Chapter Nine #3
He climbed into the van, carefully not looking in the direction of the man slumped against the side of it. He was on the floor, but Vale guided Cyril toward one of the benches. Cyril sat down, then, because he was curious and because the killer hadn’t said anything yet, he finally looked at him.
Cyril half-expected the killer to be unconscious, but he wasn’t. He was watching Cyril with avid eyes that told Cyril that he recognized him as a powerful necromancer. Was this guy thinking about how he’d kill Cyril now? He would never get the opportunity to do it.
Vale closed the door and tapped Russell’s shoulder to let him know they could go. Cyril stayed seated as the van started moving and watched as Vale crouched next to the killer.
The man was tied up like a sausage and wasn’t saying anything because someone had stuffed a piece of fabric into his mouth. He didn’t look afraid, though. Cyril wasn’t sure how he was doing that because, in his place, Cyril would be terrified.
Vale took the fabric out of the man’s mouth. The man licked his lips, never looking away from Cyril. He didn’t do so until Vale tapped him on the cheek. He wasn’t gentle about it.
The killer blinked at Vale. Vale didn’t waste time. “What’s your name?” he asked.
Cyril didn’t actually expect the killer to answer. Why would he give them his name? He didn’t seem to be worried, though.
“Asher.”
“Well, Asher,” Vale said. “We need to have a chat.”
* * * *
VALE DIDN’T LIKE HOW casual Asher sounded, as if he wasn’t afraid.
He didn’t look afraid, which told Vale there was something seriously wrong with the guy.
He was nothing like Vale and Russell. They killed for money.
This guy was killing because he thought it was the right thing, and that made him even more dangerous.
It made him especially dangerous to be in this van with Cyril, but Vale hadn’t even considered not doing it.
He wouldn’t take this away from his boyfriend, not when he knew how Cyril felt about Marcus and Diana’s deaths and the Threshold.
“You were going to kill Morgan, weren’t you?” Vale started.
Asher frowned at him. “I tried, and you stopped me twice. That’s not nice.”
“It wasn’t me the first time around, but I’m glad it was this time. You’re not going to be able to hurt anyone ever again.”
“I wasn’t hurting people. I was helping them.”
“You were killing them,” Cyril snapped.
He sucked in a breath and shook his head at Vale. He seemed to want Vale to take the lead for now, which was fine. Cyril was a little too emotional.
“I had to kill the necromancers because it was the only way to help their families,” Asher explained.
It didn’t look like he was going to keep his motivation a secret. That should make things easier for Vale. “How are you helping them by killing people they love?”
“You know, you should protect yourself, too,” Asher said instead of answering. “He’s going to hurt you when he crosses over. Hell, he doesn’t even have to cross over to hurt you. Things are going to get bad a while before then.”
So this guy had known someone who’d crossed the Threshold. He knew what he was talking about when it came to that, and for some reason, he’d decided to take it upon himself to kill necromancers before they could because he’d been hurt.
“Who?” Cyril asked softly. “Who hurt you?”
“Both my parents crossed over. One of them came back, the other didn’t. But sometimes, I wish neither of them had. It would’ve made things so much easier for me. I lost both of them, and I never want anyone to have to go through the same pain I had to go through.”
Vale understood the reasoning, but that didn’t mean he agreed with it. He didn’t. He was terrified of losing Cyril, and he knew that if he ever did, it would be the worst pain he would ever feel, but he wouldn’t go on a killing rampage because of it.
But what did he know? He hadn’t lost Cyril, and he hoped he never would.
Maybe he would react differently than he expected.
Maybe he would be angry and scared like Asher no doubt had been, and he would lash out.
He knew for sure that he would make whoever had hurt Cyril pay, and maybe that wasn’t that different from what Asher had been doing.
“Well, just like you want to protect people by killing necromancers, I’m going to kill you to protect Cyril,” he said, wanting to be sure that Asher understood.
“So you better be careful what you do and say. Cyril is the most important thing to me, and while I’m sorry for your loss, it doesn’t excuse what you did. ”
“Maybe not,” Asher said. “But I don’t regret it. Necromancers shouldn’t be allowed to exist. They shouldn’t be allowed to hurt the people who love them. If I saved even one of their family members from the pain I had to go through, then I’m glad I did what I did.”
Vale leaned closer. He wondered how Cyril felt about all of this, but he couldn’t afford to look back. He couldn’t afford to be distracted, and he knew that if he saw Cyril’s expression now, he’d want nothing more than to hug his boyfriend and tell him that everything would be okay.
But he didn’t know if everything would be okay.