The Guardians of Gaia

Chapter Twenty-Eight

"I want Shade," Marshall whispered into Faust's mouth before kissing him passionately. He captured Faust's mouth with his again, slipping his tongue past the older man's lips. Faust pushed him off of him and Marshall rolled over onto his side.

The two were in Marshall and Theo's shared loft bought with the fortune Roarke had left them in downtown Northbury. Theo was dozing in his bedroom in another part of the penthouse while Marshall and Faust tussled in bed.

"What did you say, you crazy boy?" Faust asked.

"I said; I want Shade. Transform into that other creature and make love to me-" Faust slapped his hand over Marshall's mouth. Faust's cheeks and an area much lower flamed. He swallowed nervously and looked down at Marshall whose eyes burned with lust. He couldn't stand to touch the younger man's skin any longer; Marshall's smooth, warm skin was especially sensitive; eagerly anticipating any attention Faust would give it.

"Don't say things like that," Faust said. He was well aware that his true form was equipped for intercourse, he just wasn't sure if he would kill Marshall in the process. "You'd die."

Marshall pulled Faust's hand away from his mouth that was red from all of the kissing. He laughed huskily. "You're that big? Now I've got to have it. I can take you. I don't care if it's going to hurt. As long as it's you, I'll take the pain just for the pleasure."

Faust's entire body felt hot. The tension in the room built up to a point where Faust couldn't help but kiss Marshall. The younger man reached between Faust's legs and massaged him there causing Faust to gasp and grind his hips toward his lover.

Marshall freed Faust's member from its denim captivity. He bent down to kiss it but before he did he flicked his blue eyes up to look at Faust who moaned in anticipation. Marshall didn't make contact. His fingers brushed against Faust's skin but his mouth hovered centimeters away. His smile was smug. "Turn into Shade first."

Faust groaned, his posture deflated. He couldn't believe Marshall was acting this stubborn. "Did you ever see that viral YouTube video where some guy had sex with a horse?"

"What? Why on earth . . ." Marshall laughed. "No! When did that come out?"

"Like 2008 or so. Don't bother looking it up now, it's gotten taken down. Anyway, he ended up dying because the horse's johnson pushed his intestines all out of place and ripped up his body and caused all sorts of internal bleeding. That's going to be you. But it's going to be worst because then I can't explain how you ended up dying to the hospital."

"Go sleep on the couch." Marshall pointed towards the door. His face was a mask of seriousness. All his flushed arousal was beginning to drain from his cheeks.

"What?"

"I don't want you in my bed if we can't be together."

Faust stirred and woke up in his bed with a sharp intake of breath. He opened his eyes and was greeted by the dark teal walls of the Nap Room. Strands of his black hair stuck to his forehead, pasted with sweat. Another Marshall dream, he thought.

Ophelia's mother Odette believed in interpreting dreams. Whenever Faust came over Mrs. Colley started the conversation by asking "Have any peculiar dreams?" If Faust ever mentioned dreaming about teeth, about a marriage, about a baby, a grim look of darkness would pass over Odette's face as they signified death. I wonder what Odette would think about that, he wondered.

Faust ran his fingers through his bangs, pulling them back and then mopped the sweat with his t-shirt. He felt tired of dreaming about Marshall, all these strange dreams where they were lovers again. The thought of allowing Marshall back into his life like that, after Marshall attempted to kill him, angered Faust. Maybe if I splash my face with some water I'll feel better. He rose out of his bed and when he swung his legs over to the side he noticed from his lower back down, he was in his Shade form. The black scales on his legs winked back at him in the dim lighting, Faust wiggled the four clawed toes on each foot.

Faust's neck prickled with sweat. He tried to switch back into his human form then and his body morphed into his human form but his head transformed into Shade form.

"Dammit! Come on!" He pushed with all of his might, willing his cells to obey and take on human form but only his cells from his waist up listened. He let go and he felt his cells flow back into his Shade formation. My whole body just feels out of whack. I don't know what's going on with me, Faust thought. Maybe Ophelia will know how to help me . . . dammit, she won't know, she's not like me . . . but I need someone to help me. He hurried down the hallway to the War Room where Ophelia sat at the computer typing something into the search engine. At the sound of Faust sliding open the door she screamed and pressed the emergency stop button on the war room computer and all the lights shut off.

The darkness felt so good on Faust's skin. Involuntarily he melted into his shadow form and in the darkness of the room his shadow was all over the place, in every crevice and corner of the room. "Faust, you spider! Couldn't you say something when you got in here!?" Ophelia cried.

Before Faust had walked into the room, he caught a glimpse of the computer screen, and Commander Canada had been centered on it. "So you're into Commander Canada?"

"I am not!" Ophelia squawked. "I was doing research!"

"Research on his dong?" Faust's voice and laughter came from every point in the room like he was hooked up to a great surround sound system.

"You think you're just so funny don't you?"

Faust laughed again. "I'm just playing with you, Pheli, you know that."

"I just wanted to know if he was okay after I attacked him," Ophelia said quietly. "He wasn't even breathing when I was through with him."

Faust's curiosity was piqued. "You were never able to do that."

"I know. My powers have just. . . they've just gotten so much stronger. I'm a little afraid. I just lost my cool in front of him, I almost killed him." Ophelia sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. She frowned, her eyes focused on a clump of dust skittering in the warm breeze coming from the computer's hard drive. "Well this isn't entirely unprecedented. My powers get stronger the older I get. So I think that's what it is."

A wave of nervousness washed over Faust's being. Maybe that's what this was, but an inverted version of what Ophelia experienced. Instead of getting more powerful he was growing weaker and weaker the older he got. Faust gulped. That would explain what he did to Marshall. That would explain why he couldn't control himself anymore.

"Ophelia, I think I'm losing control of my powers."

Ophelia was creeped out by the experience of having Faust all over the room. His voice didn't come from one point in the room but felt like it was coming from all directions akin to the voice in her head. "Why do you think that?"

"I just lost control of my ability to control transforming."

"How'd you figure that out?"

Faust would have shrugged if he was a solid figure. "I just woke up and I was in my Shade form and I can't go back now. Maybe I lose more control over my powers as I get older. Look what happened to Marshall plus what's happening now."

"Could be," Ophelia shrugged. "What are you going to tell Canadian Tire?"

Faust materialized in the centre of the room. He was himself for the briefest of moments before his lower half transformed back into Shade. Faust cursed and ran a hand through his hair. "Bereavement," he said firmly. And in a way it was a bereavement. He had lost the crucial ability to keep two sides of his world from mixing, from colliding with catastrophic results. Had he lost the ability to be himself? Faust wondered which embodied his true self; his creature legs or his human torso.