Sunken Eyes (Cruel and Beautiful World Book 2)

by L. Stoddard Hancock

  Bronson kicked off his shoes but didn't walk any further once he saw the look on her face. "Something wrong?" he asked.

  Deryn shook her head frantically. "N-no. Why would anything be wrong?" She kept her head low to hide her redness, and walked towards the kitchen to put the cake away.

  Bronson watched her curiously before moving his eyes to Xander, asking the same question silently.

  Xander shrugged. "Don't mind her. She had a lot of wine."

  Bronson still looked suspicious, but he nodded all the same. "Luka around? I need to ask him something."

  "N-no," muttered Deryn from the kitchen.

  Bronson looked from her to Xander. He cocked an eyebrow.

  "He's not back yet. Went out drinking with some other Guardians."

  "Mind if I wait?" asked Bronson, pulling out a cigarette as he headed towards the balcony.

  "Actually, we're planning on fucking pretty loudly in a minute here," said Xander coolly. "It might be better if you waited in your own apartment."

  "Since when is that a problem?" said Bronson with a smirk. "I've heard you fucking before. It's really not -"

  Luka's door began to open. Deryn ran across the room in record speed and tried to pull Bronson towards the balcony with her. When he wouldn't budge, she eventually had to give up and go out there by herself. She was lucky Lona had been too distracted to see her earlier, and she wanted to keep that going.

  Lona stepped out of Luka's room, carrying her shoes and looking a bit dazed as she rubbed at her obviously aching head. She blushed when she saw Bronson, immediately trying to brush her fingers through her tangled batch of sex hair.

  "Oh, hi."

  "Hi," he said back without his usual smile.

  "Fuck!" shouted Luka, running out from behind her and nearly knocking her over. He used the wall to brace himself as he tried to make a dart for the bathroom, but he only made it about two feet before he toppled over and began vomiting.

  "My fucking carpet!" shouted Xander, giving Luka a shove once he was finished.

  Luka's eyes remained glazed for a moment as his back hit the wall, but then they began to focus and he noticed the third set of feet in the room. He followed them up and saw Bronson staring down at him. Bronson was biting his cheek and trying hard to hide the disappointment he obviously felt. Luka said nothing, unmoving from his spot on the floor as he continued to gape at the other man.

  "Right," said Bronson, looking away and glancing at Lona. "Nice meeting you." He walked off to join Deryn on the balcony.

  "I should go," said Lona, looking embarrassed as she headed for the door.

  Xander followed her. "Lona Von. What will your father think, his precious daughter being ruined like this?"

  Lona scoffed. "I was ruined quite some time ago. Was that your girlfriend who walked in on us?"

  "It might've been."

  "I assume if I asked to meet her -"

  "That I would say fuck no? You assume correctly."

  "Of course." She lifted her shoes and said, "I accidentally wore these across the carpet. I hope you don't mind."

  "Luka just vomited all over it. A little shoe dirt is the least of my worries right now."

  Lona nodded and glanced over Xander's shoulder at Luka. "Who is that guy who went out to your balcony?"

  "Neighbor."

  "He looked upset."

  "Not your concern."

  She nodded again before putting her hand on the doorknob. "Have a good night, Xander." She opened the door and left.

  While Lona was still obviously intoxicated, she was definitely in more control than Luka. Speaking of which ... Xander turned around and found Luka on his hands and knees, shaking as he used his shirt to try and clean up his vomit.

  "I'm sorry about the carpet," he mumbled as Xander walked back over.

  Xander sighed. "Don't worry about it."

  Luka closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I should go outside." He tried to stand but his legs were too weak.

  Xander grabbed his elbow and pulled him to his feet. "No. Get some rest, Luka. We have business to take care of tomorrow, remember?"

  "But -"

  "No," Xander said firmly. He used his grip on Luka to lead him towards his bedroom. "Goodnight."

  Luka nodded, looking sadly towards the balcony before stumbling to his bed. Xander shut his door and went outside.

  When he got there, Deryn was leaning over the edge, her arm linked with Bronson's as he did the same. Her hood was up and covering her face.

  "Everything alright out here?"

  "Yes," said Deryn over her shoulder.

  Bronson wiped his eyes before turning around and calmly saying, "I should head home."

  "Okay," said Deryn, looking at him worriedly before following him inside. Xander took her hand as she passed and followed after. "Do you need anything?"

  "No," said Bronson as he slipped into his shoes. "I'm fine. It's just late and I'm tired."

  "I know but -"

  "I'm fine, Deryn. I'll see you tomorrow."

  She nodded, the frown never leaving her face as he opened the door and left.

  When Deryn and Xander were alone, they both released heavy sighs.

  "Do you want to just go to bed?" he asked, aware that the mood of the evening had been somewhat tainted.

  Deryn bit her lip, getting lost in that pretty head of hers for a moment before eventually shaking it. "No. We shouldn't let this ruin our evening."

  Xander grinned.

  "But forget what I said before. You need to talk to Luka about this. Find out what he's really feeling. What he did tonight isn't fair to Bronson and he should know now if Luka doesn't feel the same."

  Xander's grin immediately fell. Oh, hell.

  Chapter Fifteen

  The following evening Xander and Luka sat on top of a bunch of crates in an alley behind some dirty bar. A small black box currently rested on a higher crate, spurting out the muffled voices of Veli, Soren, Barath, Eamon Graham, and Sewick Blum.

  The two of them had been following Veli for the last few hours, and this was the first place of importance he had gone. Shortly after he went inside, Xander had sneaked into the back and paid an attractive barmaid to plant a microphone on him. And now they were playing the waiting game, just hoping that some topic of interest would come up.

  "Damn, they're all so fucking boring," said Luka, unable to stifle a yawn. "Promise me that when we're as old as these assholes we won't have such lackluster lives."

  "If we ever get that old," said Xander, well aware that the oldest, Barath, only had twenty years on them, and Soren, the youngest, had three.

  Luka stiffened. "Why would you say that?"

  "Just being realistic."

  "I'm telling you, whoever that piece of shit sent into my house stole some of my old Elements!" said Sewick.

  "You have so many of the damn things, how could you ever know?" asked Eamon.

  "I know!" shouted Sewick. "I know every last fuckin' weapon I 'ave and two of 'em are missing! Older ones! That don't need to be registered to work!"

  "What would Xander need with unregistered Elements?" asked Veli.

  "Maybe he wants to kill the assholes who tried to blackmail him," said Soren mockingly.

  "Shut it!"

  "Or maybe he doesn't even have them," said Barath.

  "Yeah, tha's what I thought!" said Sewick. "Maybe whoever went through just took 'em, so I had our li'l puppet search the Black Market to see if anyone was sellin' 'em."

  Silence

  "And?" asked Veli impatiently.

  "And nuttin. They weren' there."

  "But there's a good chance Xander had to hire some street scum to fetch the chips for him," said Eamon. "I mean, who does the little shit even know besides Guardians?"

  "Whores," said Sewick. "Lots 'n lots o' whores."

  They all laughed. Xander sneered at the box. Those bastards laughing at his expense ...

  "Who do you think their puppet is?" asked Luka.
r />   "No fucking idea." But Xander would bet good money their puppet had the last mind control chip, which Veli had somehow convinced the president didn't exist.

  "What about those two neighbors of his?" asked Barath. "He and Luka have been seen a lot with them lately. Especially that one who always looks like he's brooding."

  Xander laughed but Luka immediately tensed at the mention of Bronson, the obvious brooder between him and Quigley.

  "Something you want to talk about, Luka?"

  Luka took a deep breath and said, "No."

  "Yeah, he goes to the Black Market a lot," said Sewick. "I'll 'ave our puppet keep an eye on 'im."

  While Xander did feel slight concern for Bronson, it was also a relief that he finally had a legit reason to keep Deryn from sneaking out with him again. He looked over to see Luka shift uncomfortably.

  "Seriously, Luka, if you have something you need to fucking get out -"

  Luka whipped his head in Xander's direction and narrowed his eyes. "Yes, because when you talk to me so compassionately like that I really want to tell you shit."

  "Well ..." He gulped. "You can."

  Xander went to Luka in a moment of weakness when he found out Deryn had been raped by his father. He supposed he could do the same.

  Luka turned his head back straight and stared blankly at the wall. "I'm not an idiot, Xander. I know what you're getting at." He paused. "Did Deryn tell you?"

  Xander creased his brow.

  "I knew it! I knew she couldn't keep her mouth shut, even after I took her out of the fucking apartment!"

  Xander's interest peaked. "Did she blackmail you?"

  "Of course she did! She's your girlfriend! Two ends of the same stick."

  Xander smiled proudly. "She didn't tell me anything." And he was slightly angry about that. "I saw you and Bronson kissing on my balcony the other night."

  Luka's eyes widened.

  "Pretty fucking horrifying. I believe my eyes might still be bleeding."

  "Funny."

  "So ... you like men?"

  Luka's face crinkled in disgust. "No."

  "Then why would you kiss one?" Xander definitely wouldn't.

  "I don't know," said Luka. "But I don't like men."

  "Are you sure?"

  "Even though I was drunk off my ass last night, I'm well aware that I was enjoying myself while fucking Lona."

  "But ..."

  "No buts! I like women! Simple as that!"

  Xander smirked. "But ..."

  This was fun, and Luka was turning redder by the second.

  "I don't know, alright?" he shouted. "I like being around Bronson! There, I admit it! And I haven't been fucking anyone else lately because of him. I didn't even mean to fuck Lona. I was drunk and feeling sick at the bar, so I went back to your place and I didn't even know she'd followed me till her bike was parked next to mine. She then followed me inside and she wouldn't leave. I knew you were going to be home soon so I ushered her into my fucking room so she wouldn't see Deryn and then she started taking off her fucking clothes. I said no, alright? I said no and I tried to push her away, but then she pulled my pants down and started sucking my fucking dick. So I caved! I fucking caved and now I don't know what I'm supposed to fucking do about it!"

  "Well, first, how about you take a fucking breath," said Xander, who was trying to process everything he'd just heard.

  Luka did just that, taking several quick but deep breaths to try and calm himself.

  Once his breathing grew steady again, Xander pursed his lips and said, "Forgive me if I sound like a woman here, but maybe you should just talk to him."

  Luka glanced sideways at him. "I don't know if I want to. It would've been much easier to ignore all this confusing shit if he wasn't pursuing me the whole damn time."

  "So you're just going to pretend like you never kissed him?" Possibly more. Xander really had no idea and he wasn't about to ask.

  Luka shrugged. "Maybe."

  "Well that's not going to be incredibly awkward for the rest of us."

  Luka had just opened his mouth to speak when they heard Veli's voice through the box say, "About time you got here."

  "Sorry," said a vaguely familiar voice neither of them could place. "I got held up."

  "Is it ready?" asked Veli.

  There was some shuffling, followed by a loud clang as something was put on the table.

  "Excellent," said Veli.

  "This'll get that asshole talking."

  "Am I that asshole?" asked Xander.

  "Dunno," said Luka with a shrug. "Probably."

  "And did you bring any news of the Resistance?"

  Xander's eyes widened. "It's the rat."

  "Scandalous," said Luka, leaning in closer. "About time something interesting happened."

  "No. My source says they're planning something big but she doesn't have the details yet. All she knows is that it has something to do with Deryn Leon."

  Everything in Xander's stomach shifted at the mention of Deryn. And this person had called her by name. Not Godfrey's daughter or Talon's sister or toxic bitch or slave.

  Who the hell was it?

  "I swear I know that voice," said Luka.

  "Yeah," said Xander with a light nod. "Me too."

  "And she's still willing to feed you this information?" asked Veli.

  "The Resistance often lacks communication. She knows I've been trustworthy in the past, so she'll never question me."

  "And that's why I like keeping you around," said Veli, his smile obvious even without a visual. "Find out what they're planning and meet me back here in two days."

  "Yes, sir."

  Footsteps.

  Xander paused for only a moment, his heart feeling heavy as he thought of a rescue plan for Deryn being ruined. And then feeling heavier as he thought of her leaving. Still, he had to try. He had to help her. To keep her safe.

  Xander turned off the small box, put it in his pocket and said, "We're moving."

  He jumped off his crate, followed shortly by a skeptical Luka. "What do you plan to do?"

  "I don't know," said Xander. "But I'm going to find out who that was."

  They both pulled their hoods on as they excited the alley, joining the large group of people smoking pipes outside of the dirty bar.

  Xander kept his eyes fixed steadily on the door, waiting for a familiar face to exit.

  Then a man came out. His hood was up but something about him just seemed out of place. He walked in their direction and Xander stepped backwards. He grabbed the man's arm as he passed, flinging him into the alley and against the wall. Luka moved in front of them, blocking the view from any passersby.

  The man's hood fell slightly back and Xander suddenly found himself looking into the surprised eyes of Chace Moffett.

  "Moffett?"

  "Ruby!" shouted Chace, reaching for his gun. An Element, to be precise.

  Xander grabbed it before Chace had the chance and tossed it aside. He took out a knife and pointed it steadily at his throat. "What are you doing here?"

  "I don't know."

  Xander raised his eyebrows. "You don't know?"

  "Looks to me like you're betraying your friends," said Luka, still holding his position but glancing back at them.

  "No, I ..." Chace gazed at Xander, his eyes void and distant.

  "Th'fuck is wrong with him?" asked Luka.

  When Xander turned his head to look at Luka, Chace took the opportunity to knee him in the groin. Xander flinched and Chace took off running down the alley. Before he got too far Luka charged after him, tackling him to the ground and giving him one hard punch that knocked him out cold.

  "Seriously, Luka, where did you learn this warrior shit?" asked Xander, catching up to him.

  "I seriously just taught myself."

  "Do me a favor and teach Deryn more than just that flipping thing, will you?"

  "Yeah, sure," said Luka. "But what the hell we gonna do with this shit?" He lifted Chace by the hair.
/>   "Take him home with us," said Xander, giving Chace a kick before reaching down and propping the man's left arm around his shoulders. Luka did the same on his other side. "We'll just pretend he's passed out drunk. And keep your hood up. The last thing we need is to be seen here."

  Luka nodded and adjusted his hood. Then they walked back towards the street with Chace in tow. When he started to come to, Luka swung his fist and knocked him out again.

  "Act natural," said Xander.

  As soon as they stepped out of the alley, Luka became very nervous. In an attempt to 'act natural' he suddenly found himself bursting into song.

  "Oh Utopia, only trains those

  Heroic, loyal and stunning,

  While the wine and the whiskey flows,

  We flee Eagle without the running,

  The other trainees sleep all night,

  Playing it safe, boring and true,

  But the legacy boys drink till light,

  They are much cleverer than you.

  Guardians!

  Future Guardians!

  We are so much better than toxic Outsiders!

  Utopia!

  Loves its Guardians!

  Send them all back and put up dividers!

  "Luka!"

  Luka glanced at Xander. "Hmm?"

  "What are you singing?"

  "It's that song, remember? The one you wrote when we used to sneak out and drink while in training."

  "Yes, I remember the song. But why are you singing it?"

  Luka shrugged. "I dunno. It's the only drinking song I have memorized. Every other one I've ever learned has been while already drunk so I always forget them by morning."

  "How about you just don't sing, alright?"

  "Oh, fine. You're no fun."

  Sans the singing, the two of them stopped onto the corner where the tram would be arriving shortly. Being nothing but deadweight, it was hard to keep a firm grip on Chace and they had to keep adjusting themselves.

  While they were waiting, Veli and the others walked out of the bar. Xander and Luka kept their heads low as they walked right by them, heading for the Tashes car. Xander had placed a tracker under it so they would always know where it was headed. But, knowing the hour, he assumed they were heading home before curfew. A part of him still wanted to follow them and see if they were up to anything else, but getting Chace out of there and questioning him was far more important right now.