“Is it because my dad said you should become an agent?You totally don’t have to.”
He huffs.“No, it’s not that.”
“Is it my folks?They like you.”
He snickers.“I like them too.They seem to not mind that you’re dating a White guy.”
I laugh softly and kiss his hand.“Then why does it feel like you don’t want to talk to me anymore?”He caresses my cheek, and I lean into it.“Did you…did you want us to take a break?”
“Cauldrons, no!”he says.I startle, and he pulls me in for a lingering kiss.I hope it’s not a form of goodbye.The attachment I feel for my former enemy is frightening.Still, whatever Taz is going through, I want to be there for him; I want to be his foundation.
“That’s what makes this all worse,” he says.“I’m…invested in us.And I’m still so fucking into you.”
The relief in my chest is significant.“Glad to hear it, Devries.”I grin and rub the back of his hand on my cheek.“Look, we can drop it.You can tell me when you’re ready.”
“I am ready.But I…fear you’re not going to want to be with someone as fucked up as me when I’m done telling you.”
My throat goes dry.What did you do, Taz?“Um, okay?”
He takes a deep breath in and out as I try to memorize his beautiful face in the darkness.“After our mission last week, I went home and had the most vivid dream.”
“Okay.”
“It was more like a nightmare.There were these voices.I heard them when I blacked out during the mission.I think…the cultists got to me.”
Fear crawls up my spine.“What?”I whisper.
“I keep having nightmares of a dark dimension.I saw my brother being toyed with, like a bargaining chip.”
I shake my head.“You’re having nightmares about…the Other Side?”
“In these visions, I’m in the Other Side.A shadowy voice, something bigger than humanly possible, is calling to me.Let me show you what happened.Follow me.”
We make our way up the stairs to Taz’s apartment.The entire time, I think of every worst-case scenario.There’s no turning off my agent of SPELL training in my brain.
The two of us make our way past the small living room to the bedroom.After he turns on the lights, we sit on his bed, and he takes out a small shoebox from underneath.“I woke up from a nightmare after the last mission and…this appeared.The voice keeps telling me…to use this.”
“Use what?”
When he opens the box, the first thing I notice is a gilded glimmer.
“Is this…?”
“It’s the second half of le gantelet.”
My eyes are blown wide, and I dart my gaze from the infernal relic to my boyfriend sitting next to me.He’s even more strung out than before.
“Taz, did you…?”
“I swear, I didn’t use it for anything.”He sniffs and wipes away a tear.“But I wanted to,” he rasps.“God, the temptation is so powerful.That’s why those bastards gave it to me.”
“Taz.”
He shakes his head and pushes the box at me with force.“I don’t deserve to be an agent.I don’t even deserve to have a boyfriend as great as you.”
My heart breaks, and I place the shoebox to my other side.When I touch his shoulder, he seems so tense.“Taz.”
“I was so ready to do whatever it took to find my brother.I’m no better than those cultists.”He squeezes his eyes shut and sobs.“It’s only a matter of time before I give in.You need to take this gauntlet shit and stay away from me.”
