Chapter 16 #2
“I know taking the Bellrose kid was a risk. I appreciate you all sticking your necks out for me on this one.”
“Hey,” he says, setting his tablet on the counter. “Ash meant a lot to me too. They all meant a lot to me.”
I nod again.
We had nearly forty Ascended on our side. They’re all gone now besides the two of us.
“We’ll get the older Bellrose one day too.”
I let out a breath and say, “I hope you’re right.”
Malcolm was the one I really wanted locked up in the basement waiting for me to torture him, but he’s always been damn near impossible to get near. After the kidnapping, he used it as an excuse to increase security around the Institute and himself. Funny how he failed to do the same for his nephew.
Cason is the best consolation prize I could get my hands on.
My hands on…
I touched him last night for the first time in seven years, and even the shower I had this morning hasn’t washed away the feeling of it. I pick up my coffee again as an excuse to peer down at my hand. I swear I can still feel his pulse against my palm.
Sebastian presses on the screen of his tablet that’s still lying on the counter, and the camera feed from Cason’s room pops up. He’s still lying on the ground in the same spot I left him.
“You must’ve done a real number on him.”
“I think it was mostly the shock of everything,” I tell him.
“He found out his uncle betrayed him within the same hour he also learned that near-death experiences can cause superhuman abilities. I’m surprised he didn’t pass out sooner, to be honest. That said, don’t underestimate him.
He might appear to be unconscious, but appearances can be deceiving. ”
“Speaking from experience, huh?”
Before the memories from that other basement can surface, I shove them back into their hole.
“I’ll just be glad when this is all over.”
What over means, I’m not sure yet.
“Want me to move him somewhere more secure?” Sebastian asks.
“No.” The word comes out too fast. “He stays where he is.”
I don’t fucking want him anywhere else but here.
Except now Sebastian is staring at me again with that same look as before, like he can see right through those damn stitches.
“You know if you need me for anything, I’m here,” he says, though there’s a cautious edge to it.
“You act like you’ve known me for five years, Baz.”
He laughs because he has.
“I know when some jobs are harder than others,” he says. “If you need me to take care of him—”
“I’ve got this.”
Again, it comes out too fast, a little too sharp.
No one fucking touches him but me.
“Of course, boss.”
I really should be more careful because Sebastian is the one person in this world who knows me best. He’s seen me at my worst, seen the things this war has turned me into. If anyone could read the truth in my face, it would be him.
I could tell him about my true history with Cason, but then Sebastian might start wondering if I have what it takes to do what needs to be done. He might realize there’s more tangled up in this than revenge.
Seven years ago feels like a lifetime and a heartbeat at the same time. The betrayal I feel now burns hotter than anything I felt back then.
But if that changes…
If it’s not entirely true and just something I’m trying to convince myself of…
I don’t want to regret what I have to do.
But sometimes, we don’t get the luxury to choose what we want to do over what we need to do.
I drain the rest of my coffee and set the mug in the sink.
I give Sebastian one last nod before turning toward the hallway leading downstairs.
The basement lights are still on, and my shadows stretch ahead of me as I descend the steps, sliding along the walls like they know exactly where we’re going. Like they’re eager to get to him…
Opening the reinforced door at the end of the hall, I step inside. It’s not as nice of a basement as the last time I captured Cason, but my time and resources have had other priorities.
I close the door behind me and lean my back against it for a moment, staring at the man lying on the floor across the room.
Cason fucking Bellrose.
The last time we shared space together, he was just a smart-mouthed college kid with a reckless streak and a challenge in his eyes every time he looked at me. Malcolm Bellrose’s nephew. My prisoner. My responsibility.
And who ended up being my greatest weakness.
I still remember learning everything I could about him.
Taking him from that parking garage. The first time I had to drag him back into his cell after he foolishly attempted to escape.
The way he fought even when he knew he couldn’t win, like maybe he didn’t want to win.
The way he kept mouthing off like snark was a weapon.
Little menace.
I told myself the nickname was just a joke, something harmless. But somewhere along the way, it stopped feeling harmless.
And now he’s here again.
Different room. Different war. Yet the same impossible pull in my chest that I’ve spent seven years pretending doesn’t exist.
Duty says he’s the enemy.
Desire says something else entirely.
My shadows curl tighter around my feet as I lock the door. The room smells like dust and concrete. Cason is exactly where I left him, sprawled on the floor where he collapsed under the weight of my shadows.
Seven years.
Seven years of getting only glimpses of his world while I burned mine down around me. Seven years of pretending he didn’t still live under my skin.
Pushing myself off the door, I cross the room and kneel beside him.
Up close, he looks exactly the same and completely different all at once.
Older, sharper around the edges. Green hair, which I surprisingly don’t hate.
It fits him. But he has the same stubborn line of his mouth, like he’s arguing with the universe even while unconscious.
My shadows ripple softly across the ceiling as though they want to touch him as badly as I do.
I shouldn’t.
So of course I do.
Just a brief brush of my knuckles against his cheek.
His eyes snap open. For a second, they’re unfocused with sleep, then they land on me and widen. He jerks backward across the concrete floor, scrambling away like the distance will make him safe from me.
I lean back on my heels, a slow smirk pulling at the corners of my mouth.
“Ready to play, little menace?”