Chapter 4 #3
“I don’t know for sure. Once I figured it out, I killed myself to jump through the different games. In each one, I found him, and if it turned out he was an NPC, I redid the process.”
“And you found him?”
“Eventually.” Uriel ran a hand through his hair. “By the time I did, I’d forgotten what the point was. All I knew is that I was looking for my long-lost friend. But when I saw him again, the real him, it all came flooding back to me.”
“You woke yourself up,” Illya concluded.
“Without him,” Ryker added.
“I tried to convince him,” Uriel said. “But he refused to go. I spent years trying, Ryk. He killed me himself, a dozen times over, and I still kept trying. Then I must have hit the limit, ran out of lives, so to speak, and was moved to another version of the game. That was it for me. I chose to exit. Even if that meant doing so alone.”
“How did you exit?”
“There are no controls or headsets when you’re in there,” Uriel explained. “You have to use voice commands. Player Archangel Activates Exit.”
“What’s Ryder’s handle?” Nyoka asked.
“Four Horsemen,” Ryker answered.
“Ryk,” Uriel seemed uncertain. “There’s something I have to do. A message I have to give.”
“To me?”
“To Rue.”
Ryker froze, the air in the room turning sour. “What?”
“Before Ryder and I lost ourselves, there was something he wanted me to tell Rue if I ever decided to exit the game,” Uriel said.
“Tell me.” What the hell could his brother possibly have to say to Rue? And would it help explain what happened that day?
Uriel hesitated.
“You don’t know about this,” Illya came to Ryker’s defense, “but Rue didn’t stick around after you two entered Belladona.”
“He abandoned his post.” Ryker’s hands balled into fists at his sides. “And me. So if there’s something you know that can help explain why, you have to tell me.”
His friend sighed and dropped his head back against the wall, clearly too exhausted to deal with this. “I am aware of that, actually. Apparently, the two of them had a fight that day.”
They’d argued? Was that why Rue had left?
“Ryder wanted to end things, but Rue didn’t agree. He got angry and stormed out.”
“I’m sorry,” Ryker must have misheard. “What?”
“They were in a secret relationship,” Uriel stated.
“Was a surprise to me too. Guess they’d slept together recently and Ryder lost interest after.
Dick move, but you know how he is. It’s not exactly surprising.
Why he thought breaking the news to Rue right before entering a prototype was the right time is beyond me, but I have a feeling he’d already decided not to exit the game by then. ”
The floor seemed to drop out from under him, and Ryker was rendered mute.
Uriel was saying two things.
One, that Ryder had chosen to leave him behind from the start. Had planned on integrating with the system—however the hell that worked—and hadn’t mentioned it to Ryker at all. Hell, that morning, the last time they’d spoken, he’d acted normal.
Two, that he’d been…That he and Rue had…
Nyoka let out a whistle. “No shit? You’re saying Ryder and Rue were fucking? Damn. Did you know?” He turned to Ryker, and whatever he saw on his face had the humor draining away.
Illya stepped forward, placing a hand on Ryker’s shoulder, then demanded of Uriel, “You’re sure?”
“That’s what Ryder told me,” he confirmed. “He said Rue was a fun time, but he wasn’t worth sticking around for. Said the sex was fine, but that’s all it was, and he didn’t want Rue out here waiting for him.”
“Was he being kind or cruel?” Illya scowled. “He really wanted you to say all that?”
“I actually reworded it to be a bit nicer, but that’s the gist, yeah.”
Ryker was only partially listening to them at that point.
Rue and his brother had been hooking up? Behind his back? For how long?
They’d had sex with each other? Had gone all the way? When?
So this whole time Ryker had assumed they’d had something special, when in reality, Rue had been messing with them both. Seducing them for…for what? To what end?
Or, maybe not.
Maybe his time with Ryker had been for fun, but his time with Ryder had been more. Why else would he get so upset when Ryder wanted to end things?
Why else would he refuse to explain or even talk to Ryker about it or their past?
Uriel said Ryder had wanted to break up. That they’d been in a relationship. That was further along than Ryker and Rue had gotten, since they’d yet to put a label on things.
Meaning Ryker was the third wheel here.
He was the one who’d wronged his brother, not the other way around.
Rue had been dating Ryder yet seducing Ryker on the side for shits and giggles.
The anger grew and exploded at once, in a burst of chaotic energy he wouldn’t have been able to control even if he’d wanted to.
Which he didn’t.
Ryker stormed out of the room, barely registering his friends calling him back. He shoved his way down the hall and out the building, crossing the grounds toward the main house like a man possessed.
There was only one thought on his mind as he stormed Hart Estate.
Find Rue.
And make him pay the price of his deception.