He eyed the open side, dread filling his stomach. Holding his head as high as he could, uncaring that the man could see his tears, Seri stepped forward and snapped the cuff closed on his left wrist.
Severo felt horrible. Even worse than before, now that he had a hold of Seri. It was his job, but at the moment, he’d much rather go back to getting his ass kicked and screwing shit up.
Watching Seri silently cry as Severo held the man’s baby hostage had been pretty fucked up. A new low. A major new low compared to all the shit he’d done before to capture people.
Severo picked up the gun he’d found in Seri’s diaper bag and slipped it into an inner pocket in his jacket, before swiping the bullets into the flip top hazard trash bin near the bed. Due to what some species ate, most hotel rooms had a hazardous bin on top of the normal one.
“Is that everything you want to bring with you?” Severo asked.
He eyed the small suitcase, baby bag, and mini bookbag. He had, for some reason, thought the man would bring out more, after packing away the stuff he’d brought in from the hall.
Seri scoffed. “Kind of have to travel light when you are being chased.” The Nymph sniffed and wiped at his eyes. “You’ll have to grab her car seat. Skya can’t travel without it.”
So, her name was Skya? It was pretty.
Severo nodded, again hating every minute of this. With Seri attached to him, he walked over to the car seat and settled the little baby in. Finding the button to engage the straps, he pressed it. He winced as she continued to just stare up at him, looking upset and on the verge of crying. Which, yeah, was just one more thing to make him feel like an asshole.
Straightening up, Severo eyed Seri and winced on seeing the necklace… It…would have to go.
“Seri, hand me your necklace.”
Seri paled, grasping the small bottle. His hand shook, but slowly the man released it and reached back, unlocking the chain and handing the thing over. Severo took the bottle, and while he had a strong urge to throw it away, not wanting the shit anywhere near him, he instead slipped it into his pocket and said, “Let’s go.”
“Now?” Seri said, almost too softly to hear.
“Yes.”
The Nymph didn’t respond, his expression empty, even though his tears were still coming.
Severo’s stomach twisted. Hand clenching tightly around the baby seat, he sighed and towed Seri and his things out of the room. There wasn’t really anything left to say, so he said nothing.
On reaching the lobby, the guy at the front desk sent him a smile and thumbs up that didn’t make Severo feel any better.
He gave the man a weak smile and a nod goodbye, before guiding Seri towards the front door.
The hotel’s front was all glass, the door automatic and almost invisible to the eyes. The sun hadn’t even started to rise, and probably wouldn’t for at least another hour. The outside was pitch black, besides the street lamps and city lights off in the distance. The hotel was kind of out in the middle of nowhere, with not much surrounding it.
His left hand tugged back as the chain linking him to the Nymph went taut, stopping him from moving much more than a few steps outside.
Glancing back, he found Seri standing there staring, barely a step past the automatic doors. So close, they in fact remained open. The Nymph’s pale, tense face shone brightly under the lights of the street lamps. Wide golden eyes stared past him into the darkness, welling with new tears and undeniable fear—as if he saw some danger that Severo was missing. Was there…more to Seri avoiding those dark alleyways than he thought?
“Seri?” he called out hesitantly.
Seri wordlessly took a step back inside the doorway, his suitcase left behind, making Severo step forward due to the chain connecting them. The diaper bag and mini bookbag slipped from Seri’s shoulder, his hands going up as if to ward Severo off.
“Seri, I’m not going to hurt you, remember?”
The Nymph's gaze snapped to him, and then passed him into the darkness.
Seri licked his lips and when he spoke, his voice was barely a whisper. “No…”
“No?” Severo cleared his throat. “I know you don’t want to go, but…we have a ship to catch…” He trailed off.
Seri shook his head and took another step back, his body starting to shake. “No. No. No!” he repeated, words coming out louder and louder. Tears that had slowed to a trickle on the way down, now fell in big fat drops.
Severo grimaced. “Seri…”
The Nymph grasped at his chest, breath coming faster and faster, his eyes unbearably wide as they flicked around to everything, yet staying and focusing on nothing.
