“SERI! SERI! Whose child is this?! Did you cheat?!”
“Why have you been hiding from the public until now?!”
“The truth is, you betrayed Preston, didn’t you?!”
Seri’s breath came faster and faster with each absurd question. Feeling as if he was about to lose it, he grasped on to stability at the sight of Severo pushing through the crowd. Face twisted in rage, the man literally shoved people aside. Seri clung to the Dweller the minute he reached him and pulled him to his side.
Severo roared. “GET THE HECK OUT OF MY WAY!” He pushed and shoved their way to freedom.
Seri hid against Severo’s chest, all while the yelling continued, the flashes still going off… He did all he could to not let what they were saying hurt him. He didn’t understand…
He’d told them what they wanted to know! Why were they doing this?!
Severo managedto get everyone into the car moments before the reporters caught up and surrounded it. Fucking bastards.
He glared, the flashes still coming. Seri sat there holding Skya, trying to calm her down. The poor thing looked terrified…both of them did.
“Frickin' parasites,” Severo growled.
“Why are they doing this? I told them everything… I don’t…”
“They are scum, that’s why! They don’t care about you or anything else, except making money.”
He slammed on the horn, honking away as he started up the car. None of them moved. After five minutes of them refusing to get out of the way, even when he tried to inch forward, Severo rolled down the window slightly, and began to yell. “If you don’t move, I’ll make sure each and every one of you is charged with false imprisonment.”
They didn’t move a bit. Glaring, he added, “And as I am an agent with the CEB, the charges will not only be a US federal crime, but a Universal one too. Quadruple the fines, quadruple the jail time.” He rolled his eyes at them finally going quiet, before slowly backing up—the fuckers.
Severo took off the moment they cleared the front, uncaring if he bumped into any of them with his mirrors. Bastards should have moved faster.
A distance away, with luckily none of them following, Severo glanced at Seri. The Nymph was pale and shaking, soothingly rubbing Skya’s back. The little girl was winding down from crying, she was more just whimpering now. He pressed the button for ‘pregnant person on board’ and was satisfied when the shield went up between them and the windows. He pressed voice activation, and said, “Call Cyrus.”
His car dialed and began the call instantly.
“Have more questions?”
“No, those f—” He growled. “—frickin leeches showed up while we were shopping.”
“Reporters?”
“Yes, those ones! They… MMM, OH I wish I could swear. They cornered Seri, and freaked Skya out, and then hounded us until we reached the car, where they then refused to move, even at the threat of being run over. Remind me to get the direction locks removed on my vehicle.”
“You all may want to stay hidden for a bit. I’ll extend your time off. You can take the classes after this all blows over. Because this is going to be a mess. They smell blood in the water, and they will tear Seri to bits while they try to bleed him dry. You know how they are.”
He knew exactly how they were. They followed him throughout his childhood, thirsting for a fucking story. Writing about every fuck up, every little mistake, from his first car accident, to him failing a test, uncaring that he was just a kid.
“That’s complete BS and you know it! Seri is FINALLY free, and you want us to hide?!”
“Well, I don’t like it either, Severo. But they aren’t going to give up right now. They are spinning stories and spreading rumors. You know as well as I do that it’s going to get worse before it gets better. I wouldn’t doubt that Preston has something to do with all this either.” The man sighed, sounding not at all pleased. “The public relations department may have some ideas, so I’ll talk to them and get back to you.” Cyrus hung up.
Severo sighed and reached out. Grasping Seri’s hand, he brought it to his lips and kissed it, hating the slight tremble he felt.
“I’m so sorry,” Seri rasped.
His gaze snapped over, wincing at the tears he saw. “Why…why are you apologizing?”
“I seem to just turn your life upside down…” The Nymph sounded defeated.
“None of this is your fault, Seri. You haven’t done anything wrong. Not a single thing.”
