The man, without hesitation, pulled him into his arms and onto his lap. Foxx buried his face against the man’s chest, crying hard as he clung to him.
“Shh, I got you, Foxx. I got you.” Harlow started to gently rock him while rubbing his back. “I got you.”
It took a while, but eventually the fear, the doubt, and the pain that the dream had shoved inside of him faded enough for the tears to slow, and for the full body wracking sobs to turn into more of just a constant tremble that was barely noticeable.
Foxx took a shuddered breath, and helplessly stuttered between sniffles. “I-I’m s-so tired o-of this.”
And he did feel helpless. He just wanted it to all stop.
“Foxx…do you…” Harlow hesitated before finally saying, “Want to tell me about it?”
Foxx blinked, sniffling again, before he slowly pulled back in order to see the man’s face. He whimpered on finding the human’s expression unreadable. “I can’t t-tell if y-you are s-serious,” Foxx cried, more tears falling.
* * *
“Shit…”Harlow cursed. Keeping one arm wrapped around Foxx’s waist, he reached up and wiped the fresh new tears away. “Foxx, I know I’m emotionally stupid, okay. I…” He grimaced. “I wouldn’t ask if I wasn’t ready to listen.”
Foxx’s bottom lip wobbled, and he stuttered, “A-are y-you sure?”
“Yes.”
“I was… I was back in that place…that platform”
He frowned. “The…underground monastery?”
“Y-yes, except it was different this time… Everyone…everyone was dead…” Foxx sobbed. “Except me!”
“Ah, shit, Foxx… Did that fucker Johansson get into your head?”
That fucking bastard. Another asshole that he should have killed years ago. Harlow really needed to stop being so fucking lenient!
“I…I didn’t think he had…” Foxx looked away, more tears falling.
“Foxx, look me.”
Taking a stuttering breath, though clearly reluctant, the vampire met his gaze.
“You being there did not get anyone killed.”
“I—”
“Foxx!” he growled. “Say it. ‘Me being there did not get anyone killed’.”
“I—”
‘Foxx,” he warned.
The vampire sniffled before whispering, “M-me b-being there d-did not get anyone k-killed.”
“Correct. You are not responsible for anyone dying there. The ones who died would have died no matter what. Don’t for a second think that somehow it would have gone better if you had never fought back, or if you hadn’t been there at all.
“You getting captured was the only reason anyone there made it out alive. You are the reason the rest were found as quickly as they were. And do you know why, Foxx?”
“Why?” Foxx asked softly.
“Because I was the one who found out where they were keeping you all. And I wouldn’t have been involved in the case at all if it wasn’t for you being taken. They’d have found them, but they would have been too late,” Harlow said truthfully.
And itwasthe truth. He’d looked into the reports of the vampires who survived. Part of him wanted to know if there was anything else that had been done to Foxx that the vampire had hidden… Mostly, so he wouldn’t accidentally step on a landmine as he tried to navigate Foxx’s nightmares.
