Farren nodded.

"I didn't know they could carry things through planes. Where did you meet him?"

Before Farren spoke, Jay motioned to the furniture. "Everyone, please sit. This might take a while."

Thomas settled on the arm of Jay's chair and Dan sat beside Farren on the couch. He guessed they both were feeling protective of their mates.

Mate.

Dan knew wizards didn't mate like shifters, but nothing else could explain the obsessive, driving need he had to keep Farren close and out of trouble.

Farren licked his lips nervously. Dan's mind flashed back to all the other delightful things Farren did with that tongue.

"Focus," Thomas growled.

Dan pulled his eyes away from Farren's face. He shrugged at the wolf shifter. He wouldn't apologise for finding his man attractive any more than Thomas had for almost kidnapping Jay from the pizza parlour at their first meeting.

At first Farren used his words sparingly as if there was a shortage of vowels and consonants and he had to pull the most use out of each sound. Once he got started, the story spilled out like something from a paranormal soap opera.

By the time he finished with the story of his snake chasing off his cousin, Jay had moved to the edge of his seat, his eyes wide. "That's incredible. You are an inter-dimensional wizard. That's even rarer than djinn."

"What?" Farren's forehead furrowed adorably. Dan resisted the urge to plant a kiss in the middle of his wrinkled nose.

84.

"A wizard who can pull beings from one dimension to another. You are lucky the djinn is focused on your blood instead of your wizarding abilities."

"But if Betina contacted the djinn, doesn't that mean she's one too?" Dan asked.

Jay shook his head. "Once Farren called him, it would have been easier for the djinn to talk to others."

Farren made a strangled sound. "Does that mean I've opened a gate for the djinn to come through?"

The horror in Farren's voice had Dan rubbing his lover's back trying to inject some soothing. Farren sounded on the edge of panic. Dan could feel Farren's heart pounding from the beat on his back.

Jay shook his head. "Not necessarily. I think you opened more of a tear. Probably only his children can pull him through temporarily. If you'd opened it fully, I'm sure we'd be hearing about a lot more fires around town. That doesn't mean it can't be widened. We need to go to the site where you first called the djinn. I can see if there are further holes in the veil between planes."

"Okay, yeah." Farren's Adam's apple bobbed up and down in his throat. "I can show you."

"Are you going to call the council?" Dean asked.

Jay shook his head. "Not if I can help it. They are pretty cut and dried when it comes to djinn. If they even suspect Farren is one of them, they might try to send him to the other plane.

"No!" Dan gripped Farren's arm as if he could keep his boyfriend there by his hold alone.

Farren patted Dan's hand before jutting his chin out as if preparing for a blow. "If that's what is needed to keep the world safe, I am willing."

"Let's not throw you on the sacrificial pyre just yet." Jay's bone-dry voice had Dan biting his lip to hold back a laugh.

This wasn't the time for laughter. There were serious issues at hand. Maybe a hysterical giggle or two were reasonable, but Dan pushed them back. He had to be strong for Farren.

"I'm so fucked." Farren planted his face in his hands.

"Not yet, but if we get through this, I'm sure Dan can oblige you," Devin said.

85.

Farren groaned.

"Come on, love. Let's go to the practice stadium. We need to trap the djinn."

"Farren, if you don't mind, could you let me see your avatar before we go?"

Farren lifted his head. "Why?"

"I need to assess how much of your power is your snake and how much is yours."

"Oh, okay." Farren closed his eyes. Only a few heartbeats passed before the bracelet shimmered then uncoiled from his wrist. After a brief hesitation it slid down his leg, flicking its tongue out to scent the room's occupants.

"Come on out, little guy!" Jay coaxed.

"Um...he's not that little," Farren said.

Dan watched the small snake slither halfway across the floor. "He's not exactly a giant either."

"He fluctuates according to the level of danger," Farren explained.

"Fascinating, I've never heard of an avatar that did that before," Jay said.

"Have you heard of one being assigned by a god?" Dan asked.

"No, I have to admit that's new too," Jay said. Not once did he let his gaze wander from the serpent.

The fire snake stopped midway between Farren and Jay. It rose up until only the last few inches of its tail touched the ground. Before the group's surprised gaze, the snake gradually increased in size. Dan blinked and missed the next growth spurt. The snake went from tiny to a behemoth. Hissing, in small snake form had been adorable. In scary, horror- movie size, Dan worried it might attack.

"Shh, it's all right," Farren reassured the reptile. "No one wants to hurt you."

Dan didn't call Farren out on his lie, right now he'd be happy to leave without fangs piecing his skin. The pressure of magic increased in the room. Farren swiped a thumb across his keychain, immediately decreasing some of the crackling energy swirling about.

"That was you?" Dan asked.

Farren shrugged. "I told you I have an overabundance sometimes."

Dan couldn't argue Farren had warned them. However, telling and experiencing weren't the same. He'd never known anyone with so much magic that they actually had to *

86.

purge their system. Jay's magic rivalled everyone Dan knew, but Farren existed on a different level. Dan had to make sure that no matter what, no one could banish his lover.

The serpent bobbed its head as it examined Jay.

Jay's eyes lit with an eerie glow as he watched the serpent back. The weird light in his eyes only lasted a minute, but when it vanished, Jay collapsed against the back of his chair as if he'd run a marathon.

"You are beloved by the fire god, Xiuhcoatl. He thinks you are the salvation of those who carry the essence of fire. The snake only has totem magic, meaning he can protect you but can't do any true magic of his own. All the power we feel is yours."

"Great." Farren narrowed his eyes at Jay. "What does that mean?"

Jay smiled. "It means together we have enough power between us all to stop a djinn from taking over the world."

A weight floated off Dan's chest. He hadn't realised how much he'd been holding his breath in anticipation of Jay's conclusion. Even if Jay had decided they needed to turn Farren in to the council, Dan knew he would've fought for him.

"What's our plan?" There had to be one, Jay always had a plan.

"We trap Betina then call the djinn and give him our demands." Jay's calm tone deceived Dan for a moment.

"Have you lost your mind? What kind of demands can we make of a djinn?" Dan asked.

Thomas slid a caressing hand over Jay's head as if he supported his mate's idiotic idea.

"Between Farren and I, we can convince him to either keep his ass in his realm or we'll make his life extremely uncomfortable." Jay patted Thomas' leg.

"How do we plan on doing that?" Farren entwined his fingers with Dan's and set them on his knee.

"I did some research on djinn," Jay said, a thoughtful expression on his lean face. "You need to find his name."

"I thought of that. The library doesn't have any information on the djinn, not that I could find." Frustration crossed Farren's face. "My family only referred to him as Father or Grandfather, never by name."

87.

Dan fought the urge to cuddle Farren closer. He wished he could help his mate.

Tightening his grip, he tried to convey his support through touch. He wished they were alone so he could reassure Farren that he wouldn't abandon his lover.

"Easy, Dan, he'll be fine." Dean's voice slid through Dan's head. His brother trying to lend his calm to Dan's panicked inner jabbering.

Dan nodded indicating he'd heard. He wished sometimes he could talk back to Dean mind-to-mind, but he could already share his brothers' emotions, being in their heads all the time would be too overwhelming.

"You won't find what you need in the library," Jay said. Dan noticed Jay's tone had shifted into what Dan privately called 'Jay's teaching mode'. "You need to check your family bible or wherever your relatives keep history of your family. Whoever tracks your family genealogy will have the name listed somewhere. I'm betting your cousin called the djinn using his proper name but didn't have the power to control him. A name is a powerful thing but not the only item needed to overcome a mystical entity."

Farren cleared his throat. "My Aunt Jane is the matriarch. If anyone has the information, it will be her."

"Is that the aunt in the hospital?" Dan asked, not knowing how many aunts Farren might have. In the short time they'd been dating, Farren hadn't been exactly forthcoming with family information.

"Yeah. I'll have to go home."

If the sudden loss of feeling in his left hand was any indication, Dan didn't anticipate it being a happy visit.

"Your cousin doesn't sound like the type to want to share her magic with anyone. Why do you think she recruited the djinn?" Jay asked, his gaze fixed on the fire serpent. The creature had tired of staring at Jay and coiled up like a cat by Farren's left foot. Dan couldn't resist scooting his own feet closer. The snake poured off heat like a fireplace.

"You are right, Jay, but I think Betina has a higher goal in mind."

"And that would be what?" Jay narrowed his eyes as if waiting to hear the worst.

"My magic. I've always been stronger than her. She wants to drain me dry and take my power. She's crazy." Farren announced it like he was talking about the weather. The sky was blue, the grass was green and his psychotic cousin was trying to take over the world.

88.

"Find out the name of the djinn and you can wrest whatever concessions she has from him. He can't serve two masters, but he will help the strongest. Djinn are opportunists." Jay gave Farren an apologetic smile.

"It's not like I haven't heard that before. My childhood was filled with the history of the once bright and powerful djinn." Farren's mouth twisted into a wry grimace. "I didn't believe most of them until now."

Dan rubbed Farren's arm. "Would they think anything about you bringing a boyfriend home?"

He subtly probed for whether Farren was out or not with the finesse of a drunken elephant marching through a China store. Did they even have China stores anymore?

Farren slid their joined hands across his cheek as if reassuring himself through their combined touch. "They don't care enough about me to be bothered over whether I'm gay or not."

The hurt in Farren's voice cut Dan to the core. He couldn't imagine such indifference.

Abuse could take many forms, neglect was just as painful as many other kinds. His magic flared unexpectedly, his protective instincts swirling around with the driving urge to beat the shit out of Farren's father.