Chapter Twenty-One
In Somnia Veritas
Oliver had been quiet since they left the Jarngrens’ manor.
He had seen him talking to Will Jarngren before he joined the rest of them in the garden, but he had said nothing about it on their drive back to the inn while Felipe and Gwen recounted and confirmed all they had learned.
Felipe still wasn’t certain they could fully trust Will’s words or deeds, but they could at least trust his timing.
They passed the mayor’s steamer in the heart of town where no one would know they had just come from their house.
When they arrived back at the inn after dark, Mr. Allen’s face had been awash with relief.
Part of him wanted to tell the man what they had learned about Joanna’s potential role in the reanimatings, though saying it aloud made it sound even more farfetched than it was.
He would need to discuss it with Oliver and Gwen, but first, he needed to deal with that spot on his leg and make sure Oliver was all right.
Checking Oliver was still by the outhouse with Gwen, Felipe popped open his partner’s gladstone and dug through the myriad of bottles.
Ever since the pumpkin vine squeezed the bite on his calf, it had intermittently burned and itched.
Whatever venom the insects carried in the country, it was far more potent than what Manhattan mosquitos had to offer.
Grabbing the alcohol and a square of gauze, Felipe shucked off his trousers and grimaced.
The lump looked awful. It was red, hard, and hot to the touch, and while there was no boil or pus, pressing on it made his leg throb.
Pouring alcohol onto the cloth and placing it over the bite, Felipe bit his lip and breathed through the pain as he put the bottle back with his free hand.
He bundled the used gauze into a sock and tucked it deep into his bag where Oliver’s bloodhound nose couldn’t smell it and threw on his pajamas.
He promised himself he would show Oliver the welt later when things calmed down, but now was not the time.
Crossing the room, Felipe hesitantly grabbed the letter from his mother and a notepad from his discarded jacket.
His hands were already shaking despite gnawing on a piece of jerky from Oliver’s stash, but he couldn’t go another night without sleep.
Maybe starting it would be enough to put his better left forgotten memories to rest. Drawing in a tense breath as he settled into his side of the bed, Felipe reminded himself who his parents expected him to be: the head of the household, a husband, a father, and an investigator who carried on the Galvan way even if he did it for people they despised.
While he was technically all of those things, they would be disappointed if they knew how loosely he fit those definitions.
Every letter was a slight of hand where he showed them just enough of his life to keep them from looking closer.
That had been okay when he was doing it to protect Teresa from his family’s legacy or working himself into the ground on cross-country cases, but now, he had a new life with someone he loved that he could never tell them about.
Even without mentioning his death and reanimation, he knew they would never understand.
That was why he had put 2,500 miles between them and hadn’t seen anyone in his family in over twenty years, wasn’t it?
Because they would never accept the man he had become.
Years ago, he had tried to close the gap between them through his letters.
He thought maybe if they saw how happy he was, they would understand him better.
When he told them a funny story about how their first dog, Bollito, got into his notes, they said he should discipline the dog better.
When he told them about how daring and smart of a toddler Teresa was, they sent him advice on how to break her spirit.
After that, he stopped giving them details about his life in New York, and they barely seemed to notice.
He didn’t need a letter in response to know how poorly they would react to him living with and loving Oliver.
They would say they would pray for him to find the correct path, and they would write to Louisa and ask her what she did to drive him away.
She would send a searing letter in return if they ever dared, but the thought of them sticking their noses into his business to fix him was far scarier than them vanishing from his life completely.
A Galvan quietly fucking another man was unforgivable.
A Galvan living openly with his male lover was sacrilege.
Felipe ran a tired hand across his face.
He envied Oliver’s openness with his nana.
The woman had even made a wedding quilt for him and his future partner for god sakes.
Meanwhile, Felipe had spent most of his life pretending he was a good son for his parents’ tepid approval.
Shame washed over him as he stared at the blank page; he wasn’t sure he was strong enough to ask for anything else.
Sighing, Felipe reread his mother’s updates and started replying to those.
Pleasantries and feigned interest about his cousins’ lives were the easy part.
He had just finished that paragraph when the door opened, and Oliver slipped inside.
The knot loosened in Felipe’s chest as Oliver leaned against the door and gave him a slow smile that felt like home.
Leaving the letter behind, Felipe rose to meet him with a kiss.
His fingers snaked along the buttons of his waistcoat as Oliver moaned softly against his lips.
He knew Oliver would never go further than kisses and caresses with the innkeeper around, so while he was certain the infected bite was safe from discovery, he undressed Oliver with barely restrained hunger.
He worked his way along Oliver’s jaw and down his neck, relishing the way his lover’s fingers groped at his back and hip.
When Oliver gasped in his ear as his shirt fell away and teeth skimmed skin, the blood rushed from Felipe’s head to his cock, and the tether pulled taut between them.
He had to stop. Pulling back, he admired the expanse of his partner’s square shoulders and the dusting of black hair peeking out from the bottom of his rumpled undershirt.
When his trousers finally fell and pooled at his feet, it was clear Oliver wanted Felipe as much as he wanted him.
For a long moment, Oliver held Felipe’s gaze, his eyes dark with arousal, but with a shake of his head, they softened.
“If I didn’t know Mr. Allen was awake and puttering around right below us, I would promise to pleasure you as quietly as possible, but we can’t,” Oliver whispered, resting his forehead against Felipe’s as he ran his fingers through his walnut curls and held him close.
“I know.”
“Besides, I don’t think you would be very quiet.”
Felipe’s lips quirked into a smile, relishing the low rumble of a laugh that reverberated through Oliver’s chest. “I’m not loud.”
“You will be. I plan to do a very thorough job,” he said, pulling a pained groan from Felipe.
Kissing him once more, Oliver stepped back with a self-satisfied grin and reached for his pajamas.
“The walls in this place aren’t that thick, so Gwen would certainly hear you, even if Mr. Allen doesn’t.
And I don’t think I can survive the mortification of her giving me a look at breakfast right in front of Mr. Allen.
I hope you don’t mind taking a raincheck until we get back to the Paranormal Society or Gwen and Mr. Allen go out, whichever comes first.”
“I can wait,” Felipe replied as he sank back onto the bed with his letter and watched Oliver put on his pajamas.
As Oliver settled in beside him, the lingering arousal sluicing across the tether gave way to something far more pensive and heavy.
Slipping his fingers between Oliver’s, Felipe gave them a squeeze. “You all right, love?”
“Yeah, just thinking about this whole mess. My parents tried to break free of the cycle my ancestors created, and in the process, they made things worse for everyone but me.” He let out a laugh that was barely more than a breath and stared up at the ceiling.
“I didn’t do it or even ask them to do it, but I feel guilty that it was done in my name.
Whatever we do to fix it, it needs to be something that will help Will and free my mother if she’s still in there. ”
“Oliver, I’m not certain—”
“No, we’re going to find a way to do it.
We have to. I can’t leave knowing nothing has changed for him.
He doesn’t deserve to be locked up like that.
” As if sensing what he was thinking, Oliver put his hand over his and added, “You’ve had Louisa with you for most of your life and then Agatha and Teresa, but I know what it’s like to have no one.
My nana died when I was nineteen, and until I came to the Paranormal Society and met Gwen, I had no one I considered family.
Will might share blood with nearly everyone in that house, but they aren’t there for him.
He has no one. I know— I know you’ll say that doesn’t mean I have to do it, but I want to.
He’s been trying to fix things for years, and he’s losing hope.
The least I can do after everything is try and help him. ”
Oliver stared into Felipe’s eyes and held his hand, silently pleading for him to understand. He did. He truly did, but he didn’t want Oliver to be disappointed or hurt because families did that more often than not.
Felipe sighed. “I get it. I do. Just don’t let your guilt cloud your judgment. Even if Will is your cousin, we don’t know him or where his loyalties lie.”