“It’s only logical,” Orson commented.
Nemo leaned back in his chair, covering his face with his hands and groaning. “I failed him,” he said. “I’m not even worthy of having mates.”
I felt dizzy. “Don’t say that.”
Nemo’s eyes were red when he removed his hands. “You should go with Orson.” My throat felt thick.
“Nemo, please,” I begged. “I need you.”
“I fucked everything up. He put faith in me?—”
“No, he didn’t,” Orson said. “You know he didn’t. He was telling you what you wanted to hear to make you happy because it was the last time he planned to see you.”
“I could have protected him better.” Nemo’s throat bobbed.
“Baz wanted to be locked up. This was inevitable,” Orson said. I glared at him.
“He was just concerned about leaving Verfallen again,” I said.
“He chose to come to the asylum. No one sent him there. He naturally wants to be kept separate from people. He believes, without a shadow of a doubt, that he’ll hurt every person who’s close to him. He was going to leave eventually.” Orson looked at the boxes on the table, his hands twitching.
“Are you implying he would have left us even if he hadn’t transformed?” I asked.
“Yes,” Orson said.
“Bullshit,” Nemo growled.
“Why are you lying?” I asked. Orson folded his hands in his lap. They were raw from scrubbing. Even though he talked with a steady voice, Orson was as distraught as the rest of us.
“In his mind, he’s an abomination whose only point in living is to kill.”
“So, what? He’s gone. That’s it. He got what he wanted, and we should move on?” I snapped. “And now you two want nothing to do with each other. Nemo wants to be abandoned. Do you want to fuck off as well, Orson? You do things alone, right? Always had before me.”
My eyes went between the two of them. Both men looked away. A strange laugh bubbled from my mouth.
“Oh my god, is that really what’s happening?” I fell back in my chair and covered my face. “But what about Baz?” I asked with choked words. “Verfallen has him.”
“Damien D'Bolique has him,” Nemo practically whispered. When had Nemo evermumbled?
“We just accept that’s where Baz wants to be?” I asked. “Why do you think they want to control him with our lives?” Nemo and Orson looked at one another.
“They’re going to torture him,” Nemo said. My eyes dragged over his own scars.
“Baz knew that going in,” Orson said. I slapped Orson across the face. He looked at me in shock.
“He has issues. We all have issues. That doesn’t mean he wanted to lock himself away forever. Don’t you get it? The way he treated us on the last day. Indulging us, telling us he loved us. But he was so scared of killing us, he forced himself away. This wasn’t succumbing to psychological issues. And don’t paint this as a selfish whim,” I snapped. “He clung to us until the very last minute. He would have never fucking left if he hadn’t been shot with the serum.”
I swung to Nemo and bore down on him. “We all failed Baz. He wanted safety so he wouldn't hurt us, and all we kept saying was that it would be fine. We practically forced him to leave since we’re all so cocky about our perceived immortality. But when it comes to Baz, no one is safe, and he’s painfully aware of that. He kills immortals.”
Nemo and Orson sat there speechless. I was always going to keep us all together. So they either needed to get in line, or we were going to have a brawl that ended with two big evil murderers chained in the basement while I got Baz back.
“Supra wore those suits with the gas masks and were fine,” Nemo said. “We could do that. We could maybe set him up somewhere, separate from us.” He was already trying to problem-solve. That was the Nemo we needed. He was sitting tall again, his shoulders back.
“The basement,” Orson said. Nemo nodded.
“Are you saying we’ll go get him?” I asked.
“Yes,” Nemo said. “I won’t let him down. Or you.” Nemo’s eyes flicked to Orson.
