Lucien hadn’t really left the forest as he was asked to. The redhead was meditating under a tree and spying on the other two through his network of undead critters spread all across the forest.

___

“Don’t come one step closer or I’ll shoot you,” the hunter threatened Magnus with his magic crossbow. “Don’t think I won’t.”

The fire mage stood his ground and silently watched the hunter back away one step at a time.

“You’re all crazy,” the hunter spat on the ground and growled at him. “You’ll get what’s coming for you.”

Magnus placed one foot forward and a flame of fire licked the grass where his shoe touched it. In a matter of seconds, the flame began to chase the hunter who couldn’t run fast enough to escape it.

The fire mage then followed the trail of flames that led him through the woods which remained untouched by fire. When he got to the escaping hunter, he found the terrified man surrounded by black flames.

“Hello,” the smiling Magnus waved at the man like they were friends. “Why’d you run away like that? We were just getting to know each other.”

The hunter was sure he was dealing with a psychopath. “If you kill me, they’ll swarm this house and arrest each one of you!” He shouted at the crazy shapeshifter. He would have shot him with the crossbow if he believed that the shapeshifter wasn’t capable of avoiding it. 

“They whom?”

Magnus could sustain the fire for many hours so wasn’t in a hurry to hurt the hunter. He had patience like a cat and was willing to wait till the man confessed to why he was spying on them.

“You’ll know soon. If you let me go, I’ll ask them to go easy on you. Do the right thing, Magnus. You aren’t a sinner like the rest of them.”

“Oh?” Magnus slowly inclined his head. “Tell me about the sins my friends have committed.”

The hunter was sweating from the waves of heat that baked him inside the circle of hell. He took off his shirt to relieve himself from the heat but it only served to turn his skin red like a roasting chicken.

“There’s a necromancer in the house!” He hissed at the fire mage. “Dead bodies all around this cursed place. We know that because the energy in this forest is not quite right. A priest detected the aura of death around here when he was passing through to get to the lake.”

Magnus wasn’t very surprised to hear that a necromancer was living amongst them. “And what was a priest doing, trespassing through our property?”

“His horse needed a drink.”

The lake wasn’t on manor property so they could not impose rules on travellers who wanted access to lake water. Still, the priest could have gone through a different path rather than take the route through their land. It was bad luck for them that the priest had decided on crossing their fence.

“So what’s your role in this? Did they send you to sniff out evidence of necromancy?”

“Yes. You know how evil such magic can be. Who knows how many murders the necromancer has committed! The dead souls are crying out for justice and we have to give it to them.”

“Well, this is annoying,” Magnus declared. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place. The fire mage was guessing that their necromancer was Lucien. It was easy enough to guess since he remembered the book that Luci had found from the blood mage’s home.

“Do the right thing, Magnus,” the hunter told him.

The fire mage knew what he had to do. He had taken many bad decisions so what was another one? He was an asshole who had abandoned his mother queen and his duties as the prince of the kingdom. It couldn’t get much worse than that for his conscience.

“I’m sorry,” he told the hunter. “I’ll ensure a quick death if not a painless one.”

_____

Artemus was collecting paperwork he had left at home when Sebastian came out of the kitchen bearing a tray with two warm pies he had bought from their favourite stall.

“A-mu, why do you hafta leave?” The sandy-haired mage grumbled. “If yer not a Sanguine then you don’t gotta solve any murders. Just stay here with me and take a vacation fer a year or somethin’, Ya know.”

“I resigned because I wanted more time for this case, Sebastian. I’m a free anti mage, and that means I can go to whatever lengths necessary to catch the killers. I’m sorry I can’t stay.”

Sebastian was annoyed because Artemus had become consumed by the wretched case. The anti mage’s late nights at the headquarters were followed by mornings Sebastian would wake up and find the bed empty. He was feeling deprived of Artemus and it put him in a foul mood.

“Fine. I’ll just stay here and wait like a good pet while you-“

Artemus placed his hands on the table, caging Sebastian in. The anti mage then closed in and pressed soft kisses on the mage’s neck.

“Bastian,” he murmured to the quiet mage. Their gazes met and he could see the turmoil in his lover’s eyes. “I’ll take a long vacation with you when this is done. I promise you.”

Sebastian placed his hands on the anti mage’s sides, feeling the man’s muscles shift under his crisp white shirt. “Ya mean it?”

Artemus dipped his head in a nod. He hadn’t expected his feelings to run so deep when the thing with Sebastian had started, but here was, promising away work and time for the man who had broken his heart so many years ago.

“Well, colour me surprised, A-mu. I’ve been convinced that yer married to work and I’m just the side piece you fuck because ya can’t orgasm from crime solvin’, or can ya?” Sebastian’s smile grew when Artemus made a face at what he was implying.

“Your mouth is a crime, Sebastian.” The anti mage’s dark eyes were eager on his lips. He could already feel his erection pressing tight against the confines of his pants.

He sighed in pleasure when Sebastian pulled his hips in and ground against it with his own.

“Don’t tease me, Bastian.”

The mage grinned. “What are you gonna do? Fuck me?”

The edges of Artemus’ lips curved and suddenly Sebastian’s heart began beating faster.

“Yes.” He hadn’t indulged the animal inside him for a while. “Do you remember the safe word?” Artemus could smell the desire spiking sugary sweet between them. 

“Don’t need one.” He wasn’t a masochist but Sebastian was willing to see how far Artemus could be pushed. 

“That’s dangerous and you know it.” 

Sebastian smirked at the way Artemus’ eyes were dilating. The big feline was getting so turned on just from the thought of a scenario where he was allowed free reign over his desires on Sebastian. 

“That’s how I like it, A-mu.”