“Of course not,” he stated. “I wanted to find another way to help him, but he insisted running was his only option. I would have walked away, but he brought you into things.”
“How?”
“He mentioned that Haroon knew about you and was always asking questions about your well-being. He’d kept you out of the Shepards so far, but if Haroon found out, he’d go after you first in order to get to Russ. Your brother always knew you were my weak spot. He promised he was only going to be gone long enough to collect the proof against Haroon that he needed, then he’d come back.”
“But he didn’t,” Ani pointed out. “It’s been three years.”
“Haroon only recently passed,” Flix said. “I thought for sure after that Russ would keep his word, that perhaps he’d justbeen a monumental coward too scared to come back for you until it was all clear. Then I found out about the letters he’d sent, how he’d put you in danger well before now…He played me.”
“Okay, but how?”
Flix ran a hand through his hair. “Haroon would only believe it if the Brumal were somehow involved, and since Russ and I were known to be friends, having me be there made the most logical sense. It was believable that we’d get into a fight since we’d been on the outs recently anyway.”
“What?” Ani didn’t recall that. “Why?”
Flix gave him a pointed stare.
“Because of me?”
“Every time I came over, I saw you using malfunctioning electronics and wearing worn clothing. Hell, half the time, the fridge was empty. Russ was supposedly making some money through the Shepards, and I’d already purchased the apartment for you both. He’d hit me up for coin at least once every two weeks, claiming it was for something you needed, and then got pissed when I started coming around more often to check for myself.”
During that time period, Flixhadcome to the house more frequently, but…
“Russ told me it was because the two of you were getting serious.”
“That bastard.”
Ani cleared his throat. “So you agreed to start the fire and make it look like an accident?”
“I used my power,” he confirmed. “Not that anyone knew that’s what it was, including Russ, but yeah. Got some of my Brumal friends to get me a dead body, replaced it with Russ and waited for him to slip out the window and down the drainpipe unnoticed. Then I started the fire directly over the body and let it burn.”
“That’s why the temperature was hot enough to turn it to ash. Lightning.”
Flix shrugged. “Basically. I used as much of my power as I could so there’d be no chance there’d be anything left that could be used to identify him. Russ snuck out of the city and was meant to contact me once he made it somewhere safe, only I never heard from him again.”
“You didn’t try looking for him?”
“I didn’t want to risk word leaking and getting back to Haroon, so I didn’t. The Shepards were fairly new and we didn’t yet know if they’d become a threat or not. The Brumal were more cautious around them. I couldn’t tell you either because if you let on, you’d be the first person Haroon would try to use to smoke Russ out.”
Ani snorted. “After today, we both know that wouldn’t have worked.”
“Not a risk I was willing to take,” Flix said. “Not then, not now.”
“And why didn’t you come to tell me after a few months? Or after a year?”
“You joined the Shepards and things got more complicated. You were closer to Haroon than ever, and there was no good way for me to tell you your brother faked his death. The likelihood of you not believing me was too high. By that point, I’d done too much to push you away.”
He nodded. It made sense, even if it was frustrating that they’d wasted so much time. The water in the tub shut off automatically, signaling that it was full, but before Flix could try to step away again, Ani tightened his hold on his shirt.
“I want to be with you always, no matter what anyone else says or does. I want us to make decisions together, and I want us to rely on each other. I don’t just want to be your Onus in title,Flix. I want it to be the real deal. I want to be yours, and I don’t want—”
“Got a lot of demands, huh, Tiny Terror?” Flix chucked him under the chin and chuckled when he glared in response. “Does this mean you forgive me for the past?”
Ani thought about it. He’d still harbored strong negative emotions about all of that, still felt scared of being abandoned again, but it wasn’t as intense as it’d been even a couple of days ago. Which meant it wouldn’t be as bad a week from now. Or two weeks. Or three. The longer they were together, the better it would get.
That’s what he wanted. He wanted to build something on top of the bullshit that had been the bricks of their past.
“Can we start fresh?” Ani asked.
