It was already dusk. He hoped he would be able to soothe Kid’s concern before it got dark out. He didn’t want them out there, vulnerable, potentially getting attacked by any of those grundars.
As Kid stared ahead of him, lost in thought, Treycore could imagine the sorts of things racing through his head.
“Kid,” Treycore muttered as they headed toward the forest, “you know I won’t let them make you do anything, right?”
“Just give me a second to take this in,” Kid said quickly, abruptly.
Treycore pressed his lips together. It was fair for him to need a minute to take everything in.They’d been slapped in the face with such serious fucking news. Kid had been part of the Leader’s plan all along. And by some act of coincidence or fate, they’d come together because of that.
Treycore searched around for Eilee and saw her in the distance, sitting beside a pond at the bottom of the hill the cabin was on. Her arms around her legs, she leaned forward and gazed into the water, he assumed checking out her reflection. She hummed a sweet melody, one that teleported his thoughts back to distant memories of the golden days of Heaven, when so many would surround her to hear her simple tunes. She reached down, her fingertips grazing the water.
Treycore and Kid headed into the forest, navigating along a small path, when they came to a creek. Kid pulled away from him, grabbed his own triceps, and walked in a circle, slowly, leaving Treycore hanging in suspense, dreading where Kid’s thoughts would take him…his skepticism about their love for one another.
Treycore started to say something, but before he could, Kid spit out, “Maybe it would be better if I had some time to myself.”
“Don’t do this.”
“Do what?” Though Treycore could tell Kid knew what he meant.
“Don’t let what they said back there make you question anything about us, about you. You’re not some weapon, Kid.”
Kid’s lips twisted into his dimples. Those adorable fucking dimples. Treycore wanted to kiss him, to let their passion ease his pain and discomfort. Everything would make sense if their bodies were pressed together.
“This is bigger than us, Trey,” Kid said. “This is about everyone on the planet. This is about those monsters invading our world and the ones invading the heavens. If I can do anything to stop it—”
“You always think like this,” Treycore said. “Even from the beginning, you always throw yourself in harm’s way. Why can’t you think of yourself for once?”
“Maybe that’s a part of my design,” Kid replied, and Treycore couldn’t help but consider the possibility that that may have been the very reason Kid had been so willing to sacrifice himself for him.
No, he couldn’t believe it. Wouldn’t believe it.
“Trey, if we don’t do this, eventually those things will come after us.”
“But shouldn’t we get to enjoy life until then? Maybe we go out to Janka’s tower and we die anyway. But if there’s a chance, even a small one, that we can all make it out of this, why would we pass that up and throw you into the fire?”
“Quintz and Aerysn don’t seem to believe there is a chance. And they’ve studied this creature. They know more about all this than any of us. The fact that they had to go to such great lengths, make me decades in advance, that means something, don’t you think?”
“Like Kinzer said, we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. But until then, I need you to know I care about you, Kid. I love you.”
Those words clearly didn’t set Kid at ease. He could tell by the way Kid’s gaze lowered, like he was disappointed. Like hearing that bullshit about how those guys designed him made him question what they felt.
“Maybe this stuff they were talking about is part of the reason why I was attracted initially,” Treycore said. “Who the fuck knows? But you have to believe that what I feel for you is so much deeper than lust, or anything some pheromone could make me feel.” But by the way Kid looked at him, Treycore knew he wasn’t convinced.
Treycore approached him, put his hand against Kid’s face. His cheeks trembled before tears rushed from his eyes.
“I don’t know what to say to make you believe what I feel.”
“I love you, Treycore, but that’s easy for me to say, because I’m me, and you are all this.”
“I knew from the day I first saw you that I wanted you. You are perfect.”
“No, I’m not. That’s how I know it couldn’t have been real.”
“Yes, you are.” Treycore hadn’t intended for his words to be so harsh, but he was so fucking pissed that after everything they’d been through, Kid could even think that. “You remember that first time we kissed?”
“How could I forget it? God, I thought you were going to punch me.”
“I told you how disgusting you were, how hideous your scars were to me. The imperfections that no immortal would have.”
