Harlow wasn’t wrong. He was feeling done now, and this was barely half the time they usually spent when they had sex marathons… Wasting such good footage when he couldn’t enjoy it to the fullest would be shameful. “Later,” he agreed. “Show me later. For now…” He wrinkled his nose in disgust as he began to experience the real horrors of being covered in cum. “Clean me.”
Harlow snorted. “Your wish is my command, brat.”
Foxx pressed a button on the remote and the TV hidden in his bedroom ceiling began to descend. The second it turned on, Harlow jerked awake next to him.
The human blinked, looking confused, before rubbing his face and sitting up with a yawn. “Why am I just now learning that you have a TV in here?”
“Shh,” Foxx said as he switched the channel to the news.
A woman appeared, and there was a breaking news logo on the side of the screen. “In the biggest hunter take down ever, hundreds of religious figures, politicians, and officers of the law, have been arrested all over the United States—”
Harlow sighed next to him. “Really, Foxx?”
“Shh,” he said again, gaze fixed on the TV.
“Now, Charlotte. How sure are the Hunters Guild of the guilt of these individuals? From what I understand, the arrests started with priests, but soon spread to many police departments, hospitals, and even government officials.”
“Well, John, from the little that has been released to the public, it’s understood that the hunters would not react in such an extreme way without irrefutable proof. Likely, the cases they have against those they arrested are a sure thing. But there are factors working against them, such as public opinion. For many of these individuals, especially those with religious affiliation, they have followers that are already speaking out about the arrests. I imagine once things proceed to trial, jury selection won’t be an easy task.”
Foxx scoffed. “These people were killing children, and here they are worrying about the opinions of insignificant peons.”
Harlow snatched the remote from his hand.
“Hey!”
“Enough of this garbage,” the human said with a sigh, turning the TV off.
“I was watching that, old man!”
“For no reason. They don’t know any more than we do. In fact, they know less,” Harlow growled. “What is it you are trying to find out that you don’t already know?”
“I just…” Foxx hesitated. “I just want to know if they will get what they deserve.”
“They won’t.”
The vampire flinched. “They’ll get away?”
“Let me finish. They won’t get what they deserve, because what they deserve is to die slowly and painfully. But…they will face some sort of punishment, even if it’s unequal to their crimes. But it’s months too early to even begin to worry about what is going on with that case. People are still being arrested. Hell, me saying ‘that case’ is a vast understatement of all that is happening. There will be hundreds of trials to go through. It’ll take years with how slow our system is.”
“I know that…” Foxx grumbled, looking away.
Harlow lightly gripped his chin and turned his face back towards him. What followed was an uncharacteristically gentle gesture. The human leaned forward and kissed his forehead. Something Foxx couldn’t recall Harlow ever having done before, though last night the man had kissed his neck. He wasn’t sure why, but both actions caused his stomach to flutter—which was worrying.
“You need to let yourself heal, and let this go, for now.” Harlow gently brushed his finger over Foxx’s bandaged cheek.
Foxx’s bottom lip wobbled. “But what if I can’t?”
“You don’t have a choice. There is nothing you can do about any of it right now. We played our part.”
Foxx’s shoulders sagged. “Have I? I feel like I’ve done nothing. I joined the hunters to do something. And so far, I’ve been blown up multiple times, almost died, and then kidnapped. I likely got more people killed just by being there. I’ve…helped with nothing.”
“Bullshit.”
“It’s not!” Foxx snapped, yanking his chin free of his hold.
“Foxx, what do you want me to say? ‘Oh, poor you, you didn’t get to single-handedly take down a massive organization with your two tiny hands’. Get over it,” Harlow said stiffly. “You got your ass beat. Learn from it, and don’t ever let those fuckers do it to you again! But let’s be real. What you just said, you know it’s garbage. Do you even realize that if you hadn’t almost died and ended up in that hospital, that this group may have been able to remain hidden? How many would be dead if you hadn’t been involved, hmm? Yeah, you fucking caused issues. But how many more would be dead if you hadn’t been there? That little girl, would she had survived if you hadn’t been taken?”
“I…” Foxx glared, but trailed off when he couldn’t find the words to argue back. Because…the truth was…Melody would have likely died the day he’d been left on that platform, if he hadn’t been there…
