Bowser didn’t respond, which was answer enough.
“You gave it to him, didn’t you.” It was rhetorical because, obviously, he had. “You’re literally helping him kidnap me right now so you can ransom me against a Brumal member, Bowser. Think this through. You’re the one who warned me against dating him earlier. You’re not this dense. What do you think is going to happen to you when Flix finds out? And you’re making it sound like you believe there’s any chance I’ll be able to leave with you after. Even if I wanted to, which, for the record, I do not, if you’re exchanging me for money, you sort of actually have to follow through on the exchange part of the deal. ”
Bowser and Flix had never gotten along in the past, either. Flix didn’t have the same warm memories that Ani did. There was nothing to stop him from zapping the guy on the spot and turning him into barbeque.
Ani didn’t want to see his brother, but Bowser wasn’t Russ.
“You were there for me when I needed someone,” he said. “Even when my brother wasn’t. Even when my brother was the cause of my pain. Please, Bowser, I don’t want to see you get hurt. Haven’t we all suffered enough because of Russ?”
“I won’t get hurt,” he didn’t sound very convinced himself, his hands tightening on the steering wheel as he brought them onto the highway that would lead out of the city. “Because you’ll help us, won’t you? All you have to do is play along, get Flix to give us the money, and then the three of us—”
“I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“Fine, Russ and I then, we’ll get out of here.”
That time there was a pang in his chest. He’d known Russ wasn’t interested in him, but hearing those words from Bowser, knowing that he’d be fine tossing Ani to the side as well, kind of stung.
“So much for all that talk about transferring schools.” Not to mention how Bowser planned on Ani paying for said transfer if the dude was that broke. Even if the older guy was stupid enough to believe Russ would share, Ani knew better.
The second his brother got his hands on that coin, he was out of here.
And he’d most likely be leaving Bowser behind.
“He’s using you,” Aneski tried to get him to see reason. “Why’d he wait so long to find you if he wasn’t? That’s all this is. Don’t fall for it. Trust me, my brother is scum.”
“You really think Flix is any better?” Bowser snorted. “You’re forgetting that I have contact with the Shepards. Many of them are still loyal to me even though I moved away. It was easy to get them to follow my orders, especially since none of them like the fact that you’re playing Flix’s boy toy. If either of us are at risk of getting left, it’s you, Aneski.”
“No,” he disagreed. “I’m his Onus. That means something.”
“I don’t know how you convinced him to give you that title, but if he gave a damn about you, he wouldn’t have kept you locked up for the past week.”
If Ani had been curious if Bowser had planted any spies in the Shepards, that would have answered his question. Clearly there was no one actually doing any kind of research into things; he was merely going off of hearsay within the gang. Which would have been whatever they’d picked up on from Rex and the others. Things like Ani being kept with Flix all this time and how the two of them were together, but nothing more. Nothing nuanced.
“I tried to warn Russ that Flix might not even care if you disappeared, but he insists he will. He wasn’t here, though. He didn’t see the way Flix treated you after the funeral,” Bowser added.
“He treated me like that because he thought he was doing me and Russ a favor. Keeping me safe.”
“Sure.”
“It’s the truth.”
“Whatever you say, Aneski.”
There were two options. The first, was they were both delusional and had fallen for assholes who’d tricked them into believing they meant more to them than they actually did. The other, was that Ani was right—and Bowser was wrong.
“Want to make a bet?” he suggested, feeling kind of petty and still pissed that any of this was happening at all. “If Flix betrays me, gives me up, and refuses to pay you guys a single coin, I’ll give you access to my savings. You can take it and do whatever you want with it. But if Russ betrays you…” It had to be something good. Something worth it. “You have to help me escape.” If he hadn’t managed that on his own already.
Always smart to have an extra out just in case.
“Do you agree?”
“Fine,” Bowser surprised him again by saying without even thinking about it first. “I’m confident I know better than you do about my own relationship.”
Ani didn’t point out how hypocritical that statement was, but whatever.
“I want a list of all of the Shepards who helped you,” Ani said. He’d make sure they were kicked out so something like this could never happen again. Didn’t matter if he was leaving. Whoever was going to take his place needed to know they could trust the members.
“Doesn’t really make a difference now,” Bowser told him flippantly. “They’re all dead.”
