Justice Keepers Saga - Books 4-6

Chapter 4-2

Ben looked up at his boyfriend with resolve on his face. “You"ve been nothing of the sort,” he said, backing away. “It disgusts me that your family would turn their backs on you for something so trivial.”

“Yeah.”

Crossing his arms with a huff, Ben hung his head to avoid eye contact. “I know we talked about this before,” he said. “But maybe it"s a good time to think about leaving all this behind.”

“You mean moving to Leyria?”

Lifting his chin, Ben squinted at the other man. “Can you think of one good reason to stay?” he asked, shaking his head. “If the people who are supposed to love see you as some kind of outcast, then what"s the point?”

“It"s not that simple, hon,” Darrel muttered. “I mean…What would I do if we moved to Leyria?”

“Whatever you want.”

“Just like that?”

“Just like-”

He cut off at the sound of footsteps approaching. You didn"t have to be a Justice Keeper to know when someone was coming up behind you; you only had to develop an attention to detail.

Jack approached with hands in his pockets, head bowed as if he was afraid to make eye contact. “Hey, Darrel,” he said softly. “I was just thinking. We don"t get to see you all that much. You should come out with us more often.”

The flush painting Darrel"s cheeks intensified until it seemed as though he might catch fire. “Thank you,” he said. “I really appreciate the offer.”

“I"m gonna turn in, guys,” Jack said. “Long day tomorrow.”

They exchanged their good-byes, and then Jack went through the door, leaving Ben to sort out this latest bout of relationship drama. Right then, he couldn"t have been more thankful for his friend"s sensitivity.

Closing his eyes, Ben took a deep breath. “Just promise me you"ll consider it,” he said, turning away from the other man. “I think you"d live a much better life on a world where you aren"t treated as a degenerate.”

When he opened the door to his apartment, Jack found only darkness waiting on the other side. Every wall and surface was visible to him despite the lack of illumination, and spatial awareness allowed him to perceive Spock waiting just inside the front door.

The big orange tabby sat with his tail curled around his legs, his front paws together as he stared up at Jack. Of course, he didn"t make a sound; he only waited patiently with that imperious stare cats inevitably mastered.

Turning his face up to the ceiling, Jack squeezed his eyes shut. “Hey, buddy,” he said, stepping into the apartment and shutting the door behind him. “Have you been a grumpy boy? All by yourself with no one to lavish attention on you?”

He dropped to one knee.

Spock approached to slam his forehead into the palm of Jack"s hand, nuzzling him over and over. Cats…From what Jack had read, this was actually an attempt to mark him as property by rubbing scent glands all over him. Maybe. He had a feeling that the people who wrote those articles had a distinct canine bias.

After all, the biological purpose of s*x was the exchange of genetic information for procreation, but that didn"t mean the emotions involved weren"t legitimate. Spock adored the humans in his life; you only had to spend two minutes with the little guy to realize it.

He got to his feet.

Jack shuffled through the long hallway with his arms hanging limp, frowning down at himself. “You"re gonna miss me,” he said, glancing back at his feline companion. “I"m gonna be gone for a little while.”

He approached the first door on his left only to find it open. Odd…he always kept it shut to prevent Spock from napping on his bed and leaving fur all over the place. So why was it open now?

He peeked inside.

The darkness was no impediment to a man who had Bonded a Nassai, and he could easily make out the lump lying under the covers of his bed. A moment later, his would-be girlfriend sat up with a grunt. “You"re here,” she said, touching a hand to her forehead. “I had intended to wait for you, but it seemed as though you were going to stay out all night.”

She held the covers to her chest with one hand and shook her head as if trying to clear her mind of haziness. Was she n***d under there? It occurred to him that he might have ruined what could have been a very nice surprise.

“Ben"s having some troubles with his boyfriend,” Jack explained. “Seems the guy descends from a long line of bigots.”

“Is there anything we can do?”

With a sigh, Jack shook his head. “Doubtful.” He strode past the foot of the bed to the window, pausing there for a long moment. “We can be there for Darrel when he needs a friend, but nothing really makes family drama any easier.”

In his mind"s eye, his partner was bent over with long dark hair framing her lovely face. “It"s a sad thing,” she murmured. “And difficult to wrap my head around. I"ve read about such prejudices.”

“But never lived them?”

“No.”

Jack spun around to stand before the window with hands clasped behind himself. Cold rage pushed the bile right to the tip of his tongue. “Funny thing about living on this planet,” he said. “When you"re a bit of a freak, you learn to sympathize with all the other freaks. Even the ones who aren"t like you.”

Gabi looked over her shoulder with a sad expression. “And is that how you see yourself?” she asked with obvious sympathy in her voice. “You really think of yourself as a freak?”

“Well, a freak of the super variety.”

He dropped his jacket to the floor and watched as Gabrina settled back against the pillows, a soft sigh escaping her. It occurred to him that he should stop thinking of her as his girlfriend – she hadn"t ever agreed to any such thing – but they"d been growing closer for three months, and it was hard to resist the temptation.

Crawling onto the bed, Jack smiled down at her. “Well then,” he said, shaking his head. “What can we do to relax before the long, annoying flight tomorrow. I can think of a few ideas.”