He sighed. “It was just a thought. So, what are you up to?”
Seri’s smile dropped. “Thinking.”
Severo frowned as he set Skya up in her high chair and asked, “Is something wrong?”
The Nymph took a deep breath. “I want to tell you everything.”
He froze, brain slowly processing the words, before saying, “You don’t have to.”
“More is always better,” Seri murmured softly, repeating the words Cyrus had told Severo over an hour ago.
“You heard my conversation.”
“Part of it.” Seri smiled sadly. “Only a clip, really. I wasn’t spying. I planned to go in and be there for the meeting, but stopped on hearing what you were talking about.”
“Seri, regardless of what Cyrus said or thinks, you don’t have to?—”
“But I do, Severo. I really do. And I want to. Okay, I don’twantto. But Ineedto. Because I need to do more than just sit here waiting for things to either go right or horribly wrong. I want my freedom back. I can’t stay here, stuck like this.”
“You are doing so much already. Your research?—”
Seri released the injector, his hands moving to the table where he clasped them together. “Severo, you know I need to do this. Research is great and all, but this is something else. Because as much as I enjoy my research, I need to do more than that.”
Severo rubbed his face. “I just…I just want you safe.”
“I know.”
“I don’t want you hurting anymore,” he rasped.
“You can’t prevent that.”
“But I can try.” He placed his hand over Seri’s clasped ones. “I can try.”
Seri's cheeks flushed slightly, as a small smile slipped onto the Nymph’s face.“I know you will try, but I think I need to do this. And not just to get out of this state of being a cushy prisoner, but because I need to have some part in taking him down.”
“I wish…I wish you didn’t feel like a prisoner.”
“I know, and it’s not you.” Seri pulled his hands free, to wrap them around Severo’s, his cheeks turning a deeper shade of red. “I like you, Severo, I do. I wouldn’t have done things with you if I didn’t. But this situation I’m in…it’s suffocating. To not know?—”
The Nymph cut off, his hands trembling slightly around his, and the man took a deep breath before continuing. “To not know when someone will come for me… To not know how bad it will be… To be stuck inside most of the time… I just…I can’t…live like this and pretend everything is fine, and do nothing when I know I could be doing more to make it all end faster.”
Severo held back the urge to ask if he wanted what they were doing, whatever this was, to end too… It wouldn’t be fair to ask that. If things between them ended when all was said and done…then Severo would have to accept it. This wasn’t a normal situation. And Seri had every right to do what would make him happy afterwards. He deserved to do what he wanted after all this.
Fuck, the man had gone from almost six years of hell, to now stuck in another cage. So, if Seri’s happiness was without him…then so be it. He would, of course, try his best to show the man that what they had was worth holding on to…but he couldn’t force something like that.
Ah…but walking away from Seri and Skya would break something inside him, he just knew it.
“If that is what you want, then I’ll listen.”
“It may take me a bit to work up the courage to do it.”
“Take all the time you need.”
Seri’s nose wrinkled. “On second thought, writing it down would probably be the best option. As you all do want everything… A full…victim statement.”
Severo grimaced. “You are a survivor, Seri. You survived. You fought, and you won. You escaped on your own, and you made it this far. You should be proud of yourself.”
“I’m not on my own now though, and I can’t say that I’m not happy about that. But… Survivor statement…yeah, I think I like that better.”
