Chapter Five
Nick looked up at Jeff, and the weirdest feeling that what he was about to do would change everything hit him squarely in the chest. He slid his arms around Jeff’s thighs, and nuzzled into the man’s groin, inhaling deeply. Jeff’s erection pushed against the front of his jeans, and Nick knew it couldn’t be comfortable. He cupped Jeff’s ass, and when he groaned, Nick slid his hands around to the front and unzipped him until his cock slid out against his cheek, now trapped only by soft boxers.
“Oh, Jesus,” Jeff said, hips jerking as he threaded his fingers into Nick’s hair. “Are you sure about this?” He sounded like a man on the edge of a breakdown.
Interesting that it took this to make him lose it, when he kept it together in the midst of a fire, and bullets heading for his head, Nick thought. He breathed along the fabric, keeping Jeff’s cock out of his mouth until the fabric warmed, and then he breathed some more, wanting to drive Jeff insane with the heat.
“You’re so fucking perfect,” he murmured, more to himself than to Jeff. What the hell was it about this guy? He had never been this attracted to someone. He had never wanted someone with such desperation, so quickly. He bit down gently on the tip of Jeff’s cock, through the soft fabric, then breathed some more. When Nick felt Jeff’s knees buckle, he stood up and pushed him back onto the bed. “Take off your shoes,” he said, stripping Jeff’s shirt from his body. Miles of smooth skin greeted his palms, and he ran his fingers down Jeff’s pecs before standing back. “Come on. Shoes. Socks.” He gestured to Jeff’s legs.
Jeff obediently toed off his shoes, then pulled his socks off. “Is that all you want me to take off?” he asked, somewhat breathlessly as he lay back down.
“Yeah,” Nick said, already imagining putting his mouth against Jeff’s hipbones. He cleared his throat. “Relax. I’ll do the rest.”
Jeff’s eyebrows rose, but then he groaned as he watched Nick slowly pull off the rest of his own clothes.
He’s not quite as straight as he’s always thought, is he? Nick thought, as his cock sprang out, thick and ready. He stroked himself lightly, just to see what Jeff would do.
“That’s—” Jeff began to say, but his voice cracked. He swallowed. “That’s impressive.” His gaze was fixed on Nick’s erection.
Nick smirked. He knew he was only a bit above average in size, but he couldn’t deny that he enjoyed Jeff’s attention. “I hope you’re sure about this,” he said, giving the man one last out. He moved to the bed and slowly peeled Jeff out of his jeans, leaving only his boxers in place. “Fuck, you’re gorgeous,” he said, palming Jeff’s cock. He ran his thumb over the head, watching the younger man’s hips jerk.
“I’m sure,” Jeff croaked, fisting the covers. “Haven’t I already said I’m sure? Numerous times? I know what I want.” In one quick move, Jeff slid his underwear down, then tossed them on the floor. His erection bobbed as he stared at Nick defiantly. “I’m alive. You’re alive. We’re lucky bastards. What more do you want?”
Nick paused. What more did he want? He frowned, thinking of his lost soulmate, and then he shook his head. No sense dwelling on something that would never happen. Pay attention to what you can have right now, you idiot. Don’t screw it up by getting lost in what-could-have-beens, he thought. “I want you,” he said, climbing on top of Jeff. He lowered himself slowly, savoring the heat of the younger man’s skin. “Jesus, you feel fucking fantastic.”
In the back of his head, he knew he shouldn’t be doing this. Jeff was the guy he was supposed to protect, supposed to help, not screw around with, but he couldn’t stop now. He didn’t want to stop.
Jeff’s hips bucked, but Nick rode him out. “Yeah, that’s perfect,” he murmured, slotting his cock into the hollow of Jeff’s hip. The younger man’s erection pushed into him, thick and wet at the tip. He swallowed hard, praying he wouldn’t fucking come all over Jeff before he could even do anything. “Give me your mouth,” he said roughly.
Jeff kissed him, no holds barred, which shocked the hell out of Nick. For a straight guy, Jeff was certainly going all in with his first time with another man. Nick shuddered and sank his hands into Jeff’s hair. “You’re pretty damned chill for a guy who’s never messed around with another guy before.”
“I gave up trying to do the right thing two years ago when I quit my job as a chemist. And now? Life is too damned short. I refuse to let those assholes win.” Jeff wrapped his legs around Nick’s thighs, hips moving slowly. “You feel good. You feel better than anyone ever has. That’s something. I’m not some homophobic prick who can’t recognize a good thing when it hits him in the face.”
Nick groaned, dropping his forehead onto Jeff’s shoulders as he struggled to keep from going over the edge. Something about this man revved him up way beyond his ability to go slow. “Wait. Give me a moment,” he said roughly.
“What? Now you want to slow down?” Jeff shook his head, hips still moving. “Are you serious?”
Nick struggled to think, to breathe, to figure out what pricked at the back of his head. “Something about this is strange.”
“Nothing about this is strange. We almost died in a fucking fire. This is survival.” Jeff exhaled as his hands moved down Nick’s arms. “This is better than survival.” He reached down and grabbed Nick’s cock. “Oh God, why the hell do you feel so perfect?” Jeff stroked him slowly, scattering Nick’s thoughts.
Nick bit down, licking Jeff’s skin even as his body roared on ahead of his mind. “Fuck, don’t stop,” he muttered, hips thrusting. He forced himself to reach down and reciprocate. He’d wanted to blow Jeff. He’d wanted to rim him and fuck him. He’d wanted to drive Jeff completely insane, and here they were, writhing up against each other like teens that didn’t know what the hell they were doing. “I can’t stop,” he gasped, hand wrapping around Jeff’s cock.
“Don’t stop,” Jeff replied, not sounding any more coherent. “Hell, I don’t want you to stop.”
“God, you taste good,” Nick muttered in reply, mind suddenly expanding. “Oh no,” he moaned as his power kicked in. His vision sparkled with flashes of information:
A lab counter, stainless steel, littered with papers and a coffee cup. A syringe. A pair of hands, gloved in latex, reaching.
Running outside into the yard, then doubled over with pain in his abdomen. Falling.
Hands picking him up. Voices. Another syringe. “It didn’t work.” “It doesn’t matter. We can try again.” “Don’t hurt him.”
The sudden, shocking pain of a needle. An older man, eyebrows drawn down, eyes sad. “I’m sorry. This is the last one.”
Nick gasped, still aroused, still close to climax. “What the hell? No, no, no. Why now?” He shuddered, trying to ground himself in Jeff’s body as his Craft power surged through his bones like electricity gone wild. He could feel it building, and knew another vision was imminent.
“Nick? What’s happening? I just saw my dad, like a memory, only more vivid,” Jeff panted, hands clamping down on Nick’s hips. “What the hell was that? It was like it just happened a moment ago, not over ten years ago. And hell, now is not the time I want to be thinking about my parents.”
Jeff saw that? He saw my vision? That’s impossible. Nick went still, heart pounding as his mind ran in circles. His erection didn’t fade, but he needed to think, and he couldn’t do that while rutting up against Jeff. “What did you see?”
“My parents. The first time they injected me. I was about fifteen years old,” Jeff told him. “I didn’t want it. I ran outside, trying to get away, but my dad found me. I finally gave in, and it hurt.”
Nick wanted to reply, but then his gift powered through him again, stealing his voice.
Flames. Jeff’s house burning. The smell of smoke choked him, and he coughed. No, Jeff coughed. Jeff turned to him, eyes wide with shock. “Nick?”
And then suddenly, Jeff was there in reality, gripping his biceps. “Nick, what the hell is going on?”
Nick shook his head. He couldn’t talk. He couldn’t focus. “My Craft—” he tried to say, but then another vision stole his words. He was seeing things from Jeff’s point of view again.
Jeff reaching inward. Cells, shrinking and then expanding. Muscles and blood and bone. Jeff reached out, as if he could touch them, and then he could, and the cells changed.
Zooming past the cells, into DNA, that distinctive helix structure not nearly so clear as the diagrams in a book. But he could touch it. He could manipulate it. He reached out—
“Oh my God!” Jeff’s shocked voice startled Nick out of the vision. “Nick!”
Nick’s eyes snapped open as Jeff shook him. “Jeff?” He blinked, confused, even as pleasure swept through him. He swallowed, and Jeff leaned up and kissed him roughly. Nick opened his mouth, and Jeff’s emotions crashed through him: joy, fear, confusion, arousal. He felt something bright snap into place, and then they were both climaxing. Heat spread between them as his hips jerked, and he bit down, tasting a hint of blood. Jeff gasped, biting him back. Nick wrapped his arms around his lover and trembled as another orgasm pushed through him, this time so hot and so primal he couldn’t breathe. All he could do was hold on and hope that whatever the fuck just happened didn’t kill them both.
****
A long time later, when he was sure he could move without collapsing, Nick lifted his head from Jeff’s shoulder. He licked his bottom lip. It stung. Jeff stared up at him, looking just as stunned as he felt. “Are you okay?” Nick asked unsteadily.
“Are you kidding?” Jeff snorted softly. “No.” He gently pushed Nick off of him, but rolled and immediately wound their legs together, as if he couldn’t bear to not be touching. Nick knew the feeling. He didn’t want to let go, either. “No. I am not okay,” Jeff said into Nick’s shoulder. He ran a hand over his face. “What the fuck was that?” He touched his lip and winced.
Regret shot through Nick, sharp and heavy. What had he done? He took stock of his body, but nothing appeared seriously damaged. He looked down and grimaced at the mess all over his torso. They’d definitely got off. But he felt strange. Some sort of energy still zipped through him, as if his Craft power had suddenly undergone amplification, and then had something additional tacked on top of that, too, just for good measure. He felt like all he had to do was breathe deeply and relax his mind, and a vision would slip into view. Frankly, the sensation scared the shit out of him.
“I never told you what my Craft power was,” he said slowly, knowing he had to explain all of this to Jeff. Somehow, his lover had shared his vision. He’d also shared the worst sex of his life. Or the best sex. I’m not sure which it is, right now. Nick had never got off so hard, so fast, and so thoroughly. He’d never felt so connected to another person before. He stared at the younger man, as an impossible idea slowly swam to the surface of his thoughts. No. It’s not possible, he told himself.
“Your power…” Jeff said, then trailed off. “God. My head hurts.” He grimaced, both hands going to his forehead. “Ugh.”
Nick frowned, touching Jeff’s wrists. “Let me see.” Jeff let him pull away his hands. His green eyes looked brighter than before. Nick cupped his face gently. He stared at his lover, as if seeing him for the first time. “Jesus, you’re beautiful,” he murmured.
“Am I dying?” Jeff asked, a hint of laughter in his voice. “Or wait, maybe you are. You’re not a man prone to sentiment, Nick, yet here we are. You’re staring into my eyes as if you’re about to jump into the deep end.”
Nick snorted, but forced himself to look at Jeff more clearly. “No. Your pupils are good. So’s your skin tone.” He kissed Jeff, gently this time. Worries crowded each other at the back of his mind, but he’d deal with them later, after he figured out how to tell Jeff what he suspected. Except that it’s not possible, because I saw my soulmate die in a vision.
“So, you’re a doctor now?” Jeff smiled crookedly at him. He didn’t look like he had a headache anymore, which was strange. Could headaches disappear that quickly? “Nick?”
Nick shook his head. “No. I have basic medic training, but that’s it.” He inhaled, then let it out again. “I’m not a doctor.”
“Okay, I believe you,” Jeff said slowly. “But the headache faded as soon as you touched me. You have magic hands.” He put a finger to Nick’s lips, making them tingle, and then he tilted his head. “What are you? What is your Craft power?”
It’s not my power that healed the pain, Nick thought suddenly, but he wasn’t sure if he should say it out loud. It’s now or never. Don’t be a coward, he told himself as butterflies took up residence in his gut. Jeff looked at him steadily, and Nick knew the man had no idea what he was about to say. Nevertheless, Nick settled down next to Jeff and gathered his courage. “I’m a Seer.”
****
For a moment, Jeff’s mind couldn’t make sense of the words Nick had just offered him. He inhaled slowly, buying some time, but it didn’t help. “A Seer?” he finally asked, when he sensed Nick’s growing unease. “I’ve never heard of that power.” He ignored the drying mess on his stomach. He needed to listen to Nick more than he needed to clean up. Somewhere deep inside he was surprised that he wasn’t freaking out over having sex with another man, but it didn’t feel weird. Everything with Nick felt wonderful. Being with Nick felt ordinary and comfortable and amazing, all at the same time.
“Yeah.” Nick ran a hand over his face. “I’m not surprised you’ve never heard of it, because it’s not a real thing.”
“That doesn’t even make any sense,” Jeff pointed out. He touched his lips again, feeling as if his skin was transparent. Like he could put his finger all the way through his body and then take it back out again. Which is just really fucking weird. He forced himself to stop touching his mouth, and pay attention to what Nick was saying. “How can you be a Seer, and then say it isn’t real?”
Nick sighed. “When I was born, I registered high with Craft power when they ran the tests. You know the ones: put your hands in this old lady’s hands and calm your mind. Think about energy. Those tests.”
Jeff nodded, understanding all too well. “My parents made me do that so many times…” He trailed off, not wanting to get into it. “They couldn’t believe I didn’t have any power.”
Nick gave him a speculative look Jeff couldn’t interpret. “Yes, well, I had too much power, and no specialty. You know most of us with Craft have power, but not enough to do anything with it, right? We just go through life with a bit of extra energy and that’s it.”
Jeff nodded. That’s what his parents had explained to him. He had no personal understanding, of course, since he’d been born a human, to his parents’ horror. Neither of them had much Craft power, but they had enough to become soulmates, so they assumed any child of theirs would naturally inherit more talent than either of them. They’d been wrong. Very wrong.
“Well, I had a lot of power. Everyone could sense it. I could sense it. But I couldn’t do anything with it.” Nick laughed abruptly. “Eventually, they decided that while I was unusually strong, I lacked focus. They thought it was some kind of autistic spectrum disorder unhappily linked to Craft power.” He shook his head. “They couldn’t be more wrong.”
Story of my life. Jeff understood that kind of pressure. His parents had obsessed over boosting his latent Craft genes, after all. “Did your parents torment you about it?”
“No, thank God. At least, not at first. But everyone else did. The Council Delegate in our town was always trying to test me. My friends didn’t understand why the adults were always looking at me funny. I hated it.” Nick ran a hand through his hair. “And then the visions started.” He looked at Jeff, hazel eyes bright with remembered misery, startling on such a self-controlled man. “The first thing I saw was my parents’ future deaths. I saw the car crash. I told them about it. I told everyone, because I didn’t want it to happen, obviously. I was eight, and I was a mess over it.” He sighed. “Everyone told me that I was imagining things. That I was wrong.”
“Good God, that’s awful. But you weren’t wrong, were you? That’s what a Seer does. You can see the future.” Jeff had an idea about what happened next. “They thought you were crazy, didn’t they?”
Nick nodded. “Not dangerously crazy, but mentally ill, because of the Craft power that had no outlet.” He grimaced. “They put me in all kinds of training programs to develop my skills. None of them worked. I couldn’t control the visions, and I couldn’t figure out why no one believed me. It took me two years to figure out how to hide what I could do, and how to hide my power level so they’d believe I was just a normal kid with some Craft power.”
“They said there’s no such thing as a Seer,” Jeff murmured, sure of it. His heart hurt for the kid Nick had been. He understood the weight of expectation.
Nick smiled grimly. “Exactly. They looked up all the lists of Craft powers: WoodCrafter, Healer, Empath, Herbalist, Telepath, Sensitive. Even some of the more obscure ones. None of them matched. It was as if they couldn’t believe in a power that wasn’t written down in the archives.” He made a derisive sound in the back of his throat. “As if our people have always only been one thing. Unchanging. But life isn’t static. Craft power evolves just like everything else.”
“What happened?” Jeff asked, rubbing his chest against the ache. Was this what had turned an incredibly empathetic boy into the competent but too self-controlled man Nick was today?
“Nothing happened. I learned how to hide what I could do. I kept my mouth shut about everything I felt. I still saw visions, mostly in my dreams, but nothing major ever happened, so I even started thinking that maybe all the adults were right. And then the more difficult visions started coming true, and I nearly had a breakdown in middle school, in the middle of recess, of all things.” Nick closed his eyes. “I knew exactly what was going to happen that afternoon. And sure enough, one of my classmates fell down the stairs and broke his leg. I couldn’t stop it. I couldn’t save him.” He sighed. “At least a broken leg was all it was. He wore a cast for six weeks, and everyone thought he was the coolest kid in class.”
And I thought my childhood sucked. This is so much worse. Jeff slid a hand up Nick’s arm. “I’m sorry.”
Nick opened his eyes and stared at him. “You believe me?”
Is he serious? We had a weird shared vision right in the middle of making love. Jeff squeezed Nick’s bicep. “Of course I believe you. I’m more upset over how much it hurt you, because I know what that feels like.” He sighed, thinking back over the course of his life. He missed his parents deeply, even after all they’d done to him with the serum. They’d at least managed to make peace with each other the past few years. Nick didn’t have that. “But I also know you survived. You’re a strong man.”
Nick nodded. “I survived, but it wasn’t easy. I think it broke me. I don’t even know why I’m telling you this.”
“Because I’m listening,” Jeff said, heart aching.
Nick sighed. “Yeah, you are. There’s more, though,” he said, giving Jeff that look again. The one that said he knew more than he was saying.
Jeff frowned slightly. What more could he be keeping from me? I’d bet he hasn’t told anyone about his visions or his parents, but what else is there? He waited. Nick would say more when he was ready.
Nick sat up and scrubbed his hands through his hair. “I saw my parents’ deaths in a vision more than once, and then it happened. I couldn’t do a damn thing to stop it, and believe me, I tried. I was eighteen.” He looked at Jeff. “They were good people, and then they were dead.”
“God. I’m sorry,” Jeff said. He knew that pain all too well, but he couldn’t imagine how difficult it must have been for Nick to have gone through it so young.
“I also saw my soulmate die.”
Jeff’s heart seized up. Was this what Nick was hiding? “Soulmate?” He’d never even considered that Nick might have had someone. “You were bonded?” The horror of losing a soulmate rocketed through him. “How are you even alive?” Most soulmated couples didn’t last long once their bonded mate passed away. His parents hadn’t. It didn’t even matter which one of them had died first. The other soon followed, probably in a matter of minutes.
Nick shook his head. “No, you don’t understand. I wasn’t bonded when the visions started.”
Jeff wasn’t sure if he should be relieved or sad. The horror of seeing your soulmate die wasn’t something he could imagine, but if Nick hadn’t lost his, he wouldn’t be here with Jeff now. And I want him, still. I feel a connection with this man. “Wait. I don’t understand. What did you see?”
“I had a vision,” Nick said. “Hell, I had the same vision a thousand times, it seems.” He closed his eyes. “I saw a fire. I knew my soulmate was in the fire, and that he was going to die. I was sure of it. It felt as real as any of my other visions. I never actually saw him die in the vision, but I knew it was inevitable because of the fire.”
Jeff took Nick’s hands in his. It didn’t matter that they were both naked and covered in drying semen. Right here, right now, he couldn’t do anything else except hold the older man as he forced himself to ask the question every fiber of his being shied away from. “And you’re sure it already happened? Your soulmate is dead?”
Nick frowned at him. “Yes. No. Jesus.” He pulled away. “I don’t know anything anymore, but I know when in time the visions happen. This happened in the past, which is impossible.”
If it’s in the past, his soulmate is dead, Jeff thought, but Nick didn’t look like a man who was sure of that. “But the visions don’t always happen, right? You saved me,” Jeff pointed out, confused. How could Nick see something that happened in the past, but maybe never happened at all?
Nick nodded. “Sometimes I can stop the things that I see happen in my visions. Not always, but sometimes. It’s rare.” He squeezed Nick’s hands. “I saved you from that fire.”
“You saw me in a vision? That’s how you knew I was trapped in the lab?”
Nick nodded.
Jeff’s skin prickled. The longer he touched Nick, the more he felt like he could literally see inside the other man’s body. He felt energy wafting off Nick’s skin, and he could sense every aching muscle. The small cut on Nick’s lip from when they’d kissed nagged at him. He lifted a finger and touched it. “I’ve been in three fires in my lifetime,” he said, running his fingertip over the cut. “Once when I was a kid, my school caught on fire, and we all had to evacuate.” His skin tingled, and then a small zap of energy, just like static, pricked him. The cut on Nick’s lip blurred. “Once when my parents and I were living in a rental house. The electrical work was faulty, and it caught fire in the middle of winter. We barely made it out with the clothes on our back. And once today.” He looked at Nick. “When you saved me.” He ignored the tingling in his fingers. The cut on Nick’s lip faded, and then disappeared. He stared at it, shocked.
Nick gasped, wrenching his head away. “What did you just do?”
“What? Nothing.” Jeff said, confused. He pulled his hands away from Nick’s. “I don’t know.”
“Don’t give me that.” Nick growled, grabbing his hands again and gripping hard. “You know.”
Jeff stared at the older man, heart banging against his ribs. His gaze drifted to Nick’s lip, no longer nicked. “I feel like I have energy flashing through me. I feel like I could sink right into you. It’s like the barrier of your skin is only a suggestion, not a reality.” He cleared his throat. “What’s happening to me?”
Nick licked his smooth, uninjured lips. “You’re sure your parents’ serum didn’t work?”
Jeff nodded. “They injected me three times. The last time I was twenty-two, and I consented to it because I loved them. It didn’t work. Believe me, I’d know. It made me as sick as I’ve ever been, too. It took me a week before I stopped feeling like a truck had run me over.” He pushed down the memory of that week, not wanting to recall his father’s disappointment or his mother’s worry. They’d finally accepted that he was never going to be more than human. That week had been why. After that, they’d gotten along a lot better. “The stopped asking to try their serum on me, after that.”
“Because it worked, and they knew. Somehow, they knew,” Nick said.
Jeff didn’t get it. “What?”
“Sometimes life throws you a curveball when you least expect it.” Nick took a deep breath. “I thought I lost my soulmate. I thought I saw him die in a fire. Are you sure the serum didn’t work?” he asked again.
What does that have to do with— Jeff’s thoughts scattered as he suddenly figured out where Nick was going with this, impossible though it was. The cut on his lip… Did I heal that? Could that be why— He shook his head as his heart banged on his ribs. “No. That’s crazy.” He narrowed his gaze. “That’s like me asking you if you’re sure that your visions are real.”
“That’s the thing, though,” Nick said slowly. “I’m not sure about anything anymore, Jeff.” Nick stared at him, looking like a man flirting with the edge of a cliff. “What did the rental house you lived in as a kid look like? Do you remember?”
“It was a small cape cod. The outside was shingled in cedar, painted blue,” Jeff said, before he could stop himself. He felt strangely calm. Yeah, the calm before the storm, you idiot. “It wasn’t a big house. I liked it there.” He rubbed his chest harder. Some strange energy had settled just behind his breastbone, like caged lightning. If someone asked him how he was feeling right now, he’d swear he could taste Nick’s apprehension. His hope. Which is just insane, right? How can I be feeling any of this at all?
“And your room was white. You had a poster of the periodic table above your bed,” Nick told him, hazel eyes steady. “Your parents liked to listen to classical music after dinner. I saw the fire start. It was in the basement. The water heater’s electrical connection shorted out.”
How does he know this? Why would he see a vision of me? Jeff couldn’t get his voice to work. He flexed his fingers, afraid to believe what was staring him right in the face. He cleared his throat. He had to just say it, before the anxiety tore him apart. “Are you saying my parents’ serum worked?” he asked. Because everyone knew that humans and people born with Craft couldn’t bond. The races didn’t mix. Only two people with Craft power could bond. His skin prickled again, and he clenched his fists, trying to will the energy back down. It didn’t work. The energy had become a long, thin, electric thread binding him to Nick. He could almost see it as it pulsed in his mind. It didn’t feel like a hallucination. It felt real. And the only reason Nick would talk about his soulmate, and then describe Jeff’s childhood home burning to the ground was if they were connected. And that was only possible if he was no longer a powerless human. “It’s impossible,” he croaked.
“Nothing is entirely impossible,” Nick said quietly. “You know exactly what I’m saying, Jeff. Your parents’ serum worked. And my vision about my soulmate dying never came true.” Nick touched his lip, and then he touched Jeff’s. “Because here you are. You healed my cut without even thinking about it. You healed your cut.”
Jeff shook his head. “Healers can’t heal themselves. It’s not possible.”
“There you go with that word again. It’s not impossible. Improbable, yes. No, I don’t know of any Healer who can heal himself, but Healers used to be much, much stronger in the past. We have records of what they could do,” Nick said.
“There are no records of a human suddenly turning into a Healer!” Jeff burst out. He felt anxious. And elated. And feeling both those things at the same time confused the hell out of him. His parents had died for the damned serum, and all along, he’d thought it hadn’t worked, and that they’d been murdered for nothing. But they hadn’t. And that meant that the tiny flash drive and serum in his pocket, in his pants crumpled on the floor, held information that could change the face of their world. And that’s why they were killed. That’s why someone came for me, just a few hours ago. Jesus. He glanced at the clothes he’d carelessly piled on the floor.
Nick kept talking, but Jeff could see the knowledge in his face. Nick knew everything Jeff had just figured out. “Seers never existed, either, yet here I am, having visions of you.” Nick grabbed Jeff by the shoulders and shook him, breaking his fixation.
His head snapped back up, landing on Nick’s face. It’s too late to shake sense into me, Jeff thought hysterically, hands going to Nick’s wrists. He hung on like his life depended on it, and maybe it did. “Nick,” he said, and his voice nearly failed him. The thread that bound them surged with energy as his emotions flared out of control. “I hear you, okay?”
“You aren’t human, Jeff,” Nick said anyway, eyes bright. “Not anymore. And I know this because we just fucking bonded.”