GHOSTS AND FLAMES

Kaje Harper

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Kaje Harper
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When Ben’s best friend Grant died, all Ben’s unspoken hopes

for love died with him. Grant’s return as a ghost eased Ben’s heart,
and even saved his life, but that could never be enough. So Ben
left town. Now in a Florida hotel room he discovers that he failed
to leave Grant’s specter behind. When the meddlesome ghost
pushes Ben to go out and have a drink at a bar, he isn’t expecting
to run into supernatural trouble, or a sexy man like Talon. But
that combination may turn out to be just what Ben needs to learn
to live again. If he survives the experience.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and
incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are
used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or
persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Published by
MLR Press, LLC
3052 Gaines Waterport Rd.
Albion, NY 14411

Visit ManLoveRomance Press, LLC on the Internet:
www.mlrpress.com

Cover Art by Winterheart Designs
Editing by Kris Jacen

Ebook ISBN#978-1-60820-483-0

Issued 2011

This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication
or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of
International Copyright Law, subject to criminal prosecution and
upon conviction, fines and/or imprisonment. This eBook cannot
be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this eBook can
be shared or reproduced without the express permission of the
publisher.

Ghosts and Flames

Ben stared out at the neon lights blinking garishly in the

twilight beyond his hotel room window. Florida at Christmas. It
was just weird—sunny beaches and women in shorts and strings
of colored lights on palm trees. But after all, that was why he was
here. Because Nevada at Christmas was too damned familiar, and
too achingly empty.

He leaned closer, watching the way the lines of red and gold

broke apart, reflected in the gentle swells of the surface of the
ocean. His breath fogged the glass. And when he stepped back
to let it clear, a man’s reflection was slowly revealed through the
receding haze. Ben sighed and didn’t turn around. In the glass, a
pair of clear blue eyes gazed at him intently.

“You’re dead. I fucking well know you’re dead, and if I turn,

there will be no one there, right?”

In the reflection, the handsome dark-haired man in fatigues

shrugged one shoulder apologetically. His hand reached toward
Ben just a little.

Not turning, not turning, damn it all to hell! Ben turned. The

room was empty.

Shit. Ben threw himself on his bed and closed his eyes. It had

been almost a year since the letter had come: …sorry to tell you…
Grant…killed in action… A short cool note, with just the basic
facts. If he’d been home in the small town they’d grown up in,
the grapevine would have let everyone know within hours of the
chaplain showing up at the Williams’ front door. He could have
gone over, done…something. Although, after all, knowing sooner
wouldn’t have made Grant less dead.

Grant’s mother had known how close they were and mailed

him a letter. But she’d sent it slowly, by snail mail, and never
called him. It had arrived too late for him to go to the funeral. He
sometimes wondered if she had seen something in his relationship

hosts

and

lames

with Grant that the two of them had never acknowledged
themselves.

He pressed his palms to his eyes until his vision sparked better

than the sky on the Fourth of July. He’d wasted their precious
time. Wasted it on drunken evenings and shooting pool and
taking pretty, meaningless girls home. Until suddenly Grant was
gone, and there was this gaping hole inside Ben, and he realized
what he had failed to see.

In the stuffy motel room, a touch, fainter than a moth’s wing,

brushed across his cheek. He froze, waiting, but the touch was not
repeated. Ben sighed. “Grant, I know you want to help. I know
you stuck around because I was so fucking lost without you. And
I…” He didn’t say I love you, because he’d never said it in life. He
was damned if he would start now. “But, Grant, you’re a ghost.
You know it. I know it. And this…this thing we’re doing… It
can’t go on.”

He’d thought he was crazy the first time he smelled that

combination of cologne and skin in the darkness, a week after
Grant was put to earth in Arlington Cemetery. He’d ignored
it over and over, each time he caught a reflected glimpse of a
familiar muscular body in some reflective surface, each time a
wisp of touch ghosted over him. He’d been shaking and sleepless
and about to break down and see a psychiatrist when Grant’s
ghost had proved its existence.

Ben had been caught up in the violent troubles of his then-

girlfriend Miranda. And one night, Grant had woken him from
a sound sleep and chivvied him out the window of his bedroom
moments before a planted incendiary device had set the place on
fire. In the months that followed, as Ben tried to help his new
girlfriend survive determined attempts on her life, Grant had
proved his worth over and over.

Until finally Ben decided that if he was crazy, it was essential

to his survival. And he’d thrown himself wholeheartedly into
believing Grant existed. God, at first that had healed his heart,

Kaje Harper

to think that Grant’s spirit transcended his death. Then, when the
smoke cleared, he and Miranda were still standing, but the shade
of Grant Williams was between them.

Not Grant’s fault. Ben wasn’t sure if Grant even realized

that Ben had tipped over from best-buddies-got-your-back
to something more. But for Ben there had come the blinding
realization that what he wanted was lovers-got-your-ass. With
a ghost. With a fucking…make that non-fucking…occasional
translucent untouchable remnant of his childhood best friend.
And now he really needed a shrink. Except he’d never find one
who would believe him.

He’d really tried to make it work with Miranda. And Grant

had seemed to egg him on, writing the name of Miranda’s favorite
movie in the steamy shower mirror, wafting a butterfly to perch
on her wineglass on the patio as they had brunch, even steering
Ben to find her car keys when she misplaced them. And all it had
done was to focus Ben ever more intently on Grant himself. God,
he had to love the man, trying so hard.

Ben had broken up with Miranda, as gently as he could, and

left town. For two weeks, he’d been travelling, south and east.
He’d run from everything that spoke Grant’s name to him, from
all the places they had shared. And for most of that time, he’d
thought it had worked. He’d imagined he’d left Grant and his
insane attraction to the man behind. Until yesterday, sitting in his
dark car outside the hotel, unwilling to go inside with the marks
of tears on his face. He’d felt that butterfly brush of ghost fingers
across his cheek. And known that his insanity had followed him.
Or Grant had.

From across the room there was the faint sound of paper

shifting in a breeze, despite the closed window. Ben sighed and
straightened up. Although he couldn’t see anyone, a page of
hotel stationery had floated off the desk to land on the floor. He
walked over and picked it up reluctantly. “Okay, buddy. Give me
a second.”

hosts

and

lames

With the ease of long practice, he folded the paper in strips

and then tore it into small squares. On each square he wrote a
letter, completing the alphabet with some extra A’s and E’s and
S’s. Then he spread the letters face-up on the slick surface of the
desk. “Go for it.”

The letters stirred in that small current of air, shifted, slid,

until a few lined up in a row: IM SORY

Shit. “No, Grant, not your fault.” Automatically, he added

some more R’s, M’s, N’s, and O’s to the array. “You’re not
responsible for my bad moods.”

MISSNG MRANDA
“Yeah, some. Mostly missing what I hoped we could have

had, if that makes sense.” He couldn’t, wouldn’t, admit what had
really brought those tears to his eyes.

TRY AGAIN
“No. She wasn’t right for me, however wonderful a girl she

was.” He bit his tongue. Change the subject. “Why are you still
here? I’m safe now, crisis over. Shouldn’t you be moving on, going
into the light, something?”

YOU WANT ME GONE
Ben busied his hands, giving Grant a question mark and an

exclamation point. “No, man. I don’t want you gone. But this
can’t be what you are meant to be doing, trailing around after me
with no existence of your own.”

NOT SURE
“When you…died. Was there someplace else you could

have gone? Instead of staying here?” In all the frantic action of
protecting Miranda, there had never been time to discuss the
hows and whys. Or maybe Ben hadn’t wanted to know.

NO CHOICE
Ben sighed. That wasn’t quite an answer.
WHY R WE HERE

Kaje Harper

“Metaphysically?”
IN FLORIDA
Ben shrugged. “No reason. I was just looking for something

different, and I was getting low on gas, and this seemed like an
interesting town.”

THEN WHY HANG ABOUT IN HOTEL
Because I chose to sulk in a dark room mooning after you. Grant

would have hated that. Grant was always about the bright lights
and the action, having fun at ninety miles an hour and dragging
Ben out of his habitual reserve into that warm circle of light.

“Don’t know, bro. Maybe we should hit the bars.” Ben pushed

back the chair and checked his wallet. He had money; he could
afford to go out. Maybe getting drunk would make things look
better. And if not, the hangover would be an excellent distraction
in the morning.

Ben wandered down the main strip of town, eyeing the local

bars. A couple obviously specialized in adult entertainment. XXX
and Girls Girls Girls signs flashed enticements that he had no
trouble resisting. He paused, considering a faux-Irish pub called
O’Toole’s, when a puff of air on his cheek turned his head. His
eye was caught by the dying flicker of a neon tube on its last legs.
Chambers.

“There?” he muttered. “You’ve got to be kidding. That’s a

dive.”

The sharp pain at the back of his neck marked a tug on one

hair. Grant had learned that trick when he’d had to wake Ben from
a drugged stupor last month. It was not one of Ben’s favorites.
He rubbed the nape of his neck. “Okay, I’m going. Jesus. Pushy
ghost.”

Ben waited for traffic to clear and then crossed the road. Up

close, the bar was even more disreputable. The outside of the
window bore smears of something greasy, incompletely cleaned.
The door was painted wood and marred with stains. The step had

hosts

and

lames

a strange layer of dust half an inch thick. Ben hesitated, feeling a
deep reluctance to go in.

As Ben stood irresolutely, a man stepped forward out of the

shadows in the alley beside the building. The man stalked toward
him, moving with an almost unnatural smoothness. He was a
heavily muscled blond of about thirty, with the cocky air of a
fighter. He stopped just a couple of inches too close to Ben and
eyed him arrogantly. “You don’t want to go in there, man. It’s a
crap bar. Try Sharky’s, five doors down. They’ll treat you right,
and the women are hot.”

Ben drew himself up to his full six-foot height, which still

put him about six inches below this guy’s eyes. Jesus, what is he, a
basketball player? He didn’t let himself step back and kept his eyes
cool. “Why do you care?”

The man shrugged, something hostile flaring in his startlingly

green eyes. “I don’t. Just doing a stranger in town a favor.”

“You’re sure I’m a stranger.”
The man smiled thinly. “Oh, yeah, I’m sure. Or you wouldn’t

be going in the Death Chamber.”

Ben couldn’t help glancing at the sign again. It still said

Chambers, and despite the electrical meltdown in progress, there
was no unlit Death to the name.

“Maybe I like to check these things out for myself,” Ben said

stubbornly. A tiny touch at his back felt like encouragement. “If
you really don’t care, then you can just buzz off.”

The big man snarled, and Ben cursed under his breath. He

reacted badly to being coerced, and this wouldn’t be the first time
it got him in trouble. But just as Ben was bracing for the man
to take it personally, a stray alley cat came squalling out of the
darkness. The scrawny tom fastened itself around the big man’s
leg, delivered one sharp bite, and shot off suicidally through
traffic to the other side of the road. The blond fell back two steps,
cursing and grabbing at his ankle. In the space granted to him—
and Ben thought perhaps that was Grant-ed—he pushed open

Kaje Harper

the green door and stepped into the bar.

The light in the bar was low. It came from oil lanterns and

candles rather than the darkened ceiling fixtures. There were a
few empty wooden tables, a bare stage too small for more than
a trio, and a scant few feet of dance floor. Along one end of the
room, a big mahogany bar loomed solidly. Behind the bar, shelves
of bottles gleamed in the flickering light. Unlike the exterior,
everything was clean and polished. The air smelled of cedar and
wine and candle smoke.

At first Ben thought the place was empty. But then he made

out the shape of a seated figure behind the bar. The man was
hunched, motionless, head on his arms as if sleeping. In the
heavy, warm atmosphere of the room, time seemed to slow to a
crawl. Ben stood still, hesitant to awaken his host. Then a candle
wick flared with a soft pop, and the man at the bar raised his head.

He was younger than Ben expected, probably just legal to be

selling booze. His hair was sleek and dark, falling in long waves
to his shoulders. The shape of his cheekbones and his eyes hinted
at some mixed race, and his skin was dark in the ambient light.
He stared at Ben with eyes as green as those of the blond outside.

“Um. Are you open for business?”
The bartender smiled. “Hell, yeah. Got anything you want.”

He waved at the array behind him. “What’s your pleasure?”

“Dos Equis dark?”
“Sure. Bottle okay? Cold?”
Ben took two steps closer. “It’s beer. Why wouldn’t I want it

cold?”

The smile became a grin, showing even white teeth. “Lot of

visitors from the continent around lately. They drink it warm
over there. Heathens.” He reached into a refrigerator, pulled out
a bottle and a frosted mug, and popped the cap with a practiced
twist. “Three-fifty.” He set the beer on the bar.

A light push on the nape of Ben’s neck made him turn and

hosts

and

lames

snarl, “I’m going,” under his breath, before he remembered his
audience.

But the bartender just tipped the mug at him in question.

“Want me to pour it?”

“Sure.” Ben went to the bar and slid onto one of the tall stools.

He watched as the bartender’s slender hands eased the beer out of
the bottle and down the side of the glass with smooth skill. When
he set the mug upright in front of Ben, only the slightest rim of
white foamed the surface.

Ben fumbled out a five, slapped it on the bar, and picked up

the mug. The beer was dark and smooth. He swallowed gratefully,
wondering suddenly how long it had been since he’d tasted good
beer. Miranda’s ex had been a drunk, and Ben hadn’t touched
alcohol around her. Not since that night… He remembered
drowning Grant’s loss in home-brews at the local bar, until
a glance in the bar mirror had shown a familiar face over his
shoulder. Back when it all began. He tossed off the rest of the beer
and kept his eyes averted from anything reflective.

“Wow,” the bartender said. “I guess you needed that. Want

another?”

“Yeah, I do.” Ben put another bill on the bar.
“I can run you a tab if you’re staying awhile,” the bartender

said from behind the fridge door. “Not like I’m going to get you
mixed up with someone else.”

“I don’t get that. I mean, gorgeous place, good cheap beer,

friendly bartender. Why aren’t you swamped?”

The bartender frowned. “Maybe I’m not always friendly.”

He glanced sideways at Ben. “Didn’t you meet anyone on the
doorstep?”

Ben licked the hint of foam off his lip. “Big blond guy, looks

like a tackle for the Broncos, personality like a snake?”

The man snorted. “Yeah, him.”
“I met him.”

Kaje Harper

“And you came in anyway?”
“I hate being told what to do. Say no, and I kind of have to

do it.”

“Most don’t care to cross him.”
Ben nodded. “What does he have against you anyway?”
The dark man sighed. “Long story. You really don’t want to

get involved.”

Ben dug in his pocket for a business card and tossed it on the

bar. “Now you’ll never get rid of me. I’m a freelance reporter, and
I love long stories.”

The bartender picked up the card and turned it over in his

fingers, face still as a carving. Ben waited, drinking his beer.
Finally the man slipped the card in his own pocket and held out
a hand. “Ben? I’m Talon.”

Ben shook hands, surprised by the strength in that slender

hand. “Good to meet you. So, Talon, what does tall, blond and
nasty have against you?”

“He’s my half brother.”
Ben winced but nodded encouragement.
“It’s…well, the basics are simple. Our grandfather left this

place to me. Saul was abroad when Abu died, and I had the bar
running smoothly when he showed up. He insisted the place
should be his, by right as the oldest grandson. I told him Abu’s
will was clear. He got some of Abu’s money, but the bar was mine.
He told me it would be his before the year was out. The bank tells
me he may be right.”

Something about that story rang…not false, but short. Ben

was certain there was more to it. Later. “He’s older than you?”

“Yeah. Four years. His dad took off with him when he was

two. Our mother met my dad a year later.”

Ben bit his tongue not to ask how old Talon was. His face

looked sixteen when he grinned, closer to a hundred when he did
the thing that wiped him clean of emotions. Over twenty-one, if

hosts

and

lames

he’s tending bar. And otherwise, none of your business. Ben wasn’t
sure why he cared.

“I don’t get it. I mean, it’s not like it would revert to him if

you lose the place. The bank would get it and then sell to the
highest bidder.”

“If he has to, he’ll buy it. He just wants it, and he knows I

won’t sell.”

“And he has money to buy?”
“I guess. Or his dad does. They’re both in town.” He gritted

his teeth. “Ils sont cons.” When Ben raised an eyebrow, Talon
translated, “They’re assholes. Sorry, swearing in French got me
in less trouble with my mom than the English, since I learned it
from her. It’s kind of become a habit. Anyway, they’re two of a
kind, and they’re definitely in this together.”

Ben nodded. “So they wreck your business and then step in

and buy it cheap at auction?”

“That seems to be the plan. I’ve staved things off by promoting

my day customers. I serve breakfast and lunch, do specials all
afternoon, but the nights come early this time of year, and I
can’t get by with half the business. I got a battery-powered sign,
laid in oil lamps, tried to make the place workable but… In the
morning, I clean the messes they’ve left, fix the power they’ve cut,
and the next night, they do it again. And the ones Saul warns off
don’t usually come back, even in the daytime.”

“So he only hangs around at night?”
The bartender nodded.
Ben laughed. “What is he? A vampire?”
There was a moment of total, echoing stillness. Ben could

hear his own heart beating. Then Talon chuckled almost naturally.
“No, of course not.”

“No.” Ben sipped his beer slowly as Talon busied himself

wiping already pristine glasses. Ben eyed his averted profile,
the drop of sweat at his temple, the slight flush across his high

Kaje Harper

cheekbones. Ben thought about the blond man outside, the way
he moved, and the glow of his green eyes. For a moment, air
swirled behind Ben and stilled, and then the sense of Grant’s
familiar presence returned. A ghostly fingertip tapped on the back
of Ben’s right hand in Grant’s established signal. Yes. Yes. Yes. After
a while Ben said aloud, “I thought I saw a ghost, once.”

Talon froze and then set a wineglass down with exaggerated

care. “Thought you saw one, or knew you saw one?”

Ben swallowed in his turn. He hadn’t exposed his craziness to

anyone living yet. He believed in Grant, he truly did, the evidence
was incontrovertible, but… “I saw a ghost.”

Talon nodded slowly. In the silence between them, the clean

wineglass on the bar slowly rocked on its base, spun around, and
dropped toward the floor. Talon lunged and caught it, inches
from the boards. He stared at it and then set it back on the bar,
farther from the edge.

“Hey, man,” Talon said, just a touch hoarsely, to the empty

space at Ben’s side. “What’s your name, Mr. Ghost?”

“You believe me?”
Talon laughed. “This bar is haunted by my way-back great-

grandfather. My half brother is a vampire. Why wouldn’t I?”

“Holy Christ.” Ben was glad he was sitting down.
Talon suddenly started giggling, head bowed and hands

planted on the bar. Ben was struck enough by the ridiculousness
of the situation that it took a moment before he realized Talon’s
giggles had become something else entirely. He’s crying. Ben leaned
forward to grip the man’s wiry forearm. “Hey. Are you okay?”

Talon yanked free and spun around to put his back to Ben.

“Fine, yeah, give me a second.”

Ben held his tongue while Talon gasped and shuddered and

pulled himself together. After a moment, Talon swiped his arms
across his eyes and turned. “Sorry, man. I didn’t mean to do
that. It’s just…you have no idea what it’s like to say that shit to

hosts

and

lames

someone and not have them think I’m crazy.” He squinted at Ben.
“You don’t think I’m crazy, right? You’re not just humoring the
madman?”

“You’re no crazier than I am.” Two candles behind the bar

snuffed out with a sizzle, the smoke from the wicks streaming
straight out for a moment. Ben gestured at them, fighting his own
urge to laugh. “Grant doesn’t think either of us is crazy.”

“That’s his name? Grant?” Talon scanned the bar. “Do you see

him right now?”

“Not now. And when I do, it’s usually in a mirror.” Ben glanced

at the big framed mirror behind the bar, but whatever controlled
Grant’s manifestations wasn’t letting him show at present.

Talon nodded like that all made sense. “Yeah, Great-

Grandfather is like that too. But he’s never done anything like
that wineglass or the candles. He just…appears sometimes. You
don’t see him right now either?”

“No one visible but you and me.”
“Yeah. Okay.” Talon began pacing behind the bar, two steps

over and two steps back. “Okay. And you’re a reporter, right, but
you don’t…you’re not one of those alien-anal-probes and hyenas-
ate-my-baby-type reporters?”

“I have never used the word alien in one of my stories. At least

not in the extraterrestrial sense.”

“Okay. Good. That’s…that’s good. So, Ben, can I ask you

something? I kind of need advice. I need… God, I don’t know
what I need, but having someone standing there believing me has
got to be the top of the list.” Talon looked at him suddenly, and
the lamplight glowed in his green eyes.

Ben gestured. “Come sit, man, and tell me the whole story

from the top, because I think I only got a quarter of it the last
time.”

“A tenth.” Talon sighed and then came out around the bar. He

went to the door first and flipped the Open sign to Closed, with

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a small snort that acknowledged the redundancy of that gesture.
Then he came over, dragged out the bar stool next to Ben, and
perched on it.

“Go ahead,” Ben said. A fluttering cocktail napkin at his elbow

made him add, “No, wait a second.” He ripped a few napkins
into little pieces and set them out on the bar, digging for a pen
and running through the alphabet, with the usual duplicates and
punctuation.

Talon peered curiously. “What are you doing?”
“Grant wants to be able to put in his two cents’ worth.”
“He can do that?”
A few scraps of napkin wafted free. YES
“Wow!” For a moment, Talon looked fourteen. “That is so

cool. What else can he do?”

Ben put a hand on his arm. “Hey, talk now, play with the

ghost later.”

The expression Talon turned on him was so excited and

intrigued and just plain hopeful that Ben let go of his arm quickly.
That look and touch together did odd, uncomfortable things to
Ben’s breathing. He leaned back a little, away from Talon. “Spill
the beans, kid.”

“I’m not a kid. All right, the story. I grew up living above

this bar with my mom and Abu, my grandfather, and Great-
Grandfather’s ghost. He was a family-secret kind of thing. My dad
was long gone; Saul and his father weren’t in the picture. But it
was good, my childhood. We didn’t see Great-Grandfather much,
but each of us would notice him once in a while. So we all knew
we weren’t crazy, right?”

“Right, I get that.”
“Mom died a year ago.”
Ben didn’t touch Talon again, couldn’t. “I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, well, it was cancer. No one’s fault. But then it was just

me and Abu. And he started telling me…”

hosts

and

lames

“What?”
“It’s gonna sound freaking weird.”
Ben was about to offer reassurance when the napkin scraps

fluttered. WHAT?

Ben laughed. “Weirder than that? Just say it.”
“Abu told me that his father, Great-Grandfather, was some

kind of witch. Back two hundred years ago, there was an outbreak
of some disease. Anyway, the locals decided that it was from bad
whiskey, and was being spread on purpose. They came marching
down the main street with torches, planning to burn all the local
taverns to the ground with the owners in them, stop the spread
of the disease.

“Abu said there were five bars then. This was by far the biggest

and nicest of the five. The crowd had grown large and unruly by the
time they hit the strip. The first two places went up fast, and when
the owners tried to run, they were shot down. Great-Grandfather
watched them come. He might have been able to get out, but his
daughter, my great-great however-many grandmother, was in bed
upstairs at the end of a difficult pregnancy and couldn’t walk.

“Abu said Great-Grandfather either cast a spell or he made a

deal with the devil. The skies opened up with rain so heavy the
men out in the street couldn’t keep anything burning and couldn’t
see to shoot. It rained and then it hailed, and the hail got bigger,
and eventually the mob gave up and went home. When Great-
Grandfather’s son-in-law got home from a trip two days later, he
found his pregnant wife safe in bed, and in the cellar, the body
of Great-Grandfather lay in a pentagram drawn in his own blood
with a silver knife in his hand.”

HOW DID HE DIE
Talon startled at the first stir of the flimsy letters and then

nodded. “Abu didn’t know. The story is that his heart burst,
whatever that means. They cleaned things up and buried him
in the graveyard and went on with life. But as the family grew,
they occasionally would see a man with steel-grey hair and black

Kaje Harper

clothes somewhere around the bar. If they looked for him he
would vanish. When Great-Grandfather’s daughter died they
found a letter in her jewelry box. It was written in blood in Great-
Grandfather’s hand and it pledged that as long as there was family
living in this bar, they would be defended from all who might do
them harm.”

“This was when?”
“Eighteen-forties or so. Anyway, it seemed to come true.

Violent drunks suddenly get the urge to leave the bar or fall over
unconscious if they threaten anyone in my family. No one has
ever damaged the place or broken in. Over the years, a couple of
would-be burglars have been found outside, unconscious, with
the tools of their trade unused.”

“Handy.”
“Yeah. One time, my mom was dating this guy who turned

out to be an abusive asshole. He followed her back to the bar and
tried to grab her by the arm. I was watching. The second before
he got hold of her, he just crumpled to the ground, retching like
someone poisoned him. He had to pretty much crawl out the
door.”

“And you think your Great-Grandfather…?”
“Yeah, I’m sure of it.”
“And now your brother Saul wants the place.”
Talon nodded. “I didn’t know Saul very well. I saw him maybe

a couple of times when I was growing up. Then right before Mom
died, Saul and his father Kurt came to visit. They wanted money,
and weren’t above threatening a sick woman and an old man to
get it. I told them if they tried to hurt us, they’d be sorry.”

“And?”
“Kurt tried to hit me and passed out on the floor. Saul got

pissed, threw a mug at me, and ended up the same way. Abu and
I dragged them both out into the alley, and Great-Grandfather’s
ghost hasn’t let either of them in the door since. Back then, they

hosts

and

lames

started to come around pretty fast, and they were pissed. They
tried to break down the door and passed out again.”

“How do you think the ghost does that?”
CAROTID PRESSURE The letters rearranged. OR

SMOTHERS THEM Another flutter. OR MAGIC I CANT
MAKE RAIN

“I think it’s magic,” Talon said, his voice apologetic. “I mean,

if you can have ghosts and vampires then you can have magic,
right? And they go down pretty fast, like they don’t see it coming.
Smothering wouldn’t be that fast, would it?”

NO AT LEAST THEYD FEL IT
Ben reached for another napkin to do more E’s, and some

of the existing letters fluttered to the floor. He got down to pick
them up, muttering under his breath, “Should have brought the
damned Scrabble letters.”

When he sat back on his stool, the letters on the bar said, YA

THINK

“Smug bastard.” In the middle of the past crisis, he’d invested

in three sets of cheap travel Scrabble and carried the small tiles
with him, but he’d left them behind, along with everything else,
when he left town. Except Grant had obviously tagged along, so
he might as well have packed them.

Talon’s eyes glittered brightly above his broad grin. “This is

just so fucking cool!”

“Right.” Ben tore paper scraps. “So, go on. Your grandfather

was alive then, right?”

“Yeah. I don’t think they were vampires then, just greedy. In

fact, I’m pretty sure they weren’t, because they showed up in the
daytime. After they’d harassed us some, this cop my mother used
to date helped us get out a restraining order, and we got Kurt
arrested. Turned out he was in the country illegally past the end of
his visa. ‘Cause he’s from the Czech Republic. So he got deported
and Saul went with him. Abu said they’d probably be back. But I

Kaje Harper

didn’t see them until three months ago.”

“What happened.”
Talon’s face twisted with pain. “Abu died.”
SORRY
“Me too.” Ben said quietly. Talon’s fingers were clenched

white on the edge of the bar, and Ben laid a gentle hand over
them. “You don’t have to tell us.”

“No. It’s good.” For a moment, Talon’s slim hand turned

under Ben’s as if he would hold on, but Ben pulled back quickly.
“You have no idea how good it is to have someone to talk to.
Anyway, Abu was killed while he was walking home one night.
Stabbed. The cops said probably a mugging gone bad. Then, in
the middle of the night before the funeral, Kurt and Saul showed
up all sympathetic and asking if they could stay here for the night
and help me out with the arrangements. And I was about to ask
them in when I passed out.”

YOU
“Yeah. It was weird, like someone just turned out the lights.

And when I woke up, Kurt and Saul were still outside the door,
straining toward me like dogs on a leash. They looked fit to kill,
but they hadn’t crossed the threshold.”

“Like…you hadn’t invited them in yet?”
“Except I didn’t understand that part. I had no idea… I mean,

ghosts are one thing but real vampires? Real vampires—God,
there’s a phrase that doesn’t get used often. I don’t know how it
happened to them. Didn’t know it could happen. But somehow,
in the time they spent in Europe, something…changed them. But
at that point, I still thought they were human. And unpleasant
as they were looking, they were my only remaining family. I was
about to ask them in to help me when I passed out again. And
again.”

“Shit.”
“Well, the third time when I woke up, the looks on their faces

hosts

and

lames

had gone beyond just angry. They weren’t quite human anymore.
I sure didn’t feel like asking them into my house. And the passing-
out thing was starting to seem familiar.”

GR GRAND
“Yeah. At first, I wondered why he didn’t knock them out if

there was a problem, but I guess he was doing his best to warn me.
They got their faces under control. Just shut all that anger down.
It was spooky. They acted all concerned. Then, when that didn’t
work, they threatened to make trouble if I didn’t invite them in.
But I didn’t say anything, and they stood there, leaning like there
was a pane of glass in the open doorway. And I figured there was
some kind of magic going on.”

“But…vampires?”
Talon’s mouth twisted bitterly. “Is this where you call the

loony wagon?”

Ben pushed a scrap of napkin with one finger. “I’m having

conversations with my dead best friend. I’m in no position to
judge.”

YR BOTH SANE GET TH FUK ON WITH IT
“I didn’t just look at them and think vampires, you know.

I was thinking it was a witch thing. But when they realized I
wasn’t letting them in, Saul went off and came back with this
woman…” Talon’s voice cracked, and he scrubbed at his eyes with
both palms.

Ben’s reluctance to touch the man evaporated. He put a hand

on Talon’s arm and rubbed gently. “Tell us.”

“He said he would kill her, drain her slowly if I didn’t invite

them in. And he did it. He bit her neck and just… I think I
passed out about three times before I had to accept that Great-
Grandfather wasn’t going to let me say the words. And I didn’t
have the guts to go out there and try to stop them. So they finished
her and left her body on my step and went away cursing me.”

AND THEN

Kaje Harper

“I called the cops and reported that someone dumped a body

at my door. I didn’t tell them who. I was fucking scared of being
locked in a jail or a loony bin the next night, out of the safety of
the bar. I did get questioned for hours. In fact, they let me go for
Abu’s funeral, and then dragged me back to the police station for
one more go round. But I got home before sundown.”

“This was three months ago?”
“Yeah. Three months of hell. At first I went out in the daytime

and holed up here at night. They would show up now and then.
I bought a bow and wooden arrows and shot Kurt once, but not
enough to hurt him much. They killed a kid in front of me.”
He swallowed convulsively. “I dumped the body elsewhere after
dawn. Luckily, they did it at the back door. Maybe because the
cops still cruise by at all hours and stop in the front to check up
on me. I sat there all night looking out at the body, just scared
stiff, but no one found him before morning. I couldn’t report it
to the cops again. They already suspect I’m not innocent in that
woman’s death, but they can’t prove anything. The cops hate me
now.”

“You are innocent.” Ben gripped Talon’s arm firmly. “You had

nothing to do with killing anyone.”

THE VAMPS PROBLY KILL TO EAT ANYWY
NOT YR FAULT
Talon looked away, his face lined with pain. “I didn’t stop

them.”

HOW COULD U
“I don’t know. I wish I knew! I still have the bow. I keep open

flames handy.” He gestured at the candles. “I’ve read everything I
can about vampires but it’s all fiction, all contradictory. You can’t
Google ‘Real facts about vampires’.”

G GR DOES NOTHING
“Other than knocking me out? He does the same to them if

they try to break the window or the door. But that’s about all. He

hosts

and

lames

didn’t stop them from killing that kid. It’s like he can only act if
the bar or the family are in danger. And however many times he
knocks them out, they come right back undamaged. He never
does anything permanent. I guess a rain of fire is harder than a
rain of water. Or maybe he’s grown weaker over time.”

“Or he’s not allowed to kill anyone.” Ben sighed. “You said

you used to go out. Like you don’t anymore?”

“About six weeks ago, I stepped out the front door in broad

daylight, and a man came at me with a knife. I would have been
dead if Great-Grand hadn’t done the whammy on him. Or if he’d
waited until I was farther away from the bar. As it was, I had an
unconscious guy on my step again.”

“Did you call the cops?”
“Like they would have come and done anything other than

arrest us both? I went through the guy’s pockets, and he had a
picture of me with my name and address on the back. And a
bunch of cash in his pocket. I figure Saul paid some lowlife to
come after me. He’s more impatient and more crude than Kurt
is.”

DID YOU AT LEAST TAKE TH CASH
Talon snorted helplessly. “Yeah, I did.”
GOOD KID
“I’m not a fucking kid!”
Something about those words, about the way Talon

straightened on his stool, sending the lantern light dancing across
his body, went straight to Ben’s groin. Holy crap. He had a sudden
vivid image of fucking this kid, of that body arching on a bed.
He shook his head hard to clear the picture of this young man in
a position he’d only ever imagined for Grant. Too little sleep, too
much weird.

“So what do you do now? Stay inside?” he asked, dragging his

treacherous mind firmly back to the topic at hand.

“Pretty much. I can’t watch my own back out there. So I

Kaje Harper

have stuff delivered. But that adds to the cost, and one of them,
probably Kurt, had the bright idea to wreck my business. Abu
took out a loan, with the bar as collateral, when Mom was so sick.
There were a lot of expenses. We’d already shorted a couple of
payments, but now…I’m screwed.”

WE LL HELP
“Damn straight,” Ben agreed.
PROBLY NOT
“Huh?” Ben didn’t get that, didn’t want to get it. He turned

back to Talon. “So what are your options? You’ve thought about
it.”

“About a million times.” Talon rubbed his forehead. “I could

leave town. I could maybe get to the airport okay. I could walk
away from this place by now. Je m’en fous. I just don’t care anymore.
But that leaves the bar empty. Kurt’ll buy it from the bank, and
then they’ll have their safe haven. Because that’s what I figure they
really want now. A place that they can be 100 percent safe in the
daylight hours, forever.”

“Makes sense. But if your Great-Grand won’t let them in,

they can hardly benefit from it.”

“I don’t think Great-Grandfather can keep them out.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have had to knock me unconscious like
that. I think it’s a vampire-threshold thing. Once the bank owns
the place, they’ll be happily invited in as buyers.”

“Still, why would he protect them?”
“I don’t know if he has a choice. Saul is family, flesh and blood.

If he attacks me, it’s one thing to put him down for the count.
Like the story says, back in the Civil War when two cousins went
after each other with knives in front of the bar, Great-Grandfather
put them both out on the floor. But if Saul is the one family
member living here? I think Great-Grandfather would have to
protect him.”

SO WE FIND THEM FIRST

hosts

and

lames

“Yeah, find them or…” Talon glanced around the empty

room. “Or somehow release Great-Grandfather from his role. No
protection here for them if he’s gone.”

“You would do that?”
“Hell, yeah. Two hundred years the bastard has done nothing

except watch over us and this place. He should get to move on.
Although…”

WHAT
“If he sold his soul to the devil, then moving on might not be

a good thing.”

“Shit. Yeah.” For a moment, Ben thought about Grant. He

wanted his friend to have something more than this half existence
too. But what if… No, Grant was no saint, but unless a little
hell-raising really was an unforgivable sin, Grant was headed
somewhere good.

WE NEED AN EXPERT
Ben choked. “Expert what?”
IN GHOSTS AND MAGIC
“You say that like we can look one up in the yellow pages.”
WE MIGHT HAVE ONE ON TAP
“What the hell?”
GR G
“Ah.” Ben hadn’t considered that.
Talon stared at the empty space above the fluttering letters.

“Can you talk to him, Grant?”

DON’T KNOW CAN TRY
Ben couldn’t help a quick glance around. “Is he here?”
NOT SURE
“You can’t see him?”
FEEL SOMETHING TRY
When the letters were still, Ben urged, “Try what?”

Kaje Harper

SMOKE THE MIRROR
The wisps of smoke from the candles on the back of the bar

began drifting toward the wide gilt-framed glass.

“I just polished that,” Talon muttered. But even as he said it,

he was getting up to gather more candles off the table to line up
on the shelf. Ben grabbed a couple too.

They stepped back together, and Ben’s shoulder brushed

against Talon’s. They were almost the same height. Somehow he’d
thought Talon was shorter. Although the bartender’s slender frame
carried far less muscle than Ben himself had built under Grant’s
urging over the last year. Talon was less hairy too, his upper arms
all smooth caramel skin and… Ben wrenched his attention back
to the mirror.

As the smoke curled up the glass, the reflected scene became

sepia and charcoal. Ben’s copper hair dulled to brown, Talon’s
bright green eyes went olive. Then, over their shoulders, Grant
appeared. The same as the day he died, dark hair military-short,
standing balanced and ready, his expression alert. Ben filled his
eyes with the sight, clearer than he had ever seen. Grant, shifting
a little to one side, blue-grey eyes scanning around the bar, hands
out and open in a nonthreatening gesture.

He knew the moment Talon saw Grant from the little gasp

and the tension of the slender body next to him. “C’est hypercool,”
Talon breathed. “Hey, Grant, nice haircut.”

In the mirror, Grant’s lips quirked. The expression went

straight to Ben’s gut. This was the longest view he’d had of his
friend in a year, and it was sharply familiar, and yet not. I was
forgetting. I was starting to get hazy on how he looked, how he moved.
Ben stared hungrily as Grant turned, tracking something, eyes
intent and body moving in that coiled, ready way that he had
learned in the military.

Ben was so fixated that it took a second gasp from Talon to

make him see the other figure in the mirror. Back in the corner of
the bar by the stairs stood an elderly man with steel-grey hair. He

hosts

and

lames

was dressed in a black robe over black pants, with a hint of grey
shirt underneath. His hair was long, pulled back at the nape of his
neck. His face was narrow with a strong, hooked nose, nothing
like the sweet oval of Talon’s face. But under bushy grey brows,
the steady green eyes were the same.

For a moment they all stared at each other’s reflections in

silence. Then, in the mirror, Grant took a step toward the old
man. The man’s attention had been fixed on Talon, almost as if
seeing him for the first time, but at the motion, it snapped to
Grant. Then the old man winked out, and an instant later, Grant
was gone too, as if he had never been there.

Ben didn’t realize he had sagged until Talon’s arm came under

his elbow in support. Talon pulled him in, and for a moment, Ben
just leaned, shoulder against that slim chest, hip braced by the
other man’s pelvis. Until the inappropriateness of the pose sank
in, and he jerked clear and turned back toward the bar. “Sorry. So
sorry. Just a surprise.”

Talon kept a hold on his arm. “No prob. So that’s Grant.

Pretty hot guy.”

“Yeah. No, I mean he’s my best friend. Since grade school,

actually. I miss him.”

Talon let go slowly. “Just friends?”
“Yeah.” Whatever Ben might have wanted.
“Well, that was definitely Great-Grandfather. I’ve never seen

him that clear. But he doesn’t seem eager to talk to us.”

White paper fluttered on the dark mahogany surface. OR

DOESN’T KNO HOW

“Hey!” Ben felt a rush of warmth through his belly. “You’re

still here! Did you get anything?”

SAW THE OLD MAN GONNA TRY
“You think you can talk to him?”
SOME IDEAS
“What can I do?”

Kaje Harper

GET SOME SLEEP BOTH LOOK SHIT
“Thanks, bud.”
“I think Ben looks pretty damn good,” Talon said defiantly,

and then blushed.

Speaking of looking damned good. Sure there were dark circles

under the man’s eyes, but with his caramel skin color, they
didn’t stand out. That oval face, straight nose, full lips—this guy
wouldn’t look like shit if he fell in a manure pile. Talon’s eyes
dilated slowly and his breathing quickened as they stared at each
other. Ben wrenched his gaze away.

“You should stay here for the night,” Talon said. “Seriously.

You’ve been in here too long for Saul to believe you’re just a
stubborn tourist. I don’t want to watch him drain your blood on
my doorstep while Great-Grandfather knocks me out so I can’t
save you.”

Letters shifted. I CHECKED TWO GUYS FRONT AND

BACK

Talon’s voice had shaded from sweet to bitter as he spoke. Ben

gave him a steady look. “It’s not your fault. And I think you’re
right. I have no desire to become vampire food either. No matter
how trendy that would make me.”

Talon’s face lost a little of its tension. “So…there’s a couple of

spare rooms upstairs. Or…my room is second on the right, and
my bed is king-sized.”

It was as if someone sucked all the oxygen out of the room.

Ben was sure he was blushing. He felt the heat like fire across his
cheekbones. He just stared.

Talon had started smiling, but it drained slowly from his face.

“Did I get it wrong? You are gay?”

Ben swallowed. But he hated the apprehension and

embarrassment that was dawning in Talon’s clear green eyes. “No.
That is, you’re not wrong. I just…I don’t do this.”

“This, like, casual sex?”

hosts

and

lames

“Um. Yeah.”
“Me either. Not usually. But it’s been six months since I

touched anyone, and you are gorgeous. I just wanted something,
some connection for tonight. It doesn’t have to mean anything.”

“I’m…flattered.”
“But you’re saying no.”
There was a flutter of white on the table. LET ME TALK TO

BEN

They both glanced at the letters. Ben would have thought

he couldn’t blush any more, but he felt like his whole body was
dropped in scalding water. “Fuck! Grant!”

EXACTLY
Talon looked back and forth between the bar and Ben,

and then a tiny frown creased his forehead. “Look, it was just a
thought, okay? Or we could just share the bed and not fuck. It
would be nice to not sleep alone. But I don’t want to make you
uncomfortable. And I sure as hell don’t want to step on Grant’s
toes.”

CANT GHOST GO UP ILL TALK TO HIM
Talon managed a tiny smile. “Pimped out by a ghost. That’s a

new one. Okay, I’ll get out of your hair. The front door is locked.
Just blow out all the candles when you come up. And if you do
change your mind, you’ll be welcome.”

Ben stood frozen, watching, as Talon moved around the

room, extinguishing the oil lamps. As the light level dropped,
details faded. He became a dark, lithe form, moving like supple
water through the room. As he bent around a table, his hips had
a sway that made Ben’s breath catch. His hands, in the light of
a candle as he cupped the flame to blow it out, held grace and
promise. Ben didn’t move or speak until the only lights in the
room were the six candles on the bar. His eyes tracked Talon as
he climbed the wooden stairs and disappeared behind the door
at the top.

Kaje Harper

“Trusting of him,” Ben said acidly, because he fucking

resented the way his body had sat up and taken notice of each
swing of those slender hips. “We could walk out with the till and
a boatload of booze.”

ONLY IF HES LYING ABOUT SAUL
“Right.”
LISTN UP AND PAY ATTENSHUN BENNY BOY
“I could toss the letters.”
SMARTASS There was a familiar sharp tug at the back of his

neck.

“Fuck you.”
YOU CANT
The letters swirled in a random drift and then lined up

deliberately. BEN IVE KNOWN YOU WERE GAY A LONG
TIME

Ben looked away. “You never said.”
WAS WAITING FOR YOU TO TELL ME
“I couldn’t.”
BCAUSE YOU WERE HUNG UP ON ME
“Shit, shit, shit, shit…” Ben couldn’t stand still. He paced

away from the bar, his back to the mirror. Five turns across the
room and he hit his hip on a table corner, misjudged in the dim
light, and swore some more.

A light touch brushed across his cheek. He hesitated, then

turned, and saw the paper scraps fluttering above the bar. “Damn.
Okay.”

He went and slumped on his stool. “Yeah. Because I was hung

up on you.”

YOU LOVED ME
Christ, he couldn’t answer that.
IS OKAY I LOVED YOU TU BUT IM NOT GAY

hosts

and

lames

“I know. I knew that.” Hoped maybe, in his secret dreams.

Imagined Grant being willing to try, just for him. But he knew
the man hadn’t been faking his enthusiasm for tits and ass. And
Ben could only offer one of those.

YOU DIDN’T LIKE THE GRLS MUCH
“I did okay.”
NOT WHAT I SAID
“No. You’re right, I didn’t.”
I THOT MAYBE MIRANDA BUT IT WASN’T RITE
“She was the closest. I hoped. But then I couldn’t.”
SO YR GAY YOU NEED A NICE GUY
Ben snorted. “Right. And you think a guy I just met with a

ghost in the cellar and a vampire at the door is the one.”

MAYBE NOT
BUT YOU COULD DO WORSE
AND YOU LIKE HIM
“I’m hot for him,” Ben said through gritted teeth. “I don’t

know if I like him yet.”

COULD FIND OUT
“Look, I know you would fuck anything that would stand still

for it. I don’t work that way.”

OUCH. SORRY.
After another pause, the sentence formed slowly. DIDN’T

MEAN IT TO HURT U ALL THE RANDOM GIRLS JUST
FUN

“I know.” Ben sighed. “It was none of my business, really. I’m

just stupid.”

NOT STUPID LOVE WELL NOT STUPID THEN NOW

IM DEAD

“And still standing behind me looking the same as ever.”
IM DEAD U NEED MORE THAN THAT

Kaje Harper

“Eventually.”
OKAY BUT BEN IF NOT NOW WHEN
HES HOT EVEN I CAN SEE
AND AVAILABLE
Ben bit his lip because his body really liked that combination

of ideas. And he was so not following through on that. “I need
time.”

OK BUT BEN IF U WANT IT GO FR IT
U WONT HURT ME
WANT U HAPPY
“What about you? Will you move on if I find someone to…

be with?”

DON’T KNOW
“Me neither.” He couldn’t do this anymore. Ben slid off the

stool and grabbed one of the candles off the ledge. “I’m going up.
Get the lights.” As he slowly climbed the stairs, he heard the slight
puffs of air as one by one the flames behind him went out.

Upstairs, the hallway was lit by a small lamp in a sconce. He

paused hesitantly. The first door on the left was a bathroom. He
peered in and saw a shower stall, with a fresh towel folded over
the sink. The prospect of getting clean suddenly became essential.

He stepped in and closed the door. He stripped off his clothes

and peed, and then ran the water. The shower flow was meager,
but it was hot and clear. Ben stepped under, ducking his head to
let the water run over his hair and down his face. There was soap
in the dish, and shampoo on the ledge. Although the first thing
he picked up wasn’t shampoo. Kiwi-flavored lube. He set it back
quickly.

The water was running cool by the time he shut it off and

stepped out. He toweled himself roughly. The flame of the
candle on the edge of the sink flickered as the air stirred with his
movements. Ben dropped the towel and peered into the shadowy
mirror. What did Talon see that made him give Ben an offer like

hosts

and

lames

that?

His wet hair had darkened to chestnut, although a little of the

curl was already reasserting itself. His face was…a face. A little
square, ordinary nose, wide mouth, okay skin, just a face. His
grey eyes were dark and dilated, framed by clumped wet lashes.
His body was muscled and fit, more toned than he’d ever been in
his life. His cock stood up, hard and long and optimistic, despite
every resolution Ben had made in the last half hour.

He was going to do it. He shoved himself down, and the bare

touch of his hand on sensitive skin ramped him up another notch.
His cock sprang back eagerly. He wrapped the towel around his
waist and tucked the ends in. If his breath hadn’t been so short,
he would have laughed at the way it tented in front of him. He
picked up his folded clothes.

Talon might be sleeping. He might have changed his mind. Ben

picked up his candle and stepped out into the hall. Talon wasn’t
sleeping. The man stood in the doorway of his bedroom, leaning
against the door, every inch of that smooth brown skin displayed
except for what was covered by a pair of blue running shorts. And
the shape outlined by that silky fabric didn’t leave much to the
imagination.

If Talon had spoken, said anything, Ben thought he might

still have turned around. But Talon stepped back into the room
and swung the door wider. And Ben took the five steps forward
that brought him past Talon and into the room.

There, he froze. Talon closed the door with a soft click. Slowly,

like someone taming a wild beast, he reached out and took the
candle from Ben’s hand, setting it onto the dresser. Then he took
the clothes from Ben’s other hand and dropped them on a chair.
Ben just watched. The room was still and warm. The air smelled
of some kind of spices and Talon’s skin.

Talon came and stood facing Ben. Slowly he ran his hands

up Ben’s arms, tracing the apple-curves of Ben’s biceps, the broad
triangles of his shoulders, and on up to cradle his head. By the

Kaje Harper

time Talon leaned in, Ben’s mouth was opening of its own accord.

The first kiss was dark and slow and sweet, like molasses

pouring from a jar. Talon’s tongue tangled with Ben’s in his mouth.
Talon’s thumbs slid over his cheekbones. Ben closed his eyes and
let himself be kissed. Warm soft lips moved from his mouth to his
jaw and then up, to kiss his temple and each closed eyelid.

“Ben.” Talon’s voice was low and rich. “Look at me.”
Ben opened his eyes. Inches from his own, Talon’s green irises

glowed in the candlelight. His long, silky lashes framed them like
a girl’s. But there was nothing girlish in the set of that mouth,
the angle of that lightly stubbled jaw, or the strong hands that
steadied Ben’s face.

“Tell me you want this.”
Ben swallowed and nodded. “Please.”
Talon’s kiss was different this time, hot and wet and carnal.

His tongue dove for Ben’s tonsils. And Ben went with him,
clamping his hands on Talon’s ass to grind their pelvises together.
The towel around him loosened and slipped off, baring him to the
brush of soft cotton over toned flesh. His desire ramped up fast,
liquid need pooling in his cock and balls. So good. He moaned in
frustration as Talon broke the kiss to lick his neck and bite at his
jaw. He squirmed with his hips, straining, tugging at the last scrap
of fabric between them.

“Easy, easy, let me.” Talon broke away to step back and drop

his shorts.

Ben just stared. He had seen plenty of naked men before, one

way or another. He’d even seen plenty of aroused men since he’d
admitted his desires enough to cruise the Internet. But he’d never
seen this, a man hot and close and hard for Ben’s touch. Eager for
him.

“What?” There was a touch of amusement in Talon’s voice.

“Have I got something on my dick?”

Ben jerked his gaze back up to Talon’s face. “No. I mean,

hosts

and

lames

you’re beautiful. I mean…” He knew his face was flaming, but he
wanted to say it. Because it would only sound stupider later. “I
don’t know what to do. I’ve never…”

Talon’s expression grew less teasing. “Never what?”
“Never…anything. I mean girls, yeah. I’ve done girls. But…

never a guy.”

“Not at all?”
Ben shook his head helplessly, aware his huge erection was

softening in embarrassment with that admission.

“But you want to.”
“Oh, yes.”
“Good.” Talon’s laugh was soft treacle. “Holy crap, I get to be

your first. That is so fucking hot, Ben.”

“Really.” His body perked up as Talon moved back against

him, the velvet steel of his cock brushing Ben’s own.

“Hell, yes. Fantasy of mine, showing a hot guy the ropes.”

Talon kissed him softly. “Now put those hard hands back on my
ass.”

Ben obediently pulled him in as they kissed again. “Sure,

but…I won’t last long if you… Oh, God.” The undulations of
Talon’s hips as they frotted together shot fire through Ben’s groin.
His fingers dug into Talon’s ass involuntarily.

“Yeah, mon cher,” Talon moaned against his mouth. “Kiss me,

rub me; you can come like this if you want. It’s okay.”

“I don’t want to just…” Ben lost his thought under the press

of Talon’s hot body and the determined assault of his tongue.

“Don’t worry. We don’t have to stop just because you come

once.” Talon slid a hand down, cupping Ben’s cock so it slid in a
fiery channel between Talon’s palm and the satin skin of his groin.

Ben groaned and thrust into that tight space, whimpering as

Talon’s palm became slicked with Ben’s leaking pre-cum.

“Do it.” Talon licked his neck and then bit him lightly. “Come

Kaje Harper

for me. Spill, cher. I’ve got you. You’re safe here.”

Ben moaned deep and low, and something in him let go. Ice

sizzled down his nerves, and then a wash of heat, and he came
in blinding bursts against Talon’s skin. Ben shuddered and then
gasped, burying his face in Talon’s neck. He was aware that Talon
had stilled and was holding him up, arms around his back. Ben
kept his eyes closed and his face buried, close to tears.

It should have been Grant. That was so fucking stupid. Because

Grant was straight and Grant was dead, and if he was saving
himself for the man, he would have to die a freaking virgin. And
this felt too right to be wholly wrong. And he still couldn’t speak
for the tears in his throat.

Talon held him gently, his clean hand stroking Ben’s hair

against his shoulder. “It’s okay, it’s okay, cher. You loved him, et
bien?”

Ben blinked his damp eyes and straightened. “How did you

know?”

“Not sure. I feel close to you, like I feel you inside.” Talon

pressed a hand over his own heart and then stepped back. He
pulled out some tissues and wiped his palm and hip. Then he
came back and gently cleaned the spill of cum off Ben’s thigh. He
tossed the tissues and held out a hand. “Come to bed, cher.”

Ben glanced once at the closed door, he really did, but then he

took the warm fingers held out to him and let himself be drawn
to the big bed. Talon crawled across the white sheets, pulling Ben
after him. Helplessly, Ben followed, stretching out on the soft
mattress.

“God, that’s like a cloud,” he said, distracted.
Talon’s smile showed white teeth. “Goose down. None of this

artificial pillow-top shit, eh? But with a waterproof cover, in case
the sheets get wet.” He leaned over Ben and kissed him, slow and
deep. “Let’s get the sheets wet.”

Talon’s long, slender cock brushed against Ben’s hip. The man

hosts

and

lames

was still rock-hard.

“You didn’t come,” Ben said. He reached down tentatively,

stroking a finger over the rounded crown. “Do you want me
to…?”

“Yeah, touch me, mon cher.” Talon kissed Ben, his tongue

mimicking the sweep of Ben’s fingers.

Ben broke the kiss, panting. He was already hard, and he

was not going to come in five seconds again, like some frantic
teenager. “What’s that you keep calling me?”

“Mon cher? Means ‘my dear’ in French. My father was from

Normandy. And the two things he left my mother with were me
and a habit of using French phrases.”

“Ah. Mon chair.”
Talon gurgled a laugh. “Better not. Sounds like furniture.” He

shifted so his cock pulled out of Ben’s hand, and began a determined
attempt to lick every inch of Ben’s body. Ben squirmed, ticklish at
first but quickly becoming unbearably aroused.

“God, Talon, slow down; you’re going to get me off again any

second.”

Talon slid back up Ben’s body to rest his whole length on top

of Ben, smiling seductively into his eyes. “Not yet, Ben. I don’t
want you to come until you’re inside me.”

Ben froze again. Talon sighed and kissed him. “If you want to.

You don’t have to. We can go slower, save that for another time.”

Ben’s fingers dug into Talon’s hips. “No, I want. God.” He

almost went over just thinking about it. “But I don’t know how.”

“Don’t worry, cher.” Talon’s smile was pure heat. “I do. You’ve

fucked girls, right? This isn’t that much different. Just way, way
better.”

Talon sat up, straddling Ben’s hips.
“You have stuff?” Ben asked. Because he might be drowning

in lust, but he wasn’t crazy. “To be safe.”

Kaje Harper

Talon bent over and kissed the tip of his nose. “Of course.

Condoms and lube.”

He stretched a long arm to the bedside table, fumbled around,

and dropped a foil pack and a white tube on Ben’s chest.

Ben paused in running his fascinated fingers over the hard

planes of Talon’s chest and the nubs of his tight nipples. “What
should I…”

“You should relax, touch me in any way that strikes your

fancy, and let me do the work.”

“I can do that.” There wasn’t much breath behind Ben’s

words. He let his fingers follow their magnetic attraction back
to Talon’s skin, to the silk of his flat stomach, and the light trail
of surprisingly soft hair that led down toward his groin. Talon
groaned as Ben’s fingers swept lower. He leaned forward on one
arm, raising his ass off Ben’s thighs. As Ben stroked him, Talon
flipped the lube open expertly, squirted a little on his own fingers,
and reached under himself.

Ben bit his own lip. “God, Talon, what are you…?” He

grabbed an extra pillow to raise his head so he could get a better
view of those slim brown fingers sliding up into Talon’s ass. “Shit.”

Talon moaned, squirming a little over his hand, as he added a

third finger. Ben wrapped his hand around the erect brown cock
aimed at his face and began stroking Talon off, sliding up the
slender shaft and around the soft rubbery head. A fine slick of
pre-cum lubricated his hand.

Then Talon sat back out of reach, picked up the condom, and

ripped the package open. “You sure, Ben?”

“Jesus.” Ben grabbed his throbbing dick and waved it at

Talon. “Does this look sure?”

“Looks tasty.” Talon bent over him and licked, root to tip,

slowly and lingeringly. His wet pink tongue trailed flame up Ben’s
skin.

Ben reached down to push Talon’s dark head off him. “You’d

hosts

and

lames

better stop unless you want me to come in your mouth, like now.”

“Not yet.” Talon dumped the condom out of its package and

unrolled it slowly over Ben’s hard cock. Ben stared, watching
Talon’s fingertips as they guided the rolled latex down and down.
When he was covered, those fingers lingered for a moment,
stroking through his copper curls and cupping his balls. Then
Talon reached for the lube and drizzled a shiny thread down
over the condom. With movements so controlled they seemed in
slow motion, he set the tube aside and slicked the lube over Ben,
coating every inch of latex. His fingers touched, pressed, stroked.
Ben reached down suddenly and gripped the base of his own cock
as the familiar prickles had his balls drawing up.

“Wait, wait, don’t touch me.”
Talon sat astride Ben’s thighs, a slightly indulgent smile on his

lips, as he watched Ben battle his orgasm back down. Ben would
have grabbed the man and kissed that expression off his face, if
he didn’t think that trying to move would make him explode.
Eventually, he slid back down the right side of that cliff and was
able to let go.

“Good now?” Talon asked. “Not gonna shoot if I touch you?”
Ben growled. “Try it.”
“Oh yeah, cher.” Talon took hold of Ben and rose up on his

knees, guiding Ben’s tip into position under him. Then slowly, so
slowly, Talon lowered himself on and around Ben.

Ben bit his lip hard and closed his eyes, aware of nothing in

the world but the exquisite sensation of sliding, inch by hot, tight
inch, into Talon’s ass. He’d had sex. He thought he knew what it
felt like. This was like nothing else on earth. Talon kept up that
slow downward pressure until his full weight rested across Ben’s
hips. Then he flexed, once, torqueing Ben’s cock inside him.

Ben cried out. His eyes popped open. Talon sat over him, on

him. That glorious body arched above him, swaying a little. One
long-fingered hand held Talon’s own prick, stroking slowly. Ben
reached out and batted Talon’s hand away. That, at least, he could

Kaje Harper

do. He fisted over Talon’s skin, slick with lube and pre-cum.

Talon moaned and moved his hips again, harder. Ben tried to

match the motion with his hands. He must have done something
right, because Talon got noisier and wilder, lifting up to drive
himself down on Ben again.

Ben watched through eyes that wanted to flutter shut. Surely

to God there was nothing in the world sexier than the sight of
Talon, arms braced, head thrown back, fucking himself on Ben’s
rampant cock. Talon groaned and whimpered, picking up the
pace. “Oh yeah, yeah, cher, tight hands, big hard cock in my ass,
yeah.”

Talon’s babbling took Ben right over. Electric shocks gathered

in his groin and spilled out of him. He couldn’t stop his eyes from
closing, couldn’t stop his voice from grunting with each pulse of
pleasure. He didn’t have the control to work Talon properly. He
just closed his hands and let Talon drive into them and between
them, on him and over him. Through the fog of coming down,
he heard Talon groan loudly and felt the spill of cum between his
fingers.

When he could think again, he was sticky and sensitive and

hot and sated and grinning from ear to ear. Talon leaned forward
and gave him a little kiss on the lips. “Pleased with yourself, are
you, cher?”

What did that mean? Ben’s grin faded. “That was…okay for

you?”

“Ah, p’tit chou, I’m teasing you. That was awesome, and you’d

better fucking believe it.”

Talon shifted, and Ben’s softening cock slipped from his body.

“Oops.” Talon lifted off and over him. “Here.” He tossed the box
of tissues between them. “Dated a guy once who kept baby wipes
by the bed. I can see his point.” He pulled a handful of tissues out
and began wiping his fingers and ass.

A little dazed, Ben eased the condom off his sensitized cock

and knotted it. While he was at it, he wiped up a little too. Talon

hosts

and

lames

reached down beside the bed to fish up a small wastebasket and
held it out. Ben dropped his trash in it slowly. What now? Slam,
bam, thank you, sir? “Should I go now?”

“What?” Talon stared at him, and then followed his gaze to

the tissues, the wastebasket. “Ah, no, Ben, not unless you want to.
I’m sorry the cleanup is so unromantic. I’m a practical one. I like
to cuddle clean, not sticky. Doesn’t mean I don’t want to cuddle.
Unless…if you feel it’s too weird?”

Ben shook his head.
“Good. Tres bien.” Talon set the wastebasket back on the floor

and slid down on his side on the bed. He held out a hand. “Come
here, Ben.”

Ben slid over into Talon’s arm. They moved together, awkward

at first, until Talon rolled over and their bodies glided into the
perfect spoon with Talon’s round ass against Ben’s groin. Ben
sighed in satisfaction, shifting just an inch to get Talon’s silky
hair out of his face. Talon reached back and grabbed Ben’s hand,
wrapping Ben’s arm securely across his hips. “Oh yeah, stay with
me.”

Ben’s heartbeat was slowing, easing down. “What was that

thing you called me, a shoe?”

Talon laughed softly. “Petit chou. Little cabbage.”
“You called me a cabbage?”
“It is a classic French endearment.” Talon huffed in mock

insult. “You should be flattered. My mother called me that, but I
don’t think I’ve used it for another man before.”

“Because I’m the most like a vegetable.” Actually, he was

flattered. He hid a smile in the pillow.

“Yeah. A freaking cucumber.” Talon brought Ben’s hand up

to his mouth to kiss his knuckles and then replaced it flat on his
pec. “Get some sleep, cher. We have vampires to hunt tomorrow.”

Ben laughed. He should have been scared or freaked out. He

should have been huddled in some darkened window, watching

Kaje Harper

for shadowy figures in the street below. Or at least weirded out
from having his first gay sex with a guy he’d known for less than
three hours. But instead, he thought that tonight, for the first
time in ages, he might actually sleep through the night.

§ § § §

Ben woke to the brightness of sun in his eyes. As he shifted,

he brushed up against warm skin. For a moment, he froze, and
then his mind caught up with his rapidly arousing body. Talon.

Under his arm, Talon shifted and muttered softly. That round

ass pushed back and collided with Ben’s morning wood. He
gasped, and Talon chuckled. “You glad to see me?”

“Maybe.”
Talon rolled over and kissed Ben soundly. “Just maybe?”
There was no time to feel awkward in the growing need. Ben

gripped Talon’s hips and pulled him close, kissing him with teeth
and tongue. Talon gave a little wriggle that broke him free of Ben’s
hands and then disappeared under the sheets.

“What are you…ngh!” The wet warm pressure around his

erection was almost enough to bring Ben off right there. He
moaned wordlessly and slid his hands down to cup Talon’s head.
And then all his concentration went into not plunging forward,
not driving too hard into the skillful mouth that enveloped him.

Holy Christ, Talon knew what he was doing. Ben had had great

blowjobs before. But no woman had ever brought him from zero
to sixty that fast. Maybe because you started at about fifty-five. Just
waking up next to Talon was more of an aphrodisiac than any
naked woman he’d ever seen. Ben gasped, fingers knotted in
Talon’s hair, as he crashed into his climax. Talon’s mouth stayed
on him through it, sucking him dry, licking him down. He finally
had to gently push the man away when he couldn’t bear one more
touch.

hosts

and

lames

Talon surfaced from the covers, looking smug. Ben kissed

him. He noticed the unfamiliar taste on Talon’s tongue, salt and
vanilla and musk mingled. That’s you. He didn’t know if that trace
on those full lips was sexy or just odd, but the blowjob had been
amazing. “How about you?” he asked tentatively. “Do you want
me to do that?” He’d never had a man in his mouth before, but it
seemed only fair. He could do this.

Talon grinned. “Too late. I got off on you fucking my throat.

You’ll need to take a shower.”

Ben squirmed a little, at the bold words, at the feel of sticky

wetness on his leg, now that Talon pointed it out. On the image of
Talon jerking off with your dick in his mouth.

Talon flipped the covers back and stood, stretching in the

morning light filtering through the white curtains. Something
about the way he held the pose made Ben sure he knew exactly
how good he looked.

“Show-off.”
Talon laughed. “And you love it. If I was as shy as you are,

we’d still be sitting at opposite ends of the bar. I’m going to shower
first, but I’ll be quick. There’s not enough spray to put two guys
in that shower if you really are looking to get clean.” He leered a
little. “Enough for other purposes, though.”

Ben thought of the bottle of lube, and his cock, which he

had figured was done in for an hour, twitched slightly. “Get thee
behind me, Satan. Maybe tonight.”

As soon as he’d said it, he wanted to call the words back. Who

knew if Talon would even want him around another night? But
Talon looked pleased. “Maybe.”

Talon was back in the room before Ben was done locating his

second sock, which had slid under the dresser. Ben headed out
the bedroom door naked, clothes in his arms, trying not to blush.
He’s seen you naked, and not just seen you either. But right now,
Talon was dressed, and Ben was bare-assed and it felt odd. Instead
of stepping back to let him by, Talon stepped up and kissed him

Kaje Harper

soundly. “You are so freaking cute when you blush, cher. Come
on down when you’re dressed. There’s a kitchen in the back. I’ll
make you breakfast.”

Ben scrubbed in the shower, ignoring the unfamiliar smells,

the new sensitivity, the lingering trace of Talon in the damp air.
He yanked on yesterday’s clothes and hurried downstairs. Talon
was in the kitchen, heating water for coffee. He smiled over his
shoulder. “Are you an eggs or pancakes guy in the morning?”

Ben blinked at his reaction to that simple smile. You don’t see

the guy for ten minutes, and you want to jump him. “Um, either
one. I’m not fussy.”

“French toast, then. I can use the old bread.”
As Talon dipped bread slices in egg, humming an indistinct

tune, Ben looked around. The kitchen was big and old and
had clearly gone through several renovations. Now it sported a
restaurant-sized fridge and stove, and a new fan hood, alongside a
granite counter that bore the scars of years of use, and an antique
wood table. A row of small high windows let in the sun without
giving much of a view. Ben thought about the bar’s location and
figured the view would be an alley anyway.

As Talon flicked off the kettle and poured water on the coffee,

Ben frowned. “I thought you didn’t have electricity.”

“The last time they cut it, I patched through a different way

and left the wires cut, like I was sick of getting it fixed. If I don’t
use the lights at night, I’m hoping they won’t figure it out. Because
I am sick of getting it fixed.”

“You’re sneaky.”
“I can be.”
Some subliminal movement caught Ben’s eye, and he took

two steps to peer at where the steam from the kettle had fogged
the black surface of the over-range microwave. Letters slowly
appeared. Ben read them and reached for a kitchen towel,
blushing.

hosts

and

lames

Talon caught his wrist and read the words, WELL FUCKED
Ben cringed. “Jesus, Grant.”
Talon laughed. “He’s right. Although, technically, I’m the one

that was fucked. Let me go get the paper letters.”

“Mouthy bastard can bring his own letters,” Ben grumbled.
The letters erased to leave the message, FU
“I’ll get them,” Ben said resignedly. “You keep cooking. I’m

going to need my strength.”

In the bar, Ben paused, looking at the scraps of paper on the

polished wood. They swirled, rearranging.

U OKAY
“Yeah. I’m fine. I’m good.”
IF HE WASN’T GOOD TO U ILL KICK ASS
“He was pretty amazing. I’m just…maybe weirded out a little.

But I like him. It was…”

WHAT
“It was right. I just wish…”
WAS NEVR GOING TO BE ME
“I know. I can still wish. But Talon’s a great guy.”
WER U THINKING OF ME WHEN HE DID IT
“Fuck you, Grant. I wouldn’t do that to him.” In truth, there

had been no room for thought and nothing but Talon in his
senses when he came.

GOOD THEN HES THE RIGHT ONE
“Not like I’m marrying him or anything.”
TO START WITH
“I guess so.” It made Ben unreasonably sad to think of Talon

like that, like a starter boyfriend. Although really they were no
more than fuck buddies, if that. He gathered the letters up off the
bar and brought them to the kitchen table.

Talon was setting two plates on the table, and he looked up

Kaje Harper

with a smile. “Took you long enough.”

“Grant always has to get a word in.” He scattered the letters

on the table and sat down.

For a moment, they ate in silence. Ben couldn’t remember the

last time food had tasted this good. Coffee either. “Man, I can see
how you kept the place going with just the breakfast crowd,” he
said. “Do you have to open soon?”

Talon stuffed a big bite in his mouth and shook his head.

“Christmas Eve,” he mumbled around the french toast. “I’m
closed.”

The letters swirled. GOOD THING
“Why?” Ben asked.
WHILE U WER GETTING YR ROCKS OFF
“Lay off him.” Talon’s voice was surprisingly fierce. “You told

him to go do it, and he did, and it was great, so lay off.”

SORRY YR RIGHT
Ben couldn’t remember the last time Grant had admitted

that. “Doesn’t matter. Go on.”

Talon’s hand came under the table to rub his knee as they

watched the letters.

I FIGURED OUT HOW TO TALK TO GGR
“Wow. That’s cool. That’s great!” Ben loved the way Talon’s

whole face lit up with enthusiasm. “What did he say?”

IT IS MAGIC A SPELL HE DID
“But is there an answer? What should we do?”
HE SAID HED TALK TO U
OR HELL TALK TO ME AND ILL WRITE IT
“Can’t he move the letters himself?”
SEEMS NOT HE CANT MOVE STUFF
“But you can? Does he know why?”
MAYBE JUST ENERGY I CAN ONLY DO ONE THING

hosts

and

lames

AT A TIME

CAN APPEAR OR CAN MOVE STUFF HE DOES

SPELLS.

“And that takes all his energy?”
AND HE SAYS ITS GETTING HARDER SO HE TALKS

I MOVE LETTERS

“Okay. What do we need to do?”
FINSH EATING U NEED STRENGTH
“Fuck that. If we have a chance to talk to the old guy, figure

out what he knows…”

CANT RUSH HIM HE SAID NOON
U LL NEED MORE LETTERS
WORDY BASTRD
“Okay.” Ben took another bite of his breakfast, although the

sublime taste was blunted by his curiosity. Once they were done
eating, he and Talon did the dishes in companionable silence
and then moved to the bar. Talon found some stiffer paper that
wouldn’t slide around if they breathed too hard, and they sat
making a hefty alphabet.

“God, it’s always like this,” Talon said softly. “In the daytime,

it seems just unreal, like I’m crazy to believe any of this.”

“And now?” Ben put a row of E’s on the bar.
Talon grinned at him. “Now I’ve got company in my

craziness.”

Ben’s empty coffee mug tipped and rolled off the bar into his

lap.

THAT HELP
“Yep.” Talon slid the letters back into place. “Ben, you never

told me what you guys were doing here. You weren’t hunting
vampires, were you?”

“Hell, no. Didn’t know they existed. Still don’t.”
YES WE DO FOLLOWED SAUL LAST NIGHT

Kaje Harper

“Shit. Why?”
WANTED TO SEE WHAT HE DID
FIGURD IF WE KNEW WHERE HE SLEPT U CUD

STAKE HIM

Talon grinned fiercely. “Now I like that idea.”
NO LUCK THERE HES FAST LOST HIM LATER
“What did you see?”
HE KILLED A GUY IN THE PARK VAGRANT
“Shit.”
YEAH WE HAV TO GET HIM
“You think Talon’s great-grandfather can help with that?”
GUY KNOWS A LOT KNOWS VAMPIRES
“What about my Uncle Kurt?”
WAS THERE BAD NEWS TWO OTHERS
Ben frowned. “Two other vampires?”
MAN AND WOMAN
“I haven’t seen any others,” Talon said. “Not that I recognized,

anyway. Are you sure?”

PASSED THE VAGRANT AROUND BFOR HE DIED
“Merde.” Talon slammed his hand on the bar. “So now there’s

a pack or a mob or whatever you call a bunch of vampires.”

THEY WERE FAST EAT KILL SPLIT UP
“So there could be more.”
DONT KNOW
“Or they may be able to make more,” Ben said slowly. “Maybe

the other two are new. Obviously, if Saul and Kurt were human
just a year ago, then it can be done.”

Talon sighed. “So, what were you guys doing here originally,

before I made you the targets for a bunch of vampires? God, I
can’t believe I said that.”

“Travelling,” Ben said, and then more honestly, “Running

hosts

and

lames

away. I had a girlfriend, and she had a vicious ex who tried to kill
her. By the time we were done, her ex was dead and I spent time
dealing with the fallout. And then Miranda wanted her happy-
ever-after. And I just couldn’t give her that.”

AND HE WAS RUNNING AWAY FRM ME
“Not really. Well, sort of.” He remembered he deliberately

hadn’t brought the Scrabble tiles. “Yeah, I was. But partly just to
see if I could.”

YR STUCK WITH ME I TRIED TO LET U GO THE

NEXT I KNEW THERE I WAS WITH U AGAIN

“Really?”
YEAH NO CONTROL
“I don’t know if that’s flattering or scary.”
ME ETHER
Talon cocked his head. “How long has Grant been a ghost?”
“Almost a year. He was killed overseas.” Ben was surprised.

For the first time, thinking about that hurt but it didn’t threaten
to overwhelm him.

“And he still ended up here with you? How?”
DONT KNOW I WAS DYING AND I HEARD BEN

CALLING ME AND THEN HERE I WAS

“Wow. That’s what I call a good friend.”
“It’s fucked,” Ben said. “I mean, yeah, he’s saved my life. But I

wouldn’t have done that to him. I wouldn’t have pulled him away
from wherever he’s supposed to be just to hang around me like
some sort of bodyguard slave.”

HUSH NOT SO BAD BETTER THAN U DEAD
“I don’t know.”
I DO ANYWAY MAYBE MY REAL JOB WAS TO GET YR

HEAD OUT OF YR ASS AND SOMETHNG ELSE IN THRE
MY JOB IS ALMOST DONE

Ben bit his lip, between amusement and sudden panic at the

Kaje Harper

thought of losing Grant. He wanted the man to move on, to go
into the light or whatever his spirit was supposed to do, but God,
Ben would be lonely. Grant’s ghost had saved more than just Ben’s
life this past year. “Bastard.”

DONT SAY THAT TO MY MOTHR
Ben choked. “She hates me. She sent me an announcement

about your death and the funeral by slow parcel post. So I wouldn’t
be there.”

SHES A BITCH BUT SHES NOT STUPID
Talon was looking sad. “Were you two… Was Grant gay too?

Did I mess up something?”

NO I LIKE GRRLS BUT BEN WAS A BIT OBVIOUS

WHEN WE WERE KIDS

“I was?” Ben knew he was blushing again.
I DIDNT MIND HARDR FOR U
Talon reached for Ben’s hand and kissed his wrist. “Okay.

Then I won’t feel like I’m poaching from a dead guy. So, Ben, we
have like two hours before noon. Want to find a way to occupy
the time?”

“Christ.” His body sprang to full attention, just like that.
GO FOR IT IM GONNA LOOK AROUND OUTSIDE

AGAIN

“I don’t know.” Sex had always been something Ben could

take or leave. He wasn’t sure he liked this feeling, like he would
drop to his knees in front of the whole world if Talon just gave
him the word.

“Come on.” Talon lifted his hand again, and this time he

sucked the tip of one of Ben’s fingers into his mouth. “You know
you want to. Your skill set isn’t complete yet. You made me an
offer.”

Ben glanced at the letters, sitting flat and motionless on the

bar. No way to tell where Grant was. Could be outside, could
be watching and snickering at his patheticness, could be upstairs

hosts

and

lames

playing voyeur. No, not that, that wasn’t Grant’s style. Ben let Talon
pull him off his barstool and up the stairs.

An hour later, he was sweaty, happy, and totally in awe of all

the women who had ever managed to deep-throat him. And of
Talon, whose oral skills belonged in some kind of hall of fame.
Ben had tried, and Talon had patiently given him directions and
encouragement. But it was going to take a shitload of practice
before he could give back in full measure what Talon did to him.

Not that he’d thought he did badly. He’d heard it said there

was no such thing as a bad blowjob. And his amateur efforts had
brought Talon to a noisy, ecstatic and thoroughly messy climax.
But he figured he had some work to do. Maybe time to go back
and look at some of that porn from the other side, thinking about
what it would be like to be the guy on the bottom rather than the
guy on the top.

Talon kissed his eyebrow. “Thinking too much, cher. I’ve

never met a guy that thinks about sex the way you do.”

“It’s just that it’s new. And I want to do it right.”
“There is no wrong way to have sex. Just fun and even more

fun.” He rolled out of bed and smacked Ben’s bare flank. “Come
on. Time to clean up and get dressed and go see what Great-
Grandfather has to say.”

By noon, they were both seated at the bar, pretending not to

be watching all sides of the room at once. They knew Grant was
there, because he was apparently challenging himself to see how
many swearwords he could make out of the set of letter tiles they
had given him. The clock over the bar ticked past noon. There was
no change, no icy draft. But eventually the paper letters stopped
trying to make three repeats of MOTHERFUCKER with one
too few R’s and quieted. Ben stared at the mirror but saw nothing.
He sighed and set himself to expanding the letter set some more.
It at least kept his hands busy. As he watched, the scraps of
paper began moving idly as if stirred by an invisible finger. Then
suddenly their motion became purposeful.

Kaje Harper

SORRY SIR
Ben leaned forward eagerly. “He’s here.”
HE SAYS I HAVE A FOUL MOUTH
“He’s right, but I don’t see where it matters.”
Talon said, “Great-Grandfather, can you hear me?”
HE SAYS ADDRESS HIM AS MR VIKTOR
“Um, sure. Mr. Viktor. He is my great-great-grandfather,

though?”

TWO MORE GREATS YES
“Mr. Viktor. Can you help us? Can you tell us how to get rid

of Saul and Uncle Kurt and the other vampires? Or how to help
you?”

ME
“Well, yeah, I mean, you’ve been stuck in this bar for two

hundred years. Isn’t there somewhere else you’d rather be?”

IF I MOVE ON I FEAR IT WILL NOT BE TO HEAVEN
“Really? I mean, you’ve been doing good deeds for like two

hundred years now. Doesn’t that count for anything? Or did you
sell your soul to the devil?”

NO IT WAS A SPELL I PERFORMED BUT I AM A

WITCH AND WILL BURN IN HELL

“I don’t believe it,” Talon said stoutly. “I don’t think God

would do that.”

NO MATTER MY PASSING WOULD NOT SAVE YOU

FROM THE VAMPIRES

“So they are vampires? I mean, I know they are, I’ve…seen.

But still. Real vampires?”

WHY DO YOU DOUBT YOUR OWN EYES
Talon shoved his stool back, and paced jerkily. “Because.

Okay, so I grew up with a ghost in the house. I should be up for
this. And I’ve known about the vampires for a couple of months
now. And still every time I say the word, I look round for the guy

hosts

and

lames

with the camera waiting to put my gullible reaction on YouTube.”

There was a pause. Ben wondered if Grant was explaining the

concept of YouTube to a generations old ghost. Talon came back
and sat, staring at the letters.

Eventually they moved. VAMPIRES EXIST MUCH THAT

IS DARK AND HIDDEN EXISTS AWAY FROM ORDINARY
HUMAN EYES YOU ARE WASTING TIME.

“No,” Ben said firmly. “He’s right. It’s not a waste of time to

know what we’re dealing with. Vampires, like in the stories? Drink
blood, killed by sunlight and stakes and all that crap? Immortal?
Do they have super strength? Do they sleep in the daytime? Surely
we’ll fight them better if we know more. Like why they’re so set
on owning this bar. Is it for your magic? Can they control you if
they live here?”

THE STORIES ARE HALF TRUE THE DETAILS ARE

LONG AND COMPLEX

ENOUGH TO KNOW THEY HAVE NO SOFTER SIDE

THEY ARE PREDATORS KILL THEM OR THEY WILL
KILL YOU AND THEN THEY WILL OWN ME

“Own you meaning they’ll live here? Or can they control your

magic too?”

I CANNOT BE COMPELLED TO WORK MAGIC FOR

THEM BUT BY THE NATURE OF THE SPELL I CAST IF
THEY LIVE HERE I WILL PROTECT THEM

THEY DO SLEEP IN THE DAY AND DIE IN SUNLIGHT

MY PROTECTION AND THE CELLARS UNDER THIS
BAR ARE A PRIZE WORTH MUCH TO THEM

“But you can’t just kill them yourself?”
NO
Ben waited for more, but apparently that flat statement was

all they were going to get. He glanced at Talon, who said, “But
if you’re not here as protection, then this bar becomes just a bar,
right? So maybe if we set you free they wouldn’t want it.”

Kaje Harper

YOU KNOW ABOUT THEM YOU HAVE DEFIED

THEM THEY WOULD KILL YOU ANYWAY

“Well, shit.” Talon sat back a little. “Okay, so we have to get

the vampires and help you afterward.”

VAMPIRES ARE HARD TO KILL YOU MUST TAKE

THE HEAD AND BURY IT IN SALT AND ROWAN ASHES
The letters swirled together and resorted. OR SET BONE-DEEP
FIRE TO THE VAMPIRE. NAUGHT ELSE WILL DO

“Naught? Is that a word?” Ben muttered because he wanted

some hint of Grant in here.

I READ SHAKESPERE IN COLLEGE I KNOW HOW

TO SPELL IT

Okay, that was Grant. So he was translating, not possessed or

something. Ben breathed a little easier.

IF YOU CANNOT FIND WHERE THEY REST IN

THE DAY YOU MUST DO IT WHEN THEY SHOW
THEMSELVES HERE AT NIGHT

BUT WE DONT HAVE A FREAKING FLAME

THROWER Grant again, obviously.

“Is there a spell for killing vampires?” Ben asked.
NOT FOR MY PART I PLEDGED TO USE THIS

POWER ONLY TO PROTECT AND NOT TO KILL WHEN
I SACRIFICED MY LIFE FOR IT Another realignment. BUT
THERE ARE OTHER OLDER SPIRITS HERE I WILL
SEARCH OUT ANSWERS

Talon leaned forward, squinting as if he could somehow make

out his great-grandfather’s form if he just tried hard enough.
“So…you know about vampires. And now other spirits, you said?
Are there many other, um, things out there? Or did this bar and
your magic somehow make Kurt and Saul…change?”

IT WAS NOT MY DOING KURT ALWAYS LOVED

POWER PERHAPS SEEING ME WHEN HE WAS WITH
YOUR MOTHER OPENED HIS EYES TO NEW PLACES

hosts

and

lames

IN WHICH TO LOOK FOR IT Another rearrangement.
PERHAPS THAT IS WHY WHEN HE WAS EXILED TO
THE OLD WORLD HE FOUND VAMPIRES AND BECAME
ONE OF THEM

“You think he was changed somehow over in Europe?”
HE WAS HUMAN WHEN HE WAS LAST IN THIS BAR
Ben bit his lip. “They can do that? Make a person into one

of them?”

IT TAKES KNOWLEDGE AND EXCHANGES OF

BLOOD BUT YES A WILLING MAN CAN BE CHANGED

“What kind of sick fuck would be willing? These aren’t some

kind of sparkling sexy lovers of the night.”

YEAH SAUL WOULD WIPE THE FLOOR WITH

EDWARD

There was another pause, as the letters randomized and Grant

presumably exposed Mr. V to the whole Twilight phenomenon.

Eventually, the ghost continued, THEY ARE STRONG

RUTHLESS AND IMMORTAL TO SOME MEN THAT IS A
DESIRABLE STATE

“So we have to kill them?” Despite facing bombs and guns

in human hands throughout that mess with Melinda, Ben was
having a hard time visualizing himself as the vampire hunter type.
And an even harder time visualizing Talon, with stakes stuffed
in his pockets…Damn, that image was really inappropriate. “We
can’t, I don’t know, lock them up until sunrise or spell them to
become harmless or something?”

THEY ARE LETHAL YOU WILL HAVE NO TIME FOR

GAMES

BEN LISTEN TO ME. That had to be Grant now. I

WATCHED THEM KILL DONT GET SQEAMISH ON
ME THE LONGER THEY LIVE THE MORE PEOPLE DIE
AND THEY WANT THIS BAR THEY STAND OUTSIDE
AND LOOK AT IT LIKE AN ALCOHOLIC LOOKS AT A

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BOTTLE

Ben rubbed a hand across his face. “Okay. Just kind of surreal.”
TRUST ME
“You’re surreal too, you bastard. Damn. So we burn them or

behead them?”

Talon suggested, “If we could trap them in here, we could set

them on fire with the candles or something. Tip vodka on them
and then light them. Or I have gasoline in the cellar for the back-
up generator I bought.”

PERHAPS BUT THEY ARE SWIFTER THAN ANY

HUMAN AND ONCE THEY ARE INSIDE YOU ARE AT
RISK I CAN STOP ONE AT A TIME BUT NOT FOUR AT
ONCE

DEFINITELY FOUR? Grant asked for their benefit.
I HAVE SEEN ONLY FOUR AND THAT JUST

RECENTLY BUT THEY CAN EASILY MAKE ANOTHER

“Shit. We have to work fast.” Ben bit the pencil he was

holding over a blank notepad. “You don’t know where they live
in the day?”

I CANNOT LEAVE THIS BUILDING
“Grant, do you think you could track them, given time?”
MAYBE BUT THEY MOVE FAST ALMOST LIKE THEY

DISAPPEAR AND EVERY DAY THAT I FAIL THEY MAY
KILL AGAIN AND U TWO ARE STUCK IN HERE

Talon looked defeated. “So what? We just wait and hope they

give up?”

NO I HAVE A SOURCE I WILL CONSULT IN TWO

HOURS I WILL RETURN

There was a long pause and then a quick, crooked line of

letters: HES GONE

Ben blinked. “What do you think he means by a source?”
DONT KNOW

hosts

and

lames

“Okay,” Talon said. “So we wait again. Ben?” He tilted his

head and smiled slowly.

Despite the happy response of his body, Ben shook his head.

“How about some lunch? And it is Christmas Eve. I should call
home.”

WISH I COULD
“God, bro.” Ben hesitated. “If you wanted to dictate

something, I could send them a letter with your name. Like
maybe a last request? I don’t know. I don’t think me calling them
is a good idea.”

NO BAD JUST WISH FIRST HOLIDAY WITHOUT ME
For a moment, Ben thought about that. Grant had an older

sister and a younger brother, and they would be home. There
would be eggnog and carols and all the familiar ornaments, and
this big black aching hole in the middle of it where Grant should
be. “Yeah. I wish too.” If he didn’t have this part of Grant still with
him, this would have been Ben’s Christmas with that loss too. “Is
it really selfish to say I’m glad you stuck around for me?”

PROBLY
“Bastard.”
Talon’s arm came around Ben’s shoulders. “I didn’t decorate

this year, didn’t feel in the mood. But I have lots of goodies in the
fridge. Come on. You can use the phone in the kitchen while I
make some lunch. Or the one upstairs, if you want privacy.”

“I have my cell.” Ben made the call sitting at the big wooden

kitchen table, as Talon moved around in the background, frying
bacon for BLTs and brewing fresh coffee. Talon popped a plate of
sugar cookies from the freezer into the microwave for five seconds
until the sweet vanilla scent filled the air. Those had to be the best
smells in all the world, bacon and coffee and vanilla, and Talon.
Somehow it was easier to talk to his folks and his sister Grace with
that sweetness in the air. Over the phone, they sounded subdued,
knowing he would be missing Grant. Ben spoke briefly and hung

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up, feeling like a phony.

“They sound nice,” Talon said wistfully. He set plates on the

table and put the cookies between them.

“They are.” Ben caught Talon’s arm and reeled him in for a

kiss. “Thank you for the food. You’re spoiling me.”

“I like to cook.”
“I could get used to this.” For a moment, something hovered

between them, something that wanted to be said. Then Ben took
a big bite of his sandwich. Soon enough he would be moving on,
going back to his house and his job. And Talon would have this
bar. Hopefully.

They had barely seated themselves at the bar at two o’clock

before the letters began rearranging themselves, forming one
sentence and then another.

IT CAN PERHAPS BE DONE
IT CAN PERHAPS ALL BE DONE AND MY SOUL

SET FREE IF YOU CAN FIND WHAT IS NEEDED AND
PREPARE

“What is needed for what?” Talon asked.
TO KILL THE VAMPIRES TO RIGHT THE WRONGS

TO SET ME FREE

Ben pressed his lips together. “All of it? Just like that?”
NOT JUST LIKE THAT IT WILL BE HARD FOR ONE

THERE ARE THINGS I MUST HAVE

AND ON THE EVE OF THE SAVIORS BIRTH WITH

ALL STORES SHUTTERED IT WILL BE HARD TO COME
BY THEM

Talon grinned. “Are you kidding? This is the twenty-first

century, and it’s barely two in the afternoon. This is when the
Christmas shopping gets started. Lay it on us.”

WHAT
“Tell us what you need,” Ben said. “And maybe you’d care to

hosts

and

lames

share your plan?”

I SUMMONED A DJINN IN EXCHANGE FOR A DAY

OF FREEDOM HERE HE GAVE ME SOME ANSWERS

“You can do that?” Talon looked excited and then skeptical.

“What’s a djinn, and what’s he going to do with his free day?”

THE TALE IS LONG ENOUGH THAT MY STRENGTH

WAS SUFFICIENT HE HAD ANSWERS AND NONE WILL
DIE FOR HIS PLEASURE

“Okay, I guess so. But I want the long story sometime.”
IF WE HAVE TIME FOR NOW THIS IS THE PLAN

AS IT NEARS MIDNIGHT THE MAN BEN WILL LEAN
OUT A WINDOW AS IF HE IS BEING CARELESS A few
letters slid off the table as they rearranged swiftly. AS SOON AS
HE IS PARTWAY OUT OF THE BUILDING SAUL WILL
CERTAINLY GRAB HIM AND BARGAIN WITH YOU FOR
ENTRANCE USING HIM Suddenly the whole sentence was
scrambled sideways.

HELL NO YOURE NOT USING BEN FOR BAIT
“Wait,” Ben said. He bent and retrieved the scatted confetti

of letters. “Grant, let’s hear the whole plan before you shoot it
down.”

FUCK THAT
“Grant.”
I DIDNT COME BACK AND SPEND A FUCKING YEAR

FOLLOWING YOU AROUND LIKE SOME INVISIBLE
PUPPY DOG TO SEE YOU GET EATEN BY VAMPIRES

There was a pause, and then, HE SAYS IF ALL GOES WELL

YOU WILL NOT BE EATEN

I GOTTA ASK AND IF ALL GOES BADLY
“Grant, I want to hear the plan.”
SHIT
There was a long moment of silence. Then the letters shifted

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rapidly, sentences forming in quick succession.

ONLY TALON CAN ADMIT THE VAMPIRES

BECAUSE THIS IS HIS HOME AND NOT YOURS
ONCE THEY COME IN I WILL KNOCK OUT THE ONE
HOLDING BEN AND THEN THE OTHERS I WILL SET
A SPELL THAT PREVENTS ONLY THE UNDEAD FROM
CROSSING BACK OVER THE THRESHOLD AND THEN
YOU WILL SET THE BAR ON FIRE AND LEAVE THEY
WILL BE TRAPPED IN THE FLAMES

“What the fuck!” This time the curse was Talon’s. “You

want me to burn the whole bar? You’re crazy. Why not just pour
gasoline on the vamps and burn them? Do it on the dance floor
slate tiles and you wouldn’t even scorch the place.”

THAT MIGHT KILL THE VAMPIRES MIGHT

BECAUSE THEY NEED A LOT OF FIRE TO COMPLETELY
BURN BUT IT WILL NOT SET ME FREE

“And burning the bar will?”
THE SPELL I WROUGHT WAS LAID WITH MY

BLOOD IN THE FOUNDATIONS OF THIS BUILDING
AND WRITTEN ON THE WOOD OF THAT LONG BAR

AS LONG AS THOSE LAST I AM TIED TO MY PLACE

PROTECTING ANY OF THE FAMILY WHO LIVE IN
THESE WALLS AND THE PLACE ITSELF IF IT IS EMPTY

IF THE SPELL IS NOT BROKEN I MIGHT BE

COMPELLED TO SAVE SAUL WHO IS MY BLOOD EVEN
NOW

“Shit. Fuck. But if we break the spell, what then? If the bar is

gone and the spell is gone, Great-Grandfather, what happens to
you?” Talon’s voice cracked a little.

I AM NOT CERTAIN HELL PERHAPS BUT THE

DJINN SAID

“Said what?” Ben asked when the letters had been still for two

minutes.

hosts

and

lames

SAID THAT PERHAPS IF THE BAR BURNS IT

RETURNS THE GIFT THAT I CLAIMED WHEN THOSE
MEN WITH TORCHES STOOD OUTSIDE TWO
HUNDRED YEARS AGO

THEN IF THE SPELL IS LIFTED AT MIDNIGHT AT

THE TIME OF THE SAVIORS BIRTH PERHAPS THE
GATES OF HEAVEN WILL BE OPEN

“That’s bullshit,” Ben said. “I’m sorry. I mean, in the first

place, we have no idea what day or when Jesus was actually born,
if he ever was born. And then midnight? Yeah, it will be midnight
here, but it’ll be like eleven in the morning in Jerusalem at the
same time. How the hell can that work?”

IT IS NOT THE TIME AND DAY IT IS THE FAITH
There was a long pause, so long that Ben wondered if the

two ghosts were having a religious argument. The mind boggled a
little, although, after all, who else had more at stake? Eventually,
the next comment formed slowly.

IF ALL AROUND ME PEOPLE OF FAITH ARE

FOCUSED ON THE BIRTH OF JESUS LOOKING TO
HEAVEN IN HIS NAME PERHAPS THAT FAITH WILL
LIFT ME UP

Ben had listened to enough shit from so-called Christians that

he couldn’t stop himself from asking, “So if it was Mohammed’s
birthday party, that might work too?”

The last thing he expected from a nineteenth-century

American was a hesitation and then, PERHAPS ELSEWHERE

“You’re willing to take a chance on being swept along by other

people’s faith?”

AND MY OWN WHY NOT IF THERE IS HELL THEN

THERE IS HOPE OF HEAVEN AND IN TRUTH I AM SO
TIRED

Ben stood up, pacing. “This is insane. There is no way this can

work. Talon, you can’t burn this bar, just because my crazy secret

Kaje Harper

friend’s invisible friend says you should.” A wineglass tipped off a
shelf to shatter on the floor. Ben snapped, “You stay out of this,
Grant. Talon?”

Talon was staring at his feet. When he looked up, his face

was lined. “Yeah, it’s crazy. This whole thing is crazy. Maybe you
and I are both headed for the loony bin together, and we’ll spend
the rest of our lives looping pot holders. But do you have a better
suggestion?”

Ben opened his mouth and then shut it. He did that a

couple of times. Behind the bar, slowly, shelf by shelf, wineglasses
shuddered, tipped, and smashed to the floor.

“Fuck,” Ben said. “Fuck, fuck, fuck. Stop it, Grant, someone’s

gonna cut their feet to pieces.” A glass teetered and edged back
onto the shelf.

Ben went to Talon and knelt beside his chair, reaching up to

cup the back of his head. He wove his fingers in that silky black
hair. “You really want to do this? You want to listen to the crazy
guy with the invisible friend? Maybe I’m some kind of telekinetic
and this is all a big parlor trick.”

Talon traced Ben’s mouth with one finger. “Why? What

would you get out of it? Anyway, I’ve been living like a prisoner
for two months already, with no end but death in sight. This place
isn’t much of a home with Mom dead and Abu gone. It’s been
more like a jail cell. And next missed payment, the bank gets it
anyway. If this is a hope, I say yeah, go for it.”

“For certain, Chair?”
Talon giggled. “God, you dork. We have to work on your

pronunciation. Yes, cher, let’s burn the fucking thing down in a
pyre for the dead. It fits. And we’re wasting time.”

Ben reseated himself. “Okay, Grant, ventriloquist-dummy

time again. What do we do?”

DUMMY YOURSELF
But the letters began swirling in a list of ingredients and

hosts

and

lames

supplies. Ben made notes.

§ § § §

The sun was touching the horizon as Ben let himself in the

locked front door of the bar. Even with Talon looking up sources
online, it had taken a lot of running around through the crowds
of holiday shoppers to find everything. Talon glanced up from a
seat at one of the tables and then threw himself on Ben, grabbing
him around the neck and hauling him into a hot kiss.

“Hey, watch the packages.” As Talon backed off, Ben set the

bags carefully on the table and stepped a safe distance away from
them. “Okay, try that again.”

Talon kissed him as if Ben had been off at war, and Ben inhaled

it, glorying in the welcome. “Jesus,” he said when Talon’s head
dropped to press against his neck. “Not that I’m complaining, but
what was that for?”

“I was worried. It was almost dark.”
“Grant had my six.” Once, Grant had given Ben a nudge out

there in warning. Although it turned out to be just a case of a
spilling extra-grande coffee. Still, if it had soaked the herbs, it
would have been a bad thing. And Ben had been vastly reassured
to know Grant was behind him.

“You got everything.”
“Yup. Good thing he said the herbs could be dried, though.

Or I’d still be looking.”

Talon kissed his neck and squirmed against him. “So do you

think we have time to celebrate before we get this show on the
road?”

“How old are you again?”
Talon pouted, pushing out his delectable lower lip. “Twenty–

three.”

Kaje Harper

“A mere infant. Patience, child.” Ben kissed him, and

somehow his hands were on Talon’s ass and his tongue was in the
man’s mouth, and this was not what he’d meant by patience. Ben
broke free with an effort. “God. Not that I don’t want to, but this
stuff sounds complicated, and I don’t want to become vampire
food because we took a nookie break.”

“Je m’en fous! I don’t care. Except I do. Damn. Okay, we

should eat and then get to work, right?”

“Right.” Ben stepped back and picked up the bag. “Lead on.”
It was probably a good thing, Ben reflected hours later, that

they’d shown some control. After a quick snack, they’d gotten
down to trying the things Mr. Viktor wanted done. There were
three spells and some prep work. The first spell was a doorway
spell, something that would stop vampires but not humans, to
trap them in the building. It had to be set up on every door and
window, and then triggered on all but the back door, which they
had decided to use for their bait. That one had to be set and ready,
to be completed with one small change, a single chalk line that
Ben could erase with one toe or Grant, in a pinch, could blow
away.

Those spells needed to be painted on with the herb-blend ink,

and they were finicky and precise. Ben ended up redoing Talon’s
first two, at Mr. Viktor’s insistence. After that, Talon just hung
back and handed Ben new paint brushes as they ran dry. Mr.
Victor triggered and approved them all. Ben eyed the drying loops
of crazy calligraphy that were the only outward signs he could see,
and hoped like hell the old ghost knew what he was doing. He
had a moment of panicked speculation that it was Grant who was
delusional. Maybe there was no Mr. V outside his dead friend’s
crazy brain. Except Grant didn’t exactly have a brain any more…a
touch of air brushing across his cheek pulled him back to the
present, and he shrugged off his doubts. This wouldn’t be the first
time he’d trusted a ghost to keep him safe, after all.

Then they set up a protection circle for Talon to stand in

hosts

and

lames

when the time came. Mr. Viktor said he could only take out
one vampire at a time, although he could do them quickly. He
thought he could protect one human but not split his attention
between two. Since Ben had to be able to stick his head outside
the door, that put Talon in the circle.

Talon looked down at the swirl of herbed paint, carefully

applied over the faint chalk line Grant had drawn. The circle
looked like some Celtic knot work, precise curves laced in a three-
foot arc with an open gateway. Talon scuffed his foot back and
forth through that opening. “Remind me again why we have to
risk Ben out there? Because I fucking hate that part of the plan.”

Letters on the adjacent table moved. ME TOO
Me three, Ben thought.
MR V SAYS FOR THE PLAN TO WORK THE VAMPIRES

MUST BE IN THE BAR

FOR THEM TO BE IN THE BAR TALON MUST

INVITE THEM IN

THEY MUST BELIEVE IT IS AGAINST TALON’S WILL

AND NOT A TRICK

HE MUST SEEM COERCED BEYOND BEARING

BEYOND THE DEATH OF A CHILD

WHAT OTHER COERCION WILL THEY BELIEVE
Ben and Talon looked at each other silently.
FUCK. Ben’s lip twitched, as the letters separated and

slammed together in emphasis. Grant seemed to be past minding
his manners with Mr. Viktor BEN, YOU COULD DIE

THEY MIGHT JUST KILL YOU INSTEAD OF USING

YOU AGAINST TALON.

WHAT IF THEY’RE HUNGRY WHAT IF THEY’RE

STUPID

Good question.

Kaje Harper

MR V CAN TALK ALL HE WANTS ABOUT THE ODDS

AND KNOWING KURT FROM DAYS GONE BY BUT HE
CANT BE SURE THIS WILL WORK

“No certainty in life,” Ben said, aiming for a light tone. “If

you don’t take chances, you can’t win. You used to say that to me
sometimes. Before the hang-gliding thing, as I recall.”

THAT WAS JUST AN ANKLE THIS COULD GET YOU

DEAD WE NEED A DIFFERENT PLAN I WONT LET YOU
DO IT

“Won’t? Don’t you think it’s my call?”
WHAT THE FUCK IS A GUARDIAN ANGEL FOR IF

NOT TO GUARD YOU FROM YOUR OWN STUPIDITY

“Now you’re an angel? And I’m stupid?”
IF YOU HADNT HOOKED UP WITH TALON WOULD

YOU BE DOING THIS

“Shit.” Ben scooped a handful of the letters off the table and

stalked toward the kitchen. “Talon, back in a minute.”

In the kitchen, he scattered the letters on the table. “Okay,

have at it. Tell me how sex has warped my judgment. Oh yeah,
sex you pushed me to have, by the way.”

SHT
NOT STUPD BUT
YOU COULD JUST WALK OUT N THE DAYTME
“They killed a child. And Talon is trapped. Would you just

walk?”

YOU LKE HM
“Yeah. Not enough to commit suicide, but enough to take a

chance. You set up the scene outside. I trust you to help.”

FUCK THATS WORSE
“Okay, smart guy. Come up with an alternative.” But in the

end, they had no better ideas.

The third spell was to stop Mr. Viktor for a moment. It would

hosts

and

lames

be tricky. They needed him active with the protection spells intact
to knock out the vampires. But then there would be that moment
when the fire had to start. And in his need to protect Saul and the
building, Talon’s great-grandfather wasn’t sure he could let the fire
be lit. He would have to be restrained for just a moment.

MR V WILL DO THE SPELLS FOR THE DOORWAY

AND THE CIRCLE WHEN THE TIME COMES

HE SAYS TALON HAS TO DO THIS ONE
Talon frowned. “Why me, specifically?”
YOU HAVE THE TALENT
“The closest I’ve come to doing magic was hypnotizing the

school half-back into lending me his jacket. And I think he was a
closet case. I don’t have magical talent.”

MR V SAYS YES GOES WITH THE GREEN EYES RUNS

IN THE FAMILY

“So why doesn’t he teach me something useful? A rain of fire

maybe? Avoid all this messing around. Just burn the suckers.”

KILLING WITH MAGIC DOOMS THE SOUL
“I’m willing to take that chance on my nonexistent soul.”
DONT BLASPHEME
Talon paced away from the table and back. “If I can do shit

that will avoid Ben sticking his neck out the door to be grabbed
by vampires, we should go for it. We can hole up here for however
long it takes to train me up. Not that I’m buying the idea that I
have this talent, but if he really thinks so…”

AND WHILE WE WAIT THE VAMPIRES WILL GROW

IN NUMBERS

A TRUE STUDY OF MAGIC TAKES YEARS AND A

LIVING MENTOR

“As opposed to a dead mentor and his translator?”
Ben reached out and pulled Talon close by one wrist. “What’s

worrying you most here?”

Kaje Harper

Talon glanced at him. “Besides this whole dumb house-of-

cards plan we’ve come up with? Besides the fact that we’re burning
my grandfather’s pub as a living pyre for my half brother? Oh, and
the fact that the whole thing depends on me having some hidden
talent that lets me put a spell on the ghost of my ancestor? Shall I
count the ways? Merde!”

Ben had to admit it sounded crazy, put together like that.
THE PLAN IS SIMPLE TRAP THE VAMPIRES AND

BURN THEM IF YOU DO NOT BELIEVE YOU WILL FAIL

“Great. Now this crazy shit not only has to work, I have to

believe in it.”

Ben moved behind Talon and ran his hands over the man’s

arms and up to his shoulders, rubbing and massaging. He used his
thumbs on the tight muscles at the base of Talon’s neck. You used
to do this for Grant when he got wound up out of control. It soothed
Ben almost as much as Talon. “Relax. Take a breath.”

“Easy for you to say, Mr. Not-green-eyes.”
“Just…” He was going to tease back with vampire bait, but

that part still had him freaked himself. And repeating it around
Grant was probably a bad idea. “If your ancestor says you can do
it, maybe he knows what he’s talking about. What does it hurt to
try?”

THIS PART WE CAN TEST AHEAD OF TIME IT

SERVES TO RESTRAIN ME NOT INJURE ME I WILL
KNOW IF IT WORKS

Talon leaned back into Ben for a moment. “Okay. Shit, okay,

what do I do?”

YOU SPEAK THE SPELL THAT HOLDS ME SO I

CANNOT SAVE SAUL IN HIS HOUR OF NEED

That one took an incantation, in Latin. And it was a bitch.

It had to sound right, but they couldn’t hear Mr. Victor say the
words. Grant’s efforts at phonetic correction with written letters
were apparently rudimentary. Ben suspected Grant was getting

hosts

and

lames

a different kind of earful in the pauses between attempts. In the
end, Talon kept at it until, finally, he was grudgingly approved.

THAT ONE WORKED MORE THAN THIRTY

SECONDS TO BREAK FREE LONG ENOUGH FOR THE
FIRE TO CATCH BEYOND MY POWER TO EXTINGUISH
IT

“Hallelujah.” Ben looked up from where he was busy with the

last task, soaking the bar and the front room with lamp oil. There
was a can of gasoline handy too, but the smell had been strong
enough they had decided against it. No way would the vampires
miss that. Thanks to the power failures, though, Talon had several
gallons of unscented lamp oil.

Talon took a sip from his water bottle. “One more time.” The

lines came from his lips like the sound of two cats fighting, but
when he was done, the letters on the bar swirled for several long
minutes and then moved to, YES

Ben glanced at the clock over the bar. Eleven-forty. All

through the city, people who still believed in that stuff were
heading to church. Or sitting there already, singing hymns and
thinking about birth and hope. While Ben prepared the fires of
destruction.

Talon came over and took the empty can out of his hands.

“That’s the lot, Ben. That’s all we can do.” He looked energized,
hopeful.

“I guess.” Ben turned to him, nuzzling in against his neck,

suddenly seeking comfort. “You know we’re going to end up dead
and burned to a crisp, right?”

“Speak for yourself.” Talon licked over his collarbone. “I

personally plan to survive this. And this time tomorrow, I hope to
be deep into some tutoring.”

“What kind of tutoring?”
Talon leaned close to his ear to whisper the particular skill he

thought Ben might need some homework in. Despite everything,

Kaje Harper

Ben moaned. “Holy shit, Talon. I want to get an A in that class.”

Talon laughed. “Cher, I’m going for an A-plus.”
Ben hugged him, their bare legs brushing. In a washtub by

the bar, their shoes and clothes soaked in water. On the bar, paper
squares flipped idly. Ben slid his arm around Talon’s shoulders and
drew him over there to look at the forming words.

IF YOU SCREW UP AND GET KILLED I WILL BE

MAJORLY PISSED

Okay, no doubts about who that was. “It won’t be your fault,

though. Remember that.”

BETTER NOT HAPPEN DONT CARE WHOSE FAULT
“I hear you.”
MR V SAYS THE TIME APPROACHES GET YOUR

BUTTS IN GEAR

“I’m betting that’s not exactly what he said.” Ben followed

Talon over to the washtub and they struggled into soaked denim,
soggy socks and water-saturated shoes. “You’re sure the fire won’t
hurt you, Grant?”

BEEN HIT BY A SEMI WITH NO DAMAGE REMEMBER
“Yeah, I guess.” He looked up at the empty air two feet above

those bits of white. “I don’t love you less because you’re straight
and dead, you know that?”

JESUS NO DEATHBED SPEECHES
And then the word “Jesus” was swiftly rearranged. SORRY

SIR

MR V SAYS WATCH OUR LANGUAGE AND GET

TALON IN THE CIRCLE

Talon moved to the slate scrap of dance floor where the

elaborate circle was drawn. He glanced at Ben, his eyes completely
solemn now, and then stepped in. He bent, picked up a piece of
chalk, and drew a smooth curlicue across the gap in the circle. Ben
didn’t feel or see a change, but the letters said, GOOD DONE

hosts

and

lames

Ben, in turn, picked up a white candle and carried it to

light a row of black tapers all along the bar. It was tricky, careful
work, with that bar coated in lamp oil. Despite his water-soaked
clothing, he stood as far as he could to touch wick to wick. Then
all the candles were lit. Ben took a last look around and pulled in
a shaky breath. His eyes found Talon’s.

Talon’s smile would have been sultry if his lip hadn’t trembled

a little. “Ready, cher? Remember, the rewards of success are kinda
salty.”

Ben glanced at the clock. Ten till the hour. Time to get this

show on the road. “Now, Grant.”

There was a long moment of silence. Then from right behind

the building came a loud clatter as Grant tipped the carefully
balanced trashcan lid they had set up. The clatter was sharp and
loud, a sound that a nervous man might well want to investigate.
Hands shaking, Ben hurried to the back door, opened it and
peered around it with just his head exposed, like a man who felt
safe because his feet were still on home ground. He had a moment
to think, won’t we look stupid if they’re not out here, before iron
hands gripped his shoulders and yanked him out and off his feet.

“Well, look who we have here.” Saul seemed even bigger close

up, and his breath held a charnel-house reek of old blood. “It’s our
Talon’s new buddy. You have a name, buddy?”

Ben fought the painful grip on his arms. “Let me go. Get your

fucking hands off me, or I’ll call the cops.”

“Call the cops.” Saul laughed. “That’s a good one. Didn’t

Talon tell you what we are?”

“Bullshit. He said some bullshit about vampires.” Ben was

proud that his voice was steadying.

“Bullshit, huh?” Suddenly Saul leaned forward, eyes inches

from Ben’s own. He hissed, openmouthed. A pair of long fangs
gleamed white in his upper jaw. “You hear that, Angie? We’re
bullshit.”

Kaje Harper

“I’m hungry.” Ben tried to turn at the whining female voice

behind him, but his full strength couldn’t move Saul’s hands.
“He’s warm. You should share him.”

“Now, angel.” That voice was older, with the inflections of

eastern Europe. Kurt. “We have a plan. Wait a bit. If the plan
doesn’t work, you can eat him soon. If it works…” The man
laughed softly. “Well, then, angel, you can eat him later.”

Ben fought harder, unable to stop himself. He really, really

didn’t want those two behind him. But Saul controlled him easily.

He was dragged back to the now-open door. To his left, the

kitchen stood dark and empty. To his right, the bar was bathed in
flickering candlelight. Talon stood where he belonged, chin up.
The writing on the floor was hidden in the moving shadows of
the candles.

“Go away, Saul.” Talon’s voice was admirably steady. “You’re

not coming in here.”

“No? But I have your new buddy here. Your fuck buddy, isn’t

he?” Saul flexed a hand on the back of Ben’s neck, shaking him
back and forth. “I happened to be around last night, outside your
window. He howls pretty good when you fuck him, doesn’t he?
Or was it the other way around?”

Ben gritted his teeth and refused to react. So they’d heard

him. At least it sounded like they hadn’t been able to fly up and
see in. It was no secret he’d fucked Talon. It just made their ruse
more believable.

Talon rasped, “Don’t hurt him. You know I won’t let you in.

Hell, you killed that little kid, and I didn’t let you in.” Ben could
hear real self-loathing in that statement. If they survived this, he
would be doing some work there.

“But you didn’t know the kid,” Saul said. “You know this one.

You like this one.”

“No. You can’t come in.”
“Oh, goodie!” The female vampire appeared at Ben’s other

hosts

and

lames

side, making him actually jump toward Saul. “Can I eat him
now?”

“Not yet, Angie. We’ll go slow with this one, give our little

Talon time to change his mind.”

Ben flinched, fighting hard, as Saul bent that cold foul mouth

to his neck. From the other side, the female clung to Ben’s arm,
and behind him, Kurt clamped a hand in Ben’s hair. This was the
part of the plan Grant had hated. And Ben wasn’t liking it much
himself. Mr. V had assured them that a vampire’s bite held no risk
beyond the loss of blood. It was drinking from the vampire that
made another monster. And if Talon gave in too easily, Kurt at
least would smell a rat. But that was no consolation as Saul’s teeth
broke Ben’s skin.

He had wondered how it would feel. Fictional accounts

ranged from agony to indescribable pleasure. But either they lied,
or Saul wasn’t bothering. Because it felt pretty much like being
a blood donor, a sharp poke or two, followed by a slow sucking
drain. He held still now, not wanting to worsen the damage. After
a moment, Saul straightened and licked his lips. “Gonna let us in
now, Talon?”

“Go to hell.” Talon was sticking to the script, but the pallor of

his face and the deathly set of his mouth went beyond acting. Ben
wanted to say something reassuring but bit his tongue. A flex of
Saul’s hands made any attempt at reassurance a lie anyway. Ben’s
heart pounded, and he suddenly, desperately, wanted to be back
safe inside.

Saul smiled at Talon. “Not convinced?” He turned to the

female. “I guess you get a turn, Angie.”

Quick as a striking snake, her mouth fastened on Ben’s neck.

And this time he did cry out as her fangs burned into him like
acid. She slurped loudly, sucking on him, and he swayed, feeling
dizzy.

And then Talon was shouting, “All right, all right, stop. Make

her stop, and I’ll invite you in. Make her stop now.”

Kaje Harper

“Stop, angel.” When the command did nothing, Kurt slid his

fingers between the woman’s lips and forced her off Ben’s neck.
Ben found himself leaning on Saul, his vision hazy, panting hard.
After a moment, he managed to straighten. Talon’s gaze bored
into him from across the room, and Ben managed a tiny finger
flick. I’m okay. Although it had been close. Grant must be livid.

All three vampires leaned into the doorway, Ben trapped

in front of them. Kurt’s grip on his neck was implacable as the
invisible force of the threshold gave around Ben but held the
others back. “Let us in now, kid. Or I won’t pull her off him the
next time.”

Talon’s eyes flicked once. Ben figured he was checking the

clock. And then he said, “You may come in. You may all come in.”

The vampires surged forward like a concert crowd when

the barricades give way. They burst into the room and swirled
apart. Kurt kept his hold on Ben’s neck while Angie headed for
the mirror, posturing in front of it, apparently fascinated by her
inability to see her own reflection. Saul stepped toward the bar.
“Christ, everything’s wet.”

Suddenly, Kurt dropped like a puppet with its strings cut.

Angie whirled back to the door and literally bounced off the
barrier that formed as Grant erased the extra chalk line. Saul
froze, eyes narrowed, and then he dropped too. Angie cried out
in a thin voice and leaped for Ben. Before she reached him, she
crumpled to the floor and lay still.

Ben looked at the three unconscious vampires and then at the

dark beyond the open door. Nothing moved.

“We have to do this now,” Talon said. “Two minutes till

midnight. And they’re gonna start waking up pretty fast.”

“Go.”
In a steady voice, Talon began the Latin chant of the last spell.

This time, Ben could almost taste it, like ashes and screaming
on the back of his tongue. Talon bit off the last word, clean and
sharp. “That should hold Great-Grandfather. Do it.”

hosts

and

lames

Ben dropped a candle on the oil-soaked bar and jumped back

as it flared. Two more candles into the corners of the room, and
the flames were rising fast. He grabbed Talon’s hand, hurrying
him away from the now-broken circle on the floor. They turned
toward the doorway, and then both froze. Standing outside the
doorway, leaning into the invisible barrier, was a man who had to
be the fourth vampire. He was short and stocky, with the build
of a muscular man going to seed. And in his hand he held a large
revolver.

“Don’t move.” His voice was cold. “I used to be a cop. I hit

what I aim at.”

“You can’t come in here.” Talon’s voice was shrill and shaky.
“Bet the bullet can, though.”
“Look,” Ben said, feeling the flames building behind him.

“You let us out, and we’ll let you in to rescue your friends.”

“I’m not one for friends,” the vampire cop said. “’Specially

those. Two stuck-up bastards, and the bitch was plain crazy. Let
’em burn. And you can burn with them.”

“You were a cop. This is murder.”
“Guess I wasn’t that good of a cop. Sure not one now.”
The fire behind Ben took on a roaring eagerness. He could

feel the shirt across his shoulders drying and beginning to scorch.
The air was thick with fumes. He dragged Talon forward a step.
If they charged the man, at least one of them might make it.
Grant had told him once how many people survived being shot.
Anything was better than the fire.

One more step. Ben saw the vampire’s finger begin to tighten

on the trigger. And then, suddenly, the vampire dropped to the
ground, rolling in pain. Ben tightened his grip on Talon, and
they ran for the door. At the last moment, he remembered to
grab his half of Talon’s stuff, bagged and ready on a hook by the
door. Talon grabbed the other bag, and they staggered out, almost
tripping over the vampire on the step. Talon paused for just an

Kaje Harper

instant in the doorway. “He can come in too,” he yelled, his voice
just short of hysterical. Then he tossed the backpack forward and
scribbled the chalk line to open the barrier back on the doorstep.

Ben bent to help him as they grabbed the vampire cop and

heaved him in over the threshold. The vampire fought, but his
movements were jerky and uncoordinated. Ben saw bloody fluid
trickling from one of the vampire’s eyes. Panting, wrestling, Ben
and Talon rolled the vampire in past the painted runes on the
floor. Talon reached out one shaking hand to wipe out the breaker
symbol, locking the monsters in again. The vamp turned, hissing
at them, and lurched up off the floor. He hit the doorway and
bounced. Mr. V’s imprisonment spell was holding.

Behind him, someone else rose unsteadily, but the figure was

indistinct in the growing inferno, and the roar of the fire drowned
out any voice. The vampire cop pressed his bleeding face to the
doorway, straining against the magic barrier, but it held.

A beam fell with a crash. Ben grabbed the back of Talon’s

shirt and hauled him farther from the flames. They staggered back
together, eyes fixed on that raging figure as the vampire clawed at
the doorframe, fangs bared and snarling.

Suddenly, the vampire in the doorway caught flame like a

torch. With an inhuman screech, he fell back. The barrier held a
minute longer, containing the flames like a video of an inferno,
safe behind glass. Then shreds of other burning material that was
not vampire began drifting out.

“Come on.” Ben gripped Talon’s arm. The younger man

stared, horrified and mesmerized by the pyre of his family home.
“Come on. We need to get out of here.” They staggered down the
alley, feeling the effects of heat and adrenaline and blood loss.

“What happened to that vampire?” Talon gasped. “When he

fell? I thought we were dead.”

Ben paused beside a shoulder-high stack of junk and retrieved

his gun from the ground. He showed it to Talon as he struggled
to compact the stand it was duct-taped to. “My own .22 caliber

hosts

and

lames

with a feather-light pull, put on a new ball-bearing camera stand.”
He checked the safety and jammed the thing into Talon’s bag.
“It’s the one weapon Grant can handle. We set it up aimed for
the doorway, just in case.” The recoil had dropped it off the stack
of concealing junk. They’d known Grant would get just one try.
“Although it almost took too fucking long for him to take the shot.
I’m parboiled.” They turned the corner into the crosscut alleyway
and stumbled in sudden complete darkness. Like breathable ink,
the dark closed in around them. Ben braced to run.

A dearly familiar voice at Ben’s elbow said, “That’s the thanks

I get for hitting his eye from thirty feet away?”

“Fuck!” Ben plowed to a stop. “Grant?”
Talon whispered, “That’s Grant?”
“Yeah, me.” For a moment, Grant’s voice was drowned out by

the peal of bells, high in a nearby church tower. Praises sing, for
unto Mary a child is born. The sound was rich and dense, running
through the marrow of Ben’s bones. “Listen,” Grant’s voice
continued in the sudden silence afterward. “Mr. V said to tell you
it worked. He’s free now. Don’t know where he’s going, but he’s
hoping… Ben, I’m going too.”

“What?” Wait, no, you can’t. Not yet. Ben closed his teeth on

all the selfish things he wanted to say.

“Going where?” Talon coughed, his voice raspy with smoke.
“Not sure either!” God, Ben knew that note in Grant’s voice.

New challenge, new adventure ahead. Grant was moving forward
full speed, like always. “Somewhere good, I think. Somewhere
fun.”

“I’ll miss you.” Ben swallowed and forced his voice to steady.

“But don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”

Talon’s arm came around Ben in the dark, pulling him in

against his slender, damp hip. Ben leaned a little, gratefully. Talon
whispered to the darkness, “I’ll take good care of him.”

“I know you will, kid. That’s why I can go.”

Kaje Harper

“I’m not a kid.”
Ben could almost see the teasing smile in Grant’s voice as he

replied, “Of course not.” The smile-sound faded. “Ben. I have to
go now.”

“Do it.” No second thoughts, no holding back. “Godspeed. If

you can where you’re going, remember me.”

“Always. And you forget me a little.” A wisp of touch brushed

over Ben’s temple and was gone.

“Never,” Ben whispered. Slowly, the unnatural darkness

lifted. The sky behind them took on the gold flickers of the rising
flames. The light reflected off grubby pavement and brick walls.
Not forget. But move on. Yeah, that he would try to do. The bells
pealed out again, ripples of climbing sound, ascending to the sky.
After a moment, the thin undulation of a fire siren joined them.

Against him, Talon shivered in his wet jeans. Ben led him

around another corner and then lowered the bag he was carrying.

“We can’t stop,” Talon said anxiously. “Even if the bodies

burn completely like Great-Grandfather said they would, I’ll be
wanted for arson as soon as the ashes cool.”

“You’re cold. You can take a minute to put on a dry jacket.

Then we’ll go to the hotel and get cleaned up and make some
plans.” His own neck hurt like a bitch, and leaning over was
making him dizzy. He squatted down, pulled out a warm fleece
jacket, and passed it to Talon.

“Thanks.”
He rummaged again and came up with the squishy bag. “And

here.”

“What?”
He ripped the plastic with his teeth, dipped in, and held out

one soft white confection. “Marshmallow.”

“You’re kidding me.”
Ben smiled, although the world swam a little mistily in

his eyes. “Quick calories. Grant’s idea. Got the bonfire, need

hosts

and

lames

marshmallows.” He popped one in his own mouth and stuffed
the bag in his pocket. “If you stack three of them, they look like
an edible snowman. That’s Christmasy, right?”

Talon choked a laugh. Then he half turned to stare back as

a crash sounded from the growing fire. Ben hefted the backpack
and put an arm around Talon’s shoulders. “Come on, my chair.
Eat some sugar. Forward momentum.”

Obediently, Talon stuffed the marshmallow in his mouth and

picked up his own bag. “Only if you promise to stop calling me
that until you can pronounce it right.”

“Might take a while.”
“Fine with me.”
That sounded promising. Ben strode forward quickly,

matching Talon’s long-legged stride. Behind them, a roof tile
cracked, releasing a stream of sparks. The glowing embers spiraled
upward, lazily following the currents of heat, flaming and then
dying away to ash that lifted ever higher. The sound of the bells
followed them skyward, peace on earth, all men rejoicing.

Ben hugged Talon a little closer and reached in his pocket for

another marshmallow.

About The Author

KAJE HARPER grew up in Montreal and spent her teen

years writing, filling binders with stories about what guys like
Starsky and Hutch really did on their days off. (In a sheltered-
fourteen-year-old PG-rated romantic sense.) Serious authorship
got sidetracked by ventures into psychology, teaching, and a
biomedical career. And the challenges of raising children. When
Kaje took up writing again it was just for fun. Hours of fun. Lots
of hours of fun. The stories began piling up, and her husband
suggested it was time to try to publish one. Kaje currently lives
in Minnesota with a creative teenager, a crazy little omnivorous
white dog, and a remarkably patient spouse.

THE TREVOR PROJECT
The Trevor Project operates the only nationwide, around-the clock
crisis and suicide prevention helpline for lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender and questioning youth. Every day, The Trevor Project
saves lives though its free and confidential helpline, its website and
its educational services. If you or a friend are feeling lost or alone
call The Trevor Helpline. If you or a friend are feeling lost, alone,
confused or in crisis, please call The Trevor Helpline. You’ll be able
to speak confidentially with a trained counselor 24/7.
The Trevor Helpline: 866-488-7386 On the Web: http://www.
thetrevorproject.org/

THE GAY MEN’S DOMESTIC VIOLENCE PROJECT
Founded in 1994, The Gay Men’s Domestic Violence Project is a
grassroots, non-profit organization founded by a gay male survivor of
domestic violence and developed through the strength, contributions
and participation of the community. The Gay Men’s Domestic
Violence Project supports victims and survivors through education,
advocacy and direct services. Understanding that the serious public
health issue of domestic violence is not gender specific, we serve men
in relationships with men, regardless of how they identify, and stand
ready to assist them in navigating through abusive relationships.
GMDVP Helpline: 800.832.1901
On the Web: http://gmdvp.org/

THE GAY & LESBIAN ALLIANCE AGAINST
DEFAMATION/GLAAD EN ESPAÑOL
The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is
dedicated to promoting and ensuring fair, accurate and inclusive
representation of people and events in the media as a means of
eliminating homophobia and discrimination based on gender
identity and sexual orientation.
On the Web: http://www.glaad.org/ GLAAD en español:
http://www.glaad.org/espanol/bienvenido.php

If you’re a GLBT and questioning student heading off to university,
should know that there are resources on campus for you. Here’s just
a sample:
US Local GLBT college campus organizations

http://dv-8.com/resources/us/local/campus.html

GLBT Scholarship Resources

http://tinyurl.com/6fx9v6

Syracuse University

http://lgbt.syr.edu/

Texas A&M

http://glbt.tamu.edu/

Tulane University

http://www.oma.tulane.edu/LGBT/Default.htm

University of Alaska

http://www.uaf.edu/agla/

University of California, Davis

http://lgbtrc.ucdavis.edu/

University of California, San Francisco

http://lgbt.ucsf.edu/

University of Colorado

http://www.colorado.edu/glbtrc/

University of Florida

http://www.dso.ufl.edu/multicultural/lgbt/

University of Hawaiÿi, Mānoa

http://manoa.hawaii.edu/lgbt/

University of Utah

ttp://www .sa.utah.edu/lgbt/

University of Virginia

http://www .virginia.edu/deanofstudents/lgbt/

Vanderbilt University

http://www.vanderbilt.edu/lgbtqi/

Document Outline

About The Author
Ghosts and Flames

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