by Dani Hermit
“I’m sorry,” Boris whispered as he pulled the restraints around Curtis’s wrist. “It’s not going to get easier from here.”
“See, though.” Curtis said the only words he planned to say. “Now that you know it was nothing, that I was nothing, you can go get your man.”
Leave, now please. Curtis’s mind begged Boris to go.
“Lucky star or no, Bori, you’ve got to choose to let yourself mean that much to someone and you have to act on it or you’ll fuck it up.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
There were no stars in the sky. The pitch black night was an appropriate setting. Thomas knew, for now, he had to put his more dangerous emotions aside and be as empty as the vacant sky. When he set eyes on Curtis, he had to know what he was going to say and he had to sell it like he’d never sold anything before. That meant no overwhelming guilt for what he’d done to the man. But he had to be healed by now, right?
Thomas got up from where he sat on the back of the closed ambulance. Opening the door and walking in, he felt some relief to see the bandages on Curtis’s chest but he fought to accept the wreck he’d made of his face. It was not an act when he closed his eyes, settled into his energy and, holding the sleeping man’s face in his hands, tried to focus his power on Dark Mirror’s metabolic healing rate.
“Amplify.” He watched in shock as the man’s skin began to knit itself together in healthy new patches where his hands glowed. He passed a finger over Dark Mirror’s wind-burnt and broken lips, returning them to a dark pink.
“Better,” Thomas said, waiting to see if the shake up to his energy would wake Curtis.
Curtis felt the warmth all over his body. Like some other force wanted him to heal regardless of how he felt about. “That feels nice.” He sighed out loud. He almost had a heart attack when he saw Thomas looming over him. “Oh god. He said it wasn’t getting easier from here. Are you and the other guy taking turns?”
Thomas put a hand on one of Curtis’s restrained wrists, guessing Matt had been brutal. He shook his head and tried to look sympathetic. “No. I’m not going to let him touch you again. I’m not sure how to say this but, um, if I were to let you go… You said something about a list. Would you, uh, take me with you?”
“I’m sorry. I don’t think I heard you right.” Curtis turned his head to engage Thomas directly remembering Boris had taken off those restraints. “Don’t you have something important here? Someone important.”
Was he talking about Matt and Colton? Or Boris? Thomas put both hands through his green hair, which was starting to show his silver roots and held them there. He laid it on thick staring at the floor. “I do but I don’t want them to suffer for nothing. I don’t understand why he wants Colton.” Thomas shook his head. “I don’t understand why Boris says that Blue Bolt was probably the best thing that’s ever happened to you. I don’t understand a lot.”
“Okay, okay, calm down.” Curtis was stunned. He’d just assumed Boris was going to run into Thomas’s arms and poof, happily ever after. Did he have to play marriage counsellor now and send Thomas back to those arms? The arms Curtis himself wished were waiting for him. “Is the idea to get Bori to come over too? Because I don’t know what matters more than that.”
It was hard enough to walk away from Boris without having the man who should hate him and certainly not want to help him be the one reminding Thomas of how much he was walking away from. Even the truth, which he couldn’t tell Curtis anyway, didn’t seem like a good enough reason.
“I just want to know what’s on the other side. Maybe we are fighting for nothing. Maybe there’s sanctuary for all of us with Blue Bolt. I’m not ready to join the cult but I’m not ready to die for a stupid reason either. And when I thought about what I did to you, I couldn’t justify it.”
“That’s all very intellectual. But it’s weak.” Curtis lay his head back down. “You’re scared. I’m not sure of what. You want to run. I’m not sure from what.”
“I couldn’t have said it better myself.” Thomas pulled Curtis’s blue drug from his pants pocket. “But sometimes a weak but honest reason is enough to act on.” He unstopped it and held it over Curtis’s mouth. “Here.”
Mind still whirling from the sudden turn of events, Curtis opened up and allowed two drops before shutting his mouth and shaking his head. Thomas pulled it back surprised. “Don’t need much,” Curtis explained.
Thomas started to unbuckle Curtis’s legs. “Maybe I can trade my friends’ safety for whatever he wants me for. My power isn’t that great but,” Thomas shrugged. “Since I’m still not clear on what he’s doing. Making more of us? Right, like you’re gonna tell me.”
“I don’t really get it myself. I think he’s rescuing those of us he thinks need help.” Curtis raised his arms and rubbed his wrists when Thomas undid the tight bands. “So you’re doing this to protect Bori? That’s so sweet.” Curtis swooned for a moment then said with cutting eyes. “I hate you even more.” He tried to get up from the gurney but his legs weren’t ready and he fell into Thomas.
“Noted. If he had chosen you, the feeling would have been the same. But we need to get out here. And I can probably bench press you.” Thomas kicked the door of the ambulance back open and lifted Curtis in a princess carry.
“You cannot be serious right now.” Curtis stared out into the parking lot coming on fast as Thomas ran with him.
“You want to be here when Matt wakes up? Because I sure as fuck don’t.” Thomas was sprinting to the rental car. “Shotgun or lay in the back?”
“Shotgun, I guess,” Curtis was stuffed in the front seat and belted in. “Since you don’t even know where you’re going and I don’t even know where we are coming from.”
“A bar near Chicago.” Thomas started typing in the GPS. “So from there.”
“That’s helpful.” Curtis sighed and side-eyed Thomas. “I really don’t know what he sees in you or why Leo needs you.” With a huff he added. “We’re going to a fancy hotel in Chicago.” Curtis gave him an address near the Elegance.
Jammer threw his useless phone across the room. He’d waited for three hours inside the sandwich place where he was supposed to meet Curtis and his hostage. After drinking alarming amounts of orange soda, he’d decided to check out the motel room where Curtis was supposed to be staying at despite Leo’s orders to the contrary. He found the room. He found what he assumed was Curtis’s half-singed jacket. When he went to call Leo to angrily inform him of the situation, he’d sent his glitchy powers into his fancy phone and murdered it.
He sat down on the bed and grabbed the phone by the bed only to realize that he didn’t know the number. He called down to the front desk and asked if they knew the number and they suggested he look it up on his cell phone. Then he suggested they check the laundry room because he noticed all their washers were leaking soap and not working properly.
Hanging up, he made a pass by the laundry room and made sure it was good and broken. Then it was just a quick jump over the unoccupied front desk, using their computer to look up the number and calling the Elegance Hotel’s main line. When one of Leo’s followers answered, he identified himself and asked to be put through to Leo’s rooms.
“Hello?” Leo’s voice sounded sleepy when he answered the unexpected call. “What’s wrong, Jammer?”
“What’s wrong? I’ll tell you what’s wrong. I waited like you said. Oh and I broke my fucking phone so I don’t have any playlist to rock out to on the way back. So like, I went to the hotel and guess what? Your right hand man and your lover or hostage or whatever you call Mythos are nowhere to be seen.”
“They didn’t turn up at the rendezvous?” Leo was awake now. “And you’re sure they aren’t at the hotel? Something must have gone wrong, but Curtis called me himself and said everything was in order. Jammer, is there any sign of a fight there?”
“There a sign of some freaky stuff. Burn marks. Duct tape in the bathroom that was clearly used to keep someone in the tub. A knocked over lamp.
Oh yeah, almost sat in the remnants of god-knows-what on the bed. Maybe Curtis defected?”
The line beeped. “Huh? Is that mine or yours? I’m not here to take reservations.”
“Must be on your end, Jammer…” Leo paused. “No, wait. It’s for me. Hold on, OK?”
“Yeah I’ll just check these people in, got nothing else to do.” Jammer grumbled sarcastically.
“OK,” Leo switched the lines. “Please tell me that’s you, Curtis dear?”
“Hey, Boss-man,” Curtis’s voice was wavering a bit. It was obvious he was trying to sound not nervous. “Things went a little awry. Hammer came back for what was his in a sneak attack and well, I might have gotten caught. But I have good news.”
“I assume that news is that you got away,” Leo replied.
“No, I mean, yes. But I’m not coming back empty-handed. You know that stuff you keep in that cookie tin? The list no one is supposed to know about?”
“But you know about somehow?” Leo tried not to sound annoyed. “I assume trying to sneak some more of your treats?”
“Well, it didn’t hurt to look.” Curtis was shrinking at both Leo’s tone and the look Thomas was giving him from the driver’s seat. “I’m bringing you one of them. He was pretty high on the list too.”
“I assume it’s not Tremor, so what have you found for me, my dear?” Leo sounded much less annoyed now.
“Wow, Tremor? That’d be impressive though he’s like ancient, but I still think you’ll be pleased. It’s Thomas ‘The Anvil’ Davos.” Curtis announced proudly.
“You got Echo?” Leo sounded like he didn’t quite believe him as his voice turned all breathy. After a moment, Leo regained his composure. “I’m looking forward to hearing that story. Where are you, Curtis dear?”
Curtis breathed a sigh of relief. Leo seemed pleased. And after everything that happened tonight, it was nice to be reminded he was still important to someone. “Well, Boss-man, I think we just turned off the exit for Orland Park, so not far. Thomas is driving.”
“I’ll see you soon then. But please remember that you owe Jammer an apology when you see him. He went all the way to Indiana to get you.” Leo hung up and swapped the line back to Jammer. “That was Curtis. He’s safe.”
“Oh well, that’s just fantastic. Does he have Mythos or was this just a colossal waste of time and my unlimited plan.” Jammer sighed. “Sign here… There’s your key… You too.”
“He lost Mythos,” Leo said after a moment’s pause. “If you happen to run across him, please bring him back with you. But barring that, just come home. There are things to deal with and a new friend to welcome. You may just get your party yet.”
“Sounds great. Gotta jet anyway. Better not be joking about that party.” Jammer barely had time to hang up the phone and hurdle the desk before the front desk person came running towards him.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
It took a while for Matt’s consciousness to catch up to his situation. Even once he determined what that situation actually was, there was no logical explanation as to how it happened. He could not, no matter how hard his groggy brain tried, figure out how he had gone from interrogating the junkie in the ambulance to being tied to a tractor in what looked like a shed barely big enough to hold it.
If whoever had put him here had used rope, he would have been out of here in a few seconds. But he did not have enough juice left to call up fire strong enough to melt the handcuffs holding him. And he wasn’t able to get the leverage to break them.
Not knowing the rest of the situation, Matt was loathe to make noise to use to recharge his powers. He didn’t want to draw the attention of anyone he couldn’t defeat. Or endanger the other guys. Like Colton, who he had left sleeping soundly. He needed to get back to him. What if the junkie had reinforcements? They could have taken Colton and be halfway to god knew where by now.
Matt began pulling at the cuffs, trying to twist them apart. He wondered if there was enough fire left in him to at least soften them up a little. He could make plenty of noise and recharge himself on his way to make certain Colton was safe.
He almost had the cuffs loose when the door to the shed was thrown open. Boris stood there, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring at Matt.
“Feeling less like murdering people?” Boris asked.
“That depends on how long I’m tied to a tractor,” Matt snapped back.
“Fair enough. I’ll let you go once I know that you aren’t going to burn the world to the ground.” Boris replied, taking just one step into the shed. He was still a few feet from Matt, just out of kicking distance.
“I’m flat-lined. No juice,” Matt told him. He figured he could trust Boris with that much information. But he was open to the sounds of their voices. He was charging up, even that little bit. Just in case.
Boris nodded and moved to let Matt go. He held up the twisted handcuffs, shaking his head. “Damn.” Gesturing for Matt to follow him, Boris headed out of the shed and across the parking lot to the back of the bar.
“Where’s the ambulance?” Matt asked, noticing the missing vehicle almost immediately.
“Syd and Vanessa stripped it of everything remotely useful and then took off to deal with it. They didn’t elaborate past that and I really didn’t care to ask.” Boris replied.
“And the rental car?” Matt was looking around, surprised to see that the parking lot was entirely empty. Even Syd’s motorcycle was gone.
“Thomas took it.” Boris told him.
“When will he be back and will he have food?” Matt asked, assuming that his friend had been sent on a dinner run, because Syd’s bar did not have a kitchen. The closest thing to food in there were a few stale bags of chips in a vending machine no one used.
Boris stopped, looking down at the ground for a second. “Thomas isn’t coming back.” He finally managed to say.
“What the hell did you do?” Matt could only assume that in the chaos of the last twenty-four hours, the two of them had ended up in some kind of domestic not-boyfriend fight and Thomas was sulking it off.
“I don’t know, exactly.” Boris turned slowly to face Matt. “But I don’t think that it was me. Thomas took it upon himself to take Curtis back to the Necromancer.”
“What the fuck did you say?” Matt stared at Boris.
“He took Curtis back to the Necromancer,” Boris repeated. “And he went to join the cult. To be our inside man.”
“Why the fuck would he do that?”
Boris sighed. Matt’s temper was rising. This was going to go badly if he wasn’t able to keep him chill enough to talk. “We need one. We need to know what’s going on there.”
“Then you should have tried to turn your ex into a double agent, and not sent Thomas to his death!” Matt was screaming now.
“He wanted to go,” Boris snapped back. His own temper wasn’t great and he wasn’t anywhere near ready to come to terms with Thomas leaving. The entire situation surrounding it was fucked up and stupid. “It wasn’t like he felt safe around you!”
Boris knew it was a bad move the moment it was out of his mouth. But it wasn’t like it wasn’t true. The former best friends had a glaring issue between them that either needed to be faced and dealt with or they needed to never see each other again.
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Matt was getting madder by the second. He felt like he was entirely on the defensive, but what did he have to throw back at Boris other than he was fucking Thomas? The feline bastard was way too observant and caught on to way more than seemed natural about other people’s relationships.
“It means no one knows from one second to the next if you’re going to fight or fuck him! Not even you, I think.” Boris was yelling now. This was immature, unnecessary, and probably the worst idea they had come up with all day. But it was going to happen. He was going to fucking fight Matt and to be honest, he didn’t feel bad about it at all.
“Thomas is my best friend.” Matt informed Boris at the
top of his lungs. “I don’t fuck my friends.”
“But you did! And you never thought that you fucked him up because of it.” Boris snapped, everything he had picked up about Matt, Thomas, and Colton coming out in a burst of rage. “You just walked away when a new piece of ass looked good. And when shit got tough, you walked out on him too!”
Boris barely finished the sentence before Matt’s fist was bashing in the side of his face. He tumbled back, managing to roll so that Matt couldn’t pin him down. Scrambling away, Boris turned around, spitting out blood.
“Truth too hard to take, Matt?”
“Fuck you, fur-ball,” Matt snarled, stumbling to his feet and turning to lunge at Boris again. “It’s not the truth. It’s just you being a jealous bitch.”
“Jealous?” Boris barely managed to dodge Matt’s attack. “Of what? A dysfunctional relationship that ended almost before I was born? A clueless asshole who can’t keep his shit together?” Boris snorted. “Please.”
Matt lunged again, this time catching Boris in the chest with a hard punch. They grappled, but Matt clearly had the advantage as Boris gasped for air.
“He shouldn’t have gone,” Matt finally said as he pushed Boris, knocking him to the ground. Standing over Boris, he glared down at him. “You should have stopped him. Thomas is in danger if he goes to that place.”
“We’re all in danger, Matt,” Boris snarled up at him. “Haven’t you noticed?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
“The Necromancer welcomes you to the Elegance,” The man stepped forward to greet Thomas and Curtis. “Welcome back, Mr. Curtis. The Necromancer wants you in his chambers immediately. He says it’s urgent.”
“Hmm, did he happen to say what to do with our new friend Thomas?” Curtis wondered if there might be a private reward awaiting him and he didn’t want Thomas to spoil it. Some affection from Leo would be a good end to a horrible day. “Should I send him to the bar or the crew room perhaps? No, the boss-man would probably want to do his entry interview first.”