Berga, who was standing by the window, sighed. “He has a problem, that’s what he has.”
“I’ve got it under control.”
“Sure, until the next time the brat wants something you’re unwilling to give and takes out his eye to make you feel bad enough to cave.”
“Berga.” Flix scowled at him.
“Whoa,” Saint held up a hand. “Why do I feel like I missed something super major? I was just with Yuze and Kaz, and neither mentioned you getting hitched.”
“That’s because they don’t know,” he gave him a pointed look, “and it’s going to stay that way.”
Saint frowned. “Why? This is the type of thing that deserves to be celebrated. Besides, how do you expect your Onus to reap the benefits of being recognized by a Brumal member if no one even knows they exist?”
“Simple,” he stated. “He’s not going to.”
“He doesn’t deserve it,” Berga sneered.
Saint glanced between the two of them and then rested his gaze on the Butcher. “You don’t like him?”
“A life partner is serious business,” he was quick to reply. “Not something that should be forced.”
“Speaking from experience?”
Now, it was Flix’s turn to frown at them. “What does that mean?”
“Nothing.” Berga glanced away suspiciously.
“You’re hiding something,” Flix accused. “Fromme?”
“I’m figuring it out,” he corrected. “Once I do, you’ll be the first to hear about it. Promise.”
“Ouch,” Saint said. “I am sitting right here, guys, remember”?
“How can we not when you won’t shut up for two seconds?” Flix exhaled and thumbed the report again. “This is all you could find?”
“Russ must have changed his name.” Saint pointed to it. “If he were smart anyway, he would have. Most of this was easy to acquire. Haroon doesn’t have as much reach, but if he’d hired a half-decent private detective, he would have easily tracked Russ down.”
“Maybe he did,” Berga said.
How long had the letters come? Flix needed to ask Ani about them. If he knew exactly when they started and when they stopped being sent, he might be able to piece together a better picture. As much as he hated to think of it, Berga and Saint both made a valid point. Haroon wasn’t the type of person to letthings go, and if he’d tried, even in the slightest, to locate Russ and had been successful in that endeavor, there was a decent chance Russ really was dead.
The other problem with that was, it would only bolster Berga’s current mindset further. Because Flix wouldn’t give two shits about Russ’s death past what that meant for Aneski.
How it might hurt him.
Even now, after everything they’d just been through, after being manipulated into claiming him, the idea that something else could harm Ani made Flix’s blood boil. He was keeping him locked up to protect him—was it also controlling? Sure. But even acknowledging that didn’t change his mind.
What if he really did go for one of his eyes the next time Flix refused to bend to his will? What then? It was too horrible and felt entirely too possible. Aside from strangling himself with the chain, there was nothing around Ani right now he could use to injure himself. The chain was necessary though. He wasn’t comfortable allowing the Tiny Terror to roam around even the bedroom on his own.
Finding Russ had been part of the excuse, part of the trick. Whether or not Ani actually wanted to smoke him out was unknown since it seemed like he’d merely used that as a reason to get close to Flix that day on campus. It didn’t make sense not to at least figure out where Russ had been staying all of this time or what he’d been up to.
After, they could decide if they wanted to speak to him or not.
Flix needed to get his hands on those letters, but he was stalling. Knowing Ani, he’d refuse to tell him where he’d put them and instead try to bargain for his freedom. That wasn’t going to happen.
Not when Flix couldn’t be sure there wouldn’t be a repeat of the other day.
The fear he’d felt when Aneski had passed out in his arms, bleeding and pale…It’d been unlike anything he’d ever felt before. It was something he refused to ever feel again. If that meant locking Ani up and keeping him away from anything that could potentially be used to self-harm? So be it.
