“Bastard made Sean watch,” Alexei said through clenched teeth. “Said if Sean make sound, hurt meworse.”
The quiet in the medical room was eerily tense. Alexei couldn’t look at either of them, not wanting to see the pity in their faces. He’d followed his SERE training, and it got him through that mess alive, but the worst of it hadn’t been what he’d endured. It was knowing that Sean had to watch, that he probably blamed himself for Alexei’s suffering, when it wasn’t his fault and nevercouldbe.
The sound of Kyle’s chair scraping over the floor startled Alexei back to himself. He blinked at the rabidly murderous look on his little brother’s face. “Kilyusha?”
“I should’ve made it last,” Kyle growled as he headed forthedoor.
“Huh?”
Kyle looked over his shoulder, the rage on his face disappearing as he prepared to let their family back inside the room. “I killed Cillian. Gutted him like the fucking coward he was, then shoved a grenade inside him and blewhimup.”
The sheer and utter relief Alexei felt at those words brought unexpected tears to his eyes. Alexei blinked the wetness back and somehow managed to dredge up a smile. The fear buzzing away at the back of his mind—that Cillian was still out there, capable of coming after them—abruptlyfadedaway.
Trust his brother to always havehissix.
Alexei cleared his throat. “Lots ofpieces,da?”
Kyle’s smile was absolutelyvicious. “Somany pieces,Lyosha.”
It made Alexei laugh, the sound coming out a little rough, a little wet. He was tired, still raw over what they’d survived, but for right now, Alexei was alive and so was Sean, and Cillianwasdead.
“Can see Sean soon?” Alexei asked hopefully through a yawn as his family tumbled back into the room, trying to keep quiet through their excitement of seeing himawake.
“Eventually,” Gracie said as she pulled herhandsaway.
Alexei knew better than to push—Gracie could be more stubborn than the entire teamcombinedwhen it came to her patients—and Alexei only wanted what was best for Sean right now. That didn’t stop him from wishing he could fall sleep with Sean in his arms, because some part of Alexei still thought this might be a dream. That the safety, the lack of pain, wasn’t real, and he’d wake up in that basement room again, ready for anotherround.
Then Phaedra leaned over the biobed and threw her skinny arms around him as much as she could in a tight hug. “I’m glad you’re back,” she mumbled into hisshoulder.
Alexei held her close, kissing the top of her head. “Me,too.”
* * *
Kyle parkedon the street in front of the Callahans’ Washington, D.C. mansion Sunday morning, engine idling for a few seconds longer before he turned it off. The Secret Service had closed off the street on either end of the block except for residents, their guests, and those cleared by the Callahan campaign, whichincludedKyle.
The media had embedded themselves at the police line, intent on chasing down every detail they could about the rapidly falling Callahan campaign. Since Thursday, Richard Callahan’s position in the polls had tanked, putting him in fourth place in the Republican race and eighth overall. Not even a week ago he’d been holding the lead and was favored to win the early primaries set to start in thenewyear.
“Come inside with me,” Jamie said from the frontpassengerseat.
Kyle turned his head and stared at Jamie. They’d left base after two full days of meetings and reports, and in Kyle’s case, more dressings-down not only from the director and deputy director, but a few from the Joint Chiefs as well. Apparently blowing up an internationally wanted source wasn’t going over well with the brass. The only reason he wasn’t being drummed out of the MDF was due to his status as ametahuman.
“You realize we’re no longer in a public relationship, right?” Kyle saidquietly.
With the current aspect of the Pavluhkin mission officially ending, the roles they’d played for the past eleven months were over. They could no longer appear as a couple in front of the cameras, could no longer have dinner alone in an intimatesetting.
Could no longer hold each other close where other peoplecouldsee.
Kyle didn’t realize how much that loss would hurt until it was staring them in the face. Going back to how things were before—living together and loving each other in secret—felt inadequate after the false lives they’d livedthisyear.
But it wasn’t enough for him to walk away, and it neverwouldbe.
Kyle was only supposed to drop Jamie off so he could brief his parents in person on what the MDF was doing to help control the narrative currently running out of control across the media. The political ramifications of Richard keeping his Boston campaign rally on the calendar after the assassination attempt at his speech wasn’t going down well with the public. It hadn’t before the Splice bombs went off, and it definitely wasn’t now. Three days out and Richard was being eviscerated by rival candidates, countless talking-heads on news shows, and across every aspect of socialmedia.
Most of it, Kyle conceded, was the senator’s fault, but the direction Richard had taken in regard to his campaign, some of that blame could be placed on the MDF. Jamie’s muddled background had come up off and on during the campaign, with the press trying to dig up answers on him even though he wasn’t the one running. But he was Richard’s son, and that would always be cause forattention.
Kyle wanted to lean across the space between them and kiss Jamie for everyone to see, but he didn’t. Instead, he opened the car door and got out, code-keys in hand, and Jamie didthesame.
The cold November wind snaked through every opening in Kyle’s wool coat. No snow in the forecast yet, but rain was on the horizon, and he could almost smell it in the air. Tucking his hands into his coat pockets so he wouldn’t inadvertently reach for Jamie, Kyle matched his stride on the walk toward themansion.
