Chapter 23 #2
He seems to think that he’s not going to get that kiss he asked for and looks away, but I cup his cheek with my fingers.
His eyes lock on mine in surprise as I pull him in and kiss the side of his head and then his cheek…
and then I find that I can’t stop. I want him more than I’ve ever wanted anything, and knowing I can’t keep him is driving me wild.
I draw him in until his lips are nearly brushing mine.
His eyes flutter closed, and I press a soft kiss against his lips before taking another.
It’s like I’ve had a taste of what I’ve longed for all these centuries, and I can’t get enough.
Even as his lips part and I feel his tongue brush against mine, I want more.
All reasoning rushes from me while I steal another kiss, his tongue twirling around mine, his hands clutching me.
I want more. I want all of him. I want to keep kissing and touching him…
I want all of the things I’ve forbidden myself from.
I want—
An oppressive aura hits me as I jerk back, and my grip on Yorick becomes so tight that he whines about it hurting, but my eyes are on the man standing across from us.
Morpheus smiles as he looks at me. “You know you’re supposed to listen. Have you forgotten how to do so?”
Yorick freezes in my arms.
“Let me help you remember,” Morpheus says before he passes through the sun with it only starting to burn him.
He throws a blanket over Yorick just as he kicks me right in the throat, crushing it.
He knows I can’t pull away from him in this small area of safety, especially without risking Yorick’s life.
I feel Yorick’s nails tear into me when Morpheus rips him out of my arms and yanks him back, away from me.
I try to scream out for Yorick, but my throat has been crushed and the words can’t reach my lips.
“Atticus!” Yorick shouts. He tries to fight Morpheus, but the instant his fingers escape from the blanket, the sun tears into them.
He jerks back, given no choice but to press against Morpheus.
I try to rush forward, but the sun is brutal without anything to cover myself with, especially now that it’s risen higher.
It eats through my skin in seconds, and I know even attempting that gap will end with me dead.
I’m forced to draw back while Morpheus laughs at me.
“What a predicament you’ve found yourself in. I told you to kill Wick. Now do it or start digging a grave for this one.”
“Y-You…” My throat is finally healed enough that I can speak, and I’m surprised he’s sparing the time to let me do so. “You’ve done this my whole life—promised me things in exchange for your fucked-up ideas, and then you take them from me anyway. You will always take from me.”
Morpheus shoots me an icy look. “I might give this one back. I like using him against you, Atticus. Now, I need to be careful. I don’t want to accidentally kill him before you’ve even gotten out of here. That would be such a shame.”
He moves out of sight, taking Yorick from me as rage washes through me. The spot where his body rested against mine feels cold.
Will this be the last time I see him alive? What do I have left in my life that’s worthwhile if it is? He’s the only good thing in my life.
I see a flash of black as Morpheus crams Yorick into the back of a car, trapping him inside when outside is sudden death.
“Fuck!” I yell.
“Fuck is right,” a quiet voice says.
I glance up when Johnny crawls around the corner and slumps against the wall I’m trapped against. His legs are out in the sunlight, unaffected by it, but the rest of his body is shaded.
Slowly, he looks over at me as I realize how wounded he is. “I had fun, but there were about ten too many to make it a blast. I’d give the party an eight out of ten, though. The bombs really added some excitement to it.”
“Get Yorick back,” I beg.
He gives me quite the look. “I can’t even stand.
I’m afraid any plan that involves me saving your bride-to-be will have to be put on hold.
Now, do you think you could hold me like you did Yorick?
Whisper sweet lullabies in my ear? I noticed you called, but I was quite preoccupied, and by the time I called back, you didn’t bother answering. ”
“Johnny…” I grit my teeth and turn my head away.
He looks off in the direction where the car was, now long gone while I uselessly sit here. “Yorick is stronger than you give him credit for. There’s no way he’s lived this long just on dumb luck… although knowing Yorick, I’d say that’s not entirely impossible.”
“I can’t do anything… I can’t…”
I see movement about twenty feet from me as Wick cradles his wife. I can’t tell whether she’s alive or not, but I can tell that he’s in the same predicament I’m currently in. “Give me your clothes.”
Johnny must notice what I’m staring at. “So you’re going to kill him? Then where does it end? You think he’ll give Yorick back if you do this? You know he’ll just find a new set of endless tasks for you to complete. He’s using your emotions and desires against you.”
“Give them to me!” I growl.
“So fussy,” he says as he slides his bloody jacket and shirt off and hands them over to me. His torso is covered in scars from a time before his contract with me; they stand out against his pale skin. He’s no longer subjected to such things, yet still he tries me?
“You should want to kill Morpheus as much as I do,” I snap.
He grins at me. “I enjoy my head exactly where it is… but I do suppose I’ve taken a liking to Yorick. I will kill Wick if that’s what you so choose.”
“I’ll do it,” I say before I cover my head and hands and rush to the nearest shadowed spot. The sun still hurts and even such a brief sprint has left me in pain, forcing me to tuck myself against the shadows and recover. He’s still a good fifteen feet from me, pleading for his wife to wake up.