Chapter 19 #2
“We just accept that’s where Baz wants to be?” I asked. “Why do you think they want to control him with our lives?” Nemo and Orson looked at one another.
“They’re going to torture him,” Nemo said. My eyes dragged over his own scars.
“Baz knew that going in,” Orson said. I slapped Orson across the face. He looked at me in shock.
“He has issues. We all have issues. That doesn’t mean he wanted to lock himself away forever.
Don’t you get it? The way he treated us on the last day.
Indulging us, telling us he loved us. But he was so scared of killing us, he forced himself away.
This wasn’t succumbing to psychological issues.
And don’t paint this as a selfish whim,” I snapped.
“He clung to us until the very last minute. He would have never fucking left if he hadn’t been shot with the serum. ”
I swung to Nemo and bore down on him. “We all failed Baz. He wanted safety so he wouldn't hurt us, and all we kept saying was that it would be fine. We practically forced him to leave since we’re all so cocky about our perceived immortality. But when it comes to Baz, no one is safe, and he’s painfully aware of that. He kills immortals.”
Nemo and Orson sat there speechless. I was always going to keep us all together. So they either needed to get in line, or we were going to have a brawl that ended with two big evil murderers chained in the basement while I got Baz back.
“Supra wore those suits with the gas masks and were fine,” Nemo said. “We could do that. We could maybe set him up somewhere, separate from us.” He was already trying to problem-solve. That was the Nemo we needed. He was sitting tall again, his shoulders back.
“The basement,” Orson said. Nemo nodded.
“Are you saying we’ll go get him?” I asked.
“Yes,” Nemo said. “I won’t let him down. Or you.” Nemo’s eyes flicked to Orson.
“Going to promise not to let me down either?” Orson asked with a sarcastic smile.
“Accept me as the leader,” Nemo said. Orson was caught off guard.
“What?” He asked in confusion.
“This,” Nemo said, waving between the three of us, “isn’t going to work unless there’s real leadership. There isn’t a chance in Hell we’ll save Baz unless you stop fighting me.”
“As if I’m the only one fighting,” Orson said. “You despise me.”
Nemo sighed. “I’ve struggled to warm up to you.”
Orson gave Nemo a devious look and then leaned back in the chair. “Go on, tell me how you feel,” Orson said, sounding every ounce the therapist he was.
Nemo ground his teeth. “What else is there to say?”
“Why have you struggled to warm up to me?” He asked. Nemo darted a look at me, but I didn’t help him at all.
“Because you’re a vampire. It’s unnatural,” he said, wrinkling his nose. “A walking corpse. No heartbeat. Cold. You smell.”
“Maybe that makes you a little uncomfortable, but you need to be fully honest.” Orson flicked lint off his knee.
“Is this what therapy is like with you?” Nemo asked in dismay.
“Want me to accept your leadership? Then tell me how I make you feel.”
“Worried,” Nemo grumbled. “You were close to both my mates before I was. They … like you.” Nemo made a face.
“Go on.”
“I am,” Nemo growled. “They’ve relied on you more than me. Baz rejected me, and the only person he was ever close to in all those years was you. And Bree was obsessed with you for years before I met her. She still is.”
“The big bad wolf was scared his mates would pick me over him.” Orson was clearly eating this up. His shit-eating grin was wider than I’d ever seen it.
“Plus, you’re just a fucking asshole,” Nemo snapped. “And a vampire.”
“You already mentioned the vampire part,” Orson laughed.
“Didn’t you like murdering werewolves?” I asked Orson.
“Unimportant,” he dismissed.
“You dislike Nemo, and he can tell,” I said. “So don’t act like it’s all his fault.”
“Fine,” Orson sighed.
“And maybe Baz had a point,” I said.
“Hmm?” Orson asked, and Nemo looked at me curiously.
“Hate-flirting. You two want to fuck,” I said with a wide smile, leaning over the table towards them.
Watching them fuck would certainly help my mood right now.
They both recoiled like I’d snapped my fangs at them.
“Right, okay. Well, I hope you two know that we’re a team.
I don’t care what that means for the two of you, but work it out.
Whether that’s friends, lovers, brothers—whatever. Work it out.”
Orson rolled his eyes and started to get up. “You don’t want to be the leader?” He asked me.
“Nemo is the best fit. I’m not.”
“And what about me? I’ve been alive a hell of a lot longer than him.”
“And you’ve always been a loner, not a leader,” I said. Orson looked over at Nemo, sizing him up.
“Even as a leader, I’d appreciate your wisdom,” Nemo said. Orson made a face of displeasure before walking away.
“Better to give the most annoying job to the most annoying person,” he mumbled as he went.
“Well, there we go,” I said.
“I don’t want to fuck him,” Nemo quickly told me.
“Right. That’s a convincing thing to blurt out unprompted,” I said. He nodded. I blew out a breath. I felt lighter, but nervous.
“We’re going to get Baz back, right?”
“I promise you that we’ll find him,” Nemo responded. “I’ve never had big dreams. I just want all of you safe, and in my bed.” He smiled. “And fuck me if you lot aren’t the hardest to accomplish that with.”
“We are a little difficult, aren’t we?” I asked, slipping into his lap. His arms wrapped around me. Immediately, I relaxed.
“You should be grateful I’m so strong.” He buried his face in my hair, breathing in the scent. “A normal shifter could never manage you three. I’ll get Baz back. And I won’t threaten to leave ever again. Each one of you chose me now. I’ll die before I let us part again.”
“Then we’re on the same page,” I said, pulling back to look him in the eyes. “There is no life without all of us in it.”