11. Griff #3
Griff swished his drink but didn’t take a sip.
“I wasn’t exactly blameless in us drifting apart.
She supported my choice at first. But I struggled with my mother’s death—with my grief and rage.
I threw myself into my work, which left little time for us.
She tried to support me, even went so far as to forge my Vantoric gadgets.
But eventually, she got tired of waiting for me to be better.
I can only imagine how stressful it must have been for her, sitting at home and wondering if I’d make it back.
Like Nathaniel, she thought the profession too risky for me. ”
Something shifted in Cal’s expression, there and gone too quickly for Griff to see. Yet he caught it in Cal’s aura all the same: a deep, wavering streak of purple longing.
“At least she had someone to wait for,” Cal said. The feigned lightness in his voice belied his heavy aura as he snorted and shook his head. “Though after what I’ve seen of your work, your ex-wife and I have rather different ideas of what constitutes risk.”
Griff stared at Cal, suddenly curious about his own background. He hadn’t dared press before, but now that they’d spent more time together these past few days, he yearned to know more about the mysterious man of many faces.
“Why do you take that risk then?” Griff asked. “Why become a thief?”
Cal’s aura churned as he shrank back on the couch, fidgeting with his plate and avoiding Griff’s eyes. Griff thought he wouldn’t answer, but after a span of heartbeats, Cal gave an uncomfortable shrug.
“It’s all I’ve ever really known. At first, I didn’t have a choice. The only thing I know about my parents is that they didn’t want me. They abandoned me when I was barely old enough to walk. Stealing was a necessity after that to survive. Then, at some point I suppose it became a habit.”
Cal’s gaze grew distant, his tumultuous aura stilling like a sea after a storm. Griff wondered what it was he saw.
“An older boy took me under his wing,” Cal eventually said. “Taught me how to hone my skills. And, well…now it’s what I do. Who I am.”
Cal fell silent. Judging by the way he settled back against the cushions, he seemed to think that meant the matter resolved. Griff, however, disagreed.
“But is it what you want to do?”
Cal blinked at him. His brows pressed together. “I don’t…no one has ever asked me that before. I suppose it’s true that I could do something else now if I wanted. I have the resources, along with alter-egos I could rely on.”
“Then, why don’t you? Surely that would be easier than living safe house to safe house, always looking over your shoulder and dealing with thugs like Bald Locke.”
“I…I don’t know.” Cal’s voice wavered. “Somehow, it all feels…fake. Unearned.” He snorted a humorless laugh. “I suppose because it is.”
Griff stayed silent, unsure how to respond to that.
He couldn’t exactly endorse the methods by which Cal had come by his ill-gotten wealth.
Still, the brightness of his aura had to mean something.
Cal wasn’t an inherently bad person. Griff was sure of it.
He’d made plenty of mistakes, sure. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t change.
Out of the blue, Cal chuckled. Straightening his back, he stood and stretched. “I think that’s enough of my sob story for one night. Given the hand I was dealt, I’d say I’ve played my cards the best I could. Wouldn’t you?”
He flashed Griff a smirk. The allusion to Blackjack wasn’t lost on Griff, but he refused to take the bait. No matter how hard Cal tried to get under his skin or mask his emotion behind a joke, Griff could sense the truth, clear as day. Cal might be able to fool anyone else…but not him.
Remaining serious, Griff said, “I see you, Cal. I believe in you. And if the past couple weeks have taught me anything, it’s that you could do more, be more, if you set your mind to it. All you need to do is stop being afraid.”
Their eyes met, their gazes locking together. Barely registering what he was doing, Griff found himself approaching Cal. The tension between them heightened with every step. He knew this was a terrible idea, for so many different reasons. Yet he couldn’t quite convince himself to stop.
Cal’s breath caught when Griff rested a hand on his arm. Cal shifted closer, starting to lean in as his eyes drifted shut. Staring at Cal’s lips, Griff finally snapped back to his senses.
The tension between them shattered like smashed glass as he stepped back and cleared his throat. “We have another early morning tomorrow. We need to stick to our current pace if we want to finish anytime soon.”
Cal opened his eyes and nodded. The smile he gave Griff appeared almost sad. “Finish…right. The sooner we conclude our deal, the better.”
Griff turned away, not wanting to see whatever lay in Cal’s aura at that moment. “See you in the morning.”
Before Cal could reply, he fled down the hall to his bedroom, shutting the door. He rested his back against it and closed his eyes, his heart pounding.
What in the Merciful Light had almost just happened there…and why did he regret that it hadn’t?