“Want me to think it instead?”
“I’d prefer neither.”
“He’s cute when he pouts and speedwalks away, isn’t he?” I ask. “Watch this. Ellison, it hurts to walk fast enough to keep up with you.”
Ellison immediately slows down and hurries back to me. “Are you okay?”
I beam at the handsome man. “Your beautiful face healed me in an instant.”
His face sours and he walks off without me again.
“You just… really aren’t very wise, are you?” Nolan asks.
“It’s debatable,” I admit. “But did you see that sexy scowl he gave me? Worth it.”
Nolan is quiet for a bit while we trail after Ellison before he says, “On the outside, you portray a man who is carefree and has no worries, but on the inside, it’s obvious you’re still hurting. Showing the people you care about the pain you feel will help them understand and it’ll help you heal… stop, I can already hear your mind going on about how you can’t show weakness. What’s family for if you can’t show all sides of yourself?”
Family? I killed my family.
“Family does not have to be blood related,” Nolan continues, addressing my unspoken words. “You have family here. My brother might act like he only cares about his books, but I know he would call you family any day. And I’m sure there are others here who care about you if they’d like to pipe up.”
Ellison looks back at me. I can’t tell whether he can hear Nolan or he’s wanting to wait for me. He seems caught up in some kind of turmoil.
“You both really need to talk to each other instead of this shit going on in your minds,” Nolan advises as we reach the door to headquarters and step in.
“You told us to trust no Ellisons, so tell us something embarrassing about you so we know it’s really you,” Landon says, holding Pocket Lint.
“I need a medical team.”
“Well, that’s no fun. Who got hurt?” Landon asks before noticing the blood on me. “You okay?”
“Perfectly fine. Not even a scratch.”
The look on Ellison’s face tells me that he is displeased I’m brushing it off so easily. The medical team must have been on standby because they’re on us in an instant. They try cramming me onto a stretcher as I fight them off before going invisible.
“I will just invisibly bleed.”
Valerie whacks me with a wad of paperwork. “Turn visible again and at least follow the medical team.”
“Fine, fine,” I say. “Medical team, I have received trauma to the back of my skull. I’m unsure how that happened. I feel like the assailant is still in the room with me.”
“Now!” she barks.
I follow them, as does everyone else, which leads to all of us being crammed into a small room where a doctor starts cleaning the wound. When they’ve deduced that it isn’t too deep—which I’d already told them—they bandage it up and finally let me leave.
We go to a conference room where everyone sits down and waits patiently for Ellison to talk. Ellison just sits prim and proper while staring at his notepad, like he’s studying something there.
“This is… titillating,” Landon comments. “It’s the first time this group has been quiet long enough I can read in peace.”
“Hon, Deus was just stabbed and… I think maybe it’d be inappropriate to read a book right now,” August says.
Landon seems uncertain. “Are… are you sure?”
August slides the book back into Landon’s bag. “Positive.”
“If Ellison doesn’t want to talk, he can just think what to say and Nolan can say it,” Landon suggests.
Nolan looks at Ellison. “Right now, he’s thinking, ‘If I take a nap, will they leave me alone so I don’t have to talk?’”
