William wasted no time heading back. He regretted leaving for so long. What if Adathan had panicked again, and had no one to support him this time? That sort of anxiety didn’t just magically go away. It lingered and eroded the soul like a constant drip of acid.
William reflexively held his breath as he opened the door to his room, only to find Adathan curled up in bed like a cat in a burrito of blankets. William let out a quiet sigh and smiled. Turns out he had no reason to be nervous.
He took off his shoes and placed them next to Adathan’s polished white loafers. “Someone’s coming to clean up.” He snatched the instruction manual and headed toward the bed. If not for Oliver, he wouldn’t have been aware of Adathan’s fate. He couldn’t let his emotions force him into a state of ignorance any longer.
William lay on the mattress next to Adathan, letting out a groan as his body thanked him for the rest. “I ordered every dessert on the menu. We both had a long day; I say we earned it. I got us some champagne, too. We still have something to celebrate, don’t we?”
Adathan perked up. “Your victory?”
“My victory,” William echoed. “And your graduation.”
Had he even finished his training?
William pushed the thought aside. It didn’t matter. “Did you find anything good to watch?” he asked as he opened the manual. He skipped the first page—wait. Where was the first page?
“I did! I was watching a documentary about the coral reefs in Australia. I’ve never seen anything so beautiful.”
“Yeah.”Did he tear the first page out while I was gone?“Coral reefs are incredible.”He must have found out I was supposed to get Gabriel.“Did you learn anything new?”He thinks I don’t know.
“Mm-hmm! I didn’t know corals were animals. Nature is so full of surprises!”
“It is.”He must have freaked out.“And we’re far from having discovered it all.”Should I tell him?
“You look preoccupied,” Adathan said as he rested his hand on William’s wrist. “May I help you feel better?”
“I’m fine. I’m just tired.” A chapter title caught his eye.
Behavioral Modes
I can behave like a person, Adathan had offered earlier. Had he just been saying what he thought William wanted to hear, or had those morons ingrained within Adathan the key to free himself from his psychological chains?
“Earlier, you said you could behave like a person for me?” William said.
Adathan nodded enthusiastically. “I can if it’s what you want.”
“Good. Then I order you to behave like a person for the rest of the night.”
For the rest of your life.
Adathan sat up. “I won’t disappoint you.”
William hoped he wouldn’t put too much pressure on himself. Maybe he should have thought this through before giving Adathan an order.
A knock on the door cut his worries short. William motioned for Adathan to stay in bed as he went to let the hotel staff in.
The impeccably dressed man got to work with impressive efficiency and, in no more than five minutes, had eliminated all evidence of Adathan’sunsatisfactory fine motor skills. He left with the trolley of dirty dishes and William’s sweater—along with some of the tension that had settled into the room.
William barely had time to go to the bathroom before there was another knock on the door. He stepped into the corridor and rolled in a new trolley, this one loaded with enough carbs to put them both in a food coma.
“Champagne?” He looked over his shoulder, pleased to find Adathan taking a seat at the table of his own volition.
“Of course,” Adathan said with a flourish of his hand. “We can’t really celebrate without champagne now, can we?” His half-lidded eyes crinkled at the corners, sparkling with quiet assurance as he held William’s gaze.
William’s brain lagged. He hadn’t expected Adathan’s demeanor to shift so drastically.
A slow, self-satisfied smile grew across Adathan’s lips, making William all too aware of the heat creeping up the back of his own neck.
It’s all fake, he reminded himself as he poured them both some champagne. Adathan was pretending to be someone else—someone William’s body reacted to, apparently.
