Chapter 14 Teddy
Teddy
Teddy fished out his phone and passed it to Wren, eyes fixed on the road. “Text Saint or Trace to let them know. The password is the day we met.”
Wren froze for a second before he took it and nodded, quickly typing. Teddy had no time to feel self-conscious, his heart already racing with adrenaline.
Teddy threw a hand in front of Wren’s chest as they took a sharp right, Red really trying to make him overshoot the mark by turning in at the last possible moment.
“Son of a bitch.”
“Is there a gun in here?” Wren asked, putting the phone aside and popping the glove compartment.
“Why would there be a gun?” Teddy asked, a little incredulously.
“Trace looks like the type of person to own a gun.”
“That’s stereotyping, and now is maybe not the time to get into it.”
They blew through a red light, and Teddy was thankful there were hardly any cars around at this time of night.
“Well we have to slow him down; we’re not gaining on him. Is there a way to cut him off?” Wren asked.
“It depends how well he knows Arcstead, and the fact that he’s not taking any one-way streets tells me that’s well enough,” Teddy said, accelerating around an unsuspecting taxi driver who blew his horn at them.
Red really wasn’t playing around. He drove recklessly, hitting trash cans and mounting the pavement. He didn’t seem to care about how far the van tipped as he took the corners at full speed, the wheels threatening to lift off the ground and send it tumbling.
And then he turned off into a side alley.
“Teddy!” Wren gasped.
Teddy braked hard to follow, throwing them both forward in their seats.
He managed to thread the car through the gap, scraping the side door on the brick wall and completely dusting the mirror.
They rattled around the interior like beans in a can, but Teddy kept his foot on the accelerator and followed down the dark alley, chasing what looked like two red eyes in the distance.
They flew out of the other side of the alley at speed just as the van turned into a parking structure, smashing through the barrier arm.
Teddy pulled the hand brake. The back wheels drifted out to take the turn, but it gained them precious seconds as they entered behind the van.
“We can cut it off in here,” Wren said, leaning forward and pointing. “Before the next level.”
Teddy nodded, breaking off down a different row of cars to try and beat the van to it.
But when he glanced over to the driver’s window he saw Red smiling. He gave them a jaunty wave before the van split into three.
Each van peeled off in a different direction, one continuing forward, another peeling off left, the third braking.
Teddy had no idea which van was the right one.
“Wren, which one?” he asked.
“I…I don’t know.”
The van split again, multiplying before their eyes and making it impossible to tell which was real.
“Teddy, look out!”
Teddy hit the brakes in a screech of rubber just as a van hit them head-on and passed straight through them.
Shaken, they watched all the vans disappear slowly, vanishing as if they had never existed and leaving none behind.
Wren
Wren scrambled out of the car. Teddy killed the engine, then followed on shaky legs, watching as Wren paced fruitlessly.
“He’s gone, Wren,” Teddy said.
“He can’t be gone!”
“I’m sorry. We lost him.”
Wren spun and grabbed the front of his shirt. “You don’t understand! He had the mark!”
“The mark?”
“The eye symbol. The one from Ash’s case. The one that had the list of names. The fucked-up cult behind all this weird creepy shit! The one they carved into a tree at my sanctuary!”
“Wait…wait, Wren, slow down.” Teddy cupped Wren’s face between his hands. “Are you saying these people are targeting you?”
“Not me specifically, I don’t think, but they’re in Slatehollow and now they’re here. There’s something huge going on, Teddy Bear.”
He didn’t realize the name had slipped out until he saw the way Teddy reacted to it. And he was suddenly acutely aware of their position. Of Teddy’s hands on his cheeks.
Teddy let go and stepped back.
“We’ll, uh…we’ll look into it. This eye cult and what it means,” Teddy said. “Maybe we can crack both cases.”
Wren swallowed, his throat suddenly tight. He couldn’t say anything else, only able to nod. He crossed his arms over his bare chest, feeling a shiver of cold as the adrenaline drained.
Teddy noticed, because he always did.
“Are you okay?” Teddy asked softly.
“Fine. We should get back so you can check on Saint,” Wren mumbled, hating that it fell out of his mouth as soon as he opened it.
“He should be fine with Trace. Hopefully they’re cleaning up the mess inside with a better outcome than us.”
Wren glanced out the corner of his eye and caught the embarrassed expression on Teddy’s face. It was the same expression he always got whenever he thought he’d lost control and broken his perfect outer image.
It used to be one of Wren’s favorite expressions, because it used to be that only he could get this Teddy to come out.
Had that really not changed?
Had he left Saint just to check on him?
Had he hit that guy because of Wren?
The thoughts sent his heart pounding in desperation to know.
He turned his face up to Teddy’s, catching his eye and visibly startling him. “Why did you leave Saint to chase after me?”
Teddy caught a visible breath, clearly searching for a diplomatic answer. Wren pushed forward with renewed vigor.
“Why did you hit a guy for me?”
Teddy couldn’t handle the intensity for long, darting his eyes away like a spooked frog. “I didn’t really hit him…”
Wren grasped Teddy’s hand, the smooth skin of his fingers soft under Wren’s rough grip.
He caught Teddy’s quiet gasp and stifled his own mewl in his chest. Instead, he set his jaw stubbornly and held up the red, already bruising knuckles between them, unwilling to let him slither away a second time.
Wren was good at catching scared animals.
Teddy visibly swallowed, looking down at their joined hands. His fingers twitched between Wren’s, and he felt his own heart move with them like it was a puppet answering its master. He had never been able to cut those strings; they were made from something far stronger than he knew how to break.
“There was never any choice,” Teddy admitted.
“Between what?” Wren whispered.
“Between you and Saint.” Teddy shook his head, thick brows furrowed, beseeching Wren to understand. “You told me to go be with him like that was a forgone conclusion.”
“I thought it was what you would want to do,” Wren said. “I thought he was…yours now.”
Teddy’s eyes widened in understanding. “You thought…you thought Saint and I were together?”
“The way you acted…” Wren said. “You’re so close. You touch so much. He wears your clothes. He comes into your room without knocking. You have private conversations. You act like you…like you love him.”
“Of course I love him, Little Bird. But I’ll never be in love with him.” He cupped Wren’s cheek again, this time knowingly. “How could there be room for anyone else when my heart is full of you?”
Wren’s mouth dried at the confirmation, everything taking on a hazy edge as the world around them vanished.
The tips of Teddy’s fingers hovered next to Wren’s half-revealed cursemark, gently brushing a strand of damp hair aside so he could see it properly.
They were still holding hands between them, a dangerous lever that could be pulled either way, just like their dance.
But this time, there was no cover story.
No reason to hide behind. It was just them and Teddy’s words still ringing in the air.
Wren pulled in, never afraid to jump into danger, only ever afraid that Teddy wouldn’t follow.
Need, hot and sharp, coursed through him when Teddy slowly did. Victory had him teetering on his feet, ready to fall headfirst into another bad decision.
“I thought we were friends,” Wren whispered.
“I regretted that the moment I said it,” Teddy said. “I thought I was doing the right thing, but it’s hurting you, and that can never be right.”
“Is it hurting you too?” Pain made Wren’s voice crack.
“It kills me.” Teddy rested his forehead against Wren’s.
“I don’t want to be your friend,” Wren said. “I don’t know how to do anything else but love you.” Warm breaths washed over Wren’s face, making his eyelashes flutter.
“We still need to talk.”
“Yes.” Wren nodded, the tips of their noses brushing. He locked eyes with Teddy and grasped the back of his neck. “Let’s talk.”
He took Teddy’s mouth with his, feeding him all the words he knew how to say. He was happy to learn he still remembered how to kiss Teddy. He still had the shape of his lips memorized and the taste of them ingrained in his mind.
He still knew how he moved. Slowly, gently, tangling his tongue with Wren’s, nipping at his lips. He pushed his fingers into Teddy’s hair, standing on his tiptoes as Teddy’s arms locked around his waist.
He felt mad with repressed want, everything they had been forced to push down and pretend didn’t exist flooding out into the open air.
It didn’t matter if the world saw. Let them, Wren thought. Let them see how much they loved each other and choke on it.
Teddy was his.
Animal possession drove him as he climbed the length of Teddy’s body, wrapping his legs around him like shackles. He pushed against his hips to reach higher and deepen their kiss, running his fingers through that dark hair and gripping firmly to angle Teddy’s head where he needed it.
And Teddy let him.
Just like when they were younger, he gave in to everything Wren asked of him, keeping him safe in his arms, protecting him from the world as he poured himself into the well of Wren’s need for him.
He walked them forward until Wren’s back hit the car and he was trapped between it and Teddy’s solid body. Wren gasped against his lips and pulled harder at his hair.
Teddy moaned and broke the kiss, staring at Wren as he tried to catch his breath.