“Frank!” Victor shouts. “Why are you asking him that?”
“What?” Frank responds innocently. “I heard they’re fun in Brazil. And one of the guys on my crew told me he wants to come with me. Pun intended.”
Leo laughs, “I’m sorry, I’ve never been to one. But I hope you two can find one and have fun.”
Daytime turns to night, and Victor says goodbye to his friends. They hug and give air kisses over each cheek as they leave. Victor plops back down on the couch next to Leo with contentment.
“Your friends are fun,” Leo says.
“They are, huh?It was nice that they were able to make it. Too bad Lucas and Jon live in another city and aren’t flight attendants, they might have joined as well.” Victor turns his head and looks up into Leo’s eyes. They look at each other in silence. Leo looks back and forth between Victor’s eyes and lips. Victor licks his lips; Leo does the same. They start to lean into each other until they are interrupted.
“Ahem!”Leo and Victor are startled, thinking they were alone. They look over to see Derek sitting at the dining table. He’s dressed casually with his legs crossed. He gives Leo and Victor a pointed look. “Am I interrupting something?” he asks with a touch of hostility.
Leo moves away from Victor and sits up. “What the hell are you doing here, Derek?”
“Seeing what the fuss was about,” Derek responds in a sassy tone. “You’ve been here for a few days already, and everything seems fine. You don’t need to be with the empath the entire time.”He leans back far enough to get a glance inside the bedroom. “Or sleeping in the same bed with him.”
Victor gives Derek a confused look. “I’m sorry, who are you?”
Derek holds out his left hand, showing off the wedding ring. “That warlock’s husband.”
Victor turns his attention to Leo. “You’re married?”
“We’re separated,” Leo says as he walks over to Derek. “Why the hell are you spying on me? I could have you fined for invasion of privacy.”
“I’m making sure you don’t do anything you’re not supposed to be doing,” Derek replies.
“Oh, you’re one to talk!” Leo becomes aggressive and crosses his arms. “Get your ass out of here and back in your own body.”
Derek leans over the side of his seat and looks back at Victor. “You better be careful, empath. He took an oath in this marriage, and I wouldhateto see anything happen to him if he breaks it.” He stands up and looks Leo in the eyes. “Right, Leopold? You wouldn’t want tobreakthe oath.” Derek disappearslike mist in the wind.
Leo’s fists burst into flames as he groans aggressively. He lifts his head, closes his eyes, and slowly takes a deep breath. As he exhales, the fire around his fists extinguishes. He turns to look at Victor, who has his arms and legs crossed and a disapproving look on his face.
“Would you like to explain?” Victor inquires.
With another heavy sigh, Leo rubs the back of his neck. “That was Derek Hernandez. And yes, he is my husband. But we’ve been separated for over three years now.”
Leo drags his feet back over to the couch, sits beside Victor, and slouches. “We got married back in 1982. I was 24, and he was 22. We met a few years prior as we began learning our Fire specialty. He would tease me as his way of flirting. Derek was also the third guy I ever dated. When our families found out about us, they figured it would be good for us to marry because their covens were at each other’s throats on the council.”
Leo looks down at his left palm and rubs it with his right thumb. “So, as part of the marriage to help keep the peace, we took a blood oath. I was young and stupid. I didn’t think about the consequences. We enjoyed each other’s company, but things started to go downhill after our 30th anniversary. The council approached me to become an instructor for Fire Magic. I think Derek got jealous because he wasn’t asked. Five years later, they asked me to become a mentor. That’s when things between us became difficult.”
Leo leans back into the cushion and rests his head on the back of the couch. “I was gone for almost three years and mentored seven new witches and warlocks. One night, when I was free, I astral projected to check on him. That’s when I saw him getting double penetrated and had his lips wrapped around a third member. I vanished before anyone noticed I was there. I was so furious that I went home right away. As he walked through the mirror, I stood on the other side, waiting for him. We got into a huge argument and almost burned our house down. I mentioned the blood oath we took, and then he laughed.”
Leo focuses on his palm, where the knife cut his skin. “He then told me he never spoke the words correctly during the oath; only I did. I couldn’t talk; I was so angry. I ran through the mirror so fast that it shattered. I sought out a seer who could see visions of the past. That’s when I met Madame Jeanette. She helped me, and sure enough, only I said the words correctly. I was so upset that I went off the grid for a couple of months.”
Leo starts fiddling with his thumb where his wedding ring used to be. “I returned to talk it over with Derek, and we tried to make things work. Little did I know, he was still seeing the couple. I moved out three years ago and got my place in San Francisco. But he keeps antagonizing me. When he found out about you, he’s been on my ass, and not in a good way.”
Victor calms down and starts to feel sorry for Leo. He is about to place a hand on his leg, but then he stops, not knowing if Derek will reappear. “I’m sorry that he’s got you by the balls. And not in a good way.” Leo gives Victor a broken smile, but then it fades as he knows he won’t be happy for a while. “I’ll get you some bedding for the couch. After this visit, we probably shouldn’t share the same bed.”
Derek walks out of the shadows and into a smoking lounge. The smell of tobacco and alcohol fills the air. Several witches and warlocks are dressed in all black, sitting in smokers’ chairs and paying no mind to him. Derek walks up to a chair and stands to the side.
“I finally saw the empath in person, sort of. I think he’s got something on him because I couldn’t make him rage like last time,” Derek informs the man in the chair.
The man’s face is cloaked in the shadows. Derek can barely make out his features. The man takes a puff from his cigarette and blows it into Derek’s face. “That’s because you don’t know how to push off your emotions while you’re astral projecting, you nitwit.” He takes another puff from his cigarette. “Do you know where the empath will be going next?”
“Kyoto, Japan, to learn Water Magic,” Derek responds.
“Make preparations,” the man orders. “It looks like Japan is going to be expecting a tsunami.”
