Chapter Thirty-Two #3
“Baby, enough of that,” I tell him firmly, cupping his jaw and forcing him to look at me. “You did what you had to do. I’m certain of that.”
Swiping tears from his cheeks with my thumbs, I frown at the layer of dirt that comes off with them.
He chuckles, as do Joy and Rook.
“The kid’s been wading through muck with a knife between his teeth, slicing cartel men at the Achilles heel and shit.” Joy shakes her head. “That’s more than I can say for any of us.” She pats Felix on the shoulder, then frowns.
He simply grins up at me. Not a care in the world for how filthy he is, or how much slaughtering he’s been doing. He’s just happy, because we’re back together.
Fucking fascinating.
“I love you,” I hum, kissing his dirty lips and not giving a single fuck.
“I love you more.”
“Okay, I’m freaking the fuck out.” A large man I’ve never seen before stomps in, worry all over his face.
Our eyes meet, and he nods. Officer Kemper, I presume…
“I mean, what am I supposed to do??” He scrubs his hands over his face. “I can’t just leave him in there…”
“Well, I mean… if he’s with his dad.” Joy offers a shrug that’s not entirely unsympathetic, though Kemper still glares at her. “I’m just saying, you really think his father will let him come to harm?”
Kemper looks like he’s mulling this over, acknowledging that she’s probably right, but he still doesn’t like it.
I take it they’re referring to Dash, Kemper’s partner, and Felix’s alleged best friend, according to what he said on the phone.
But now they’re saying Dash’s dad is also here, and Dash is with him…?
Oh, fuck. Speaking of dads.
Pulling Joy’s phone out of my pocket, I hand it to her. “Your dad’s been blowing it up…”
She gives me a bemused look, snatching the phone.
“Trevel gave it to me. Turns out he had it,” I explain, leaving out the part about her father coming here.
I take it she’ll figure that out pretty soon.
Rook’s head cocks. “You and Fenwick pals again?”
“He actually saved me,” I tell them, noting the unease breeding rage in Felix’s eyes as he observes the bandages all over me. “The Ivory had me down here being tortured by those fuckface doctors, and Trevel… took them out.”
Joy pauses scouring her phone, eyes jump to mine, brows lifting as if she’s impressed.
“We gotta get the hell out of here,” she breathes, tucking her phone away.
“I’m not leaving Dash,” Kemper says firmly.
“Me either,” Felix adds, his certainty seeming to ease Kellan’s mind and un-hunch his shoulders a bit.
“We might need to wait it out for a few, anyway.” Rook peers through the gate. He peeks at Kemper. “Especially now that you’re here.”
“I guarantee, if he hasn’t already, The Ivory’ll have a team out scouring the woods looking for you any minute.” Joy grips the back of her neck.
Felix straightens, and announces, “I’ll stay.” We all gape at him. “Seriously… As far as they know, I’m still in the west.”
“If you think I’m leaving you…” My voice drags in its thickness. I gulp down the emotion he obviously caught, because he brushes my jaw with his fingers. “I just got you back.”
“I know, Want,” he hums, biting his lip. “But you’re all jacked up…”
“We have tons of medical supplies in the armory,” Rook says.
Uncertainty is being swallowed up by stubbornness as I mumble, “I’m fine.”
“Lemuel, please,” Felix sighs. “You’ve been locked in a dungeon for however long.
You need food and water and… new bandages!
” His emphatic fawning over me brings a fuzzy warmth to my chest. “Kemper will bring you to the armory…” He aims that pleading gray gaze at Kellan, who really looks like he wants to protest. “I’ll stay here and make sure Dash is safe.
Trust me, I won’t let anything happen to him. He’s my best friend…”
An innocent pout forms on my fiancé’s lips, and it’s just the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. All I want in the world is just to lie down with him in bed. Cuddle up and watch movies, touching and kissing, like we used to.
I’m hit with a sudden wave of exhaustion just thinking about it, which probably means he’s right, and I need to reboot. At least get some food and water and tend to the various burns and punctures on my body.
“You know it’s the smartest play, Kel,” Joy murmurs. “We can’t risk them grabbing you. We need you too bad.”
I’ve never seen her showing any sort of emotion, but her affection for him is visible on her face.
“We just got you back,” she whispers.
That gets him. Kemper expels a steady sigh, wrapping her up in his arms. “Okay. I’m not going anywhere.” He glances at me and Felix as he releases her. “I’ll bring you to the armory. But you have to promise me you’ll get Dascha… If anything happens to him—”
“If anything happens to Dash, there’ll be a mountain of bodies higher than Mount goddamn Everest,” Felix rumbles. Fully serious, though it placates Kemper enough for him to chuckle.
“Agreed,” he replies softly. “Let’s not let it come to that.”
Felix cracks one of his timid smiles, biting his lip. He peeks at me, and I wink.
He’s just so sweet, and I can tell he’s over the moon to be among friends. It’s all he’s wanted since long before he even came here.
Felix got used to being alone, and he certainly used it to his advantage with his killing.
But I don’t believe he’s ever despised anything more than being alone.
He wants human connection, and not just so that he can murder everyone around him.
He’s always been desperate for companionship.
Now more than ever, I’m realizing how much I hate that it’s had to be just me and him for so long.
When Joy started bringing him up to general population to talk to Dash on the phone, and he got to spend even just a few minutes with guys like Luthor and Ren, it made a noticeable difference in him. He had a spring in his step, and he wasn’t as restless.
I want more of that for him. In all honesty, that was my biggest reason for joining Velle’s side. Of course, I feel like The Ivory needs to answer for what he’s done, but I wasn’t exaggerating when I told Velle that this island is special.
I’ve never been able to shake that vision I had… The night I met Manuel in the atrium, after my first time bringing Felix into the mansion with me.
I imagined cuddling up with him under the stars, listening to eighties music and eating Chinese food. Touching and kissing, and laughing in this gorgeous place.
I’m not saying I want to be trapped here forever… But I came back for a reason. Because there is something about this island that feels like… home.
Like it could be a home, if it weren’t held in chains itself.
“I’ll get Dash out,” Felix says. “And Byron, and Trevel, and Simon. I won’t leave until I know they’re safe. You have my word.”
“Thank you,” Kemper breathes graciously, though his gaze is anxious when it hits Joy and Rook. “You guys will probably need to cover me.”
Joy nods, and Rook says, “I’ll go get eyes on the situation. Figure out which way’s clear.”
“I’m coming with you.” Joy follows him out.
I peek at Felix, just reveling in being back with him. Hating that we need to separate again, but knowing with absolute certainty we’ll be back together again soon.
Nothing can keep us apart.
“I can’t wait to Netflix and chill with you.” I hold him to me by his waist. “When all this is over.”
His body shudders with a tiny chuckle. “You can just say you wanna make out and rub our dicks together.”
I hum, grinning. But then I remember that we’re not alone and glance at Kemper. He’s smirking, trying to act like he’s not paying attention to us, though it’s a pretty confined area. And it’s amazing to me… How right it feels to be with Felix, out in the open. In front of people.
I want more of this. I want to be able to give him what he wants. A love he can show off to his friends. To bring our chaos into the regular world and dress it up like it’s normal, even though we both know it’s not.
I want to give him every single thing his black heart desires.
“Dash talks about you a lot, you know?” Kemper offers Felix a small smile.
Naturally, he lights up. “Yea?”
Kemper nods. “You, Luthor, Ren, Byron… He’s really missed you guys a lot. That’s most of why we’re here.”
“I really hope Luthor and Ren are okay,” Felix mutters. “It’s weird that I haven’t seen them at all since everything happened…”
My spine stiffens.
Shit… Luthor and Ren.
Didn’t The Ivory say something about them taking a boat during the storm and… sailing off?
“Coming back was probably pretty stupid,” Kemper’s voice distracts me, and I find that he’s speaking directly to me with this sentiment.
“But I just… I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if I’d stopped him from coming to help, ya know?
Wanting to protect him and keep him in a bubble isn’t right… ”
I’m relating to what he’s saying on a deep level right now. It’s more or less exactly how I feel about Felix.
Coming back was never a choice for me. But I have one now…
Stop coddling him.
He’s stronger than you think he is.
I need to tell him what I heard about Luthor and Ren.
I need to… tell him the truth about Cameron.
But just as I’m about to speak, Rook and Joy come rushing over.
“Hey, you guys gotta go now,” Joy whispers. “They’re on the move. Something’s going on.”
Kemper is visibly stressed, but he packs it away and nods for me to follow him.
I give Felix one last kiss, resting our foreheads together. “I’ll see you soon, Need.”
“Not if I see you first, Want,” he teases.
I can’t even help grinning, despite how much I hate that I have to leave him.
We pull apart, and Kemper winks at Felix. “I’ll get him back safe. You have my word.”
Now…
This ain’t what I signed up for.
I’ve always loved those action movies, when the reluctant sidekick—who never really wanted to be involved, but somehow found himself wrapped up in bullets flying and things exploding—says that.
Like a Danny Glover in Lethal Weapon type.
I’m gettin’ too old for this shit.