Page 25 of Endless Terrors
“You’ll figure out a way. You always do.” Emma mustered another smile. “I’m going to get started on breakfast. Any requests?”
I gave a slight shake of my head, keeping my eyes on Damon. “No, thank you. I think I’m just going to sit with him for a while.”
“Okay. I’ll bring you some sugar with a side of coffee.” She winked and turned, walking toward the kitchen.
Once Emma was gone, I moved deeper into the room. My gaze went to the recliner on the other side of the bed—Damon had sat in that chair a hundred times during the first few months of Matthew living with us. My nephew hadn’t slept well, so Damon would rock him for hours and hours. I sank into it now, wishing I could time-travel back to those days. I’d have done things so differently.
In that better version of my life, Damon wouldn’t end up in this bed.
Matthew shifted in his crib, sending a rustling sound through the stillness. I watched him for a moment, making sure he was asleep, then turned back to the bed. Looking at Damon’s face felt like holding my palm down on a hot burner, so I reached beneath the blankets and searched for his wounded hand, bringing it into the open so I could hold it. Above the bandage, his skin was unnaturally cold, like a corpse.
The thought made feel sick. I gripped onto Damon so tightly that my fingers turned white.
Thankfully, a figure filled the doorway and distracted me. I looked over to thank Emma, assuming she’d come back with the coffee. The words faded in my throat.
Danny looked different from the last time we’d seen each other. Before, he’d been clean-shaven, and there was always a soft smile curving his lips. Now his jaw was covered in patchy stubble and his features looked haggard. There was also no hint of a smile around his mouth.
“What happened?” he asked quietly. He must’ve just gotten off a shift, because he wore his deputy uniform. The buttons gleamed from the lights behind him.
“That’s a very long story.” I hesitated, wondering how much I should tell him. In my world, knowledge was a double-edged sword. Sometimes it improved your odds of survival; sometimes it brought death.
“I’d like to know,” Danny said simply. He stood there with such quiet dignity, and I thought, not for the first time, how much I liked this human.
Damon had decided to tell his boyfriend the truth, so I would follow his lead.
“Some witches found where he and Emma were staying. They put Damon under a spell to use him as a bargaining chip,” I said. “If I give them what they want, they’ll wake him up. I have two more days to make a decision.”
I waited for Danny to ask what the witches wanted. Instead, he just moved deeper into the room, circling the bed to stand on the other side. He gazed down at Damon. His stricken expression felt like a bullet in my heart.
“I’ll get him back,” I swore with hushed ferocity. “I promise, and our family doesn’t make promises lightly. Nightmares may be lies, but we—”
“—don’t have to be liars,” Danny finished, his eyes still on Damon. He forced his gaze to mine and mustered a small, sad smile. “I haven’t spoken to him in months, but I still remember every word he said. It’s kind of impossible to forget, really. It’s not every day you find out your boyfriend isn’t human.”
I tried to smile back. “No, I guess not. For what it’s worth, I’m glad you didn’t go running for the hills like most people would. You made my brother really happy.”
“He made me happy, too.” Danny’s mouth tightened. He blinked quickly and cleared his throat. “Do you mind if I join you?”
I shook my head. “Of course not.”
Danny crossed the room and folded his long body into the smaller chair opposite mine. We sat like that for a while, neither of us broaching the quiet. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence, though. I didn’t get the sense that Danny blamed me for Damon’s current state. I snuck a glance at him, wondering where he and my brother had left things. Danny had just mentioned they hadn’t spoken in months.
I’d never asked Damon if he’d officially ended it. At the time, I told myself it was none of my business. But really, I just didn’t want to know. I didn’t want to hear that Damon had lost another person he loved. The very good, very kind man who saw Damon for exactly who he was.
Another item I could add to the “Fortuna’s Fault” list.
Voices drifted through the loft, pulling my focus outward again. I recognized the rumble of one and the mocking lilt of the person who responded. Finn and Gil were back.
“Stay as long as you want,” I told Danny, rising from the recliner. It rocked against the back of my legs. “And let me know if you need anything. Please.”
I felt his eyes on me as I walked out.
Finn and Gil had already dug into the food Emma had made for them. They sat at opposite ends of the island. If they’d been cats, their backs would’ve been arched, their fur standing on end. I thought about asking them what the issue was this time. Then, deciding they were grown-ups who could handle their own conflicts, I walked past them and joined Emma at the counter.
She turned and pressed a warm mug of coffee into my hand. “Here you are, sweetheart.”
“Thanks.” I cupped it and shot her a grateful look. “I’m going to try calling Savannah again. Maybe a miracle will happen and she’ll be somewhere with a signal.”
“I’ve got the baby monitor,” Emma said, waving it in the air.
