Chapter 4 AERON
AERON
I stood at the kitchen sink, scrubbing the pan that had held tonight’s pork chops—well, not pork—grease clinging stubbornly to the metal. The water scalded my hands as steam rose in lazy curls, but it wasn’t enough to drown out the gnawing unease in my gut.
Samael was still sitting at the kitchen table, the man typing away on his phone, every little tap serving to piss me off just a little bit more.
I’d only just gotten used to Finn but Runo?
He was a different beast. Theatrical, unhinged, pulling strings I didn’t even know were there.
My chest tightened with a mix of awe and dread that made my hands shake as I scoured the pan harder.
I didn’t expect this version of Killian. Finn had been wild and messy and just on the edge of too much, but Runo was something else—like he’d been watching us for years, plotting, knowing things he shouldn’t. The thought made my skin prickle, a shiver running down my spine despite the hot water.
I’d loved Killian in college, his mismatched eyes and boyish charm, but Runo’s ocean-gray stare held a darkness that pulled me in and scared me shitless at the same time.
He was too much, too unpredictable, and yet I couldn’t look away.
It was like staring into a fire, knowing it’d burn but craving the heat.
Despite everything, Runo was still mine and it terrified me.
That’s when a memory tugging at the back of my mind stole my attention. There’s no fucking way. I quickly dried my hands on the towel hanging over the edge of the sink and dashed toward my bedroom, searching for a specific piece of my past.
A small silver ring that had meant more than it should several years ago.
Clutching it in my hand, I headed back into the kitchen and set it on the table with a soft clink.
Samael’s eyes flicked up from his phone, narrowing as he studied it.
“You used to wear that a lot more. I’ve seen it recently. What’s wrong?”
I swallowed hard, pacing a step to burn off the nervous energy.
“I got it in high school, remember? No idea who it was from, but I liked it. There’s an R inside.
” I had obsessed over it when I first got it but then it just became something that was mine.
Just a few seconds ago, though, it clicked that maybe all of this was connected.
That maybe Runo’s interest in us hadn’t started in college when I had met Killian but way before then. Finn had mentioned it at one point that he had known us. It made sense that Runo had too.
Samael chuckled as he leaned back in his chair, but the sound cut off just as fast as he lost the smile. He straightened up and set his phone down, his jaw pulling tight. “We didn’t know Runo at that point.”
I shook my head, my voice barely over a whisper.
Runo wasn’t even here, but it felt like he’d be able to see this moment like he saw everything else.
“We don’t know that. We checked for any of the other alters but none of their names came up.
Runo very well could’ve been around when we were.
It would explain all the shit he’s been fucking us with.
How he knew our government names. Hell, how he knows everything. ”
Runo knowing my old name—Vincent Marshall Teller—before I’d even told Killian? That wasn’t just a coincidence. It was calculated, like he’d been in the shadows, watching us, memorizing every detail of our lives.
I remembered the letter that came with the ring, scrawled in messy ink, calling me someone’s dream, promising they’d always be in my corner.
Back then, I liked the idea that someone cared outside of my little circle.
There had never been another letter or gesture.
I had thought it was just that. Now, it felt like a warning, Runo’s first move in a game we didn’t know we were playing.
Samael frowned, his dark eyes sharpening as he grabbed his phone and fired off a text. “If that’s the case, we have no idea who we’re dealing with.”
He stood and rounded the table in two long strides before cupping my face in his hands, his palms warm and rough against my cheeks.
My breath caught in my throat as his lips grazed over mine, his touch anchoring me as my thoughts spiraled.
“Look,” he breathed as he pulled back. “I want to believe Runo is still the man we fell in love with, or at least some part of him is, but the fact is he’s playing a game we were only just invited to.
I don’t know his endgame, and I have no idea what he wants. ”
I reached up to wrap my hands around his wrists to hold Samael there, his touch stirring the familiar heat I was so fond of.
Runo’s chaos was seductive, pulling me in like it had with Finn, but this felt bigger, darker.
“What if he really does just want us?” I said, my voice cracking a little.
“That ring came with a secret admirer letter, Samael. What if he’s been there all along, waiting? For us?”
Samael’s thumbs brushed my cheeks, his warmth cutting through the panic clawing my chest. I leaned into it, craving the steadiness he always brought, even when everything else was falling apart.
I hated how much I wanted all of this, how much I wanted him.
Killian’s boyish smile was gone, replaced by Runo’s manic energy, and I wasn’t sure if I was losing myself to it or finding something new.
As terrifying as the thought of Runo stepping into our lives was, the idea of him not being a part of it was worse.
Samael’s grip tightened slightly, grounding me again. “Let’s see what happens after we get rid of Brent and Jade. We’ll figure it out from there.”
My stomach twisted, a knot of guilt mixing with the heat.
I pulled back just enough to look at him, Samael settling his hands on my waist. “Are we actually killing Jade? I don’t know of any reason to kill her.
Sure, she knows a lot, but…” We were all a little deranged in our own way but killing Jade felt wrong.
She hadn’t explicitly done anything other than just exist at Runo’s side.
Samael let out a heavy sigh, tugging me into his chest. He seemed as tired as I felt, a conflict of emotions running through his expression. “We’ll see if we can’t convince Runo otherwise and hopefully turn our lives back to some kind of normalcy.”
I opened my mouth to add onto that when a door creaked open in the basement, followed by Runo’s wild cackles. “You’re a fucking menace,” he said, his voice echoing up the stairwell. “I’m going to need stitches.”
Stitches?
Pounding footsteps hit the stairs before the basement door banged open.
Slash and Runo stumbled in, blood smeared across both of them.
Slash was holding a scalpel, his eyes wild, pupils blown wide like he was high on the kill.
However, I hadn’t seen him that strung out for years. There wasn’t enough action in Primrose.
Runo’s energy matched Slash’s, that unhinged grin plastered on his face, but his shirt was shredded, blood seeping from gashes along his torso and back from where I could see.
He looked freshly fucked, his hair mussed and lips swollen, but there was a flicker of terror in his ocean-gray eyes.
If I hadn’t known Slash as long as I had, that feral look on his face might’ve scared me shitless.
“What the fuck happened out there?” I asked, my voice sharper than I meant, stepping closer.
Runo plopped into a chair, wincing as he pulled out his phone, his fingers already moving across the screen. “We went on a little bit of a chase. Niles is dead. Like, way dead, and now I’m all sliced up. I’d ask the doc here to stitch me up, but he’s the reason I’m bleeding out.”
Samael frowned, stepping over to inspect Runo’s back.
His jaw tightened as he saw the gashes, blood seeping into the hem of his pants—at least, what was left of it.
“Jesus Christ. Lay on the table,” he said, helping Runo up and onto his stomach.
“Slash, you’ve never lost control like that. What the…”
Runo cut him off, his voice strained but still with a hint of chaos.
“Stitch me first. I’m feeling faint.” The bastard was still texting, his grin never faltering but it was easy to see he had lost too much blood.
He blinked a few times and then cleared his throat, trying to keep up the facade.
Whatever had happened out there, Slash really had gone too far.
Another look over at Slash and I could tell something was wrong.
Slash had never needed to let go like that recently. He hadn’t wanted to. We kept the worst of our demons locked down for a reason but his… was roaming. I just had to figure out how Runo had fucking dug it out and let it loose.
Turning my attention back to Runo, I snarled at the fact he was still typing away, like he wasn’t currently bleeding out. I crossed my arms over my chest, my pulse still racing from the kiss and now this. “What is so important right now?”
Runo glanced up, his grin faltering for a second. “I have to talk to my father. He’s on cleanup duty.”
We all froze, my heart dropping into my stomach. “What?” I said, at the same time as Samael’s low, “What the fuck?”
Runo sighed, trying to sit up, but Samael pushed him back down. “Fuck, I haven’t told you the story, have I?” Runo asked, wincing as he settled back on the table.
Samael grabbed a first aid kit from a drawer, his eyes dark with worry.
It was the first time I had seen him actually care about Runo, a testament that this new alter—or the real one, I guessed—belonged with us.
“You, finish cleaning that shit up in the woods,” he told Slash, then turned to Runo.
“I’ll stitch you. Then you can talk. Why are these so fucking deep? ”
Runo’s grin returned. “I gifted him a new weapon. He loves it.”
I looked over at Slash again, the man still frozen by the basement door, the scalpel hanging low from his hand, blood crusted on the blade.
His chest heaved, that wild look still burning in his eyes.
I walked over slowly, stopping just in front of him.
“You haven’t looked like that since we were kids,” I murmured.
Slash took a deep breath, finally blinking, the scalpel clattering to the floor. “He brings the demons out,” he purred, a mixture of awe and terror in his tone.
Fucking hell. Those gashes on Runo’s back weren’t just accidents—they were Slash’s art, his demon unleashed, and Runo had handed him the tools to do it. I glanced back over at Runo, wondering how we had stumbled on the one person who was both worse than us and perfect for our chaos.
Samael worked fast, grunting through every stitch. I was glad that the gashes were more toward his side, away from his spine but they were still deeper than anything Slash had done to Samael or himself. Runo hissed but otherwise didn’t react, his attention somewhere other than here.
I wanted to snatch the phone, demand answers, but the sight of him kept me rooted.
He’d planned this, every step, from Niles’ death to this very moment.
If this had been Slash, he would have been on the phone immediately with Samael, giving him an SOS and a location about what was needed to clean up.
There was also some fear that went with these moments, fear that we’d get caught but excitement following when we didn’t.
Runo was just… there.