The Broken Melody [malexmale]

Chapter One

Chapter One

I came awake with a sharp jolt.

My eyes snapped open and I found myself staring up at the white panel ceiling of my bedroom, my breath caught in my chest, cold sweat running down the sides of my face. I lay absolutely still, listening to the sound of the ocean in the distance. The rolling waves crashing to shore, drawing back out in a heavy sigh, then sailing back onto the white sandy beaches of Atlantis.

Fuck. It'd been a long time since I'd had a nightmare like that.

Or was it really still a nightmare if it was a memory?

I grimaced, reaching up to lay my arm across my forehead before shifting it down over my eyes. I laid there for a while longer before I heaved myself up out of bed, shutting off the alarm before it could go off. I slid out of bed and headed for the bathroom, my feet making no sound as I went from the mahogany floors to the heated marble tile in the bathroom. I ducked into the shower for a quick rinse before stepping out, towel drying my hair, and pausing to frown at my reflection in the mirror as I did so.

Something still bothered me about that face.

Even worse, the hair that was growing on my head. Fae hair tended to grow just a bit quicker than normal hair, so I'd taken to shaving my head every day. Except for the past few when I'd been on a mission, so now it wasn't quite long, but it was definitely not shaved against my head anymore. I sighed, reaching up to rub my hand over the soft black locks. I was tempted to shave today, but even though I'd woken up before the alarm, I was going to be lack if I kept fucking around with stupid things like hair.

Don't be a pansy.

I went back into the bedroom to throw on the black uniform with red stitching. I laced my boots up and went to the small galley kitchen with my army green backpack. I grabbed a couple protein bars and protein shakes, tossing them in the bag and did a quick sweep of the small Spartan style home.

Well, to me it was Spartan. She had called it minimalist. No unnecessary decorations, grandma pillows, afghans. No paintings or pictures or bills sitting out on the countertops. I didn't need garbage clogging up the place. I only had what I needed.

I left the house, inputting the security code into the small panel by the door and headed down the steps down the gravel walkway that led the way off the property that was surrounded by a large retaining wall made of concrete. I enjoyed my privacy, especially in a neighborhood with gods and demons that didn't do well with the general population. It was why I had chosen the neighborhood in the first place. We got our privacy because no one wanted to fuck with us and we didn't fuck with each other. Everyone saw the lines, or fences rather, and didn't stick around to piss us off.

Well, almost everyone.

I stepped out onto the main street, sensing someone to my left, but I didn't even bother turning to address them. Instead, they came running to keep up with me as I headed down the street for work.

"Yo! Thanks for letting me stay at your place while you were out on a job. I was tired of getting groped by the old guy at the shelter." I didn't answer him. Him being Alek. Instead, I reached into my bag and took out a protein bar and protein shake, handing it over and taking a moment to glance at the kid I'd caught digging out of my garbage can a month ago.

Alek was a scrawny brat. He was only five foot seven, well over a foot shorter than me, with perpetual bedhead mussing up his dirty blonde hair. His eyes were clear baby blue lined with long lashes. Not exactly white, but not exactly black either, he was caught in the middle with a dark tan. He was a fae and still a child by our standards, probably only a hundred or so years old. He'd been kidnapped during the whole Atlan ordeal and sold to an Atlantean slave owner, who then sold to another Atlantean, who died during the war. With his death, Alek was free... unfortunately, he had no way of returning home, as his home was gone and his family had disappeared mysteriously.