Aurora's Consort *ch. 51 added*

A/N: Basically I'm feeling like crap right now. Been sick for several days and just managed to get AC done this afternoon. No update this week for Flaming. Sorry guys. Just not up to it. I'm gonna get a few days rest and then back on the wagon in a few days. This is the second attempt to post and lost all of the goodies (responses & shout-outs) I usually add. Not gonna do them over. Too tired. Unfortunately the site I usually do them on is glitching so I couldn't upload to it and done them all straight to the doc here and forgot to add the title so when I submitted I lost them all. Sigh. I can't get any of my formatting etc, etc,either. Please look over the lack of italics.

Thanx Madrachadevvi for helping with content and proofing and for listening to my incessant whining all week and weekend. **snuggles**

Big hugs to Wizli for the tips on the geographical boo boo. Fixed and thanx so much for the help. **blushes**
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Chapter 37 Sinking

Chris woke up with a gasp the second he felt himself return to his body. Or he sure as hell hoped that’s where he’d ended up. After that vision, or whatever the hell it was, he’d ended up in his secret spot. So, unless something else came up, he should’ve been headed back home. The first thing he saw was the heavy, red velvet curtain thingies that hung on his and Adam’s bed and he sighed in relief. Now he just had to tell them what the hell he’d seen about Devin and see if anybody else could make any sense of it.

A glance around the room and Chris was surprised to see the big, orange-haired lumberjack, Augustus, sitting there, watching him as calm as you please. “Where’s Adam?” Chris asked in confusion as he struggled to sit up.

Chris remembered running into Augustus in the hallway before he went on his ‘trip’, but that still didn’t explain why Big Dude was here instead of Chris’ husband. Jiro’s mate or not, Chris wasn’t so sure he liked being alone in the room with the guy when he was off to La La Land. He felt kinda stiff so he had to wonder how the hell long he’d been out. Then a wave of panic hit him. What if he’d been gone for several hours or even a day? Time didn’t seem to pass the same while he was gone. What felt like a few minutes might turn out to be way more or less.

“How long was I out?” Chris asked, dreading the answer. For all he knew Devin might be dead by now.

“No more than twenty minutes, otherwise I would have been forced to make other arrangements. Adam is in an extremely important meeting with the Earth Branch members of the Genesis Council right now,” Augustus explained quietly. “I didn’t think you’d mind if I watched over you for a moment. I’d come to inform the guards of an early shift change due to a strategy meeting when I ran into you in the hallway. I didn’t feel that High Councilor Adam would want me to leave your body alone with one of the others while you were gone.”

“What do you mean while I was gone? I’ve been here all the time. Anybody can see that,” Chris murmured warily. Nobody else was supposed to know about the alternate plane thing except for him and Adam. They were technically allowed to tell Devin, but Chris decided not to because his big brother had enough shit to deal with without having to worry about keeping an eye on him. Well, more than he had already before he was kidnapped.

“I haven’t mentioned it before because, frankly, it was a private matter. I was mated to the seer Master Xavier in his last incarnation, so I know what you’ve been dealing with. I wasn’t positive until earlier that you had the Sight, but there’s no doubt in my mind now. There’s no need to worry though. I’ll never breathe a word to another living soul. I lived with Xavier's visions and visits to the alternate plane and watched over his body in his absence. I understand completely the importance of secrecy in this matter.”

“Fine. It’s all good as far as I’m concerned,” Chris replied impatiently. If Augustus knew then he just knew. Wasn’t like Chris could do anything about that now. He’d been caught off guard a bit by finding Augustus in his room because that was the last thing he’d expected. Now the shock was wearing off and he had one overwhelming thought taking over his mind. “I need you to go get Adam. I had a vision and I need you to go find him. Oh! And maybe Master Benjamin too. He knows a lot of shit about Earth, so drag him back with you,” Chris rambled distractedly.

“As you command, High-Consort Chris,” Augustus murmured as he stood quickly from the chair and bowed slightly to Chris. That shit freaked Chris out but people had been doing it since King Jayden handed Aurora off to Adam to go find Devin. Before he had time to absorb anything, Augustus was out the door and long gone. While he waited Chris took a few minutes to run the details of his vision through his mind again, so that he wouldn’t forget anything. He really didn’t think he had to worry too much about leaving something out since it seemed to be burned into his mind. It kept playing through his head like a movie on a big screen.

Suddenly it hit Chris what Augustus had said before he left. Chris was supposed to be carrying Augustus’ mate, who Chris assumed was Jiro, and Augustus had just told Chris that his mate was called Xavier in his last incarnation. That was the exact name that Taro had given him when he’d come to visit Chris in the alternate plane. Then Taro’s words from earlier ran through his mind and he couldn’t help but look down at his growing belly. It looked the same as it had that morning but this time he focused on it intentionally. Sometimes he had to do that with people to see their auras. Most people’s were pretty easy to spot, but because he was still pregnant there was the whole ‘baby inside his body’ thing to deal with. Within seconds, colors started to come into focus.

There were two of them. One was a deep, royal purple. The other was a glowing, shimmering gold that reminded Chris of Adam’s aura, only less intense. There weren’t any other colors mixed into the base colors like there usually were with the people he dealt with. The longer he watched, the more obvious the auras became until he started wondering how he could have missed them in the first place. They were pure too. He could sense it. No unchecked or impure feelings running through them. No anger or jealously or fear or any of the other overwhelming things that seemed to be floating around the castle lately.

The only thing he could sense was utter and complete contentment. A feeling of peace that surpassed anything he’d ever felt. Even the warmth of being wrapped in Adam’s soothing energy couldn’t compare to it. Taro had said they’d all three planned this before Chris reincarnated and that it allowed him to develop his true gift but Taro really hadn’t explained what that was. Chris could’ve kicked himself for not asking. He felt like a complete idiot for not asking. From the way Taro talked, he wouldn’t get another chance to ask either.

With a sigh, he ran a hand across his distended tummy and couldn’t hold back a grin. Adam was gonna be so happy when he found out about this. Two being in there might even explain the weird energy signature. Still, Chris felt guilty to have so much going for him while Devin was stuck being tortured by his bastard father. It just wasn’t fair. Devin was his brother and friend and a way better person than Chris could ever hope to be. He was so smart and caring and proud. Devin didn’t deserve what was happening. If anything, Chris had brought this down on Devin’s head and he should have been the one…

Suddenly the door burst open and Adam came rushing into the room with Augustus, Master Benjamin, Master Alan, and Sarah on his heels. He wasn’t sure why Master Alan was there since he wasn’t sick or anything, but he wasn’t surprised to see Sarah had tagged along. “What have you seen?” Adam asked urgently. Chris’ man was all business and Chris wasn’t used to having this particular Adam to deal with. This was the tone he normally used to talk to the people he ordered around in the Genesis Council. Well, most of Aurora now actually.

“I had a vision of Devin and my birthfather. At least the little guy said he was.” Chris heard a disbelieving ‘no’ from Sarah, then looked up at all the big-eyed stares on the faces around him and waved impatiently. “That’s not important right now. I didn’t get a clear picture of exactly where Devin was, but I tried to memorize the area so that we could maybe narrow it down a bit. Time’s running out though. Devin’s pregnant,” Chris explained, ignoring the gasps of disbelief and worried looks that shot around the room. Chris could literally feel Adam shaking with rage beneath him and the others eyed each other in horror.

Before any of them could get their shit together enough to say anything, Chris rushed forward to get it all out. “From what Devin told the little, black-haired guy taking care of him, it’s Jayden’s baby. He thinks Jayden’s dead for some reason and he seems really messed up. Let me tell you everything and then we’ll try to figure it out from there.” Chris didn’t even realize that he was being bossy at that point. He was just worried about getting this shit out in the open so they could figure it out.

Adam nodded his head and motioned toward the living room and the others filed out quickly with Chris not far behind. Adam stood at the door and watched as Chris approached. Then he gave Chris a warm smile and placed a comforting arm around his shoulders as he led Chris to a seat. Once Chris was settled in Adam’s lap, he started to explain what he’d seen in as much detail as he could remember. The others, seeming to understand the urgency of the situation, kept quiet for once and let him speak uninterrupted. With any luck these people would be able to figure something out and they’d finally bring Devin home.

*~*~*~*

Devin stifled a soft moan as he roused from a restless sleep and tried to get comfortable. His legs were full of hot needles from the lack of circulation and he was afraid that if he tried to stand that they wouldn’t hold him. Instead, he spread his legs out in front of him from where he’d been sitting on his knees, and in the process increased the pressure on his shoulders. He felt so stiff and everything on his body hurt. The sores on his back were starting to heal slightly, but he’d been in the same position for so long that his arms felt like they weren’t there anymore.

If it weren’t for the severe pain in his chafed and torn wrists, he would have thought they were gone altogether. Every muscle in his body was screaming from the lack of movement. Every so often, cramps like nothing he’d ever felt before wracked his body from being forced to stay in such an awkward position without being able to stretch or relax completely. The best he could determine, it had been four days since the last time he’d been released and allowed to walk to the dining hall for a public beating.

About two days had gone by since the morning sickness had disappeared. It was hard to say because three days ago Ashcroft seemed to have lost any interest in him whatsoever. He still dropped by to do the bindings but hadn’t said a word to him in days. He’d just walk in, slap the binding on Devin, and walk back out again. No nasty comments. No beatings. No rapes. Nothing. Kiran’s visits had stopped abruptly about two days ago too, so Devin hoped he was alright.

Without anything to mark the passage of time, except for the few interruptions for meals and bindings, everything just seemed to blend into a meaningless blur of nothingness. Devin was starting to worry more about the lack of those things he’d come to expect from Ashcroft than he had about going through them in the first place. What was the bastard up to anyway? It didn’t make sense that he’d just lose interest so suddenly and Devin couldn’t see him doing anything without a reason.

It was pretty much a given that the son-of-a-bitch hadn’t found out about the baby. If he had, Devin knew that Ashcroft would have done something or said something about it by now. Over the past few days, he’d wracked his brain for the best thing to do about his situation because he wouldn’t be able to hide it very long at all if Chris was anything to go by. Devin knew that Chris had had the morning sickness right around his second week of pregnancy. It was around the fourth week that Chris started showing and Master Alan had forbidden anyone to place a binding on him. Apparently it could cause harm to the child at that point. Something about energy flows.

What to do about that was the question. Devin’s best guess was that he was around two weeks, maybe a little more. During the week of his magical training, before Devin had been taken, he and Jayden had been especially caught up in one another. Being forced into such intimate contact during their sessions and not being able to act on their attraction for one another had seemed to make things worse. When Jayden came home from meetings, or whatever he had to do, and Devin finished up his own things, they’d have dinner with one another. Then they’d make love until they both collapsed in exhaustion.

Three days before Devin was taken, Jayden had been especially voracious. First he’d straddled Devin and fucked himself on Devin’s cock like a man thirsting for water in the desert. Then they’d gone to the bath and Jayden had taken his time kissing, licking, and suckling every inch of Devin’s naked body. After that he’d bent Devin over the side of the tub and made love to him until Devin was begging his husband to fuck him harder, begging for Jayden to give him release. A shiver ran down Devin’s spine at the memory.

After they’d cleaned up for a second time, Jayden had carried Devin to their bed and they’d enjoyed each other all over again, but slowly and intensely. They’d already burnt off all of their urgency and pent up passion and their final encounter had been deeper, more meaningful, more earth-shattering than anything Devin had experienced up to that point. He’d relived it over and over in his mind since he’d been brought here. The way Jayden had touched him so gently. How their eyes had stayed locked on one another the entire time, like no one in the world existed but the two of them.

It was absolutely beautiful and Devin knew deep inside that the child must have been conceived in that moment. Tears welled up in Devin’s eyes as unbearable pain shot through his chest. None of that mattered now. Jayden was gone and he had the child to worry about. Since he was at least two weeks along in the pregnancy, that didn’t leave him much time to figure out how to get the binding off. He’d tried and tried for days on end. He’d been Ashcroft’s prisoner for almost two weeks now and he hadn’t made any leeway in figuring it out up till now.

He’d been doing the exercises to improve his focus and concentration, just like Jayden had shown him during their positioning sessions. He’d also been practicing with his mental imagery. He didn’t have access to his energy source of course, but he clearly remembered the advances he’d made during his last session and how the use of his hands had seemed to help focus his thoughts and better control the energy. Of course, he didn’t have control of his hands or his energy source right now, so he was having to imagine both.

Nearly every hour of every day had been spent doing nothing but practicing his skills mentally since the day Ashcroft had told him about Jayden’s death. Tears burned the back of Devin’s eyes again and he glanced down at the slowly fading mating mark on his chest. Kiran had explained that it would take almost a month to disappear completely. Devin didn’t want it to disappear. It was like he was losing yet another part of his husband. Every day that the brightness of the red faded or the pearlescent sheen of the design dulled, Devin felt himself sinking deeper into the darkness and grief that were slowly consuming him.

If it hadn’t been for the child, Devin would have thrown it all away. He’d have found some way to end it. It didn’t matter what he wanted now, though. All that mattered was protecting the innocent baby he carried. Jayden’s son. The future heir to the Auroran throne. Ashcroft couldn’t find out. Devin was determined to find some way of convincing Ashcroft that the child was his. He’d managed to hide his morning sickness from the man. Luckily, his mood swings had been largely overlooked due to the news of Jayden’s death and the extreme circumstances he’d suddenly found himself exposed to. After all, few people, slaves or mages, would raise an eyebrow if he shed a tear over the loss of his mate or seemed extremely short-tempered.

Now he needed to find some way to convince Ashcroft that he’d won Devin over or the baby would pay the price. As if on cue, the door to his cell swung open and the black-hearted bastard walked into the room. He eyed Devin with what could only be a lusty gaze. It made Devin’s skin crawl, but he hid his reaction and just looked up at the man with a bored, neutral expression. “My, my. Where is my little wildcat this afternoon? No glares for your benefactor? No curses or threats of violence?”

Devin just shrugged and refused to meet the other man’s dark, soulless eyes. “What’s the point?” Devin mumbled dejectedly. “Jayden’s dead. I’m stuck here day in and day out. I’m almost to the point where I’d prefer a good public beating to this . . . isolation. The only friend I have here is your slave boy with the long, black hair and you haven’t sent him down here in a while. You’ve obviously lost interest in me now, so I’ve been trying to decide why you haven’t just killed me yet. It’d be a lot simpler if you ask me,” he added casually as he chanced a bored look up at the monster in front of him.

Ashcroft eyed him with interest for a minute or two then raised an eyebrow in his direction. “I’m not as evil as you seem to believe King-Consort Devin. I thought it would only be appropriate to allow you to work through your grief in peace. As to your impending demise, I might grant your request some day. However, I still have other plans for you at the moment. Besides, your father and his Consort would be absolutely devastated if I were to allow that to happen.”

“Fuck them!” Devin growled as he kicked a foot out in Ashcroft’s direction. The piece of shit jumped backward quickly to avoid being injured and then looked down in shock at Devin’s outburst.

“Such venom. I thought you’d sworn to protect them from my evil plans, and now you curse them with the very lips you used to declare their moral superiority and innocence to me only days ago?”

“Yeah, well . . . I guess that was before this shit happened and before I found out what my father did to you. Your slave boy explained why you hate Adam so much and I don’t blame you,” Devin replied with a look of pity in Ashcroft’s direction. It was more for the man who’d been know as Andrew in a former incarnation before he was tainted than for Ashcroft, but he’d use whatever he had to in order to convince Ashcroft he’d had a change of heart. Ashcroft looked at him suspiciously and visibly cringed at the compassion in Devin’s eyes.

“Hmmm . . . My ‘slave boy’ seems to have a rather large mouth of late,” Ashcroft snarled and Devin sent a silent apology to Kiran for breaking the trust the small man had put in him. He had Jayden’s child to think about, though, and anything he could do to win the man over he would.

“Either way, he seems to be a bit weak. You should be more careful who you choose to share your secrets with. I still have trouble understanding why you’d feel the need to share something so personal with a slave. Is there something else I should know?” Devin asked, trying to convince the man that he didn’t know Kiran’s true identity. His name had been taken away, so Devin couldn’t imagine what Ashcroft would do if he found out that Devin knew who Kiran really was. Especially after the way Kiran had been whipped for supposedly speaking without permission.

“And why, pray tell, would I give you that information even if there were?” Ashcroft asked in an amused tone. Then he pinned Devin with a cold look that said he was through playing twenty questions and was close to losing his temper. Not something that Devin wanted to happen in the least, so he quickly changed the subject back to his father and Chris.

“I guess you wouldn’t if you’re smart. Still, what your ‘slave boy’ told me gave me a little more insight into the situation,” Devin explained calmly as he strained his shoulders to move into a more comfortable position on his knees. “It’s pretty obvious to me that my father can’t be trusted. Chris and Adam were probably sitting around and waiting for something like this to happen so he could take back his precious Aurora. I mean, that has to be it. Don’t you think it’s kind of funny that they forgot all about me after Jayden died? After all, how hard would it be to track me down here if they’d really put an effort into it? It’s been almost two fucking weeks already. I’m not stupid, so it’s apparent that they’ve settled into their cushy little life together and said the hell with me. After all, if they came and rescued me that would mean they’d have to turn Aurora over to me, right? Jayden told me himself that if the King dies, then the throne goes to the King-Consort when there’s no heir.”

Ashcroft made a soft, crooning sound, like he was trying to comfort Devin. It so went against the other man’s evil nature that Devin couldn’t help but look up in disbelief at his next words. “Nevertheless, I can assure you that your father searched for you in the beginning. They’ve taken six Omega cult cells into custody. That was during your first week here. Of course, such activity has slowed dramatically since the King’s passing. It’s only natural that things wouldn’t run as smoothly in a nation that is mourning.”

Devin quickly regained his composure and forced a cool expression as he raised an eyebrow at the other man. It had thrown him for a minute, but Devin was beginning to realize that Ashcroft was playing Good Cop/Bad Cop with him now. He’d done his worst . . . well, probably not his worst, but it was close enough . . . then he’d left Devin to his own misery without any contact with others. Now Ashcroft was trying to step in and fill that empty spot by making friends with him. Devin was fine with that. It would make his plan that much easier, so he continued to play along.

“Yeah, right,” Devin growled as he let all of his hatred for the son-of-a-bitch in front of him show on his face. “I’m sure my dear old dad is practically tearing the fucking planet apart looking for me. Just like he did when I was growing up in goddamn foster care. From what I heard when I got to Aurora, the bastard was too damn busy playing daddy to Jayden and trying to run the country to bother with his own son. I didn’t want to believe it. I’ve let a lot of shit slide and convinced myself that he didn’t just leave me there to rot, but that’s just so much bullshit. It’s obvious now. The only reason the old fucker came to get me was because Chris was there and he wanted a pretty, young ass to fuck.”

Ashcroft let out a truly delighted laugh at Devin’s harshly spoken words and Devin couldn’t help but glare up at him in disdain at the amused sound. “Speaking of my only and dearest son,” Ashcroft murmured with a raised eyebrow at Devin’s scornful expression. “I have some news that I feel you might enjoy. It would appear that I’m to be a grandfather. Your father has successfully impregnated the boy and your replacement as High Councilor Adam’s son is on his way as we speak. Now your dear friend will bear the future heir to the Auroran throne in your place. Such a pity your father sent your husband into battle without his aide, knowing that King Jayden stood no chance of coming home in one piece.”

Devin tucked that comment away for future analysis and did his best to act surprised and horrified by the news of his father and Chris’ supposed betrayal. It wasn’t hard to do considering that his finding out that Ashcroft knew about Chris’ baby was surprising and frightening enough. Had Kiran told him? Devin decided that it was probably Zachary, since Devin was positive it had been the little whore that Kiran had seen meeting with Ashcroft three days before. Either way, Devin hadn’t seen Kiran since then and Ashcroft was standing there watching carefully for Devin’s reaction to his claims that Adam had led Jayden to his death and that Chris had now taken Devin’s place as the future birthfather of the Auroran heir. Devin let his horror and shock turn into fury. It wasn’t hard to do considering his current position.

With a sneer on his face, Devin looked Ashcroft straight in the eyes and growled, “Fuck you and fuck them. I’m nothing but a pawn to both you and my father. You can both die for all I care. It would be my greatest pleasure to see your corpses lying beneath my feet. You’d do better to kill me now, because the second I find a way to break the binding I’ll kill you and then I won’t stop until I destroy him and his little whore along with him.”

“Ahhh, there’s my little wildcat,” Ashcroft murmured with a pleased grin on his lips. “I’d wondered where you’d gone. So beautiful. So strong. All the more reason to want you for my own. I’ll take great pride in being the one to break your spirit. I thought for a while that I had, but perhaps there’s still some fight left in you after all.”

“What spirit?” Devin hissed earnestly, forgetting himself momentarily in his anger. “I have nothing left to live for. I’ve lost my mate. I’ve lost my old life on both Earth and Aurora. Now my family has turned on me. All I have left is hate and revenge. For both you and my father.”

“Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. No need to get so upset my dear King-Consort. I’m sure your father has both yours and Aurora’s best interests at heart. Perhaps he’s merely taking this time to gather his forces and then he’ll come for you. That should be very interesting.”

This time he wasn’t taken off guard by the bastard’s false encouragement as he growled, “When and if he does, I want to be the one who kills him. He sent my Jayden off to die, so let him die too. Let Chris feel the pain I’m feeling. At least he’ll have the comfort of knowing he carries Adam’s child. I have nothing. And that little whore, Zachary. He’s just as much to blame in all of this.”

Ashcroft let his surprise at hearing the slut’s name register on his face for a moment before giving Devin a wicked grin. “My slave boy really has been telling tales. Nevertheless, I fear revenge against your father is mine to claim. I might be willing to offer you recompense where young Zachary is concerned however. I’d need something from you in return of course,” Ashcroft murmured softly as he crouched down on one knee in front of Devin and used a finger to lift Devin’s chin slightly.

Devin barely gave the touch a second thought as he worked to hold back a grin at the man’s words. Ashcroft had taken the bait and Devin wasn’t joking about wanting his revenge against the little, black-haired tramp. Zachary was the one who’d started all this. If it hadn’t been for his plotting behind their backs, then Jayden and Devin would still be in Aurora together instead of one imprisoned and tortured and the other dead. Zachary would pay dearly for his betrayal and Devin could use this as a stepping-stone to furthering his plan.

“I’d be more than willing to do something for you in return if you could grant that wish. Although I’m not sure what I have that you’d want,” Devin replied in a cold, hard voice. Once again, Ashcroft raised a speculative eyebrow and seemed to be pleased with the hate and venom that Devin had been unable to hide.

“As I have nothing to fear from you, I see no reason not to grant your small request. I have Zachary in my custody as we speak, you see.” Devin’s eyes widened as he let out a little gasp of shock. He hadn’t expected it to be quite that easy. He’d known that Ashcroft would have no problem getting his hands on the small human, but hadn’t even considered that he’d have him in his custody already. A cruel grin spread across Devin’s face as the reality sank in and Ashcroft grinned in response. “I can give you what you want; but as you know, I do nothing without expecting something in return. What would you offer me in exchange for my generosity?”

“What would you have me do?” Devin asked with a sense of dread. The man would probably want his power or ask him to do something horrible to the people on Earth. That would be a problem since Devin didn’t yet know how to control his magical energy. Because of the child inside him, he couldn’t even risk using them against Ashcroft. To absorb and release the amount of energy required to defeat the man would surely leave Devin dead from power drain, and Jayden’s son along with him. Even if he did have the control needed to help the cold-hearted son-of-a-bitch, could he do that? Even to save his own child and get revenge against the dirty, little whore whose warped actions caused the death of his husband? Ashcroft seemed oblivious to Devin’s concerns as he ran his dark, obsidian eyes over Devin’s face and then looked deeply into his eyes as if searching for deception there.

Then the bastard smiled and released his grip on Devin’s chin as he stood and took a few steps away. After what seemed like an eternity, Ashcroft turned to him with a serious expression that sent chills down Devin’s spine. “I’d have you for my lover. Not a slave. Not a servant. A lover. One who comes to my bed willingly asking for nothing more than the pleasure to be had on both sides. You’re the only mage I’ve met in nearly seven-hundred years who I might some day be able to look upon as an equal.”

“Will you release the binding if I agree?” Devin asked quietly, knowing before the words were out that it wouldn’t be that easy. Nothing ever was for him and he knew that Ashcroft wasn’t a complete idiot. The sadistic motherfucker’s one fatal flaw appeared to be his pride. Devin wouldn’t hesitate to use that against him when the time came.

“Of course not,” Ashcroft replied in an amused tone. “I’m lonely but I’m no one’s fool. I can still feel the hatred radiating from your eyes. You’d murder me in my sleep if you could. But I could offer you more comfortable accommodations. Your own room, for one, guarded of course. You’d have to be accompanied at all times when I’m not present to prevent your escape. You’ll be locked into your room at night and the bindings will remain in place. Despite that, you might find that you appreciate more freedom of movement.

“You’d be permitted to dine at my side in the evenings and allowed to wear clothing that might suit your tastes more than those of a slave or prisoner are allowed. Think it over carefully, however, because if you cross me I’ll kill you without hesitation,” Ashcroft bit out with a cold, ruthless glare. “You try to escape and your punishment will make the past two weeks look like nothing more than a party for children. I’ll return this evening and you can give me your decision then, my little wildcat.” That said, Ashcroft turned and headed for the large wooden door.

Devin hesitated only for a moment. He really didn’t have a choice in this situation. There was also the chance that Ashcroft might change his mind if Devin gave him time to think about it, so when the man moved to cross the threshold Devin called out, “I don’t need to think about it. I’m a man of my word. I said I’d do what you asked and meant it with everything that I am. Besides, it’s not like you couldn’t just take what you want anyway and if I can get my hands on that backstabbing like bitch in the process then I don’t see a problem.”

“We are in agreement then?” Ashcroft asked as if he couldn’t quite believe what he was hearing. Devin nodded his head confidently and forced down the churning in his stomach at what he was about to do. Then he gave Ashcroft a small, wavering grin and what he hoped was a brave front. “Excellent. Jonathon,” the bastard called out the door to the guard on duty, “have our new guest moved to the suite next to mine and make sure that he’s given a bath and made more comfortable.”

*~*~*~*

Chris let out an annoyed sigh and glanced through the pictures scattered in front of him. He was just giving them a second . . . well, more like a hundredth look to make sure he hadn’t botched the job when he’d pointed them out three days ago. Most of them were of trees and plants. When Adam and Master Benjamin first brought them in for Chris to look through, they’d been trying to narrow down where Devin was being held by the kinds of plants Chris remembered seeing while he was off on his vision. He’d pointed out several pictures with Christmas-tree looking trees and mossy, messy, brush covered scenes that kinda reminded him of woods around his bastard father’s freaky Goth Hotel.

Then Adam and Augustus brought in a work buddy of Master Benjamin’s, Master Evan, who specialized in Earth Ecology, or some fancy word like that. From the pictures Chris had picked out that afternoon, Master Benjamin and Master Evan had decided that wherever Devin was, it was most likely a temperate rainforest region, just another thing he didn’t have a fucking clue about. It was a good thing he’d listened to Taro on this one or they’d have never found his big brother. Well, they still hadn’t, to be honest, but that wasn’t the point.

The point was that the mages with a clue seemed to think a temperate rainforest was a pretty rare thing on Earth. From what Master Evan said, less than 1% of the planet had anything like that. Assuming Chris hadn’t screwed up big time and picked out the wrong plant thingies, that would really narrow it down. Chris hoped they were right and Adam seemed to take their opinions to heart. As soon as Master Benjamin and Master Evan had told him the news, Adam had taken off with Master Evan to find Augustus and Augustus’ father, Simon, so that they could start sending men to search.

Large groups of guards were sent to Chile, Tasmania, New Zealand, Norway, the US, and Canada. Since they were already in France, the first place Jayden and Paul checked was Norway but they came up empty handed. They hadn’t had any mages in the area and so they’d pretty much been going in there blind. Then they spent a couple of days searching New Zealand and didn’t find shit. There’d been some magical activity detected in Mexico, so this afternoon they’d headed to South America.

Even though South American hadn’t been explored very much either, Jayden and Paul had decided it was a good possibility. Chile was supposed to have a temperate rainforest area and lots of places to hide an Omega compound. Still, Chris had been really pissed over that. It was like they weren’t listening to a damn thing he said or something because he’d told them over and over how cold it’d been where Devin was. Chile was in South America for God's sake! As far as he knew it wasn’t cold in South America, so how the fuck could Devin be there?

After Chris had grumbled to everybody about it, Master Evan had taken the time to explain that that wasn’t true. No shock there, just another reminder to Chris of how stupid he was. From what Master Evan said the temperatures in the temperate rainforests of Chile could easily fall to below freezing and that, although it was in South America, it was well south of the ‘equator’. At least that was the word Master Evan used for it.

Chris had thought that it was somewhere around the middle of the planet, but when the man started yammering about ‘latitudes’ and ‘longitudes’ Chris didn’t have a clue what the guy was on. Finally, Master Evan said something about the Arctic Pole and Chris had thrown up his hands and admitted defeat. He didn’t know shit about it and who was he to argue with people that seemed to be pretty up on the subject? Then again, that had been a few days ago and they still didn’t seem any closer to finding Devin. Maybe none of them knew what the hell they were doing, and for once he wasn’t the only one. What a shitty time for that to happen!

With a sigh, Chris shoved the pictures away, deciding that no matter how many times he studied them they still seemed to match the ones he’d seen in his vision. Then he looked down and rubbed a hand across his growing stomach. He hadn’t told Adam about the twins yet. The newly appointed Regent of Aurora was totally stressed out and it was beginning to show. Adam hadn’t even come home to sleep that first night when Chris had had the vision.

His husband had left Nathan, some extra guards, and Sarah to watch over Chris with orders to come get him if anything happened or he had another vision. Then Chris’ busy man had spent the rest of the night and the next day in meetings and crap like that. Chris assumed he’d been helping Augustus, Jayden, and Paul with the searching. By the time Adam had shown up in their suite the next night, he looked like Hell warmed over and fell asleep the second they lay down.

Before Chris could even build up to telling him about the second baby, Adam was snoring softly beside him, something Adam hardly ever did. While he tried his best to drift off to sleep, Chris slowly came to the decision that his man had enough to worry about for the moment. Not that Adam wouldn’t be happy with getting two babies for the price of one. He’d probably freak out at first and drive everybody crazy like he had when they found out about Jiro.

Still, Chris was pretty sure that having twins was harder on a body than having one and Adam would know that too. The second the excitement started to wear off, his husband would drive himself crazy worrying about Chris when what he should be thinking about was finding Devin and protecting Aurora. For now, Adam and Master Alan were a little freaked out about the energy signature being off, but once Adam knew the truth and starting thinking about the problems it might cause, the man would go over the edge completely.

Then there was the whole ‘Chris had promised to be more open with Adam thing’. He’d promised his sexy man after the thing with Councilman Julius that he wouldn’t keep secrets from him. Still, Chris couldn’t help thinking this was for the best and with any luck it would only be for a little while. There was the creepy stuff Taro had said, about how Chris’ using his gift was affecting his energy flow and stuff, to think about too. The only thing Chris could figure out was that Taro was talking about Chris soothing people’s auras, so he just wouldn’t do that anymore. Problem solved.

Chris finally decided to let Master Alan know about the twin thing since he wasn’t real sure how it would affect the babies’ or his own health in the long run. Just because he didn’t want Adam to know yet didn’t mean he’d put Taro and Jiro at risk. But he also made up his mind to keep the ‘gift thing’ from both Adam and Master Alan. When Chris broke the news about the twins during their morning visit, Master Alan had just stared at him in disbelief, like Chris had lost his mind.

After Chris explained everything that had happened in his private spot by the stream and about Taro’s visits and the auras he’d seen in his own tummy, Master Alan agreed that it wouldn’t hurt to check things out. But since the crabby old mage had never heard of a birthfather carrying more than one kid at a time, he wasn’t sure how to go about doing it. For the most part, Master Hardass seemed excited, but at the same time leery as hell, about the whole ‘two babies’ thing.

Still, he acted half-pissed that Chris didn’t want Adam to know yet. He gave Chris an hour-long lecture about trusting his mate and being honest. About how hiding things from Adam might cause them problems down the road and how Adam needed to know so that he could keep a closer eye on Chris’ health and well-being. And blah, blah, blah. Through the entire thing, Master Alan kept running his energy through Chris’ ever-growing tummy, checking energy flows, and trying to figure out which magical signature was where.

Chris helped out when he could by pointing out where Taro’s aura was and then Jiro’s. Finally, Master Alan just nodded and said Chris’ weird news pretty much explained the ‘anomaly’, whatever the hell that meant. He decided Chris needed to eat more and even gave him an ‘energy transfusion’ since Chris’ was just a tiny little bit low. After that was done, Master Alan bitched for several more minutes about ‘dietary requirements’ and how many meals and snacks he expected Chris to cram down his throat, even threatening to set the royal cook on his ass by giving the other mage the same list to go by when he got Chris’ meals ready.

By the time Master Alan shut up and let the subject go, Chris’ head was spinning and it took everything in him not to jump up and run like hell for the door to get away from the asshole’s constant nagging. The only thing that kept him from doing that was the fact that Master Alan had been dodging the subject of keeping his mouth shut around Adam. Luckily, the last thing Master Preaches-A-Lot did before he left Chris’ suite was to agree to keep Chris’ secret, but only because he didn’t have any choice in the matter. Apparently, under Auroran law, Chris had the right to keep this shit to himself if he wanted to. Not that he really did, but he didn’t think his husband could stand anymore stress until things settled down or they brought Devin home. Then they’d figure everything else out.

*~*~*~*

Devin stretched his aching body as he roused from a hard sleep. The biggest muscle in his thigh seized up and he instinctively curled into a ball. Then he remembered he wasn’t chained to the wall in his cell anymore, so he jumped up and put weight on it in an attempt to ease the cramp. Fuck it hurt and it took several minutes before he could take a step without feeling like he was going to fall on his face. Then he made several trips around the room to stretch his legs and get his circulation going.

He’d never realized how much he’d taken something as simple as freedom of movement for granted. Now he felt like a small child learning to walk again because his muscles seemed to be stuck in their cramped position and didn’t quite understand why they were suddenly being forced to stretch and move. The bath he’d had earlier went a long way toward making him feel more human . . . well, ‘mage’ might be the word for it. Soaking away all of the grime that had built up on his body had been wonderful, but he’d also been forced to accept that the fading of his mating mark had nothing to do with his state of filth up till now. It was a hard pill to swallow.

The only thing he’d had since he’d been captured was a cold wash down with wet towels while he was chained to the wall. Then he’d had to stand on the wet floor until it dried on its own. He’d known that he stank, but didn’t really give a shit. If anything, he’d hoped that it would discourage Ashcroft from bothering him. So much for that idea! But at least he was clean now and fully dressed. The clothes he’d been given to wear weren’t all that bad either. They definitely weren’t Auroran clothes, however.

The shirt was made of a heavy grade, sea-blue cotton and was just a simple button up with a collar. The pants Ashcroft gave him were a nice, tan color and kind of dressy with a flat front instead of puffy pleats; just the way Devin liked them. The simple, dark-brown Oxfords fit his feet perfectly. Devin had to wonder where in the hell Ashcroft had come up with this stuff to fit him on such short notice. Or how the man knew what Devin preferred for that matter. Then again, Ashcroft might have had them the entire time in hopes that Devin would come around to his way of thinking. Maybe even went so far as to break into Devin’s old apartment to get his sizes. Who knew?

At least they were warmer than what he’d been wearing. It wasn’t even a matter of modesty anymore. That was long gone after being paraded around in front of everybody almost completely naked . . . among other things. The most surprising and heart-wrenching thing he’d found waiting for him was his King-Consort belt. The crown Jayden had given him as a gift wasn’t there and Devin could only assume it had been lost in the fight against Ashcroft. It broke his heart to know it was gone. His husband had designed the crown especially for him. Jayden had taken great care in choosing something that would suit Devin’s personality and at the same time incorporated Jayden’s own beliefs and hopes for the Kingdom they were supposed to have ruled together.

The belt was still just as gaudy and unattractive to Devin as it had ever been, but he’d come to cherish it all the same. Or maybe it was the fact that it represented Devin and Jayden’s union and promise to one another that he’d come to treasure. Tears burned the back of his eyes for the hundredth time in so many days and a lone, hot tear slid down his cheek as he ran a finger gently across one of the golden, discs hanging from the belt’s heavy links. For a moment or two he thought he might collapse under the weight of his grief and what he had to do. No matter how much he wanted to do just that, it wasn’t an option. Devin suddenly realized that the King-Consort belt wasn’t something he had a right to anymore, so he placed it carefully in the bedside table drawer, out of sight, along with all of the things it symbolized.

With a sigh, Devin tried once again to wrap himself in the coldness that had allowed him to carry on for the past two weeks. Then he turned his back on the now-hidden symbol of his and Jayden’s union as he crossed the room to pick up a brush from the large wooden dresser and started pulling the tangles out of his now-shiny hair. There was a mirror that spanned the back of the dresser, but Devin couldn’t bring himself to glance at his reflection. He’d looked like a half-wild animal when he’d come in earlier. Now he looked much better, but that didn’t change the fact that he’d agreed to betray his love for his husband. Jayden would’ve understood though. The baby inside him was the only thing that mattered now.

At least there was a bathroom in his small suite so he didn’t have to worry about calling in guards with buckets when he needed to relieve himself. He shuddered to think of all the embarrassing and nasty things he’d been forced to do up until now. His main concern for now was how to hide the fact that he was pregnant. The morning sickness was gone, so that wouldn’t be an issue, although in a week he’d have to fake it for Ashcroft’s benefit. He couldn’t wait much longer than that because he’d start showing in a couple of weeks and he needed to figure out a way to get Ashcroft to agree to take the binding off as soon as possible.

A loud knock at the door drew his attention away from his thoughts and he looked up to see his new ‘lover’ walking toward him. Devin tried his best to hide his aversion to the man as he calmly set the brush back down on the dresser. Ashcroft didn’t seem to notice anything; or if he did, he didn’t care. He simply walked up to Devin and slid his arms around Devin’s thin waist. There was only a few inches difference in their heights, Ashcroft being slightly taller, so Devin had less warning when Ashcroft leaned forward and captured his lips in a heated kiss.

His stomach turned but he forced out a small moan like he welcomed the other man’s advances and slid his arms around Ashcroft’s neck as he opened to allow the bastard entrance. Surprisingly, the kiss wasn’t that unpleasant and Ashcroft seemed to have a few skills when it came to sexual things. Not that Devin had seen any of those skills before now. The black-haired piece of shit continued to explore Devin’s mouth slowly while Devin forced himself to relax against the other man’s slightly broader form.

Ashcroft slid a hand down Devin’s newly healed back and then went lower to squeeze Devin’s ass suggestively in his hand. Devin’s traitorous, neglected body turned on him and started to respond to his sworn enemy’s advances. It made Devin feel disgusted with himself. The rapes had made him angry and had filled him with hate. He hadn’t received any pleasure from them and hadn’t offered himself in any way. This was completely different. He’d willingly subjected himself to this. He’d sold himself to this evil son-of-a-bitch and his body was betraying Jayden in a way that made Devin ill.

Suddenly he wrenched away from Ashcroft, panting for breath, while the other man looked down at him with amusement in his cold, dark eyes. “Did you truly expect to be touched sexually and not be aroused, my little wildcat? How very interesting. Never fear, my purpose in this visit was to escort you to the dining hall. Dinner will be served shortly and there is the matter of payment. I have yet to fulfill my end of our agreement, so if you wish to back out, you’ll have from now until we reach the hall to make your decision.”

Devin was more than a little confused but didn’t ask questions. Backing out wasn’t an option and he was definitely looking forward to eating something more than the cold gruel they’d been feeding him up until now. With a baby on the way, he’d need all the help he could get. Ashcroft seemed to take Devin’s silence as acceptance and made a grand gesture toward the door for Devin to precede him. Devin did so with a nod and then took the man’s arm when it was offered and allowed himself to be led down the long hallway to the dining hall and then to a seat next to Ashcroft at the table.

It was the same spot Ashcroft usually claimed, but Kiran was normally forced to sit at his feet. Kiran, however, was nowhere in sight. Once again, guilt roiled through Devin’s stomach like waves at high tide as he thought of his betrayal of the smaller man’s trust. Hopefully Kiran hadn’t been punished. And if he was, Devin prayed to the Forces-that-be that the tiny mage would understand the reason that Devin had done what he did.

Ashcroft placed a hand above Devin’s on the table, drawing him out of his thoughts. He barely stopped himself from glaring at the offending fingers that had laced themselves with his own. Then, as if someone had turned up the volume in the room unexpectedly, he noticed a subdued murmuring around them and glanced at the other mages at the table. They were all whispering amongst themselves and sneaking hidden glances in his direction. They seemed both curious and spiteful at the same time, many chancing glares in his direction while the bastard beside him glanced toward the doors to the hallway that led into the room, as if watching for something or someone. He was most likely looking for Jonathon.

The Omega cult members usually enjoyed a good show before dinner and Devin assumed the slaves were the ones who provided the entertainment when he wasn’t up on ‘stage’. Soon enough, Devin was proved right. A man and woman dressed in skimpy little slave outfits walked in with a man Devin hadn’t seen before close on their heels. They made their way to one of the tables Devin had been tied to for his whipping sessions and started stripping right there in front of everyone.

Devin blushed and turned his eyes away, drawing a cold chuckle from Ashcroft. The fucker grabbed Devin by the chin and urged his line of sight back toward the embarrassing scene in front of him. “You should watch this. You might find it interesting,” Ashcroft murmured with an amused grin on his face. Devin sighed and did as he was asked, but still didn’t understand why it was necessary for the humans to strip down naked. It seemed to him like a public beating was bad enough without adding that element.

The mage who’d accompanied the two whispered something in the woman’s ear and she nodded her head, keeping her head down as if to avoid making eye contact with anyone in the room. Then she climbed up on the table on her hands and knees and stuck her ass up in the air, giving the audience a side view of her naked body. Devin turned wide eyes in Ashcroft’s direction, but Ashcroft just motioned for him to pay attention to the pair in front of them. When Devin reluctantly glanced back, he saw that the male human had mounted the woman and was easing his erection into her as he slid a hand up underneath to pinch her hard nipples.

The woman moaned softly and let her head fall forward, her long brown hair hiding her face from view. The mage, who was obviously giving them instructions, walked around to her front and raised her face back up and murmured to her again. The woman nodded her head again and sat up on her knees to wrap her arms back and around the neck of the man who was slamming into her carefully from behind. The change in position pulled a sexy groan from the man behind her. Then he took advantage of the fact that her breasts were now thrust out in front of her and ran his hands up her stomach to tease them roughly.

Devin glanced around the table to find that all eyes were pinned on the pair intently and one mage on the other side and to the right looked suspiciously red in the cheeks . . . and his hands were definitely not on the table. With one last questioning glance in his captor’s direction, Devin turned his eyes back to the humans again before Ashcroft caught him looking around and lost his temper. The two were definitely getting into their coupling, moaning and urgently moving against one another.

He’d seen men and women in bed together in movies, but never anything this graphic. He could actually see the man’s penis as it pulled out of the female’s body and then slid smoothly back in. The man’s muscular ass was clenching with each thrust and the defined muscles in his lean, strong back moving and shifting with each movement. The human was, without a doubt, a fine specimen of manhood. He wasn’t lacking in the size department either. Suddenly Devin felt his cock start to fill and his nipples harden. A red blush crept across his face and he tried to ignore what was going on right in front of him, ashamed by his body’s own reaction.

The two humans were getting more and more excited and, despite his best efforts to look away, Devin’s eyes were inevitably drawn to them again and again while his growing erection became more and more apparent. A hand ran up his thigh toward his throbbing length and Devin nearly jumped out of his seat as his eyes shot from the unwelcome thing to its owner’s dark, obsidian eyes. There was a lusty expression on Ashcroft’s face as he worked his hand higher and methodically rubbed Devin’s cock through his pants.

Devin grabbed his wrist and shook his head no. A raised eyebrow was Ashcroft’s response. “I won’t be treated like a whore and molested in front of your followers in the dining hall. I agreed to be your lover, and in my mind that demands a certain level of discretion and respect.” A sparkling grin spread across Ashcroft’s face and, for just a moment, the slightest drop of warmth lit up his dark, cold eyes. In that second, Devin could almost see him as a person instead of a monster. Almost.

“What the hell are they doing up there anyway?” Devin asked, with a hesitant wave of his hand in the general direction of the coupling humans, when Ashcroft failed to comment on his earlier declaration.

“They’re reproducing, of course. The female is in heat and has very good genes, as you can clearly see.” Devin just shrugged without comment. The woman was fine but lacked the equipment necessary to draw his attention in that way. “The male was the one she chose out of a list of the three most compatible candidates to produce a healthy, beautiful child. It’s how we keep up our stock. Otherwise we’d have to take our slaves from the Earth plane and we don’t wish to draw attention to ourselves in such a way. Earth authorities in this day and age have many ways to keep track of the population. Occasionally, we’ll take a stray, abandoned child into our fold if we find it beautiful.”

“So you’re breading them like animals,” Devin stated, unable to hide his disgust. “I’d heard some things about that, but didn’t want to believe it. Even if that was the case, why do it in public like this? Don’t they deserve at least some privacy to do what you ordered? It’s not bad enough that you’re forcing them to make babies?”

Ashcroft just shrugged and let his eyes wander back to the couple, who were going at it like rabbits in heat on the table nearby. “Why should we?” he asked simply. “We already allow them to couple with one another in private, with the understanding they’ll be severely punished for procreating without permission. We even give them the supplies they need to prevent unplanned births. That’s very generous on our part, considering their status. Besides, the slaves know their place here and many of my followers enjoy the show. They’re only humans after all.”

Devin could think of a million reasons why what the son-of-a-bitch just said was wrong, but he kept them to himself for the time being. He had to think of the baby he carried and if he was too critical of Omega practices, then it might be harder as they went along to convince Ashcroft that he was someone to be trusted. Luckily the show ended a few seconds later and the two clearly sated humans collapsed into a pile on the table, panting and kissing one another with what was clearly more than lust. Devin wondered if the two had something going on between them that Omega and Ashcroft knew nothing about.

The thought was quickly pushed to the back of his mind when a male slave set down a plate full of food in front of him. The man avoided direct eye contact, as the woman and other male had done earlier, then bowed slightly and moved on to the next mage down. Devin glanced around and saw that the rest of the mages were already enjoying their meal, so he dug in as well. There was a steak, mashed potatoes, and broccoli with some type of garlic sauce on it. He devoured it with the gusto of a half-starved mage, who’d recently had a serious increase in appetite, while Ashcroft looked on with a cold smile.

All too soon, Devin’s plate was empty and the slaves had returned to take it away. The other mages at the table were chattering amongst themselves about investments and recent visits to this Omega group or that. One had been to New York recently, another to Salt Lake City. One further down was talking about a recent trip to Italy while his companion argued that the Caribbean was much nicer and the slaves in that group much more beautiful because of their darker complexions.

One mage even went so far as to suggest to Ashcroft that they should consider purchasing a few for this compound or see if that group would be interested in trading a few humans with them. Every word that passed their lips made Devin that much more angry. They acted like they were talking about cats or the latest fashionable pair of shoes instead of human beings. He was just at the point where he was about to tell them exactly that and to Hell with the consequences when they all looked toward the hallway that led to the cells as if on cue.

Then, every thought that had been in Devin’s mind disappeared as his eyes focused on Zachary. Rage and hate washed over him in suffocating waves and he must have stiffened because Ashcroft’s unwelcome hand suddenly appeared on Devin’s back, moving up and down in what was probably supposed to be a soothing gesture. About that time, Zachary's eyes found Devin’s hostile glare and the smaller man returned it, every ounce of his hate for Devin clearly on display. The little whore.

“Consider my end of the bargain complete,” Ashcroft whispered in his ear. “Do with him as you will. He belongs to you now. Kill him, punish him, or make him your slave as is your right. There are no rules here that place limitations on the treatment of the humans.”

A cold smile spread across Devin’s face as he cocked an eyebrow in Ashcroft’s direction, finally allowing the glare he’d pinned on Zachary to slip away. “Anything?” Devin asked, not sure if he could take Ashcroft at face value.

“Anything, my little wildcat,” Ashcroft replied confidently.

“How do I have him tied to the column over there?” Devin asked through his rage. Ashcroft let out a cruel chuckle and made some hand gesture to Jonathon, who immediately led Zachary to the column nearest Devin and Ashcroft and put him in shackles. About that time, Devin noticed that the small man still had his clothes on. That wouldn’t do at all. When Devin had been forced to suffer this humiliation, he’d done it almost completely naked. “Can you have Jonathon strip him? I don’t see any reason he deserves to have clothes when I didn’t have any.”

“Of course,” Ashcroft murmured with a look of approval before calling over to Jonathon to give him Devin’s request. Jonathon nodded his approval too. Then, with a happy grin, he pulled a small pocketknife from his pants, opened it, and started to literally cut the clothing away from the little slut’s body. Devin might have felt sorry for the tramp if it weren’t for the fact that because of Zachary’s betrayal, Jayden no longer had a body. The black-haired human had this coming and Devin wanted to be the one to give it to him.

As soon as Jonathon had Zachary stripped, Devin gave Ashcroft a pleading look and motioned toward the whips hanging on a wall across the room. Ashcroft smiled broadly at his unasked question, perhaps the first real smile Devin had ever seen from the wicked mage, then nodded his head in approval and made an elaborate gesture with his hand, as if inviting Devin to take his pick. Devin rose slowly from his seat, replaying in his mind the number of times he’d been beaten in just this way because Zachary decided he wanted Jayden for himself.

The little man-bitch’s back had been clean and clearly unmolested when Jonathon had removed his shirt. It didn’t seem right that Devin had been forced to suffer all that he had while Zachary had remained untouched. That’s why he chose the flogger with the thinnest strands to use on the whore. He’d learned that it would cause more pain than the other ones - and Devin didn’t have the first clue of how to work one of the large whips hanging nearby. Satisfied with his choice, Devin slowly made his way back to where Zachary was chained.

Then he stepped closer, his chest against Zachary and his groin grinding threateningly into the smaller man’s lower back. “I’ve waited for this moment for two weeks, you dirty little slut. This is just the beginning,” Devin growled into his ear. Zachary tensed and glanced back with a frightened look on his cute little face, but Devin just smirked at him coldly and stepped back.

Jonathon interrupted him long enough to give Devin a few pointers, like avoiding the kidneys so as to not accidentally do internal damage, or how varying the time between lashes would put the man off guard and make them more painful because of the tenseness that built up in the muscles. He knew from experience how very true that was. Devin listened to what the man said carefully because he wanted this to be painful, like his own beatings had been painful, but he didn’t want to do any permanent damage either. He had plans for the little bitch later on.

Satisfied that he was as ready as he was going to be, he got into position behind Zachary and drew back the arm that held the flogger. Then he faltered for only a second, wondering if this was really what he wanted to do. But as he hesitated, he remembered the fading mark on his chest that told him his beloved was dead, the fading mark that reminded him that their unborn son would never know his father, and the rage that filled him wiped away any doubts. He tightened his grip on the flogger and brought it down across Zachary’s pale back, trying not to flinch at the cry of pain that escaped the smaller man.

Devin paused to watch as a thin stream of blood boiled up from the blossoming pink strap marks on Zachary’s smooth skin. He’d expected guilt or remorse at the sight. Instead, a feeling of utter satisfaction filled him and he turned to look at Ashcroft where he sat at the table nearby with a cold smirk. Ashcroft nodded as if to say that Devin should continue and that’s exactly what he did. He gave the little whore ten strikes, while the audience of mages cheered and counted them out. It was the same number Devin had received his first night there. Then left Zachary standing there, naked and bloodied, as he made his way back to Ashcroft’s side.

Ashcroft stood as Devin approached and wrapped his arms around Devin’s waist, pulling him into a possessive kiss as he plundered Devin’s lips with abandon. Devin responded, but only as little as he could get away with without drawing attention to his lack of enthusiasm. Once they pulled apart for breath, Ashcroft slipped an arm around Devin’s shoulder and started to lead him toward the hallway entrance that would take them back to their rooms. With a sigh, Devin followed. It was time to pay up apparently. He just hoped he could go through with it. For the baby’s sake he would.

*~*~*~*

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I know this chapter isn't gonna make a lot of people happy. A necessary evil if you will. That said, I'd love to hear any comments or complaints you might have. I enjoy them both. No flames please. Plain meanness or outright viciousness will be ignored. I'm just not up to it. Later taters and love you guys!!