H is birthday day was turning out perfect. Liam's
breath quickened when he walked down the
steps from the bedroom. He'd never seen quite the
openness of Aiden's soul in the man's face before. To
make him smile, Liam turned around, modeling his
outfit. "Do you approve?" he asked with a smile.
"You'll do." Aiden shrugged as he struggled to
keep from ripping the clothes off the young man who
stood a foot in front of him.
"That's it?" Liam laughed. He leaned up and
kissed Aiden quickly before moving to the birdcage.
"Hey Frances, any ideas yet about what we should do
with you?"
Frances was lying on a makeshift bed fashioned
from a pile of tissue. He was eating pieces of apple
and watching a movie on Liam's IPod. "Keep the
fucking cat away from me." He said with a glare.
"I let you visit with your wife."
"She's pissed with me. She had no idea what I
was doing, so don't bother bringing her here again."
346 Magical Moonlight
Frances refused to turn from the movie to talk to
Liam.
"Okay, fine with me. It was a pain in the ass
anyway." Liam turned. "We're going out. I'm sorry,
but Ty will be guarding you."
"That fucking cat is psychotic. It spends hours
staring up at the cage from the counter or down at the
cage when it's in the rafters. It's just weird."
"It's a cat thing. He knows he's not supposed to
eat you. So get over it and think of this stay as a short,
but not too comfy, vacation from real life."
Liam linked his arm through Aiden's. "This date
thing is kind of cool. Have you decided where we're
going for dinner?"
"Of course I've decided. I made the reservations
myself." Aiden couldn't resist and swept Liam into his
arms for a mind-melting kiss that left them both
breathless. "Maybe we should stay home." He
whispered his voice husky, but he knew he wouldn't.
This night was all about Liam. "Come on witch boy,
your night awaits." He pulled open the door to the
apartment to let them both out. Closing and locking
the door, Aiden made sure to put a spell to keep out
any intruders. Magic was occasionally justified.
When the two couples arrived at the concert, you
could almost smell the excitement in the air. Neither
Aiden nor Liam were particularly interested in a
stringed instruments concert. But the whole idea of a
night out, as a date with Vanessa and Rosalie, was
what kept the excitement up.
ER Bryant 347
"The guy with the flamenco guitar thinks he's
pretty damn special." Aiden snorted behind his hand
to Liam who shushed him with a look. They sat in one
of the better seats in the small concert room at UBC. It
enabled them to have a clear view of the stage, though
Aiden envied the ones who had managed to get seats
behind the support pillars. At least they could sleep.
The concert was longer than the boys wanted.
Liam amused himself sketching the guitarist on the
edge of his program. At least he looked interested
which was more than Aiden did. The man didn't even
pretend he was listening to the concert. Instead with
closed eyes, he quietly snoozed the evening away.
When the concert was over, Liam said. "How did
you do that?"
"Do what?" Aiden asked puzzled.
"Sleep without sleeping and wake up the moment
everything is over."
"Ahhhhh, years of practice when I was forced to
attend my mother's version of worship of her
imaginary friends at the local Church." Aiden
laughed. "I could catch up on my sleep and yet play
the role of the dutiful son."
"You were a brat, it's a wonder she still puts up
with you." Vanessa laughed overhearing Aiden and
Liam. "I'll have to ask her what you were like as a
small boy. No doubt Shay is like his daddy."
"But he's tempered with you." Rosalie smiled and
kissed Vanessa's cheek. "So he won't be all that bad."
"Gag me with a spoon." Aiden muttered. "We
have dinner reservations."
348 Magical Moonlight
"We can't leave now, we need to talk to the
guitarist, Ashley." Vanessa said.
"Who in hell is Ashley?" Aiden asked.
"Ashley Hicks, the guitarist." Liam giggled,
sending shivers down Aiden's spine. "Remember, we
were at his concert."
"Oh, him. He's hinky." Aiden dismissed the
artist.
"Hinky?" Rosalie snorted. "Meaning he isn't
interested in you?"
"No, meaning there's something about him that
gives me an uneasy feeling." Aiden glared. "I don't
like him."
"You don't even know him." Rosalie began; they
didn't notice that Liam was talking to the artist in
question.
"I saw you watching me." Ashley began.
"I was drawing you." Liam showed him his
program.
"Hey, you're good." Ashley beamed. Everything
was unfolding the way Brad Chambers had predicted.
The red head was under the spell of his guitar music.
Ashley smiled, his smile filled with evil, but an evil
that Liam couldn't perceive. Zane Chambers was a
powerful Wahjee and while he'd been banned from
using his powers on humans or Wahjee, he hadn't
been banned from using it on things such as guitars.
"Can I see that?" Ashley asked, reaching for the
program. Chris had told him it was necessary to get a
piece of Liam's art, preferably something he'd done
while under the guitar's spell. Liam put his heart and
ER Bryant 349
soul into any artistic endeavor. Zane's spell would be
more powerful if he had a piece of the red head.
"It's just a few doodles." Liam said as he handed
the program to the musician. "I can do better."
"I like it. Can I keep it? It's the first time anyone
has cared enough to put my face on paper." Ashley
was already tucking the program into his guitar case,
not waiting for an answer.
"Sure." Liam shrugged.
"I've come to claim my boyfriend." Aiden said,
his voice smug as he put his arm around Liam's
shoulder. His eyes found Ashley's and he almost said
something when he looked into the blankness that was
the musician's soul.
"Aiden." Liam beamed, his smile lighting up the
room. Aiden had called him his boyfriend. He'd never
done anything like that before. The black magic that
had been woven with Ashley's guitar music retreated
under the onslaught of Liam's joy. "Ashley, this is
Aiden." He introduced.
"Lee, your music was rather interesting." Aiden
said between gritted teeth.
"Ashley, Ashley Hicks." The musician glared.
"Whatever." Aiden steered Liam around away
from Ashley. "Time for dinner, birthday boy." He
kissed Liam thoroughly, feeling the glare of hatred on
his back from the slimy banjo player.
Liam could never resist Aiden's mouth; all
thoughts of guitar music left him as he melted into the
older man's mouth.
350 Magical Moonlight
"There you two are." Vanessa said. "Rosalie and I
were looking for you. Aiden, didn't you say
something about reservations."
Aiden looked up from Liam's lips., his trademark
smirk in place. "I'm ready."
"Me too." Liam said, but it was apparent that
what the two of them were ready for wasn't dinner.
"You two can do that anytime. I want to eat. And
Liam, it may be your birthday, but you should expand
your horizons to more than Aiden's cock." Rosalie's
acid words didn't bother Liam, he was used to her.
"I would like to finish this date." He said looking
up at Aiden. "I'm not sure when I'll get another one."
The four left the concert room. Rosalie, Vanessa
and Liam, unaware of the glare of hatred from the
guitar player. Aiden on the other hand, was all too
aware. He was going to have to keep an eye on his
witch boy, because for some reason, Liam had no clue
how dangerous Ashley Hicks was. But in time he
would find out.
Two days later, Liam took a short cut through the
music building on his way to the main office of UBC.
He hadn't been planning on seeking out Ashley Hicks,
but as soon as he crossed the threshold, the haunting
strains of guitar music caught his attention, pulling
him up to the second floor to stand in the music room
door and watch the young musician play.
"Hey." Ashley said with a sly smile when he
caught sight of Liam. "I wasn't expecting to see you
today."
ER Bryant 351
"I wasn't expecting to be here." Liam grinned. "I
liked what ever it was you were playing."
"I was thinking of you. You inspire me." Ashley
let his hand linger on Liam's arm.
Liam shivered and moved away. There was
something strange about the man.
Ashley couldn't help but be pleased that his guitar
had once again worked its magic on the beautiful red
head. He hadn't believed Brad Chambers about this
magic stuff, but now he did, or at least now he
somewhat believed. Magic was a thing of fairy tales
and bedtime stories, not real life.
Real life consisted of pain and anger and drunken
abusive parents who did their best to sap the very life
out of him. He'd hungered for serenity when he was a
child; only discovering as he approached his teens that
he could become lost in the mysterious music a guitar
was capable of. Taking music as an elective in his
ninth grade had introduced him to the power that
could be woven with the right talent and touch.
On his way to the music scholarship that had led
him to UBC, Ashley Hicks had lost all ability to love,
to be kind, to even care about anyone other than
himself. If getting ahead and becoming rich and
famous, meant stomping on Liam Taylor and
destroying him, then so be it. That's what would
happen. The Chambers family had guaranteed that
Ashley would have the richness and recognition he so
desperately craved.
"We could go for coffee." Ashley began, his
voice suggesting much more than the black liquid. "I
352 Magical Moonlight
know of a good place that's quiet, we could talk and
get to know each other."
"Yeah, right." Liam looked at him curiously.
"You did notice my rather handsome boyfriend the
other night didn't you?" He asked. "I'm not so sure
Aiden would be all that thrilled with our getting to
know one another."
"Oh, he controls you does he? I mean in this day
and age, most young men, as talented and good
looking as you are, would certainly be able to speak
for themselves." He shrugged and turned away. "To
each his own." He muttered.
"Aiden doesn't tell me what to do." Liam glared
at the guitarists back. "I'm my own man." He thought,
well sort of, I just don't like to piss Aiden off, much.
"Then we can go for coffee." Ashley beamed,
though the smile never reached his eyes.
Liam, who noticed everything about everyone, it
was the artist in him, wondered how someone could
walk and talk and breathe and have eyes as dead as
two pieces of coal.
And yet there was something that made him want
to stay. He knew that Ashley wasn't Wahjee, so it
couldn't be magic. "Uh look, I have to go." Liam
began to back out of the room. Maybe we'll have
coffee another day."
"If your daddy lets you." Ashley mocked.
Liam only shrugged, turned and walked out the
door. He wanted to run fast, just to get away from the
man in the music room. But he refused to show he was
unnerved.
ER Bryant 353
Aiden knew something was wrong as soon as
Liam walked through the door. He didn't say
anything; Liam was unable to keep secrets for long.
He knew it was only a matter of time. "Hey." Aiden
said from the treadmill where he was just cooling
down. "You have a parcel."
"I do?" Liam headed for the counter where a
brown paper wrapped box sat. "What is it?"
"Much as I'd like to have x-ray vision, I don't."
Aiden huffed.
"Asshole." Liam muttered absently as he studied
the package.
"Open it." Aiden commanded.
"I'm going to. What if it's a bomb?"
"Considering it's from the hotel we stayed at
when we were at the White Party in Palm Springs, I
highly doubt it. They'd never get return guests."
Liam glared at him as he carefully removed the
tape that closed the ends of the parcel. "Oh cool, it's
the bouquet I caught. You told me it was lost."
"Well it was lost, but sadly it's been found."
Aiden turned away from the red head to hide his
smile.
"You have a fucking wedding bouquet?" Frances
snorted. Ty was lying on top of the cage, perfectly
relaxed, an arm dangling inside only inches from
Frances. Since Aiden had ordered the cat to not injure
their captive, Frances knew he was safe. A Wah cat
never disobeyed its owner. "What a waste of flowers,
two men don't get married."
354 Magical Moonlight
"Well, we could, it's legal in Canada, we could
have a marriage ceremony like Rosie and Vans." Liam
volunteered, dreamy eyed as he stared off into space.
"Don't hold your breath cousin. Aiden Mac
Ruaidhri is not the marrying kind no matter what the
High Council might demand of him." Frances stood
up to pace the length of his cage, but a cat claw tapped
him on the head making him sit down again.
"No one tells me what to do." Aiden glared,
taking the bouquet from Liam's hand. "Who the fuck
do you think asked the hotel to find this and send it to
Liam? I knew it was important to him. It represents an
ideal that he and yes, me, that we need to have to live
in this crazy world. I don't know if we'll ever be
married, but I do know this, we'll always be together.
We don't need rings or public vows of devotion to
love one another."
"You love me?" Liam asked in awe.
"Just what the fuck is love Liam?" Aiden asked as
he turned the bouquet over and over in his hands.
"Can it be found in a bouquet of flowers, or two bands
of platinum?" he shook his head. "Love is so deep
inside you it's part of your genetic make up. You
either have it or you don't. It's like hearing or seeing.
Only it's small, so small it can't be seen and it needs
to grow into something. It needs nourishment while
you grow into a man; it takes years of soft touches,
kind words and all around peace to grow from that
tiny spark. Some of us aren't so lucky. We don't have
that in our lives and the spark of love almost dies out,
in some cases it does and once it's gone, it can't ever
ER Bryant 355
be lit up again. My spark was dying when I met you
Liam, though you tell me I'm wrong. All I know is
that since you came into my life, I find I am capable
of love. It might not be a raging flame yet, but it's a
hell of a lot bigger than an almost extinguished spark."
Liam stood stunned and then he ran and threw
himself into Aiden's arms. "I am so happy I think I
might explode." He whispered into Aiden's neck.
"Don't explode, it would be messy." Aiden
teased, but his arms went around the boy and he held
him tight, as if afraid he would disappear.
"Give me a fucking break here." Frances yelled
from the cage. "I want to go home. I don't need to
watch this endless soap opera that's your life." Ty
yeoweled. "And get this fucking cat off the cage. He
knows he's not supposed to be this close to me."
"Right, I forgot about you. Mom said she'd keep
you for a while. After all, you're more her relative
than mine." Liam snuggled closer to Aiden if it was
possible to be closer. "She'll come and get you later. I
think she's taking you back to your wife. After all the
two of you did exchange vows, you know, for better
or worse, tiny dick or big one." He snickered. "Don't
worry, mom's working on a spell that will keep you
quiet and out of my hair. And then she's going to go
to the council about the watcher system. You do know
they aren't supposed to kill the Wahjee that they're
watching, don't you. Because apparently you managed
to get the rules wrong."
Aiden snapped his fingers and turned on some
music. He dimmed the lights in the loft as he began to
356 Magical Moonlight
dance Liam around. Catching on to what Aiden was
doing, Liam let his small spark lights loose like he had
on the last night of the White Party; when together;
they'd caught the bouquet.
"Remember that night?" Aiden asked, his lips
close to Liam's ear as they danced to the beat of
familiar music. "You were radiant all in white. Who
knew silk gauze fabric could be such a turn on?" he
licked Liam's ear before kissing it, followed by a
nibble.
"I thought you were an angel." Liam grinned. "I'll
never forget how you looked in those white linen
trousers. Your cock was outlined perfectly. All the
guys there wanted to taste it like it was some kind of
lollypop." He snickered remembering. "And you said
that it was my lollypop for that weekend, no one
else's. Which when you think about it, was kind of a
romantic thing to say, considering."
"Or I wasn't thinking right because of the booze."
"You weren't drunk Aiden. You never get drunk,
you can't get drunk. You pretend you do, but you
really don't. Cause if you did, you'd be like your
father and you refuse to be like him. I do know your
secret identity."
Aiden continued to dance with his red haired boy.
What Liam said was true, but Liam was the first and
only person to actually discover his act. What did that
say about the family and friends who had been around
him since he was a teen? "You know what witch
boy?" Aiden purred into Liam's ear. "If anyone is
ER Bryant 357
going to know my secret identity, you are the one I'd
want it to be."
