Ascension - Book Eight - Man x Man

Chapter 115 (M)

"Hey! Don't go yet!" Tiberius trots over to break our escape route, I can only smirk slightly at Verando's obvious impatience. Was he that desperate? It wasn't often I got to be on this side of things. "I've got one more friend who's dying for a sample... it's not the best gig.. but he's someone we'd to well to befriend."

Unimpressed, Verando brushes the Siren off only for him to jump before us. "He's a shadow man. I think he's a god in disguise... or at least he is now." We both freeze, stopped in our tracks, it makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up as I glance protectively at the gray-haired man. His roots had already darkened since the first exposure to Fenrir and the brightness of his eyes continued to concern me with each scratch at the surface. 

"All the more reason to not engage." I interrupt quickly, "We have had a successful event, I don't want Fenrir being spooked into revealing himself when we don't know what it's doing to Randy."

Tiberius crosses his arms over his chest, I note his outfit, the tightly clad leather hugging his slim but fit body. He'd already changed his clothes, it'd be hard to convince him to let us leave with the amount of dedication already spread across his smug face. "Stop hogging the Demi-God, Nic." He complains, "We need someone to remove the cuff that is stronger than Bastet, pick the right patron and it'll be off in no time. The more alliances we can form, the more power we will have if Seth shows up."

"Why would-" Shaking his head, Verando runs a hand through his hair in frustration. "As if there were a reason for any of this. Fine. What do you want?"

Tiberius almost appears coy, with a light shrug he smirks mischievously as he holds up a bag. "Go change, it's just a sample for a more adult crowd. I should have brought April but I thought this might be too much for her, so you're stuck being my wingman. Tucci has a teenage daughter who needs a band for her 17th birthday."

Scowling, Verando snatches the bag, "Reduced to a birthday party? You do know I slaughtered cities and have a well-respected hitman in France, right? Did they not reassemble you correctly from the last time I took you apart?"

With a half-hearted apology, Tiberius shoos him off toward the bathrooms. "He will be indebted to us, God's love their kids, and while we don't know if he's a god yet- Tucci's daughter is very important to him. We need to make friends. Well, Nic and I do, now go." 

I don't like this, shifting awkwardly, I watch his back until he disappears into the rear of the building before noticing Tiberius is watching me. "You seem to be enjoying yourself," he notes. 

"This is what I've always been good at, I was also about to get laid so maybe you should be searching for my good favor." 

The Siren waves over the small group surrounding the tall, slim man. His skin was deep, rich, and tan with speckled freckles over his cheeks and bright red eyes. Long strands of beaded dreads pulled back into a messy tied ponytail that went nearly to his lower back. "Trust me, we secure these deals and we can build our own damn school and step away from this damned parade."

The under-his-breath tone surprises me, I thought Tiberius loved this sort of thing, but it appeared he might be just as tired as we were. While there was some to be desired on our side, Tiberius did do the majority of the managing and organization, though he'd been doing this for as long as there was money to be made it seemed he was growing weary of the rock star life style. 

Or. 

Perhaps he was growing sick of us tagging along. 

"Thank you, Tiberius." I tell him quietly, smiling toward our approaching guests. 

"For what?" He grumbles, cocking an eyebrow. 

"Everything."

Smirking, he nudges me with his hip, wrapping his arm around me in an intimate way that makes me regret ever mentioning it to him. "Aww, you do like me, don't you?"