasha sat at the edge of the pool, at the beginning of one of the areas designated for swimming laps, separated by those white floating things.

“I’m not afraid if I can stand on my feet and see the bottom. It’s the deeper section that’s a bit trickier.”

Just looking toward it and a shiver ran up Nick’s spine. He crossed his arms and rubbed them for warmth.

“You can’t swim like that, you know.” Sasha pointed his chin toward him. “Arms crossed isn’t the best technique.”

“That’s hilarious. So… are you even going to try helping me, or am I just wasting my time?”

“Do you mind if I swim a few laps first? Then I’m all yours.”

“Okay.”

Sasha fastened the goggles and then pushed himself off the edge, diving into the water, all graceful and effortless. Nick observed his technique. His movements looked really easy and fluid, and he moved so fast. It really was quite something to watch someone that excelled in their sport. Nick wondered if it was the same for beginners when they watched him climb the most difficult walls—like the forty feet high one, with all the overhangs and boulders and the tricky sloping part on top where you had almost no holds.

He suddenly wished he was at the familiar Brooklyn climbing gym instead of here. What was he doing here, anyway?

Right. Making Sasha feel better.

What a joke. Sasha seemed fine to him. He was swimming his tenth lap already. Was he even planning to stop eventually, or would he just keep going all night and let Nick witness how great at swimming he was?

It kind of looked like fun, actually. And it wasn’t like Nick didn’t know how. He knew how. He’d had that class—granted, it had been just one class, and it had resulted in his almost drowning like a complete idiot. But the almost drowning part had been after learning how to swim. The basic technique, anyway; that freestyle one, with the arms alternately pushing under the water and the legs kicking. The one that looked stupid if you didn’t know how, but that looked really neat and elegant when Sasha did it.

After watching Sasha do ten laps, Nick was kind of bored, and he reckoned he should just try it. Might as well. He was already here. And he had the swimming trunks on, and those stupid goggles and everything.

Okay. Let’s do this. It’s just water, anyway. No big deal. Water and chlorine.

More chlorine than water, according to the smell. Well, on the plus side, it couldn’t be blood if it smelled so strongly of chlorine, right? It wouldn’t make any sense. So surely he wouldn’t have any weird visions. It had only happened once, and he had developed an irrational fear because of it. But it was dumb, and he was mature enough to acknowledge that.

So Nick went to place himself two rows away from where Sasha was swimming. And he kicked himself off the floor and started to swim, just like that.

It wasn’t that difficult, really. He had learned it once and his body still remembered. It wasn’t nearly as graceful—or fast—as Sasha’s technique, but it didn’t matter. He was just trying to overcome his fear. He didn’t need Sasha for that. He could do it by himself. Easy.

Nick swam two, then three laps. Every time he got to the deepest part of the water there was a sinking feeling in his stomach.

But nothing happened. He couldn’t see much anyway. It was pretty dark. Even if his brain decided to hallucinate the water turning red, it probably wouldn’t make much of a difference. After he finished his third lap he paused, holding the edge of the pool.

He realized he couldn’t see Sasha anymore. At the same time, hands grabbed his ankles and pulled, hard. Nick couldn’t even let out a startled gasp; he was already underwater. His goggles weren’t on right now, so his eyes burned. Also he swallowed water. Lots of it. When he swam back up he coughed violently and of course Sasha was right next to him, laughing.

“You should’ve seen your face!”

I hate him, Nick thought. I hate this guy.

But oh, look at that, Sasha was laughing—quite heartedly at that—so Nick supposed there was progress. A depressed person didn’t laugh much.

“I’m glad one of us is having fun,” Nick said when he found his breath. His lungs still burned, though. So did his eyes.

Bastard.

Nick’s heart was beating fast, too. Sasha had scared him, obviously—not that Nick would admit it.

“Your technique was really bad,” Sasha said, still smiling. “Like, I’m sorry, but it was really bad. Worst than some of my kids. And they’re really bad.”

“I think I got it. Were you even looking? I thought you were swimming the whole time.”

“Nah.” Sasha shook his head. Nick was holding on to the edge of the pool again, but Sasha was just treading water calmly. “I stopped and watched you as soon as you started swimming. That’s what I do when I teach. I can swim if my kids are watching me—so they can look at the technique. But when they’re swimming, I have to watch them to make sure they’re okay.”

“I’m not a kid.”

Sasha moved away to give Nick his space. “Try again. Don’t kick so much with your legs. And keep your arms closer to your body. Go over there and back, and then I’ll give you my feedback.”

“Can’t wait.”

“Is that sarcasm?”

“No.”

“How do I know that’s not sarcasm again?”

“You don’t.”

He kicked himself off the edge and started swimming. He felt really annoyed and self-conscious now, like he could feel Sasha’s eyes watching his every movement. He did try to kick less and keep his arms closer and all that. He wasn’t too sure if it was working. But he tried, anyway. He tried to go slowly, too. No need to rush it.

Like with rock climbing, when snotty kids tried to go too fast to show off to the others, it always got messy, and their technique sucked, and they got stuck quickly enough.

Better to take things slow.

Nick swam to the other side, then came back. As usual his chest tightened when he got to the deeper part of the water. His heart started beating faster. He tried to just focus on swimming, on reaching Sasha. He was almost there, anyway. Nothing would happen.

He saw red. Nick knew it wasn’t real; he was almost expecting it by now. It was just his stupid brain playing tricks again. No big deal. There was no red, it was all in his head, and if he could just ignore it, and be stronger than that, then maybe—

Hands closed in on his ankles again. But this time it wasn’t Sasha, and they pulled him deeper, much deeper, all the way down, until his ears hurt and felt like they were going to burst. How deep was this god damn pool, anyway?

The hands didn’t even feel like skin. They were colder than ice, so cold that it burned. Nick tore off the goggles because he couldn’t see anything. When he looked down he saw that the hands were black—dark shadows grabbing at his ankles, his legs, and pulling him down even more. Instead of the bottom of the pool he saw a large circle, thick and dark red. As Nick looked he realized he could see through the circle—like it became translucent.

And he saw a hundred more of those black shadowy creatures, all huddled together in a valley of ice and snow, waiting for him. And beyond them was dark smoke rising in the starless sky, curling up like a snake. Hell. The shadows were pulling, insistent. Nick’s feet were almost touching the red circle. He would go through to the other side, and this time his body wouldn’t stay behind. What if there was no going back?

Nick could hear their moans, inhuman and distorted. The fear was like physical pain, each moan like a stab in his chest. Why couldn’t he free himself from their grasp? Why couldn’t he be stronger? It had been so easy for Cyan to dismiss them.

Then he felt a hand—a warm touch, unlike those cold black shadows—gripping his arm firmly, and he got pulled back up.

 

***

 

Sasha dragged him out of the water and they went to climb out the pool together. Nick crawled away, scraping his knees against the rough floor, and he coughed and coughed until his lungs hurt so much that he thought he would die. He curled up on himself and he couldn’t stop trembling. He put a hand in his hair, hiding his face with his arm.

Sitting next to him, Sasha was watching him, confused.

“What the fuck happened? You can’t have gotten to the bottom of the pool that quickly. That’s impossible. It’s like something pulled you down. But I didn’t see anything.”

Nick couldn’t move right now, let alone talk. He just couldn’t stop trembling, his heart thumping inside his chest like crazy. He could still hear those moans in his head.

Those creatures, whatever they were. They were in pain. They were… angry. Frustrated. Desperate. Mad.

Sasha touched his neck and Nick winced. He just wasn’t expecting it.

“Relax. I just wanted to check something… Your heart’s beating really fast. Are you having a panic attack, or something? Nick… you need to calm down.”

“N-No shit.” His teeth started chattering. He tried to stop it but it was uncontrollable.

“Do you want me to call an ambulance or something?”

“No! No… I hate stupid hospitals.”

“Yeah, I get it. Me too.” He slid his hand to Nick’s shoulder, and squeezed it, like he was awkwardly trying to comfort him or something. But then he seemed to think better of it and pulled his hand away.

Nick wished he had kept his hand there just a little longer.

“You’re really cold,” Sasha said. “Do you want to go to the showers?”

“Y-Yeah, okay.”

“Can you stand?”

“Yeah.”

Nick pushed himself off the floor. He managed to stand on shaky legs, and he followed Sasha to the shower room. Sasha gathered up his sports bag and their clothes on the way.

When Nick looked over his shoulder at the pool, it looked completely normal and still. Whatever. There was no point being angry at a swimming pool, was there?

At least Nick had tried.

And, well, he had put himself in a vulnerable position, that was for sure. Cyan had told him to be vulnerable; Nick sure had delivered. He swallowed. It tasted bitter.

Nick rushed past Sasha to stand under one of the showers, turning the tap for the hot water at maximum. Sasha was watching him.

“That’s too hot. Your skin’s getting all red.”

“I don’t care. I’m fucking cold.”

“That’s enough. Stop it. Get out of there.”

Sasha bent over and turned off the water. He threw a towel at Nick and they trotted to the dressing room in silence. But they didn’t get changed yet. They just sat together. Sasha hadn’t turned on the lights here, either. He’d just flicked on the ones in the shower room. They could still see, but it was dark. And really quiet. They just heard some drops of water still leaking in the next room.

“You’re really skinny,” Sasha observed.

“Must be my demon genes. Maybe all those professional runway models have demon dads, too.”

“Seriously though. I can see your ribs.”

Nick clutched the towel tighter around himself, like that would make a difference.

“Was it always like that?” Sasha asked. “Or just recently?”

“Just recently. But I was getting better...”

“You’ll get better,” Sasha said firmly.

“How would you know?”

Sasha didn’t answer that. Instead he said, “Do you want to come to the coffee shop with me?”

“Why do you always drink coffee so late?”

“Because I work there. They open 24/7. I’ve got the night shift tonight. But there’s hardly ever anyone. I’ll make you a latte. I make the best lattes. Seriously. And I’ll make you eat something.”

“Sasha, I’m not actually anorexic. You know that, right? You don’t have to make me eat something.”

“Are you coming with me or not?”

“Okay. It’s my day off tomorrow anyway. Don’t you have school tomorrow, though?”

Sasha waved a dismissive hand. Then he went to one of the stalls to get changed, pulling the curtain and hiding behind it.

“It’s okay. I’ll sleep through it tomorrow morning. No big deal. My friends told me they throw stuff at me and I don’t even wake up, and everyone thinks it’s really funny.”

“Charming.”

Nick went to another stall to get changed. Sasha seemed to be really into not seeing each other naked, so.

“What about tomorrow afternoon?” Nick asked. “Are you planning on sleeping through those classes, too, or…?”

“Actually I think me and my friends are skipping for band practice.”

“You’re in a band?”

Nick had slipped in his skinny jeans and thin long sleeve shirt, and now he was zipping up his jacket.

“Yeah.” Sasha was done, too. He got out of the stall and he finished lacing his converse shoes. “But we just do covers so far.”

“Like old school Linkin Park?” Nick tucked his feet in his combat boots.

“That wasn’t cool of you guys to barge in like that.”

“I’ll tell Shane to send an apology letter. So what’s your band name?”

Sasha swung his bag over one shoulder.

“The Little Death,” he said.

They walked out of the dressing room side by side, the empty corridor echoing with their steps. They crossed the reception area and Sasha locked up the door behind them.

“Cool name,” Nick said.

“It’s a euphemism for—”

“For orgasm in French,” Nick finished for him. “I know. I read it somewhere. La petite mort.”

Sasha’s lips twitched into a smile, and they exchanged a glance.

“Did you come up with it?” Nick asked him.

“Nope. The drummer did. He’s awesome.”

Other sections of the gym were open at night for people who wanted to work on the machines. Sasha led the way to the sports center’s main entrance. The security guy at the front desk nodded at Sasha and watched them leave.

“I’d like to hear your band one day,” Nick said.

“We suck, actually. Plus they’re probably gonna kick me out.”

As they hit the sidewalk, the chilly moonless night welcomed them. It had been raining, too. As a car drove by too close to the sidewalk, Nick got muddy water all over his boots. Inconsiderate car driver.

“Why would they kick you out?”

Sasha sighed. “Because I never show up. I don’t have time to be in a band. I need to focus on swimming. Gabriel thinks I should try to get a scholarship. He wants me to quit the coffee shop, too.”

“Maybe you should.”

Sasha said nothing. He just shoved his hands in his pockets. They walked quietly for a bit. They passed Sasha’s apartment building. Apparently Sasha didn’t want to stop by before going to work.

“What’s it called? The coffee shop?”

“Espress. Lame name, I know.”

“It’s okay. The tattoo shop I work at is called Love Needles, so…”

“You work at a tattoo shop?”

Nick was amused. “You really don’t know anything about me, do you?”

“You never told me.”

Nick said, “You never asked.”

“You don’t know anything about me either,” Sasha countered. He was walking kind of quickly, but Nick kept up without a problem; he didn’t mind the fast pace.

“I know you love Gabriel more than anything. It’s pretty obvious. And he loves you too. I think you’re very prideful, and you’re always trying really hard to be strong. I also think you don’t let people in easily. You’re afraid of trusting people, maybe. You’re afraid to trust me.”

“That’s not—”

“And Cyan told me something. So either you’re some kind of were—I mean, a fox spirit—or Cyan was just messing with me.”

Sasha stopped. Nick did likewise. They stood in the middle of the sidewalk, facing each other. Nick could see the traffic on Lexington Avenue. But his gaze locked with Sasha’s green eyes.

“You were gonna say werefox.”

“No.”

“Liar.”

“Well it’s Cyan’s fault. He kept going on about werefoxes, and werewolves, and stuff.”

“So he told you. I figured he might know about that.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. He called me little fox.”

“Oh yeah. I forgot about that. I thought he was just giving you a nickname, or something.”

Sasha narrowed his eyes. “You can’t tell anyone.”

“I won’t.”

“Mom said we’re very rare, and that we might be the longest line of fox spirits in the world. I have some really old journals that date back to the eleventh century.”

“That’s impressive.”

In a silent agreement, they started to walk again.

“Yeah,” Sasha said, “one of my ancestors fought in the Crusades.”

“So you read all the journals?”

He shrugged. “Sometimes I didn’t feel like it. Not all my ancestors were very good writers. But my mother made me read them. You know how mothers are when they really want you to do something…” Then he looked at Nick and made a face. “Shit. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” he said. “I’m not going to cry. I’m pretty much over it. It’s not all bad. I’ve got Shane. And I’ve got Shane’s parents. They were good foster parents—by far the best ones I’ve had. Even though now they think I’m really weird.”

“Why?”

Another car drove into a puddle. This time Nick stepped to the side so he wouldn’t get splashed. He almost bumped in Sasha in the process, though.

“Sorry,” he said quickly, clearing his throat. “Uh, yeah, they think I’m weird because I decided not to go to college, basically.”

“I don’t think that’s weird. College isn’t for everyone. Did they even go?”

“Shane’s mom, yes. But his dad didn’t go.”

“So there.”

“I think they’re a bit weirded out by the gay stuff, too.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. You tell me.”

Sasha tucked his hair behind his ear. “Me? I don’t mind it. Not really.”

“Not really?”

Sasha said nothing.

They reached Lexington Avenue, with all its tall, trendy buildings and Nick tried to locate this ‘Espress’ place. As he followed Sasha he saw that it was actually really small, situated among other shops on the ground floor of a building with ‘for lease’ signs in some of the upper windows.

As they pushed open the glass door Nick’s nostrils were filled with the scent of coffee. They didn’t seem to have much food except for pastries in little glass displays. The place was decorated in earthy tones of beige and brown, and it was cozy enough. Some dark brown and pale green couches furnished one corner. Also they had a few plants near the entrance, but they looked like they hadn’t been watered in a while. It was really bothering Nick, but he tried not to be too obsessive compulsive about it.

Other than that, the stuff covering the walls and stacking the shelves seemed to be oriental-inspired. Wall scrolls, fake cherry blossom flowers in vases, a small Buddha statue and a Chinese calendar. Nick also saw a clear bowl full of marbles on the counter.

Some people had eclectic taste.

“Hey Sasha,” said the guy standing behind the counter.

His laptop sat next to the cash register, and he was clearly doing something non-work related. As they approached Nick craned his neck and recognized the game Star Craft. Heart of the Swarm. Or as Shane preferred to say, ‘Heart of the Swoaaaarm.’ He said you had to say it with the Zerg accent. Nerd jokes.

“Hey,” Sasha said back, before lazily introducing them. “Daniel. Nick.”

“Oh, so this is the guy you told me about.” Daniel nodded in understanding.

Daniel had short hair, and Nick could see that he had some pretty cool piercings in his ears; Nick wanted to ask him where he had gotten those black and blue studs. Julian had never ordered any like this.

But then Daniel added: “Your brother’s biological brother.”

Nick and Sasha both sort of winced at that.

“Ew.” Sasha grabbed a nearby chair and sat on it sideways, one arm wrapped around the back. “When you say it like that it sounds like me and Nick are related.”

“Why would that be a bad thing?” Daniel asked. He yawned, and scratched the back of his neck. “Man, I’m tired. I hate this job sometimes.”

He was playing Star Craft instead of working. It didn’t seem that bad to Nick.

“I don’t know,” Sasha shrugged, “but it would definitely be weird being related to Nick.”

“He doesn’t really like me much,” Nick explained.

“Oh, well, Sasha can be a bit wild,” Daniel said as he shut down his laptop and unplugged the charger. “You know, I mean like a wild animal. You sort of have to tame him.”

That reminded Nick of something. Jay’s clothes. Nick had to repress a laugh. Shit. Now it all made sense. But he couldn’t really talk about his realization in front of Daniel.

“Shut up and make me a coffee,” Sasha said.

“Make it yourself.”

Sasha checked his phone. “Eleven fifty. Ten minutes before my shift. So I’m like a customer.” He looked around the store. “And I’m your only customer, so you should be nicer.” He balanced the chair on its back legs, holding the table with one hand. “And a latte for Nick. No, wait, I’ll do it myself. My lattes are better than yours.”

Daniel rolled his eyes. “Make up your damn mind.”

Sasha jumped to his feet and the chair fell. “Oops,” he said.

He went to make the coffee, manning the espresso machine. Daniel shoved his laptop in a worn leather strap bag and hoisted in on his shoulder.

“Well, good night boys, have fun. It was nice meeting you, Nick, I guess you’re kinda like Gabriel. You seem a bit shy.” He pushed the glass door with one hand, and the chilly night wind stormed in.

And then Daniel was gone. Nick picked up the chair Sasha had left on the floor.

“I’m not shy.”

Sasha just shrugged.

As they both remained silent for a bit, Nick became very aware of the top forty radio music filling the room, with its annoying, obnoxious, repetitive, auto-tuned—he wasn’t even sure those could be called lyrics. It talked about girls’ butts a lot.

Sasha spun on his heel to turn it off. “We’re supposed to leave it on at all times,” he said, “but I’m sure our many customers won’t mind.”

Nick nodded, glancing around the room at the empty tables and chairs. He thought he saw tumbleweed rolling in one corner.

Sasha brought the two large white mugs to the corner of the shop so they could sit on the couches. The wooden blinds were shut, so it made for a surprisingly intimate setting.

They sat in front of each other, setting their mugs down on the pale wood table.

Glancing up, Nick noticed they didn’t even have a door for the back store, just bright turquoise beaded curtains. Sasha followed his glance.

“The owner, he’s kind of strange.”

“Uh-huh.”

Sasha took off his jacket, revealing a v-neck gray tee.

“Are you supposed to wear a uniform?”

“Supposed to, yes,” Sasha said.

“So do you ever have customers?”

“Sometimes. Hey, Nick, I wanted to ask you something. Who’s Liv?”

Immediately Sasha’s face became a bit flushed. He tried to act all casual, and he picked up his coffee to take a few sips, but he was clearly embarrassed for letting that slip.

“How do you even know about her? Did you check my phone or something?”

“No, um, it was Gabriel. He checked your phone. He was wondering if she was your girlfriend.”

“Liar. Gabriel wouldn’t do that. You checked my phone. When? Saturday?”

“I, um… it just sort of… fell out of your pocket, and…”

Nick leaned forward on the couch. Sasha had a guilty look on his face.

“You checked my phone when I was passed out? What the fuck.”

“So is she a girl you’re dating, or something?”

“You moron. You already know I’m gay.”

“Well, exactly.” Sasha took another sip of latte. He had some white on his lips, but then he licked them clean. “It’s not nice to lead her on, Nick.”

“She’s an agent. Or so she says, anyway. She was just interested in some of my ideas, so I’m meeting her soon for lunch.”

“What ideas?”

“For a story. A screenplay.”

Sasha’s eyes lit up.

“You’re a writer? That’s so cool.”

“Well, no, I’m not, it’s just—” Nick interrupted himself as some customers walked in.

He had almost forgotten where they were. Sasha got to his feet and dragged himself to the front counter so he could make them some to-go coffees. Nick picked up his mug and tried his latte carefully while he waited. Not bad, not bad; he probably wouldn’t sleep all night, but it was worth it.

The customers paid and left. Sasha came back to their table and plopped down on the couch.

“So you’re not a writer, then?” Sasha asked, leaning forward to pick up his latte.

“No it’s just a hobby. I haven’t even written anything in a while.”

“Still, that’s pretty cool. I really admire people who can write. I used to read a lot. Read all the books in my dad’s collection—I guess it’s my collection now. But yeah, I definitely read more when he was still around. Anyway.” Sasha took a sip of coffee, then added, “I saw you looking at my books when you came over.”

“So those weren’t Gabriel’s?”

“What? No. Gabriel just reads boring stuff. Marketing stuff. Finance, PR… And sometimes he reads biographies.”

Sasha played with his chain necklace, the one he always kept hidden under his shirt.

“Hey,” Nick said abruptly, “completely random, but, I know you stole my friend’s clothes.” Nick wanted to laugh; Sasha’s eyes got all wide and guilty, like a deer caught in headlights. “Jay’s clothes. He’s one of the bartenders at Laid-Back. But you already knew that. Don’t get me wrong, those looked really good on you. But you should probably still return them.”

Sasha was totally blushing. “I, um, I will.”

“Okay. Good.”

“I had no choice, okay? His locker was open. They were the only clothes I found.”

“After you sneaked in and transformed back.”

“Yeah.” Even Sasha’s ears were turning red. He scratched his hair, then flipped his bangs to the side. Some blond strands just fell right back in his eyes.

“I knew there was some kind of dog following me!” said Nick.

“M’not a dog,” Sasha muttered.

Nick laughed. He couldn’t believe it was real. A werefox? Come on.

Before Nick could ask more questions, two customers walked in. Annoying people, intruding like that. Really though. Nick and Sasha were trying to have a conversation here.

And they were staying, too. At least, they were decent enough to sit at the opposite side of the coffee shop.

Sasha gave them their teas—why did they have to go out to have tea, couldn’t they heave tea at home?—and then he came back to sit with Nick. But Sasha’s eyes lingered on the customers. Nick followed his gaze. One girl, one boy; both looked young. They looked alike, actually. Short pale hair, light eyes, fair skin. Maybe they were siblings. The girl kept glancing at Sasha from across the room, and then quickly looking away. Wow. Subtle.

“What is it?” Nick asked when Sasha seemed a bit uneasy.

“I’m getting a strange vibe from them,” he whispered.

“Okay…”

“Whatever. It’s not important.”

But clearly it was bothering him, because he became a lot less talkative after that. Nick felt a bit down all of a sudden.

He wondered why.

Maybe because Sasha kept looking at that girl.

Nah, couldn’t be that. Nick was probably just tired.

“So,” Nick cleared his throat, “why did you want to bring me here?”

Sasha’s voice was surprisingly soft as he answered, “I didn’t want to leave you alone after what happened at the pool.”

“I left you alone on Saturday night.”

Sasha settled back in his couch, and sighed. “Yeah, but, I didn’t exactly give you a choice. I just locked myself up in my bedroom. I thought I wanted to be alone, but that was bullshit. I just ended up crying all night,” Sasha admitted, “and I couldn’t sleep anyway.”

Well, Nick didn’t really know what to say after that.

He saw that Sasha was fiddling with his necklace again. It seemed to be some nervous thing he did. Also he was glancing toward that girl again.

“She keeps staring at me,” Sasha whispered.

“Well maybe if you stop staring at her she’ll stop staring at you.”

“You’re right…”

“Can I see?”

“What?”

“Your necklace.”

“Oh, that.” Sasha took it out of his shirt. It had three pendants; a black feather, a silver wing, and a blue tear-shaped gem thingy.

“It’s cute.”

“Thanks. It was my mom’s. I found it in some old box of stuff she kept. I never really saw her wearing any jewelry. Wasn’t really her thing. But she kept this one for some reason. Maybe my dad gave it to her when they were younger, or something. So I thought I’d start wearing it.” He tucked it back under his shirt.

“It looks good on you.”

“Thanks.” Sasha brought up his ankle on his knee, and he dropped a hand on his converse shoe. “You know.” He looked up at Nick—those almond-shaped eyes gave him the shivers. But Nick wasn’t cold at all. Sasha said, “You’re kinda nice. When you want to be.”

“I can’t exactly be mean when you’re telling me about your dead mom’s necklace, can I? Even half-demons have a conscience, you know.”

Nick wondered for a moment if he was pushing his luck. But Sasha laughed.

“I guess so.”

Sasha looked like he was about to say something else, but that girl came over their table and ruined everything.

She had a shy smile plastered on her annoyingly pretty face, and pixie short silvery blonde hair, and she was thin but with curves in the right places—the kind of girl a straight guy would totally go for. Any straight guy. Or even a gay guy, if he was drunk and felt like experimenting.

Not Nick, though. No matter how drunk. Because he loathed her and her bad timing.

“Hey. My name is Hazel.”

Congratulations, Nick thought.

“Hey,” Sasha said back. “What’s up?”

Hazel produced a resume from her enormous shiny black purse. The blonde guy who looked like her twin was waiting for her at the door. Either he was trying really hard to pretend like he wasn’t listening, or he was genuinely fascinated by the view on Lexington Avenue. Cars and buildings; captivating stuff.

“I was just wondering if you’re currently hiring. I’m looking for a part-time job.”

“Well, not really, to tell you the truth. Things are pretty quiet, as you can see.” Hazel looked really disappointed. So Sasha hurriedly took the resume she was handing him. “But I can still take this, you know, just in case people suddenly stop going to Starbucks.”

She brightened up. “Okay,” she said, “well, call me if anything comes up. Or, you know, you can just call me, if you want to.”

Subtle, Hazel. Subtle.

“Okay, um, have a good night.” She waved a hand awkwardly and she rushed over to her male look-alike. And they left.

Sasha dropped the resume on the table. “I don’t even think she got my Starbucks joke.”

“So are you going to call her?”

Sasha lifted his chin. “What’s it to you?”

“Nothing,” he said evenly.

There was a silence.

Nick suddenly got up, stretching his legs.

“I should let you work.”

Sasha arched an eyebrow. “Oh, yeah, cause I’ve got so much work to do.”

“You should really water those plants.”

“Huh?”

“Never mind.”

Sasha followed him to the door. “I, um… Thank you. For tonight.”

“What for? Almost drowning?”

“I’m not stupid. I know what you were trying to do.”

“Oh. I wasn’t really—”

“I know Gabriel called you.”

“Oh.” Busted. “Did it work?”

Did I make you feel better?

But Sasha wasn’t answering. Nick glanced at the glass door.

“So, um, good night, then,” Nick said. “Take care.”

Sasha offered his hand.

Nick stared. “A handshake, really? What was this, a job interview? I thought you told that poor girl there was no opening.”

Sasha gave a nervous laugh. He still held his hand up.

“Well, I don’t really know what else to do.”

“Me neither.” Nick admitted. “I’m not really good with those things.”

“No,” Sasha said, “you’re not. Remember last time? You kissed me.”

“It was very out of character. I’m sorry about that. I don’t usually kiss people that don’t want to be kissed by me. So… Handshake it is, then.”

But it wasn’t much of a handshake. Their hands sort of just… touched. And then their fingers laced together.

Sasha gave another one of those short, nervous laughs. His voice was kind of raspy, as though he’d been smoking.

“What are you doing?” Sasha asked, and their eyes met. Nick decided green was his new favorite color.

“I don’t know,” Nick said, “what are you doing?”

Nick felt sort of too warm, and prickly all over. Like electricity was going through his body.

“I don’t know,” Sasha whispered.

Sasha brought up a hand to press it against Nick’s chest, and he pushed him back until Nick came to a stop against those wooden blinds that covered the windows. The blinds rattled together noisily as Sasha pinned him there. Then Sasha kissed him. His lips were so hesitant. It was the sweetest thing. Nick felt desire rising up through him like an unstoppable fire.

Nick’s arms curled around Sasha’s thin waist, flushing their bodies together. Nick kissed him hard and deep and Sasha arched his back, leaning into him. Sasha was kissing back like this was the thing he wanted most in the world. Nick didn’t even want to try to make sense of it, he hadn’t expected—he had never thought…

Sasha unzipped Nick’s jacket with shaky hands. Nick grabbed Sasha’s hair and brought him into another rough kiss. Sasha threw his arms around his neck and pressed himself even closer.

Nick smiled between two kisses and ran his hands all over Sasha. His hand crept under Sasha’s shirt and felt his soft, heated skin. Nick slid his fingers from Sasha’s jeans and all the way up his back, feeling the curve of his spine.

Sasha was a good kisser; it wasn’t his first time doing this. That had been a lie for sure. But Nick didn’t care about that right now. Sasha knew just when to pull back and let him breathe, and he knew when to come back for more. Nick was losing it; it had been a while since—

“Oh my God,” Nick breathed.

“I know right?” Sasha whispered back before kissing him again.

And suddenly the door opened.

They both stopped and pulled away from each other. Sasha looked at the customer with comical wide eyes. His hair was all messy—Nick’s fault—and he was breathing loudly.

And the award for bad timing goes to... Nick thought as he looked at the forty-something trench coat wearing man.

“We’re closed!” Sasha exclaimed.

“But the sign says 24/7,” trench coat guy whined.

“We’re closed!” Sasha said firmly. “Just go to Starbucks like everybody else! Go! Now!”

Sasha grabbed the glass door, and as soon as trench coat guy stepped out, he slammed it shut, almost right in the man’s face. With trembling hands Sasha reached in his pocket and took out his keys, before locking the door.

He looked at Nick.

Nick couldn’t stop laughing.

After only a short moment of hesitation Sasha started laughing, too. He fell in Nick’s arms. They sort of just held each other for a moment, and laughed, and Nick forgot about everything else.

And then they kissed again, and it was softer, but still deep and powerful, like they wanted so much more. Nick realized his heart was racing. Or was it Sasha’s heartbeat? Probably both.

He whispered in Sasha’s ear, “I thought you hated me.”

“I don’t.” Sasha kissed his neck.

Sasha pressed himself closer and held him tight, like Nick was something precious and never to be lost. But then Sasha suddenly pulled away. His hand lingered at Nick’s hip for a moment, fiddling with his belt loop. But then Sasha moved away from him completely. Something had happened just now. A shadow had crossed Sasha’s eyes.

Nick felt a pang. “What is it?”

“Nothing.” Sasha averted his gaze.

“Did I do something wrong?”

“No.”

“Sasha…”

“I can’t… this shouldn’t have… We shouldn’t have… I mean, I can’t. I’m sorry. Um… I can’t explain it.”

“You can’t explain it?”

“No.”

“So you just want me to leave.”

Sasha made a face. “I’m sorry.” He took out his keys and unlocked the door.

Wow. Okay. That was kind of rough.

“The sign says 24/7,” Nick tried.

But he merely got a smile.

“I’m sorry,” Sasha said again.

“Stop saying you’re sorry. You think I care that you’re sorry? If you want me to leave, I’ll leave. But I am pissed, okay? You can’t just do that to someone. Without explaining anything.”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” he said stubbornly.

“Fine.”

“Good.”

Nick’s chest hurt.

“Maybe you should call Hazel,” Nick suggested, glancing over at their table with the two empty coffee mugs and Hazel’s resume.

“Nick—”

“I’ll see you around.”

And Nick stormed out, the cold air hitting him hard as he zipped up his jacket and walked away from the coffee shop. He didn’t look back.