Esperance || Paul Lahote

.xxviii.

"it's hard to sleep when your heart is at war with your mind."
w o r d c o u n t : 1,222

The moment he finished the last button on his shirt, Ezra could feel Paul behind him, rolling the sleeves up to his shirt. "You look good." Paul pointed out with a wolfish grin, pressing a soft kiss to his neck before nipping at the tender flesh. He brushed his thumb over the birth mark on Ezra's neck, sending a shiver down his spine. "We could just stay here for another hour or two." He persuaded. "We barely get any time with each other anymore."

Ezra ducked out of Paul's arms and pressed a chaste kiss to his cheek. "We really need to get going if we want to make this meeting." He snatched his jacket off the bed, shrugging it on as he slipped out the door.

Paul followed him, scooping Pads under his arm and carrying him out to the car. "Ezra," Paul sliced the tender silence, stroking Padfoot's clean fur absently. He had spent two hours the night before bathing Padfoot, his arms having endured the scratches to prove it.

They healed of course but it was almost like he could still feel the furry demon clawing him. "Talk to me." Paul attempted again.

Ezra's brows furrowed as he glanced over at Paul momentarily before his eyes returned to the road. "You alright?"

An exasperated sigh escaped Paul's lips. "Look, I'm not good with all this chick stuff and just saying this makes me feel like a pussy, but you've been different lately. What's going on? You've been working so much and you don't tell me anything."

"Boys can have feelings too, Paul." Ezra pointed out, hearing Paul huff loudly.

"You know that's not what I'm talking about! You're obsessing and it's unhealthy. You don't eat, you rarely sleep. You need to take a break. After this, I can ask Sam for a long weekend and I found a nice hotel on the San Francisco coast. Four days three nights." Paul offered, pressing his head against the headrest. "What happened to Nik was devastating and I want to catch the fuckers who did this just as much as you do. But not if it means you self-destruct. Nik wouldn't want that either."

Ezra pulled into the apartment driveway and pushed the gear into park. "Don't worry about me, darling. I'll be perfectly fine." He promised, pressing a kiss to Paul's cheek. "Now c'mon, the landlord wanted to meet in about five minutes and he didn't sound like the patient type."

Paul swallowed thickly. He knew Ezra was avoiding the conversation on purpose and simply brushing everything off to avoid a legitimate conversation and he couldn't tell why. He knew Ezra was hurting. They all were. But Ezra was hiding something. He could tell. Ezra was being shifty, dodging his questions and spending all his time working. He was so worried as Ezra was getting more and more distant and would end up getting hurt, or worse.

The landlord stood outside the apartment complex, clutching a small pink purse with two hands as she tapped her foot clad in shiny white kitten heels. She looked like a child straight out of a book, with golden blonde hair hanging in ringlets tied back in a flawless ponytail. She had light nylons underneath a pastel pink dress with a flared skirt that drifted like water as she bounced toward them.

She flashed them a white-toothed grin and jutted her hand out to Ezra. "You must be Thomas. It's a pleasure to meet you." Ezra shook her hand, unable to not smile back as she turned to Paul. "I'm Elyse Maddox," She introduced, shaking Paul's hand. Her voice had a twinge of a Southern accent, just enough to be endearing.

"This is my life partner, Jamie." Ezra smiled as Paul shook the woman's hand.

Elyse slipped her purse into the crook of her arm. "It's so hot outside, you two are going to have a glass of my famous lemonade. Follow me."

"That'd be amazing, thank you." Paul accepted, lacing their fingers together as they followed Elyse to her office.

"Sit right on down, I'll grab your mum's paperwork and be right back." She offered as the two sat down on the almond color couch.

"She seems nice," Paul whispered in Ezra's ear, his lips brushing slightly and sending shivers down Ezra's spine.

Ezra's tongue darted out across his lips as he nodded. "I think so too."

Before Paul could continue the conversation, Elyse brushed back into the room with two glasses of lemonade and a thin file. "There's not much here, I'm afraid but I hope it's enough. C'mon now, I'll show you to her flat."

Up three flights of stairs, Elyse led the duo to apartment 314 and dug through her keyring before determining the right one and unlocking the door. "Be careful now, Thomas. We don't want you gettin' all worked up." She grinned, patting his shoulder. "I'll leave y'all to it."

As soon as the door closed, Ezra shook off his tiredness. He had been getting three and four hours of sleep every night and it appeared as though it was starting to have its effect on him.

Ezra thumbed through her things, searching for anything sufficient. "Did you find anything?" He asked suddenly, turning to see Paul skimming through a stack of loose papers. "What's that?"

He pressed his tongue against his teeth and let out a hiss of air. "Looks like a bunch of rental records for different apartments across the country. All under different names. Peitho Vanegas, Atropos Vacante, Hecate Valen, Themis Vega." He listed, handing Ezra the papers. "All the last names start with V." He offered as Ezra skimmed through the documents.

After a moment he let out a shout of surprise. "Greek goddesses. Every single one of these are the names of Greek goddesses and this last one. Astraea. The Greek goddess of justice. This makes sense!"

Paul cocked a brow as Ezra scattered the papers out. "It does?"

"Yes. Yes! The chosen one is supposed to be the child of a Council member. Council members were the law bringers of the old times. They didn't just keep the witches in line, they kept every supernatural species in check. This woman, she's a Council member." His fingers drifted up to the necklace he hadn't removed since Niki died. The one with the message. "Look." He tugged the necklace from his shirt. "They said to look out, I assumed it was because of the Shades! But it wasn't. This was her, warning me about Aloysius. Her child must be the chosen."

Paul shook his head. "Ezra, slow down. You're not making any sense."

Ezra huffed, gathering the papers. "Oh come on, Paul. Don't you get it? Astraea Vos in the last ever Head of Council. Well, that's just her codename. She must have survived the trials of 1236 and had a child. It would have had to be recent to set the prophecy into motion but she must be around eight hundred. She's been leaving breadcrumbs this whole time. We need to find her kid."

Paul stopped him once more, a deeply disturbed look on his face. "Who's Aloysius?"