“I’m so glad you’re safe, honey.”
“Me, too.”He clung to her for a moment longer, letting go when he felt he had himself under control.
“Doc’s in the house, ready to check you out.”She stepped back and took a good look at him, wincing.“Oh, that eye’s got to hurt.”
He just nodded.The Tylenol had helped, but that had been a while ago now and yeah, it was throbbing pretty good.
Mik and the others—from both trucks, turned out there’d been another one following and he hadn’t even realized it—came up the walk.
“Thank you for going to get him, boys.”
“Yeah.Thank you so much.I really didn’t want to go where they were taking me.”
“Was it really your folks?”Mik asked.
“Well, they mentioned Father Peter who’s their pastor and the conversion camp I was supposed to go to when I was fifteen, so yeah, it was really my folks who arranged it.”He couldn’t imagine anyone would be randomly kidnapping gay guys and dragging them out of state to convert them.
Mik and the others shook their heads.“That’s fucking messed up.”
“Language,” Mom said, and most of the guys looked sheepish, but not Mik.
“Sorry, Aunt Belia, but that’s the best word for it.”
Yeah, Darcy agreed with him.In fact, it was beyond fucked up.
“I suppose I can’t argue with that.Come on in, there’s breakfast waiting for everyone.”She put her arm around Darcy’s shoulders.“And let’s get you to the Doc.I bet by the time he’s done looking at you, Charma will be here.”
Darcy sure hoped so.Mom was lovely, and the others were awesome for coming to get him, but he totally needed someone he really knew who loved him right now.He needed Charma.
The car had barely pulled up in front of his mom’s place behind two trucks when Charma opened the door and got out.He ran up the front steps and burst in, scanning the crew of cousins chowing down at his mother’s big kitchen table.No Darcy.
“Where is he?”
“In with Doc.Why don’t you sit and have something to eat.I’m sure they won’t be long.”
He shook his head.No way.That was not what he was going to do.“Living room?”
He barely waited for Mom’s nod before he headed there, calling out.“Darcy?”
Darcy was just pulling his shirt back over his head and Charma got a quick glimpse of bruises, but then Darcy turned toward him and he gasped.
“Oh, my god!What did they do to you?”
“Charma!”Darcy sounded both happy and like he was going to cry.
Charma just ran to him and held on, Darcy’s arms wrapping around his waist, head curling in against Charma’s neck.
“I didn’t think I was ever going to see you again.”
“Ditto.Until my mom got the clan involved.Then I knew they’d make it happen.”He continued to hold on, not willing to let go.Darcy didn’t seem to have a problem with that, clinging to him.
“Is he okay?”Charma asked Doc, who was putting his things away into his bag.
“It looks worse than it is.He got punched in the face and the bruising looks terrible, but there’s no broken bones, no damage to that eye, and it’s been long enough I’m confident there’s no concussion.Scrapes and bruises make up the rest of it.He’s going to be sore, but that’ll all fade.”
Charma relaxed at Doc’s words.Darcy was okay.And in his arms and he swore he was never letting go.
“I’m going to go see if there’s anything left for breakfast.You boys take care of each other.”
