Well folks... here's chp 7. I hope you enjoy it. Chapters up to 14 are now up on the yahoo group. Enjoy.
JMH
trandar2002@yahoo.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/adultwritingworkshop/
Joshua, while having agreed to return home, stayed hidden in his chambers during the baron's trial, taking care of his son with Clive and Adam's help.
"Good morning Drake," Joshua beamed as he took his son out of the crib that had placed next to his bed.
"Papa!" The child smiled, as he eagerly wrapped his arms around his father.
Bouncing the laughing boy in his arms, Joshua sat down in a large chair to give his son his breakfast. Soon after eating, the boy fell asleep, snuggled in his father's lap. For a while Joshua just held his son, basking in the joy the boy added to his life.
He was just about to return Drake to his crib that Clive and Adam walked in, Clive wearing a satisfied grin on his face.
"I see you two have been up to no good," Joshua chuckled as he covered his son with a blanket.
"Just breaking the new guy in," Clive winked.
Joshua went over and cupped Clive's ass with his large hands as he pulled the other man toward him. "And how was it?"
"You can ask him that yourself." Clive grinned as he rubbed noses with Joshua.
"Well Adam... did Clive thoroughly seduce you?"
"He certainly did something to me." Adam blushed as he rubbed his rear.
Joshua chuckled... he was glad that Clive and Adam were getting along... or at least appeared to be. Since coming back home, Clive had kept a very close eye on the young Inquisitor.
At the sound of his father's laughter, Drake sat up, letting out a giggle of his own.
"And how is our little prince?" Adam asked as he lifted Drake up in his arms, only to detect a strong odor. "Looks like you need a changing."
"I'll take him," Clive offered.
"No, it's fine. I am supposed to be looking out for the boy," Adam said as he excused himself, taking Drake to the changing room.
"So..." Joshua laughed seeing the glow coming from Clive's face.
Clive's face turned red. "Shut up you... what can I say? I have a weakness for purple eyes."
"You know what kind of eyes I like?" Joshua grinned as he wrapped his arms possessively around his oath brother's waist.
"You better say dark eyes," Clive warned, even as he pressed his midsection against Joshua's.
"I love dark eyes," Joshua nodded. "I can look at them all day. But I also know a pair of green eyes that I have come to love as well."
"Really," Clive laughed, his green eyes shimmering.
"Yes," Joshua nodded as he peeled off his shirt, letting it fall onto the floor.
Clive was just starting to enjoy Joshua's long tongue licking its way down his body when they both heard the piercing sound of a baby's cry. Both men stopped in the middle of their foreplay and ran to the large closet that had been remodeled into changing room. The found Adam holding his head in his hands, while Drake wailed on the floor.
Not even waiting to find out what was going on; Joshua grabbed hold of Adam and dragged him out of the room. "What is going on?"
Adam only responded with a laugh... a deep laugh that did not seem to be his own.
"Adam!" Joshua shouted again as he shook the man hard.
Adam then jumped as if awakened out of a nightmare... pushing Joshua down on the ground. "Please... get him out of my head!" he yelled as he ran to a corner of the room and curled into a tight ball.
Joshua quickly got back to his feet, but instead of grabbing hold of Adam again, he approached the man slowly... confused by the look of terror on his face.
"Get out of my head..." Adam's voice was now a weak whisper repeated over and over again.
"Adam?' Joshua asked as he went down on his knees next to the terrified man.
"I don't want to do it... he's trying to make me. The Prelate..." Adam mumbled as he rocked back and forth.
"He wants you to do what?" Joshua asked as he put a comforting hand on Adam's shoulder.
"Joshua... I think you should come see this." Clive's voice came from the backroom.
Leaving Adam shaking on the floor Joshua returned to the diaper room. "What is it Clive... is Drake ok?"
"See for yourself," Clive said as he moved out of the way.
Standing on top of the changing table was what looked like a five-year-old boy with a pleased grin on his face.
"Drake..." Joshua said his mouth agape.
"Papa!" The boy laughed as he ran to his father and hugged his leg.
Lifting Drake into his arms, Joshua went back to get some answers. "What did you do to my son Adam?" Joshua demanded.
Adam looked up at the Duke to see the bright light emitting from Joshua's white eyes. "He's making me do it."
Clive went up to Adam and lifted the man up by the collar of his shirt. "Who... who made you do it?"
"Gerick!" Adam wailed.
At the very sound of the man's name, Joshua felt his legs give way as he fell down... rump first, knocking the wind out of his lungs.
"Joshua." Clive let go of Adam as he ran to his friend's aid.
Gasping for air, Joshua handed Drake over to Clive as he struggled to get back on his feet. "Impossible... Gerick is dead."
"No... he's not... he's inside me!" Adam wailed as he curled back into a ball on the floor.
"Clive..." Joshua said in a drained voice. "Go get Vard, but do not tell him what has happened."
Clive nodded silently as he placed Drake back into his crib.
Once he was alone with Adam, Joshua started asking more questions. "Adam how do you know Gerick is inside you?"
"Because of the voice in my head," Adam said as he rocked back and forth. "He wants you to know that he is still alive, that you are to suffer because you broke your promise."
"What promise?" Joshua asked, confused.
"You promised to stay with me forever," Gerick's forbidding voice came from Adam's throat.
Joshua felt his legs weaken again, but grabbed hold of the side of the bed before he could fall. "But you died," he said in a low whisper.
"But I didn't. Not all of me," Gerick's voice replied. "Who do you think drove your father insane... who do you think gave the poison to Thomas' father?"
"Why... why have you done these things?" Joshua said even as Drake, seeing the fear and pain on his father's face, began to cry.
"You mean you don't know? For love Joshua... because I love you," Gerick's voice chuckled.
"If you love me, you will stop."
"Very well, I will this time... on one condition. I am willing to forgive you for breaking your promise, if you will agree to return to me."
"No," Joshua said at once. "You will never have me Gerick."
"Are you so certain of that, my counterpart? If you think watching a thousand groundlings die is the worst I can do, you are sadly mistaken. Do you think you can protect Clive, Austin, and even little Drake from me?"
Joshua lifted his crying son out of the crib and held him protectively. "You wouldn't hurt your own son."
"No I wouldn't... but unless you come back to me, Drake will face the same fate as your father. That was what I was about to do... send the part of me that is inside Adam into my son."
"Not if I have anything to say about it," a deep voice came from the bedroom door.
Looking toward the doorway, Joshua saw his husband, a knife in his hand.
"Vard," Gerick's voice chuckled.
"Gerick... I don't know how you are still alive... if that is what you call this parasitic existence of yours... but you will never have Joshua or Drake."
"Then go ahead Vard... kill this shell. I have many, many more... more than enough to dull that knife of yours."
Vard moved closer to Adam, raising the dagger as if to strike, but instead of attacking with his blade he used his mind.
"Nooooo!" Gerick's voice screamed as Vard's power attacked his hold on Adam.
Vard, his will honed into a blade sharper then any sword, cut away the leeching fragment of Gerick's soul that was attached to Adam before opening a doorway to the Void, casting the fragments inside it.
When it was over, Joshua watched his husband collapse, the purging of Adam's soul having used up most of his power. "Vard," Joshua whispered in amazement.
Vard awoke to the touch of a cold damp cloth on his forehead, still feeling exhausted. Opening his eyes, he saw Joshua's worried face looking down at him. "Joshua... did I?"
"Yes Vard... Gerick, or whatever part of him was here, is gone." Joshua said reassuringly.
"And Adam?"
"He's bouncing between fear and guilt over what he did, but we think he will recover."
"Good... I would hate to find out that it would have been better if I had just killed him." Vard said as he closed his eyes again, only to open them when he felt the bed shake.
"Hello," A youthful boy who looked to be 13 or so smiled.
"Hello," Vard said, a little confused about who this person was.
"Drake... let Vard rest," Joshua said patiently.
"Drake?" Vard's eyebrows shot up.
"I guess you didn't know," Joshua sighed as he joined them on the bed. Before you got rid of Gerick, Gerick made Adam give Drake something that has accelerated his growth.
"Oh..." Vard replied, not sure of what else to say as he stared at the young man. "Do you know why Gerick did that?"
"Yes... when Gerick took over, Adam was able to see his plans," Joshua said, as Vard saw fear grow on his husband's face.
Vard took Joshua hand in his and squeezed it. "Tell me."
"Gerick has been spreading his soul among hundreds of Inquisitors... taking over their bodies and minds. What he really wants, however, is a body of his own... one that is similar to the one he lost."
"That is why he wants his son?"
"Yes." Joshua nodded. "But he is not willing to wait for Drake to grow up naturally. He wants Drake's body now. That is why Gerick forced Adam to accelerate Drake's growth, so that when he took over his son's body it would be the body of a grown man."
Vard rolled on top of Joshua and looked him directly in the eye. "I will never let that happen, Joshua."
"I know... but still I can't stop feeling scared."
"And you have every right to feel that way," Vard nodded, before lowering his mouth to his husband's trembling lips.
The kiss was a long and desperate one as Vard tried to give Joshua the reassurance he was looking for. When he raised himself off his husband, Vard smiled at seeing that some of the fear was now gone from Joshua's face.
Drake broke the moment, however, when he put his head between the two men. "Kiss?"
"Of course," Vard chuckled as he kissed Drake on the cheek.
"Papa?" Drake asked Joshua eagerly.
Joshua raised his head off the pillow and gave his son a kiss on his forehead.
"Yay!" Drake cheered as he jumped off the bed and danced around the room.
"Energetic little fellow, isn't he," Vard grinned.
"Enjoy it while it lasts. He won't be small for much longer," Joshua sighed with a smile.