“I’m sorry,” he told Vale.“I don’t know what happened.”
“I think he was protecting you.”
“What?He doesn’t have anything to protect me from.It’s you.”
“I’m sure he’s just worried because you had a nightmare.He’s protective of you, and he can probably feel your emotions.”
And right now, those emotions were a mess.Between the nightmare and what Vale had just admitted to, Cyril was confused and scared.He was afraid to go back to sleep, but he was also tired, and he knew this would make tomorrow harder.He needed more sleep.He wanted to continue talking things out with Vale, but it was the middle of the night, and the kind of conversation that happened in the middle of the night after a nightmare never ended well.They’d have time to talk later.Right now, everyone needed to calm down, including Cyril.
He slowly put Oscar down in the middle of the bed.He and Vale stared at him for a few seconds, and Cyril breathed easier when Oscar curled his tentacles around himself.It looked like whatever had made him aggressive was gone.
“We should get back to sleep,” Vale said.“I know you want to talk, but I don’t think now is the best moment to do that.”
“I know.”
“Yeah?”
Vale looked relieved, which made Cyril feel even worse.His boyfriend was hiding something.At the very least, he didn’t want to talk about his time with the Organization, which made Cyril worry.He didn’t like it when he felt like people were hiding things from him, although in some circumstances, he could understand why they did it.
Not in this circumstance, though.He needed to know what Vale had done for the Organization.He needed to know if his boyfriend had killed innocent people, even though he’d said he hadn’t.
Cyril reached over to turn off the light.The darkness swallowed everything, and he breathed in relief.He and Vale still had to finish their conversation, but for now, it was easier for him to relax.He knew what Vale had been hiding, or at least, part of it.He didn’t think it had anything to do with his nightmare, but considering everything that had happened recently, it wasn’t surprising that he had them.He saw death every day.He’d be more surprised if he’d never dreamed about it.
“Come here,” Vale murmured as he reached for Cyril.
Part of Cyril wanted to resist and tell Vale not to touch him, but another part was just tired.He’d have time to find out if they were going to break up tomorrow morning.Just in case they would, he wanted to make the most of the time they still had together.
He snuggled close and closed his eyes.Vale smelled and felt familiar, and it helped lull Cyril back to sleep.Part of his mind was still working overtime, though.
What had Vale done for the Organization?Had he lied to Cyril?What had gotten into Oscar?
What was Cyril supposed to do about all of this?
Chapter Three
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CYRIL WAS PISSED.
When he’d woken up that morning, he’d expected to do so in Vale’s arms, like every morning.It was especially important today because they were supposed to talk about what had happened last night and about Vale’s work for the Organization.
It was going to be hard to do that when Vale was nowhere to be seen.
Because Cyril had woken up alone in bed.The apartment had been empty except for him and John, who’d looked apologetic from his spot on the couch when he’d told Cyril that Vale had gone out for a run around half an hour ago.Cyril wasn’t a runner, but he half wanted to go after Vale anyway.
The asshole knew that Cyril had a job this morning.That was why he’d snuck out of bed to go for a long run.It meant delaying their conversation, which Cyril hadn’t wanted to do.He wanted answers, dammit.
But he wouldn’t get them this morning.Vale was gone, and Cyril had a job.He couldn’t stay at the apartment until his boyfriend came back just so he could yell at him.
How unfortunate.
He almost hoped that Oscar would kick Vale’s ass when he came back.It probably wasn’t nice of him, but he was past nice.What all of this was telling him was that Vale was hiding something he knew Cyril wouldn’t like, which worried Cyril.
He’d never thought he’d have what he had with Vale.He was odd, and a lot of people didn’t want anything to do with him because of his ability.He’d accepted that a long time ago, but meeting Vale had made him hopeful.He’d thought they would build a future together, and he still hoped they would, but he wasn’t sure he could trust Vale when he was clearly avoiding him.
He sighed and stopped glaring at his cup of coffee.He had work to do.
He left John on the couch with the remote control and the order to take anything he wanted from the fridge.The drive to the address Robbie had texted him was perfectly normal, even though Cyril felt anything but normal.Once he parked his car, he briefly closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then another.
