Monsters Under the Bed (15 page)

Authors: Susan Laine

It wasn’t until heavy footfalls, raspy gnarling, and a weight of unease settled close to me that I realized the house was silent once more—and the monsters had returned from their hunt, standing right behind me. “Should I, uh…?”
Turn around
, I finished the thought in my head. I sure hoped I wouldn’t have to.

Morpheus shook his head and wrinkled his nose. “Probably not the wisest idea you’ve ever had.”

I bowed in compliance. “I suppose so.” I studied the boy-god and went ahead with my story. Well, his story, really. “You poisoned yourself with cadmium in your lab so that the tests would point to the mescaline Cecil used to make you crazy.”

Morpheus nodded. “True.”

“Do drugs even work on you?”

“No. Good catch.”

“Then why did you ask Giulia for Bliss when you don’t do drugs?”

Morpheus giggled. “For your benefit, silly. For the investigator of my death. So that you would learn Giulia’s true nature.”

“Where did you go when you left Giulia’s place?”

He looked pensive and sad. “I went up the hill of Lincoln Boulevard, and waited there in the car. I wanted to give Cecil the benefit of the doubt. Of course, things don’t always work out the way you dream.” He gave a small chuckle at his own joke. “I prepared myself for death. It was a surprisingly calming experience, if you must know. I felt… centered.”

I had no idea how gods lived or died. “Can you even be killed or driven mad?”

Morpheus chuckled and shook his head. “No. I’m a phantasm, an illusion, a fantasy, a dream. No one has the power to kill a dream. No mortal, no god, no being in the multiverse.”

“So, you were never in any real danger?”

“I may not be killed, but I can be wounded by a mortal’s lack of dreams. Cecil is so shortsighted. He seeks only riches, for no other purpose but for the wealth itself. Beyond that he has no dreams. The incarnation of me that died, Mo Chance, was his flesh and blood. And it hurts when those who are your family don’t have faith in you, in themselves, or in something better. Does that make sense to you, Sam?”

I sighed. “In a way, I guess.” I gave him a hard glare. “You have to tell Giulia—um, I mean Nyx, and Kōjin that you’re not dead. They both worry about you a lot. They care about you.”

Morpheus smiled. “I will. I promise. I will give them something to dream about.” He winked as he said it, and I admit to feeling quite curious about what he had in store for his nearest and dearest.

I still had questions, even though I was worried about the level of patience of the huge deadly creatures at my back. “What about
my
dreams, Mo? The dream I had about you where much was revealed to me?”

Morpheus smiled. “Ah, your prophetic vision. Yes, I did that for you. I traveled with you in the realm of dreams. I showed you Kōjin and the shadow of Nyx. I gave you hints, but you did all the brain work.”

“Your riddles.
I’m the start of change and the end of ethic, and I’m never removed from clickety-click?
It took me a moment. It’s the letter
C
for Cecil.”

Clapping his hands together enthusiastically, Mo laughed. “Yes, that’s exactly right!”

“Well, that accounts for the prophetic dream I had. What about the healing after those goons beat me up? I dreamt about—”

“You are my emissary, Sam. I gave you the power to heal while you dream.”

That answered everything, but also lead me to the last part of the puzzle. By then I felt nervous and queasy, but I knew what still lay ahead, and it was something I had to face on my own. “About Haydn, or Hypnos….”

Morpheus sighed, looking unhappy and rueful. “What about him?”

For a moment I had to collect my wayward, hazy, swirling thoughts, and really ponder how to put it. Then I looked at his ring, and I found my voice. “Five years ago, when my partner Ford was shot…. When and why did you two decide to have Hypnos take his place? And where is the real Ford?”

Morpheus pursed his lips, practically pouting, looking ever so like a real boy. “Don’t be too angry with him, Sam. We saw you and your partner over a year before that terrible day, and Haydn…. He fell in love. He had never fallen for a human before. But you were perfect in his eyes.
Are
perfect. For the past five years not a day has gone by when he has not loved you, Sam.”

I smiled at that, happy, a weight lifting from my shoulders and from around my heart. It was Hypnos’s love that healed me in sleep. It was all crystal clear to me now. “I know. I love him too. I did physically want him before, but it wasn’t that man—the man with the bad habits and attitude—I fell for. It was always your brother. I’m ashamed to admit I didn’t realize it sooner. I think I probably should have when the pink, perfumed letter came, or when I had the dream. I should’ve known then I was being, well, if not manipulated, then guided toward the truth.”

Morpheus nodded. “Your partner was dying. Hypnos gave him another chance to steer clear of vice and falsehoods, to become a better man.” Suddenly, Morpheus sort of coughed, sort of chortled. “Well, when I say a better man…. Do you remember just before Ford woke up you were comforted by a pretty blonde candy striper?”

My eyes widened almost to the point of dropping out of their sockets, and my mouth fell open in shock. “That girl…? No way!”

“Yes way.” Morpheus winked and laughed wholeheartedly.

“Holy shit…,” I murmured, the absurdity of that past situation hitting me like a ton of bricks. “He kind of always did wonder how girls were able to not fiddle with their breasts all the time…. I guess he got to find out, huh?” Morpheus laughed wholeheartedly. “Mo, are you… dead?”

With a pensive look, he thought about that for a moment. Then he shrugged. “What is death but a dream? And I am a god of dreams.”

I nodded. “You can’t go back to being Mo Chance. You do know that, don’t you?”

He rolled his eyes. “Duh.”

“So, what will you do now?” I admit I was worried for his continued safety, and the invitation to live with me and Ford lay on the tip of my tongue.

“It is a fantastical world, filled with dreams. I shall… travel.”

From his wink I probably should have feared the worst, but I could not. I sensed no malice in Mo. After all, people owed much to him: The ability to dream, asleep and awake, and to create dreams of their own. “Will you be all right?”

Mo seemed pleased at my question, and his smile warmed my heart. “I have never had a mortal brother-in-law before. This should be quite a thrill. I wonder if you will recognize me when we meet again.” His head cocked to the side, as if he was puzzling something out. I didn’t even venture a guess. He was a god, after all, and a mischievous one at that.

Though he was not quite like my Ford.

And speaking of which…. “You should go now, Sam. I have things to take care of. But I will see you later, both in and out of this world.” He winked when he said it.

I didn’t know if he was talking about a Sunday lunch with the family, or at night when I dreamt, or after death in places I could scarcely imagine.

I supposed I was going to find out eventually.

I didn’t hug him good-bye. I was going to, but he shook his head, smiling softly. Maybe he wasn’t really here after all.

I blinked—and then I was downstairs in the hall.

Parkinson held up my jacket, out of respect, and feeling the same, I let him put it on me. “Thank you, Parkinson.” I faced him, with a question.

He bowed. “I will be fine, thank you, sir. It is promising to be a fine day. Best of luck on your journey.”

“And the same to you, my friend.”

I shook his hand. I thought I saw something shimmer in his eyes, a lot like moisture, but he stood straight as always. I said farewell and left the manor of Mo Chance, the god-boy who had been murdered by the greed of a human, and yet he lived on, in and out of dreams.

I knew I would never be back.

Journal Entry 16, the Chance Case: Closure

I
SAW
Ford leaning against the side of the car, his legs and arms crossed, and his stance appeared relaxed—but I knew better. As I sauntered closer, I saw trepidation in his eyes and how he worried his lower lip.

I stopped a few feet away at the curb. “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised to find you here waiting for me.”

His gaze lowered to the ground behind a thick veil of golden lashes. “I just thought you might need a ride, you know, back home.”

I smiled and chuckled, completely at ease. “Your timing could not have been more perfect even if by design.” His gaze popped up fast, wary. I closed the distance between us, working my way astride over his long legs, resting my hands on his hips that trembled more than a bit. “You look troubled.”

Ford swallowed hard. “I lied to you. I have lied to you a lot.”

I smiled. “No, you haven’t. Not really. You may have withheld things from me here in the waking world, but in the night, in our shared dreams, you were always honest with me. Oh, I always did sleep better with you at my side. With you, my god of sleep.”

Ford actually sniffled a little at that, and a ghost of a smile flashed across his lips.

I continued, just to distract him. “Your brother was, um,
is
a very… unusual person, Haydn. Or do you prefer Hypnos?”

Shaking his head, he said, “I like Ford.”

I caressed his cheek with my thumb, feeling his pulse through my palm on his neck. “You like this face, this body, this man?”

Ford smiled softly, leaning into my touch. “I like the way he is with you, you are with him, and how you see him.” Uncertainty blossomed on his face suddenly, fading the smile.

I kissed him tenderly. “It wasn’t Ford I fell in love with all those years ago. It was you, Haydn, Hypnos, new Ford. It was you. You in him, out of him, in my dreams. You.”

For a moment he blinked, as if unsure whether to believe me or not, but then the sun broke through the clouds, and his smile brightened up more than my day. It shone across my whole future yet to unfold. “I love you, Sam. I have waited eons for you.”

I kissed him, and his hands came around my neck, drawing me nearer, his whole body pressing against mine. Our breaths, our tastes, our heartbeats, all merged into one.

When he finally pulled back just enough to break our lip-lock, his hot breath fanning over my face, smelling of peppermint, his look was positively mischievous, reminding me of his brother. “Ready to go home, then?”

“Actually….” I stared off into the distance. “I think I want a hamburger and fries.”

Ford rolled his eyes but laughed. “Humans….”

Turning, he went for the passenger’s side door.

“I’ve had a bitch of a day, but you want
me
to drive?” I huffed, indignant but feeling mostly warm and cozy.

“Duh!” Again he rolled his eyes, as if stating the obvious. “I can’t very well drive
and
blow you at the same time.”

Oh, he had me there. “Good point.” Quickly I rounded the hood of the car and got in, turning the key in the ignition. I glanced at him with a warning in my eyes. “Nothing too intense on the freeway, got it?”

He sneered and snuggled into a more comfortable position on the seat as I eased the car into traffic. “Oh, I don’t know. I kind of like the idea of getting pulled over by all our former officer buddies and getting arrested for indecent—”

“That’s it. No more candy for you.” I was well aware I had snarled out the words.

Leaning close, Ford murmured in my ear, “That’s all right, babe. I have other sweets in mind at the moment….” His suggestive words were complemented by his right hand landing on my hardening cock, and he began a rough rubbing that turned my knees all rubbery. Thankfully, I was already seated. Unfortunately, my foot slipped on the gas pedal, and the car jolted.

A flash of white light hit my eyes from the windshield, reflected from Mo and Haydn Chance’s house, which seemed to be engulfed in a sphere of bright light. Then the mansion was gone, and in its place was a huge…

I blinked, incredulous. “Is that a jack-in-the-box?”

Ford snickered. “Maybe.”

About the Author

S
USAN
L
AINE
, a Finn through and through, was raised by the best mother in the world. She told her daughter time and again that she could be whatever she wanted to be. It still took Susan until her thirties to find the spark for serious writing when she discovered the gay erotic romance genre.

Her formal education revolves around anthropology, but she wishes to be a full-time writer sooner rather than later. Susan enjoys hanging out with her sister and friends in movie theaters and bookstores. Her other pastimes include walking, swimming, and fantasizing about sizzling hot manlove. Some of her likes are pop music, chocolate, and doing the dishes, and a few dislikes are sweating hot summer days, tobacco smoke, and purposeful prejudice.

Visit Susan’s web site at http://www.susan-laine-author.fi/ or write her an e-mail at [email protected].

By
S
USAN
L
AINE

N
OVELS

Falling for Rain

S
ENSES
AND
S
ENSATIONS

A Luminous Touch

Love in Plain Sight

Sounds of Love

The Sweetest Scent

L
IFTING
THE
V
EIL

Book One: The Wolfing Way

Book Two: Genie’s Wish