#dev:threads

He hadn’t wanted to believe Liss when she said Zayde was there but she wasn’t big on lying, not when she could do more damage with the truth. Still, Devin had hesitated, weighing the options before going down to the bar. If nothing else, Zayde generally needed a babysitter in bars and he doubted this would be any different. 

Catching sight of him made the shifter’s entire chest tight. God, he had missed Zayde and seeing him did nothing more than remind him of that. But he forced himself to shove the tsunami of emotion down and cross the room to confront him.

Zayde hadn’t even been paying all that much attention to the desk clerks attempts to flirt with him, his attention fixed entirely on Devin instead, so he was startled when the clerk made an obvious reach to touch his hand, making Zayde flinch just as quickly as Devin had grabbed the other man.

If Zayde had been alone, he would have been too timid to do or say anything, the years of abuse and internalising so much of his father’s homophobia making him entirely uncomfortable with any attention that didn’t come from Dev, so he was grateful when his boyfriend took decisive action in defending him instead, Zayde clinging to Devin in an instant.

It wasn’t the first time someone had made a pass at Zayde in front of him and Devin knew it would hardly be the last, but that didn’t mean he liked it or was willing to put up with it. No, Zayde was his and he wasn’t about to let anyone disrespect either one of them like that. Especially in such a bold manner. 

His arm wrapped around his boyfriend protectively, a muttered “we’re leaving” growled before he led him back towards the door. There was no way in hell they were staying anywhere that had staff willing to treat Zayde like something to be pawed at or bought. It wasn’t a safe setting for him and Devin would never intentionally put him in a position like that.

It wasn’t the sort of place Devin really liked, not with the issues Lissa had, but where else could they go? He had heard of this place through the proverbial grapevine, that it was safe, but he hadn’t really believed it until they had crossed the threshold of the property. 

Lissa had already ran off with some red haired girl, leaving Devin to his own thoughts. And those thoughts just happened to land on the cute blonde at the other end of the bar. 

Lissa didn’t exactly bring friends around the warehouse, and with good reason mostly. Devin tended to scare them off pretty easily, but she figured it wouldn’t be as much of an issue with Lex. He was closer in age to her, not really the strung out type or one to steal what little shit they had, and, quite frankly, he wasn’t a dick. 

“Dev, my friend Lex is crashing here for the night. Try not to be a complete dick while I’m out. m’kay?” she warned as she grabbed a cookie and darted around her brother. “Lex! Devin doesn’t bite but if he gives you any shit, let me know and I’ll kick him in the balls, ‘kay?” The words were punctuated with a kiss to the blonde’s cheek before she was slipping out the door and down the fire escape before either of them could stop her, leaving a very perplexed Devin staring at an unfamiliar kid. 

The assholes wanted money, figured they could get it from Cassar Saros by holding his eldest son to ransom. It hadn’t even been all that hard to kidnap Zayde, given that he already had an extensive habit of getting fucked up on drugs and passing out in all manner of places. All it had taken was to follow him and wait for him to do the work for them.

Cassar wasn’t playing ball though and Zayde was getting scared. Not because he thought his father was about to let him die so he didn’t have to pay up. No, he knew his kidnappers would likely end up dead before he would.

What made him afraid was not knowing what the kidnappers would do to him when they started to panic after they realised they were all fucked.

Scent wasn’t always the easiest thing to go by, but Devin wasn’t easily deterred. He spent enough time with Zayde to know his scent, to know how to find him, and he had made damn sure Lissa knew not to bother him or get into any trouble until he got back with Zayde. 

He knew there was something wrong when his boyfriend hadn’t responded in days. A day or two was to be expected with how Zayde’s father could get, but this long was alarming and he was determined to find him. 

Giving as much blood as he did was always physically exhausting and Devin wasted no time just falling into his bed once he was sure Lis was stable. He was out of it enough to, for a moment, forget that Zayde was still there until he sat up to make sure his phone was plugged in and practically jumped.

“Please don’t give me that look, Devin. You know I wouldn’t be doing this if I had any choice.”