Chapter 30
Farrow
The new apartment was filled with boxes as I’d only moved in last night, not that I’d had a lot to move.
I hadn’t seen my brother since he’d released the videos, but he’d tried to call me twice and had sent a handful of texts.
The first couple had been angry, then they’d become pleading.
His friends had cut contact, and our parents were furious with him.
He was in a world of shit of his own making.
Now he had to sort out how to pay rent on his own, as my name had been removed from the lease the moment I’d collected the keys for this place, as every person was only allowed one house.
While it didn’t have any river views, it had a fabulous view over the city, and a very large mirror in the bedroom.
Timothy’s things from the human world had been delivered, and the boxes had been placed next to mine, which was a good thing as it meant that he’d passed the checks.
Every item would’ve been examined and determined to be safe both before being packed and then again on arrival in this world.
None of which quelled the anxiety turning in my stomach.
He’d been arrested—and I hadn’t warned him—and the personal videos had been posted.
For finding a sorcerer willing to help with repairs, I’d received a bonus and had to sign a clause that I wouldn’t discuss it. The bosses didn’t want guardians trying to catch sorcerers. It was much better to watch and report.
Now I waited for him to be delivered to me.
At least he wanted to see me.
My stomach grumbled, but I didn’t want to be cooking or eating when he arrived. I checked my phone, but there were no messages from him or Bridges. Had something happened?
To distract myself, I unpacked another box of my clothes, hoping that Timothy hadn’t changed his mind. I was tempted to unpack some of his things so that it looked like his home too, but I also didn’t want to overstep, given everything that had happened since the last time I’d seen him.
I paced the bedroom, watching as the city lights flickered to life, then began unpacking another box.
The bell on the front rang. I froze and drew in a breath, not sure what to do.
Open the door, obviously.
But then what?
This wasn’t something we’d ever discussed because there hadn’t been an us or a future to discuss. And there may not be…
I bounded down the stairs and over to the door, pausing for a heartbeat before unlocking it.
Timothy stood on the walkway with a Bridge officer for an escort.
Around his wrists were two metal cuffs that could have been jewelry, but I knew better.
I nodded at the officer before glancing at Timothy. “Hi.”
“Hi.” He gave me a tight smile. “Nice place.”
“Yeah, I’m still moving in.” I ran my hand over my ridge of hair. I didn’t want to get into all of that now.
“Can you sign this to say he arrived?” The Bridge officer held out a tablet.
I signed, knowing that if Timothy ran off, I’d have to call it in, but in those decorative cuffs that he wore, there’d be a tracker. No one wanted him to be unhappy, as he was here to fix things.
I handed the tablet back. “Thank you.”
“Enjoy.” The officer gave me a wave and walked away.
“Enjoy?” I glanced at Timothy, then at the retreating back of the officer.
“He subscribes. Big fan. Super awkward,” Timothy said, standing on the walkway. “I’m always wondering who’s seen me naked.”
I winced. “I never expected you to be dealing with that.”
“Mmm…” He nodded. “You didn’t give me the tracker so you could find me, did you?”
“Why don’t you come in?” This wasn’t a conversation for outside, where people might overhear.
He walked past me into the apartment. His head tilted up to take in the mezzanine bedroom level. “This is really nice.”
“I only have it because of the Scream and Steam money, which is half yours.”
He licked his lower lip. “They taught me to magic myself the ability to read your letters. I thought I was going to melt my brain. Do you know how hard it is not to think about melting your brain? Or the floor swallowing you? Or a hundred other stupid things that I never realized I do? It’s terrifying. ”
He was listing the reasons why children were so dangerous to my world, and why he needed to wear the cuffs.
“I’m a Bridge Guardian. I had to give you a tracker when it was clear you had a connection to my world, even though I didn’t want to.
” And even though I didn’t want to tell him the rest, it was better to get it over with.
“I thought about telling you what would happen, but I didn’t want to scare you. ”
His eyebrows lifted. “You don’t think three monsters turning up to arrest me was scary?”
I glanced at my toe claws. “I was more worried about how you’d feel about being here.” With me.
There was a chance that tomorrow he’d want to leave.
“Still conflicted. I didn’t have a choice. I didn’t plan on being a sorcerer or a freaking porn star. I was meant to be an engineer and build things…buildings.”
I frowned. “You can still do that if you want.”
“I don’t know what I want. It’s a lot to take in.” He turned, scanning my apartment. “And everyone knows you fucked me. That was meant to be private, not for your channel.”
“Yeah…about that…” I stared out at the city lights, knowing that I needed to tell him everything, even if it was hard. “My brother hacked my storage and leaked those videos.”
“What? How did he even find out about them?” Timothy scrubbed his hands over his face.
“He wanted dirt to force me to become a streamer…not realizing I already was, then he wanted a fifty percent cut. I refused. He uploaded them and linked them back to my account. Which lost me, us, followers, but we gained others. I think everyone loves you more now. They are certainly making loads of suggestions for future videos.” And offering themselves up.
No one was touching Timothy except me.
He took a step back. “Okay, this is way more fucked up than I realized.”
“Things got messy.” And I wasn’t sure how to start cleaning up.
“Why don’t I show you around?” There wasn’t much to show, but at least I’d be doing something.
“This is the living area and kitchen. There’s not much furniture because I haven’t had time to buy more.
There is a partition that turns that area into a separate bedroom or office, and upstairs is the main bedroom and bathroom. ”
“It’s spacious.”
“It is.” All I’d wanted was my own space; now I wanted to share it with him.
He glanced at the stairs. “Do you want to show me upstairs, or are you expecting me to sleep down here?”
My heart gave a hopeful leap. Was he planning to stay? “I wasn’t sure what you’d want.”
He sighed. “Neither was I. I’ve been scared and angry and confused since I arrived. Then I remembered that this wasn’t the plan.” He smiled. “I only wanted you to stop banging around the house.”
“Then I started banging you.”
His cheeks turn pink. “I’m hoping that you want to do more of that.”
“More of what?”
“Everything.” He lifted his hands. “That you want me.” His voice softened.
I scooped him up and threw him over my shoulder.
“What are you doing?”
“Taking you upstairs so I can show you exactly how much I want you.” I started up the spiral staircase.
“In my world, we buy people dinner and learn some things about them before taking them home to keep.”
“I already know things about you. And I can order dinner.” I set him on his feet in front of the window. Outside, the city sparkled with all the lights from the houses nestled amongst the trees.
“It’s beautiful and impossible, yet it exists. A world created to safeguard magic.”
I tilted his chin up with one claw. “You are beautiful and impossible. And mine,” I growled. I intended to make sure that he stayed and never wanted to leave.
His eyes widened.
Before he could speak, I claimed his lips and kissed him. While the money was nice, and the filming was fun, I didn’t care about either of those things if I didn’t have Timothy.