BLOOD DREAM (Ongoing)

7.3: All Dogs Are Boys And All Cats Are Girls

Though Theron expected his newfound misery to keep him up, he passed out shortly after 1 AM on the floor of the downstairs bedroom they left him in. Hector took over securing Theron's ankles with zip ties, then tying him to the bar in the closet, five feet away from the locked and curtained window. He wasn't gentle. He left Theron with the rope around his wrists connected to the closet, without water or his phone, suffering as his drunkenness dried up into a hangover.

When he stirred next, there was red sunlight spilled over the floor. Insects chirped and trilled outside. Theron winced, swallowed, and was grateful he hadn't accrued any injuries, then pissed off that he was in this condition in the first place. Liam did this to him.

Theron sat up against the wall, smothered his pride, and yelled. "Hey!" his voice hoarse, "Anyone awake? Your boy's thirsty..."

He received silence for the first few minutes. Theron considered making a ruckus, but then footsteps brought somebody to the bedroom door. When it opened, there was Nora frowning at him. "Why'd you have to do that? I almost forgot you existed."

"Sorry my existence makes you unbearably horny," he drawled.

Nora sneered. "Hah! You wish, dog breath! It's extremely bearable!"

"Well, I'm a little dehydrated. And you know what happens to your muscles when your body sheds all its water weight, right?" Theron slid down the wall, sluttily dragging his shirt up.

"Nice try!" Nora spun out of the room. "They warned me about your mind games."

Theron slouched against the wall, abdomen still exposed. "Who's they?"

The tap ran, then Nora came back with a glass of tepid water. "Who do you think?"

Theron's hands were tied. He stared at the glass, dead-eyed. "Liam?"

Realizing that he was actually quite helpless, Nora rolled her eyes, set the glass down, and crouched beside him. She snipped the zip tie around his wrists, but he knew she had more stashed in the utility belt on her hips. Theron sighed, relieved to have his arms back, and greedily drank his water. The rope remained around his wrist.

"Are you two really a couple?" she asked nosily.

"No."

"Then what was that totally heterosexual mouth kiss about?"

He hated Liam. He'd started feeling the exact same way about him that he felt about Sadie. The desire for attention, the hunger for touch, the need to control him and assert possession. Except the toxic underpinning of it wasn't obsession, like with Sadie. With Liam, it was jealousy. "That was him being a prick," muttered Theron.

"Yeah, that checks out. He did hand you over to Dire hunters," said Nora. She reached around him, fastening his wrists again.

He didn't know what he felt about Liam anymore. "Wait," beckoned Theron. "What time is it?"

"Almost 7 AM."

"I have to work at 5. Can I... do that?"

Nora tilted her head. "You want to go to work?"

"Nobody wants to work, Nora."

"It's Nettle."

"But I have bills to pay."

She scoffed. "Not for long."

"I have a family to support."

"My sources suggest your sister will be fine without you."

"I really don't want to lose my job."

Nora sighed loudly. "Fine, we'll see if Hector doesn't have something else lined up."

"I'm not doing anything for you until I talk to Daveau. You may as well let me work instead of babysitting me until then," said Theron.

"Wow. You must think you're the most persuasive son of a bitch in the whole world, huh?" Nora planted her hands on her hips. "Don't push it, dog boy."

"Or you'll demote me back to dog breath?"

Nora towered over him, taunting him with a foot on his chest. "That's right, dog breath." She reminded him of Sadie, but it surprised him to find a lack of malice in Nora's taunts, only playfulness. Theron hoped it was the influence of their make-out session. Nora smirked and abandoned him in the room.

The hunters later grilled him on his intentions of wanting to go to work, but Theron only reiterated that while he was still in the city, he had obligations. It wasn't like he could disappear; he was going to be at the same empty building overnight that he always was. They could sit in a car and spy on him. He even pointed out a spot for them to park their car. And when they relented, he hoped it would be Nora accompanying him, but the hunters agreed that leaving Nora alone with an untied Theron was asking for disaster. On Friday, Hector accompanied him to his house while Kitra was still at work. His car was gone, so he assumed she took it. Theron showered and ate properly, but not enough, and was dropped off at his building with an underlying hunger that tormented him all night. The itch of craving transformation wormed under his skin. So did the anxious impulse to chew his fingers. He thought about trying to see Kitra, but there was no reason for the hunters to let him go back home now that he had a duffle bag of belongings. On Saturday, it was Bard with him, then Sunday it was Hector again.

At 4 AM, Hector's gun was against his back as they trudged through the door. On the sofa, a lump under a blanket stirred and Nora peeked at them over her shoulder before rolling over. Theron glimpsed her just as he was shoved into the bedroom. He sagged to the floor thinking of how nice it would be to sleep on a sofa, then that it would be even nicer to hold somebody against his chest while he slept. The thought he drifted away to was fingers in his hair, his head on somebody's shoulder while they kissed his temple.

The days blurred together after Sunday, but Theron was pretty sure it was Tuesday when Nora burst into the room, excited. "Guess who finally got a hold of Dr. Daveau," she declared. "I hope you're ready for a field trip, dog boy."