Darkest Before the Dawn (male/male)

Felix

Seeing Madeline in straight cream-colored slacks and a navy blouse was a rare sight. She looked more reserved, possibly embarrassed about the night before or maybe hoping to make a good impression so she could get her negotiation. “You look nice,” I complimented. It was the first thing I had said to her all evening.

“It’s stuffy,” she grumbled, tugging at the collar of her shirt and tossing her long chocolate hair over her shoulder. “I didn’t want to make you look bad in your workplace. Is that okay with you?” Her voice was cold and low, a tinge of burgundy in her eyes.

“If you’re mad about last night, you can tell me and not do this passive aggressive thing.” Because it always ended up festering until she got to the point where she became belligerent. I would rather her be mad any time rather than take the brunt of months of anger pent up and exploding like a faulty firework.

“No, I’m fine.” She forced a smile to her lips, more like a sneer, and it faded as quickly as it came. At least if she were to blow up on me now, the pilot was a witness.

When the business jet landed on Mazerene, I was surprised—and anxious—when I spotted Akiya, the black-haired reaper. Reapers didn’t scare me usually. They only took souls from people who were about to die. They were timeless and ageless, just souls inhabiting quality corpses. Although I should have had an aversion to them, given how I was supposed to be dead, the few times that I had encountered them had been pleasant.

Except for Akiya. He was kind. He was well-mannered. But, dammit, he was so terse and never let his emotions show, and it drove me crazy. I could never tell what he was thinking or if he was upset or happy or really much of anything. A blank slate. The only times that I had seen him show some sort of emotions was during my interview and when he introduced me to his husband, appearing proud both times.

Standing next to Akiya were Marigold, adorned in a black dress that was unusual for her, and Mew, wearing a cobalt blue blazer that looked beautiful against his tanned skin. His white-blond hair was styled differently, the curls pushed away from his face instead of loosely falling over his left eyebrow. He rarely did anything with those waves of his. It was enjoyable every time he did.

“Stare at him any longer, and you’ll start to drool,” Madeline warned, sashaying away from me when the pilot opened the hatch door.

Marigold was waving at me when I stepped off the plane, golden hair twinkling with the surrounding tarmac lights. “Are you okay?” She pulled me into a hug.

“We’ll talk about it later,” I promised, holding her by the shoulders and smiling. She nodded in understanding, and I extended my hand out to Akiya. “Nice to see you again. I haven’t seen you around the office much lately.”

“I’ve been telecommuting,” he explained, his grip strong around my hand. “I owed Evander some time at home since I've been coming here almost weekly recently.” His voice was toneless, like it carried no echo or tenor. His golden eyes shifted towards Madeline, and he sighed, almost as if this was a burden he didn’t want to take on. “Let’s get this over with. It’s my date night, and I don’t want to have my husband waiting for me.”

Mew took that as his cue, stepping towards Madeline with handcuffs. Without any sort of gentleness, he restrained her wrists and had the links around them before Madeline could make any protest. “You have the right to remain silent. You have the right to a lawyer, which can be provided to you. Anything you say can be held against you, so on, so forth. Let’s go.” Always a charmer.

“Perhaps we should review proper arrest protocol with your subordinate,” Akiya suggested slyly, walking alongside me. “Did you manage okay with her last night? Marigold informed me that you have a history with Madeline.”

I scowled some at the back of Marigold’s yellow head. “We do have a past, yes, but it’s nothing of concern. She asked about a plea bargain, which Bartholomew and Marigold think we should take.”

Akiya quirked an eyebrow at me, one of the few gestures he did that showed any type of indication that he was listening. “It very well may be beneficial to us.”

There was a sleek white Escalade waiting for us, Akiya settling in the front seat, Marigold climbing into the third row of seats, and Mew and I taking either side of Madeline. My ex sat there quietly between us, her cuffed hands settled on her lap, hyper-focused on the road ahead of us. It left me with a sense of unease at how calmly she was reacting, the air rigid with apprehension. This was like watching the water rush away from the shore, knowing there was a tsunami about to rise up, but uncertain about when or how strong it would be.

We made it to the Council Hall without any issues, though with plenty of glances from Madeline in my direction.

Akiya helped guide Madeline to the interrogation room, locking her cuffs through a loop in the table so that she couldn’t move. He joined us on the other side of the glass, all four of us watching her to see how she would react. Still, nothing in her demeanor changed. It wasn’t like her.

“Felix mentioned she requested a plea bargain?” the reaper asked, looking towards Bartholomew and Marigold, both of them nodding. “See what she’s willing to offer, and I’ll decide if it’s worth it. From what I’ve been told so far, she’s looking at a conviction for being an accessory and can be jailed for fifteen years, or eight years with rehabilitative practices. Depending on her information, I’m willing to bring that to five years with rehabilitative services. Do you agree to those terms?”

“I don’t think that’s long enough, actually,” Bartholomew muttered, his eyes never once leaving Madeline. There was an intensity behind them that I wasn’t used to seeing. “If that’s the best you got, I’ll take it. Let’s go, Goldie.”

They entered the interrogation room, Akiya and I staying on the other side of the glass, Madeline unable to see us. Even with a demon and a reaper around me, being this close to a calm Madeline Castor was never safe. If her lips weren’t moving, she was plotting.

“Please state your name,” Goldie instructed, her recording device out.

“Madeline Castor.”

“Madeline Castor is under investigation for admission of aiding and abetting the murder of two demons in the state of Georgia. Are you still willing to confess to this on record?”

“I am. I lead a group of four vampires to two towns in order to kill half-demons there.” She almost seemed proud of it, a smug smirk on her lips. “I took them into Cummings and Dahlonega.”

“Why those two towns?” Marigold cut in, pulling her notebook out from her messenger bag.

“Just the start of the list. Richard is coming down from Lexington and plans on setting up in Atlanta, so he wanted us to go on ahead to look for real estate, track down possible new attendees, things like that. We just got a little ahead of the game. I would also like to put on record that I have requested a plea bargain. I demand protections from the Blood Rights Foundation.”

“We’ll get to that.” Marigold slid her a notebook across the table. “That’s a list of next possible target locations. Do any of those sound familiar?” That must have been the list she had created from cross-referencing the census with the small towns, something I had been excited for when she told me about it. It narrowed down the list of locations to about seven towns.

Madeline studied the list, then extended her hand. “Pen, please,” she requested softly, eyes on the paper still. Marigold gave her a pen, and she got started on writing down notes, leaving a silence in both rooms, other than the faint scratching of ink on paper.

“I have a question, and I hope it isn’t intrusive,” I said to Akiya, wishing to fill the silence.

“Go ahead,” he murmured, eyes never straying from Madeline. “You and I haven’t gotten a chance to talk much.”

“Unfortunately. But if you’re a reaper and can see the future and past and everything, why aren’t you as involved in these investigations? One would think that you would be able to easily solve them.”

“Absolutely,” he agreed, nodding. “When I applied to the job as councilor of our society, I applied to be a judge and legal counselor, but nothing more. I enjoy justice and law. Besides it not being my technical job, there’s a lot of ethical problems that arise that we as a reaper species have agreed not to break. We know everything and could theoretically solve every problem that exists because of it, but it wouldn’t be the natural progression of things.”

“Like Doctor Who not going back in time to fix all of the issues,” I mused absentmindedly.

“You are very much a child of Britain. But yes, exactly. We don’t have a duty to uphold and prevent things from happening, but we do serve as a way to allow things to happen as they should.” He glanced at me, golden eyes gleaming in the darkness of the room. “If I was able to solve every investigation brought to us, you wouldn’t have a job, and judging from your past experiences, you’re quite the detective, Agent Elliot.”

I smirked, nostalgia hitting me harder than I expected. It made me feel so exposed, a part of my life that I hadn’t really acknowledged in years. “I see you’ve done your research on me.”

“I do for every new employee, and vampires are always of particular interest. You’re younger, especially compared to my husband. He’s at least three times your age.”

Madeline had finished writing by now, giving the notebook back to Marigold and Mew for them to read over.

“The demon,” Akiya began, tilting his head towards me, “was I right in thinking he could handle this situation?”

“I think he’s the best person to be on this,” I responded quickly, though there were still some doubts in the back of my mind. The way he had reacted the night before, if only for a moment, was his show of weakness, reminding me that Mew was fragile and traumatized, despite the show he put on for everyone. I didn’t disclose any of this with Akiya. “He’s determined to get it solved, so I think we’ll see results quickly.”

A quirked eyebrow from Akiya as Mew’s sigh came through the speaker. Maybe there was skepticism now lurking in Akiya’s mind. I knew Bartholomew could prove that he was as great of a detective as I believed him to be.

From what I could see on the notepad, Madeline had written several paragraphs and bullet points of notes. “These are all the dates and locations that you know?” Mew asked, finger trailing across the words.

“And people who will be there, what the meeting is planned to be about, things like that.” She knocked twice on the table and winked. “I got a good memory. You can check the calendar on my phone to confirm everything if you want. It’s in my back pocket if you want to get it, detective.” The way she spoke the last sentence made my stomach tighten, sensuality pouring into the way she said her words.

Marigold took the initiative instead, Madeline standing for her so that the phone could be retrieved. Madeline unlocked her phone and went to what I assumed to be her calendar, sliding the phone across the table for the two detectives. “The next meeting is Tuesday,” I heard Bartholomew mutter. “And you said it’s an actual meeting, not like a hunt?”

“Yeah, a legitimate meeting. It’s supposed to be about incorporating new members. Richard isn’t supposed to be at this one, just some of his underlings, but it’s a place to start.” Madeline sounded authentic. At the end of the day, she had claimed that she wanted to leave the Blood Rights Foundation. With Madeline, however, I was never sure if her motives were honest.

“Why does he want to set up in Atlanta?”

“Major airport for traveling, lots of people to blend in with, and there’s a very high vampire population due to this island being so close to Georgia. Richard wants to bring in however many people he can to try to restore the BRF to its previous reputation.” Her voice had an air of calmness again, one that made me uncomfortable, something yelling at me in the back of my mind that this wasn’t a typical situation.

Marigold took notes in her notebook, tapping her pen a few times. Her usually easy demeanor seemed to shift, and she glanced up at Mew. “This is usually the part we ask you to go into detail about what happened. We also need to know the names of everyone else who was involved.” Her voice was a little shaky, keeping her calm as best as she could. Next to her, Bartholomew shifted some, knowing the worst part was coming up.

“Aren’t you a little sadistic for asking me the details when you’ve seen the photos?” Madeline teased, smirking. She cleared her throat and settled back in her seat, her cuffs forcing her to keep her arms on the table. Otherwise, knowing her, she would have had her arms crossed over herself defensively. “Well, the names of the other four vampires who were with me are Peter, Charlie, Adrianna, and Layla. They’ve only been with the Foundation for under a year, so they’re very wet behind the ears and eager to please. Richard was the one who turned them, so they do whatever they can to impress him.

“They started with Luis, as I’m sure you know. Caught him when he got home from a friend’s house. They immediately ripped out his throat. Adrianna did that. She wanted to prevent him from calling out. The four of them fed on him then, taking turns lapping at his neck like a bunch of homeless dogs drinking from a puddle. They even licked the blood from the tile.” Her lip curled back from her teeth as if she smelled something bad. “It was Peter’s idea to remove the demonic features. As I’m sure you know, when a demon is dying or in danger, they reveal their true selves: horns, claws, everything.”

At this point, Mew had his arms around himself like he did the night before when we were talking. From behind, I saw his shoulders rise and fall steadily several times, trying to slow his breathing.

“The whole ordeal took about half an hour. We took the eyes, horns, and nails with us because they wanted trophies, like genuine serial killers.” Madeline scoffed disbelievingly. “Two nights later, we attacked the girl. Her magic must have been stronger than the male’s because her wounds started healing as soon as her throat was torn out, and she was able to fight back more. Charlie has a nice scratch over his face now. Do you know what it sounds like when someone is screaming with their jugular mostly ripped out?"

Mew squared his shoulders.

“We finished up with the girl in about an hour," Madeline continued, eyes lowered to the metal table. "We had a little bit more cleanup, which is pretty easy to do when there’s a bunch of vampires with good senses of smell. Those four idiots still have her. . .characteristics, if you will. We thought about cutting up both of the bodies, but that would’ve taken too much time, and you know, the lack of right equipment can really put a damper on your dismemberment plans.” Her smile was thin at that, but existing. It was like she was proud of herself. “The male was shoved into a drainage pipe, and the woman was put in between two boulders along a hiking path.”

Silence came over the room again for a few moments. Everyone was collecting themselves from Madeline’s confession. For someone who didn’t actually kill anyone, she acted like she enjoyed it a bit too much for what would be considered normal. Some people had fascinations with true crime and murder, certainly. Madeline was taking her admiration to a different level.

“Why did you put them in such obvious places?” Mew started slowly, leaning forward in his chair, “I mean, what was your motive with this? You said Richard wanted you to scope out the area and everything, but was it because you needed blood? Did the four newer ones want to prove something to Richard?” There wasn’t any strength behind his words, Madeline’s admission sucking out all of his energy and drive.

Madeline shrugged, folding herself up, legs crossed at the knees, fingers interlaced. “Partly. He wanted blood and to let others see what demons had to offer. I also wanted something out of it.” She smirked, the energy in the interrogation shifting, becoming something that I was familiar with. She had the reigns now. “I wanted Felix to notice me again. Killed two birds with one stone. Well, two demons with four vampires, whatever the saying may be.” Her eyes seemed to locate mine in the one-way mirror, noticing how my body had gone stone-like.

“You killed two demons so that your ex could notice you,” Mew said slowly, savoring each word, trying it out to see if made sense in his brain. It didn’t make sense in mine. “You ordered the brutal execution of two demons just so you could get Felix to find you.”

My ears popped at the same time he shot up, the pressure in the room changing and shifting, growing heavier. From inside of the room, I saw Marigold slowly rise, her hands extending cautiously, the action of someone uncertain if they were about to be hurt or not. “Barty,” she murmured. “You need to calm down.”

His fists hammered down on the table, causing two large dents in the metal. “Do you even know their fucking names?” he hissed.

“You may want to get in there,” Akiya advised, taking one small step away from the window. “Bartholomew’s magic is known to be a little unpredictable.” His eyes widened marginally when we both felt static now, our hair beginning to stand on end. The air was thick with magic, charged up like a lightning strike was about to happen.

“Why are their names important?” Madeline asked, maintaining composure despite my own panic.

I was in the room with Mew just as quickly as he had shot out of his seat, the chair tumbling back behind him. On the edges of his face were black glyphs, red eyes focused on the vampire in front of him. “Bartholomew, you can’t hurt her,” I said softly, hoping he would remember his career was over if he hit her.

“Why should I show her any mercy when she showed Luis and Penelope none? Who are you to decide if they should die or not?” He was asking her now, slamming his fist on the table again. “I should do the same that you had done to them. Rip off your nails. Poke out your eyes. Tear out your fangs, the only fucking thing that shows what you are.”

“Bartholomew,” I demanded, placing my hands on his shoulders. I probably wasn’t helping any, being a vampire, but I couldn’t let Marigold risk her safety to calm him down. “Remember your job. You can’t do this to suspects. I know you’re mad. What she did is wrong and sick, and we’re going to make sure she’s been punished. But that isn’t your job. Don’t risk your career for her. Don’t waste your time and magic on her.”

His chest was heaving, lips pulled back from his fangs like a feral dog. “I can end this right now.”

“I know you could,” I assured, sidling up beside him so that my arm was around his shoulders. “Believe me, I know how it feels when you just want to destroy someone who has caused you so much pain. I get it. Madeline has hurt me, too. I can’t tell you how much I understand what you want to do right now. But think about Marigold and Cadence. They don't want you losing your job. I don’t want to lose you, Mew. I-I like. . .working with you. A lot.”

Red eyes flinched, the breathing slowing down some. My body finally stopped tingling from the energy exertion coming from him. “I’m done for the day,” he choked out, his posture softening, an easiness returning to his body. “We’ll finish this tomorrow.”

I could barely escort him to the door before Madeline giggled. “Demons are so easily provoked. I think that’s why it was so easy to get those other two to try to fight back. You say one wrong thing, and suddenly they want to fight you.” Her languid eyes flowed between me and Mew, a twinge of rouge at the pupils, and she stretched her arms out like cat waking from a nap. “Maybe that’s why Felix likes you so much—he knows he can manipulate you like I did to him.”

“Shut up,” Bartholomew growled, glaring at her from over his shoulder at the same time that I wondered if I could bash her head in quickly enough. Thankfully Mew was too infuriated to understand the full implications of what she had said.

“Felix, get him out of here before his magic flares again,” Marigold softly instructed, hair back behind her ears as little vines began springing from her palms.

“Yeah, Felix, get him out of here, let him keep running from us scary vampires,” Madeline teased, laughter lacing her voice. “That magic of his is completely useless. He’s all bark and no bite. It’s why Richard was able to hurt him while he could only get in a little scratch.” She clicked her tongue to her teeth, scolding him. “You know he told us what happened to you, by the way.”

“Akiya,” I called, Mew turning his whole body towards her, fangs and nails grown out, waiting for any excuse to attack. This was getting too out of hand. He was fighting against the arm I had around him, trying to keep him in place but knowing I would probably fail soon. I had never tested my strength against a demon, particularly one that was pissed off and vengeful.

“Have you ever told anyone what happened?” Madeline asked, unbothered by Akiya entering the room. She stood before he could even get to her, the reaper releasing her cuffs from the loop on the table to get her out of there. “Entrails being pulled out? Impalement? My goodness, what a sight you must have been. Hopefully you’ve gotten stronger since then or it’s going to be a bloodbath when you see Richard. I’ll be sure to lead you right to him, nohng chaht."

“Watch your mouth,” Akiya growled, his hold on her arms tighter than she expected judging from wince that came from her. “Don’t forget that I can end that plea deal and have you put away with no hesitation.” He led her through the door, nodding once at me before exiting, silently telling me to get a grip on Bartholomew.

All of the drive and anger was sapped away from the demon, his body slumping as it trembled. Carefully, I helped lower him to the floor, settling him against the wall, his shaking hands going to his head. “Mew, focus on me,” I whispered, kneeling beside him, wishing more than anything that I could hold him tightly to me. “Marigold, can you use that calming magic on him?”

“No,” Bartholomew choked out next to me, like he was gasping for breath. His throat jumped where he swallowed, sucking in air and blowing it out of his mouth several times. His eyes were screwed shut, his warm, trembling body leaning up against mine. “I-I’m fine. Need a minute.”

“Do you need your medicine?” Marigold asked, kneeling to the floor with us, taking his hands from his head and gripping them tightly in her own. Mew shook his head. “Remember your grounding. Listen to my voice. Think about your breathing. Feel Felix’s arm around you. Do you want to talk about Disney?”

A breathy bark of a laugh came from Mew. Again, he shook his head. “Not Elsa,” he whispered, something that must have been an inside joke between them. He still wasn’t breathing right, and he had to take his hand back from Marigold to wipe away a tear that had collected at the outer corner of his eye. “Don’t tell Cadence. She’ll make me leave the case. Akiya either.”

“We won’t,” I promised, nodding at Marigold as she silently promised the same thing. Nothing about his panic attack would leave the room. Having him so exposed to me was new and raw, a part of him that was for privileged people like Marigold and his sister. I had experienced anxiety like everyone has at some point, but never as a constant thing, not like a true disorder that led to break downs. All this time, Mew had tried so hard to hide it and conceal all the suffering and worry, cracking under everything Madeline had said to him. His little horns had even revealed themselves, the onyx horns in a very traditional devil style, contrasting against his pretty white hair. “Are you okay?” I asked him softly, honored that he trusted me enough to let his guard down.

He nodded finally, exhaling loudly. “Fuck,” he hissed, wiping a hand through his hair, careful to avoid the horns. “I mean, seriously, Felix, what the fuck? Did she do that shit to you?” He was still shaky and leaning into me, licking his lips once and squeezing Marigold’s hands.

Nodding and cracking a smile were all that I could do. I wasn’t quite ready to go into detail or give much more than a simple acknowledgment that I understood the torment he just experienced with Madeline. It had always been her favorite thing to dredge up old failures and smack me in the face with them when I was already down about myself. “I’m just thankful that you won’t be exposed to her for much longer.”

“Fucking forreal. It’s like she pinpointed the one and only thing that I’m self-conscious about and kept stabbing a knife right into that memory.” It was then that he processed his proximity to me, freezing momentarily before sliding up the wall into a standing position. “Sorry for freaking you guys out. I thought I could handle her bullshit.” He held up his middle and index fingers, pointing them at his crimson eyes then at us. “Seriously, if you tell Cadence that I almost had a panic attack, I’ll kill you both before she kills me.”

“Are all siblings like this?” I asked Marigold, who shook her head slowly. I immediately looked back to Mew, a spaciness now taking over his face. “Are you sure you’re okay? I know anxiety attacks can—”

“It was almost an anxiety attack. I can kind of talk myself down from them at this point. I’m totally fine.” It was unconvincing. There wasn’t any conviction in his voice, to the point where I was sure that if I left him alone for a few minutes, he would dissolve into an actual collapse. He wasn’t someone I could push it with, though, meaning I had to leave it as it was, as hard as that was for me. “Uh, why don’t you two go ahead to dinner with Cadence? I’m going to head back to the hotel. That was emotionally exhausting, so I kinda wanna go to bed early.”

In the past two months, he hadn't been this transparent with me, not without any sort of attitude or hidden meaning or worry in his voice. It was purely him, all Bartholomew before he became hardened by his experiences. And he was asking something so simple of me. “Text me when you get to your room,” I instructed. “Just be back here tomorrow at seven. I’m not sending you back in with Madeline, but I want you listening behind the glass.”

Once again, he licked his lips, then swallowed hard. “Okay,” he agreed. His mouth twitched like he wanted to say more. I wanted him to. “I’m gonna head out, then. I’ll see you two tomorrow.” Giving us a half-hearted wave, he left the room, leaving Marigold and I gathered on the cold tile floor.

“He was being too nice, right? That wasn’t my imagination?”

“He gets like that after panicking,” she explained, pushing herself up to her feet. “I guarantee you he’s fuming at himself right now.” She scowled, her lips drawing into a tight line. “He almost had another one the other day when we were headed to question Penelope’s friends. Don’t repeat this, but I don’t think he should be on this case anymore. It’s bringing up a lot of emotions he’s tried hiding away.”

“Maybe that’s a good thing?” Talking about my own feelings had been hard when I had first left the relationship with Madeline. It was as if nobody really understood everything I went through. I certainly couldn’t understand what Mew had experienced, not if what Madeline had said was true. “Do you think Madeline really does know what happened to him?”

“I hope she was making it up, but Barty’s expression told me she wasn’t. He’s never told me about that night. It’s one of the only sore spots in our friendship.” Clutching her arms with either hand, her head dipped, and she toed the ground, ashamed. A tiny green leaf sprouted from the crown of her head. “I keep telling him to talk to me about it. He never wants to, though. I’m hoping this case is going to make him crack open, but not at the cost of his mental health.”

Seeing her so down about this, when she was usually the most optimistic person I knew, made me want to pull Mew from the case right there. Knowing he’d probably try to kill me made me choose not to. “We’ll keep an eye on his mental well-being. If it gets to be too much for him, I’ll pull him immediately and find someone else to help us with this.” That made her smile and nod, her eyes still betraying her concern. “You know I’m not going to let anything bad happen to him.”

I hated admitting to myself that witnessing Mew be so vulnerable and open only added to my intrigue about him. Everything he did added to my intrigue. This would only result in a big disaster, I would go ahead and bet money on that. Despite me knowing it would probably come back and explode catastrophically in my face, whenever I thought about the obstinate demon, I told myself it was fine to enjoy every minute that I could with him.