“No! Can’t. NO!” Seri stepped back, shaking his head, and then…he seemed to break apart.
The man stumbled back once, before he just dropped. Landing hard with a loud crack on his knees, the man started screaming. “NO! NO!” Those terror-filled eyes were looking right at Severo, as if he wasn’t there.
Upon hearing the screaming, Skya started to cry.
“Ah…shit…” Severo rasped as Seri curled in on himself, hands tearing at his hair. The Nymph continued to repeat himself, voice becoming increasingly frantic as his body began to rock.
Slowly moving closer, Severo gently sat the car seat down and crouched in front of Seri, ignoring the concerned looks of all those in the lobby.
Not sure if his touch would help or make things worse, he kept his hands to himself. “Seri. Seri, look at me. You are safe. We are inside. The darkness is out there. You are safe. I promise, I won’t let anything happen to you.” Severo repeated it, and he kept repeating himself.
After what felt like an eternity, Seri froze and the rocking stopped, his shoulders slumping as his hands dropped to his lap.
“Seri. You are safe. There is nothing out there.”
The Nymph, arms wrapped around himself, looked up. Severo’s heart about shattered at the sight of the man’s tear stained, fear filled face… The words that came out next finished the job.
“I can’t. I can’t! Can’t see! CAN’T SEE! HE’S THERE! HE’S THERE!” Seri ranted, clawing at his arms.
At the scent of blood, he grabbed hold of Seri’s wrists and forced him to release his grip on his arms. “Seri, enough!”
“He’s in the darkness,” the Nymph sobbed. “He’s there.”
At a loss at what to do, Severo scooped Seri up, and grabbed the car seat with Skya wailing inside. Rushing to the front desk, he spoke to the man who was now staring at them with wide eyes. “I need his room a little longer…and someone to grab the bags for me.”
Severo slumpedon the edge of the bed, and stared blankly down at Seri’s sleeping form. His head was throbbing, and he honestly just felt beyond horrible. He felt like a fucking monster.
Today had been one long line of fuck ups. Him not realizing that Seri’s reactions were more than simple caution. Well…he couldn’t have known…but shouldn’t he have? Severo knew what his kind were capable of… Knew, at least in part, the kind of man Preston was… Why hadn’t it clicked?
So, his first fuck up was not realizing. Or maybe the first had been not letting him go… Either way, the second fuck up had been arguing when Seri said no. He’d seen the fear…he should have let him retreat away from the door. When he’d said they were leaving…the Nymph had grown quiet… No, thinking back, it was more he had shut down. Why hadn’t he realized that? What good was fucking noticing now? He ran his hand roughly through his hair, yanking the hair tie out as he cursed.
The final fuck up…happened soon after returning to the room. Also, his fault, like all the others… He hadn’t found the light switch fast enough, causing the already panicked ridden man to faint.
Severo rubbed his face roughly. Fuck…
He felt ashamed. Ashamed of what he was doing. This wasn’t his job. He wasn’t supposed to cause more pain to fucking victims. He was supposed to take down evil.
By the void, the anger he felt for his own kind at that moment. One of his own kind had caused this. Had made the man’s life hell, made him fear every patch of darkness he came across. This was the aftermath of Seri’s captivity, of his pain.
And here Severo was, adding to it. This wasn’t what he signed up for…
There was a whimper. Reaching down, he pulled the car seat closer and picked Skya up after unstrapping her. “Hello there, little one.”
Her lip trembled, and she sniffled. He held her close and started to rock as he hummed softly. “It’ll be okay, I promise. Your Daddy will be okay, Skya. He’s just having a bad day.” Severo sniffled as tears filled his own eyes. “Everyone is just having a bad day.”
If only Seri’s bad day hadn’t been caused by Severo finding him.
After a few moments, the little girl settled down, and he laid her gently on the bed next to her father. She wiggled, and wiggled some more, until she was pressed right up against the man whose arm seemed to instinctively wrap around her.
Severo had no reason to keep the two apart. The cuffs were on, and there was no way for Seri to break free. The handcuffs required a thumb print and a key to open—there would be no escaping them.
Sighing, he pulled his phone from his pocket, and releasing the screen, he called Killian.
“You confirmed catching him, so why are you calling me instead of Cyrus?” Killian drawled, in place of a hello.
“We aren’t going to make the ship to the intermediate station, or the one set for Earth. I need you to book us a new flight plan.”
“And why can’t you make them?”
