“I’ll…get my revenge.” Severo sniffed. “But anyway, before the handcuff thing happened, we talked some. I don’t know all the details, but it sounded as if Preston was holding Seri captive for a while. Said clerical error dealing with Seri’s gender was more that the bastard forged some paperwork without his permission.” He went on and explained the rest of what Seri said quickly, ending with, “I think we are knee-deep in crooked cops and Preston is using his money to try to get back what he thinks is his.”
Severo, honestly, didn’t question crooked authorities working for Preston. The man had money, so duh. He was, however, confused by Preston changing Seri’s gender. What possible purpose could there be for that?
His boss let out a huff. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Preston killed Leal himself. This does not change the fact that you need to bring Seri back. That Nymph is wanted for murder. Whether he did it or not can be determined with him in our custody. On top of that, the Nymph may have information that could take that bastard Preston down. Get your ass in gear and bring him back.”
“Okay, but…” He jingled his cuffs again. “I need a little help. Unless you don’t mind me breaking what looks to be a very new radiator.”
“Do nothing. Sit there and think about what you did. Bye,” Cyrus said, way too cheerfully.
“Wait—” He frowned at the click he heard. His frown only deepened when it started to beep. Severo retracted the screen on his phone and slipped it back into his pocket. “He’ll send someone.” He nodded to no one. “Yeah.”
Cyrus wouldn’t just leave him there. Severo grimaced on thinking about it… At least, not for too long.
Whatever—it would give him time to stare into the void of his creation. Or think about his next plan of action when it came to capturing Seri. And he would capture him. He always captured his mark.
“Run while you can, Little Nymph and Nymphant.”
Oh, that’s an adorable word… He was officially coining the term Nymphant for baby Nymphs.
Severo stayed in the Shadow Realm as he followed Seri by his side. He could use this to his advantage, slip out and capture the Nymph… He was right there…yet…he didn’t want to. It felt so cheatsy. And that was usually how he felt in most cases.
This close, he could see the Nymph’s every movement. The man scanned his surroundings as he walked, every so often looking back.
Severo paused when Seri oddly made a wide berth around a dark alleyway. Tilting his head, Severo remained standing there, just watching. The Nymph repeated the action, again and again.
With a shake of his head, Severo caught up. Once beside him, he stared closely, trying to see what Seri saw each time he came near a place with shadows.
He didn’t have to wait long. Severo cursed at the flash of terror on the man’s face… With a quick inhale through his mouth, Seri’s gills fluttered as the Nymph rushed away and around. Seri was afraid of what may lurk in the darkness.
But was it just Preston who was making him cautious…or was this Severo’s fault? Considering he was ninety-nine point nine percent positive that the Nymph was innocent…the thought wasn’t a pleasant one. He didn’t want to scare the man, he just wanted to…well, capture him. Which didn’t sound much better, even in his head.
When a man ran out of an alleyway up ahead, Seri gasped and came to an abrupt stop, his arms coming up around the child strapped to his chest. Trembling now, the nymph stood staring as the man kept going.
Well…fuck…now he was even more against jumping out of the shadows… Severo was already pretty sure he wasn’t going to be able to hurt him. Not that he couldn’t, but fuck, Seri had literally been abducted by Preston…and while Seri hadn’t said it out loud…the math of him being locked away for over five years…
He eyed the child. She was staring sleepily at her daddy’s chest. Cute as can be; button nose, large eyes… She was… She was likely Preston’s, wasn’t she? And now not only was Seri running from his abuser…but getting harassed by Severo, because he’d been framed for murder… Oh, not to mention, him misgendering the poor man. Ugh, he hated this.
Severo would try to talk to him again… Maybe he could convince him…
He rolled his eyes.Yeah, that had worked out so well the first time, he thought sarcastically.Try, try again, as they say.
He sighed, letting Seri walk a distance away before he stepped back into the real world and started following Seri as close as he could without being seen.
Mind stuck going over ideas on how to approach, he misstepped, and moved too slow to hide from Seri’s searching gaze.
“Fuck,” he swore as Seri took off.
With not much else he could do, Severo gave chase. The Nymph was fast, even with a child strapped to him weighing him down.
“SERI, STOP!” he yelled out.
But Seri, of course, didn’t—the Nymph never even looked back.
They ran through the city, being cursed out as they crossed streets without pause. Severo began to fear one of them would end up being hit. Which is why he almost sighed in relief as Seri took a turn and ran right into a park.
Severo flinched, almost stopping in his tracks at the sound of thunder. But then…Seri was the one who stopped… He froze, sliding to a standstill on the grass, when the Nymph suddenly spun around to face him.
But the Seri wasn’t looking at him, he was looking up.
