Sam blinked several times. He found himself looking at Joseph, who laughed and saluted with his glass of coke. At least someone was enjoying the entertainment. Sam turned to Tally for some kind of explanation of what he had just witnessed, but the young man just waved. “I’m going to help John collect empties,” he said and disappeared into the crowd.
Sam shook his head. He had seen plenty of fast hook ups before and it really was none of his business. But Tally’s suggestion about feeding was disturbing. He had said that his friend was an incubus. Did Tally really believe his friend was a demon and needed to eat people?
Sam roused himself with a shake. It was fine. Of course Jinx wasn’t a demon, that was absurd. Any eating that was going to happen would be the pleasurable type, and he doubted Chris was going to object to that. But Sam felt a little guilty for letting Jinx go off with a stranger. The young man was clearly not well, like Tally. Surely Chris was taking advantage?
Sam’s cock twitched as a dark part of himself hinted that if it was okay for Chris, surely it was okay for him to give into Tally? Sam groaned and got back to work, wondering how his life had become so complicated.
In a brief lull between customers, he sneakily looked up the word incubus on his phone. Male demons who ravish people and feed off sex, was the answer he found. It was reassuring that there was no death or souls involved. A harmless fantasy. Sam frowned. It made sense he supposed, if both Tally and Jinx were caught in the exact same delusion. Which, Sam didn’t think was very likely, but then again, he wasn’t exactly an expert psychiatrist.
But it had to be that, Sam told himself. Hell, demons and past lives were not real. He refused to believe it.
A customer gestured at Sam, and he hurried over to serve them.
Chapter 16
Afewhourslater,Sam had lost himself in the rhythm of serving customers when a movement caught his eye. He looked up. A huge burly mountain of a man with short dark hair and an expensive looking coat was holding Tally by the arm and dragging him towards the door. Tally was leaning back with all his weight, but the man was effortlessly pulling him across the floor.
Sam felt a brief flash of regret that he hadn’t let Tally keep the knife, swiftly followed by wondering where the hell Roger was. Then Sam vaulted the bar in one fluid move and jumped in front of the stranger, bringing him up short. The man-mountain glared at him with beady, dark eyes.
“What the fuck are you doing?” demanded Sam, crossing his arms.
The man snarled, “Taking this little cunt for a beating. Then I’m going to come back to teach you a lesson for stealing my property.”
Sam punched him hard in the middle of his face with all his might. The man flew backwards, hitting the deck. Tally scrambled away. Sam was about to leap onto the pimp when the creep jumped to his feet with a surprisingly graceful move and swung for him. Sam ducked and punched him in the face again, sending him sprawling yet again. This time he quickly followed through and straddled him, landing another punch to his ugly face and then another.
“Sam!” said Deirdre sternly.
Sam blinked up at the circle of onlookers, in the suddenly silent bar.
“He’s out, you can stop.” said Deirdre.
Sam looked down at the unconscious man beneath him. His nose was a bloody, pulpy mess. Sam glanced down at his own hand, it was covered in the man’s blood. He grimaced in disgust.
“Go, we can take it from here.” said Deirdre.
Sam looked at Roger and John, who nodded their agreement.
He climbed to his feet and saw Tally sitting on the floor a few feet away, his back pressed against the customer side of the bar, all curled up into a tiny ball, with his face hidden in his arms. Sam’s heart clenched. He strode over, scooped Tally up into his arms and marched out of the bar, heading straight upstairs to their home. He went directly to the living room and sat on the sofa. He pulled Tally in close and just held him.
They sat in silence for a while. Tally’s occasional sniff and Sam’s racing heart the only sounds. Eventually, Sam pushed Tally away slightly so he could see his face. The young man regarded him sadly, his blue eyes full of tears.
“I hate him,” he whispered.
Something about his expression, the look in his eyes, was startlingly different. Infinitely softer, sadder.
“Benji?” asked Sam tentatively. Nervous excitement shaking through him. If the whole hell thing was a delusion, then Tally could be a persona. Therefore, Benji being himself was a good sign. A sign he was recovering.
The young man scowled and the look in his eyes shifted, suddenly it was definitely Tally staring back at him.
“I’m not Benji, you know that.”
“I know, but for a minute there…” Sam trailed off helplessly.
Tally stared at him intensely, looking worried. “He is dead. I wouldn’t steal someone’s body. I have some of his memories, that is all.”
Sam shrugged, “Are you sure?”
Tally bit his bottom lip and gave Sam a deeply alarmed look. Sam relented and pulled him in close again.
