Chapter 81
Curled up, sitting on his eggs, Ender stared at Killian and hesitated, before saying, “I’d feel more comfortable if you just grabbed what you needed from our supplies. Or, at the very least, let someone else go grab it.”
Both men were sitting up against the headboard, so he got a clear view of Cyrus’ face pinching. The man looked like he wanted to agree with him, but oddly remained quiet.
“I understand it’s a risk, but I’m not defenseless, and I can wear a disguise, just like everyone else does when they leave the compound,” the Siren said, sounding slightly irritated, before briefly glancing toward Quill when he walked in, the Fate somehow expertly balancing the three trays that held their lunch.
“I know you aren’t, and I know you can, but…” Ender wrinkled his nose before admitting, “I got a report back, after having someone look into Emmet Finley’s disappearance. He was working for your family.”
Killian flinched. “What?!”
“I can’t think that bodes well for Emmet,” Cyrus sighed.
It had taken a few days after discovering the building Emmet had been working out of, and living in, had been cleared out and abandoned, but they’d eventually found the connection.
“I don’t imagine it does. On top of that, I’ve seen movements being made by them, and I am positive more than a few members of your direct family, Killian, are on Earth.
I know I should have told you as soon as the connection was found, but we are still working on tracking down their exact location.
And I just didn’t want you to stress about it. ”
His expression was grim now, and Killian took a few deep breaths before saying, “If it will make you feel better, then send someone with me.”
“I can go!” Quill excitedly chimed, as he carefully deposited the trays on the bed.
He looked at the younger Fate, and sighed after a long moment. Ender didn’t want to hurt Quill’s feelings, but at the same time, the man was a gentle fucking giant who could barely hurt a fly. “I’ll send Soren.”
Quill sputtered, already looking hurt, “But, Ender, I can—”
“You can still go, Quill. And before you get upset, this ain’t me not trusting you. I just happen to not trust everyone else, and I’d feel better if Soren was also there,” he explained as kindly as he could.
“I really don’t need two people with me,” Killian complained.
“I’ll go too,” Cyrus stated.
“And I definitely do not need three people,” the Siren snapped.
“You can’t go, Cyrus, someone has to stay with me,” he huffed, before his face heated up like it had been set on fire, as everyone looked at him in question.
“I-I’m cold?” he spluttered, not sure how else he could explain it without embarrassing himself further.
Cyrus chuckled. “I’ll stay with you.”
“You stay here. I’ll take…Soren and Quill with me,” Killian said with little enthusiasm.
Ender frowned. “And you are sure you can’t get what you want here, or just send them out alone to grab whatever it is?”
“No…I can’t. I need to be the one to pick up my birth control, and I…” The Siren swallowed hard. “I need to do it myself, in an unplanned visit to the pharmacy.”
Ender could tell there was a horrifying story he was missing, so he just nodded and agreed. “Okay, but…be quick about it.”
“I’ll be as fast as I can.”
Cyrus sat relaxed against the headboard, just watching Ender knit away in his nest. After a moment more of silence, he hesitantly admitted, “Early on, when we first started dating, he had a carrier service pick it up for him. We caught the delivery man trying to tamper with it. It turned out, his family had decided they would get children out of him, one way or another.”
Ender’s face twisted in disgust. “Those fucking bastards.”
“Yeah. That was just one of many attempts by them to sabotage his birth control. It’s made him rightfully paranoid about it.”
Ender nodded. “It's only logical he wouldn’t trust what’s here.”
Cyrus wasn’t sure it was completely logical, considering how locked down Ender had the compound, but…well, the Gorgon was a paranoid loon, so he supposed it would make sense to him.
He’d only the other day discovered just how many cameras there were, and that there was not a single location in the compound without eyes on it.
Which was disturbing, even after Ender had assured him that they had programs to detect suspicious activity, so actual eyes wouldn’t see things like bedrooms and bathrooms unless flagged.
Shaking that bit of information from his mind, as he really didn’t want to think about it, Cyrus asked, “So, what are you making?”
“Booties,” Ender beamed, as he held up a partially made tiny purple bootie.
“It’s so small,” Cyrus said with a smile, before blanching. “Holy shit, we haven’t bought anything yet!”
One of Ender’s brows rose. “Talking about clothes?”
“Clothes, toys, and everything else!?”
The Gorgon giggled. “Bought many weeks before you came.”
“Ah…I see…” He winced as he failed to hide the disappointment in his voice.
“But we can buy more together, maybe…if you want?” the Gorgon mumbled after a moment.
A wide smile spread across his face at the man’s words. “I’d like that.”
Ender smiled back, but then his eyes suddenly went wide, as he blurted, “By together, I mean with Soren. You can send us pictures, and we can yae or nae it.”
Cyrus burst out laughing. “Ohh, you haven’t even gone with me, and I’ve already scared you away from shopping.”
Ender snorted. “Rather than me being scared, I’d say the worry is more that I’ll end up murdering you.”
Still laughing, Cyrus asked, “Is that the worry?”
“Yes,” Ender said, seeming completely serious.