Chapter 10 SAMAEL
SAMAEL
The moment Runo left for work, I started packing up and moving everything to the estate, a far safer and more protected place than the fucking woods Runo and Slash had been chasing Niles through last night.
No way in hell was I going to just fucking sit there while Runo was off playing whatever fucking game he had dragged us into.
However, some part of me wanted to play this out with Runo—the only reason I was watching Brent still tied up, but now in my basement, through the security cameras in my office.
His glare was fixed on the camera like he could burn a hole through my soul.
My original plan was to move him so that I could focus on actual police work, but focus was a fucking fantasy.
Not with one of my best friends and my confidant, bound and gagged below.
I wasn’t even sure I wanted to kill him.
Letting him go wasn’t an option either—not after he’d seen us with Runo, not after Niles’ blood-soaked end in the woods.
I glanced up, my gaze landing on Slash who was passed out on the couch, his arm slung over his face. He hadn’t been himself since last night, not since that crazed look burned in his eyes. I used to love that look, back when we were kids, feeding our demons in dark alleys.
We’d found ways to cope since then, burying those urges under control, under routine.
Hell, I thought we’d tamed them altogether and locked them away forever.
But last night had changed everything. Runo had dragged that demon out of Slash, and part of me hated how much it thrilled me, a dark, sensual pull that made me wonder when it would be my turn.
With each darker part of our fourth that was revealed, I found myself falling in step with them rather than turning them in.
As if the darkness itself was what I craved.
I sighed and leaned back in my chair while rubbing my temples, the monitor pulling my attention again when it flickered. Brent still hadn’t moved, his stare unwavering as he no doubt was deciding my fate should he be let out.
My mind churned, caught between two impossible choices: tell Runo I was done with his fucked-up games, walk away from the chaos that threatened to swallow us, or dive in headfirst and let the darkness take over like it used to.
I’d spent years keeping control, cleaning up after the other two and myself while feeding an empire that I had all but handed off to Brent and the other guards at this point.
I was so far removed from the life that The King actually lived that I was just barely more than a citizen.
But Runo’s chaos was tempting, the need to embrace the thrill we’d tried to leave behind growing.
The door creaked open, and Aeron walked in, holding a bowl of pasta, with small chunks of what looked like sausage littered across the top. “Please, for the love of God, tell me you didn’t heat that up in the kitchen?”
Aeron shook his head, a grin tugging at his lips as he shoveled a bite into his mouth, chewing with a deviant glint in his sea-green eyes. “No, I’m eating it cold like a savage. See anything?”
Thank fuck. He knew better than to heat up food in my house made with his favorite delicacy.
He came around to my side of the desk and parked his ass on the edge, the bowl balanced on his knee. I shook my head, my eyes flicking back to the monitor. “Brent hasn’t moved since we brought him here, and the guy I sent to watch Jade hasn’t reported anything either.”
Aeron swallowed, his gaze narrowing as he glanced at the screen, then at me. “What are we going to do about Runo?”
I chuckled, the sound masking the knot in my chest. “What do you want to do with him?” Slowly, I wheeled my chair directly in front of Aeron and then slid my hands up his thighs.
He gasped, his eyes widening a little before choking on a bite of his pasta, the bowl wobbling in his hand before he set it down on the table with a soft clink.
“Is it weird that I kind of want to take Runo on a date?” he said, almost hesitant.
“I want to get to know him before I make a decision. Slash won’t ever say it, but last night was everything he’s ever wanted.
Sure, it takes a lot out of him, but he loves being able to lose it like that.
I don’t like that part, and you’d rip him apart if he tried that on you.
He brought you Brent to deal with, but for me?
I need more than a meal. I need to see the man I fell in love with. ”
I chuckled, my thumbs pressing into the muscle of his thighs.
“You were always the softest of us, Aeron. No, that’s not a bad thing.
It means you still have a heart. Sometimes I worry that we’ve lost that part of our humanity, the ability to feel beyond our demons.
I’m intrigued by Runo and hell, I love the darkness he adds to our dynamic but he also terrifies me, Aeron. I don’t like not being in control.”
Aeron grinned, a spark of mischief in his eyes as he leaned closer. “Then take control. I’m surprised you haven’t already. You brought Brent here, and I know that’s because you can’t control what you don’t know. You need Runo to come to you.”
I grunted, my hands tightening on his thighs, the heat of his skin seeping through the fabric. He was right—I’d dragged Brent to the estate to keep him close, to keep Tyrone’s prying eyes away, but mostly to understand Runo’s game.
Aeron picked up his pasta again and took a few more bites. I watched the movement of his jaw, the way his throat bobbed when he swallowed, and something stirred in me, a dark heat I hadn’t felt in forever.
I dragged him into a kiss, my lips crashing against his, tasting the salt and meat of the pasta. Aeron’s eyes went wide, and he pulled back, gasping. “Samael… I… you…”
I licked my lips, catching a bit of meat that had fallen into my mouth, and frowned.
“It’s terrifying that it tastes like pork.
That’s wholly different than I was expecting.
” Slash and I had never taken part in Aeron’s delicacies or his demons but now I was wondering if they didn’t slightly mesh together.
Aeron was a fantastic cook—there was no doubt about that—and if I could get past the mindfuck that I was actually eating a person, maybe I could. .. No.
Aeron stared, his grin returning as he held up the bowl. “Do you want a bite?”
I shook my head, my hands still on his thighs. “Baby steps, Aeron. For now, let’s focus on the issue we have at hand.” I gestured to the screen, Brent’s intense stare still focused on the camera, his eyes staring straight into my soul.