He wanted to believe that Vale would never hurt an innocent person.He needed to believe it.Maybe the person he was in was guilty of something terrible.He looked down desperately, hoping to see a gun or something else that would tell him that he was inside a bad guy and that Vale had been trying to defend himself, fighting for his life or protecting others.
But that wasn’t what he saw.
He—the girl he was in—was wearing a dark-colored skirt, socks, and sensible shoes.There was a backpack next to her, open with part of its contents spilled across the grimy floor.Amongst the things Cyril could see—pens, a water bottle, crumpled papers—was some kind of badge that showed the picture of a painfully young woman with dark hair and eyes.There was a name next to her picture.
Melissa Campbell.
She looked like she should be in college, not bleeding out in an abandoned building.Cyril could feel her fade already.The pain wasn’t as sharp anymore, which should’ve been a relief, but he knew what it meant.Her heartbeat was slowing, her blood leaving her body instead of keeping it alive.
She was dying.
He rolled his head to the side to look at Vale one last time.Vale had lowered his gun and was approaching, an almost frantic expression replacing his previously cold expression.His face was pale, eyes wide with something that might’ve been horror or regret.Was he regretting what he’d done?Had it been an accident?
Cyril wanted to reach out, but Melissa’s strength was leaving, taking his ability to move or speak.He couldn’t ask the questions he desperately needed answers to.All he could do was watch as Vale knelt beside them.
Melissa closed her eyes, and all Cyril could see was darkness.
Until he sucked in a breath and jerked into a sitting position, his heart hammering against his ribs.The pain was gone—thank God—and when he reached for his chest, he was able to move freely, his hands finding only smooth skin beneath his sleep shirt.
“Cyril?”
The familiar voice made his entire body tense.He felt something brush against his arm—Vale’s hand, warm and gentle as always.He didn’t think before moving, couldn’t think past the image of Vale’s younger self holding that gun, couldn’t separate the man he loved from what he’d just seen.
Cyril moved so quickly he almost fell off the bed, his legs tangling in the sheets as he scrambled away.When the light suddenly turned on, he blinked rapidly, trying to adjust, but there was nothing odd about their bedroom.Same warm-painted walls, same scattered books, same messiness.Vale was sitting on their bed, staring at Cyril with wide, worried eyes.He wasn’t the red-haired Vale from the vision anymore—this wasCyril’sVale, older and scarred.
He wasn’t reaching for Cyril anymore, but someone else was.Oscar had placed himself between them, his tentacles tense as if he was ready to strike.Cyril placed a shaking hand on top of Oscar’s head, hoping to calm both of them.“Easy,” he whispered.Oscar relaxed slightly at the contact but didn’t move from his protective position, and Cyril found himself grateful for the barrier between him and Vale.
“Cyril?”Vale asked again, and there was something fragile in his voice that reminded Cyril of the younger man in his nightmare.“What’s wrong?You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
Maybe I have.Cyril had the thought, but he couldn’t say it out loud.He cleared his throat.“I’m fine.”
“You woke up screaming.”
The words hit him like a slap.“I did?”Cyril hadn’t realized that.Melissa hadn’t been screaming when she’d died—she’d been too weak.
“Yeah.Loud enough to wake me and Oscar.Was it another nightmare?”
Was Cyril supposed to answer that?Vale would push if he didn’t—not now anyway.“Yeah.I didn’t really see much because the room was dark.”He wanted to ask Vale to explain what he’d seen and demand the truth about Melissa Campbell, that abandoned building, and the gun.But at the same time, he couldn’t bring himself to form the words.He didn’t know how Vale would react, and for the first time since they’d been together, that frightened him.
He loved Vale with a depth that sometimes took his breath away.He’d fallen in love with his gentleness despite his profession.His overprotective streak should have felt like too much, but instead, it made Cyril feel cherished.It was strange, loving a professional assassin, but Cyril had never felt like he was in danger with him.Vale’s violence was something that happened to bad people in a world Cyril didn’t understand.
He still didn’t feel physically threatened—not really.But he felt like maybe he didn’t really know Vale at all.Maybe there was a hidden side to his boyfriend that Cyril hadn’t yet met.He didn’t think he wanted to discover that person in the middle of the night, with nowhere to run and only Oscar’s protection between them.
“But you’re okay?”Vale pressed, and there was genuine concern in his voice, the same tone he used when Cyril worked too late or forgot to eat.
Cyril needed to project calm before Vale’s protective instincts kicked into overdrive.The last thing he needed was Vale trying to fix this with hovering and questions.“I’m fine.It was just a nightmare.”
“The kind of nightmare you didn’t have before getting hurt.”
“Look, there’s nothing we can do about this right now.”Cyril’s voice came out sharper than he wanted.“Why don’t we go back to sleep and talk in the morning?Maybe I’ll remember more then.”
He doubted he’d see anything else—he hadn’t with Elizabeth Stewart—and they couldn’t sit there for the rest of the night, staring at each other.
Vale looked like he wanted to argue, but Cyril did the puppy eyes he knew got to Vale every time, widening them just slightly and letting a little vulnerability show through.Tonight wasn’t any different from all the other times he’d used that particular weapon.Vale’s shoulders slumped in defeat, and he reached for Cyril, maybe to pull him into his arms the way he always did when Cyril needed it.
Oscar jerked out of Cyril’s hold and placed himself between Cyril and Vale again.Cyril stared at him, once again wondering what was wrong with him.Oscar had never been like this, not even with Vale during their early days, when they still hadn’t fully trusted each other.
“I think it’s best if we keep some distance between us tonight,” he told Vale.He was secretly relieved, even though it hurt—he loved Vale with everything in him, but after what he’d seen in his nightmare, he didn’t think he could bear it.Being in the same bed was hard enough after what he’d seen.
