He gestured ahead. “Come on, I want to show you something.”
Deeper in the jungle, they reached a small pool fed by several streams cascading over surrounding rocks.
Bryson kicked off his shoes, and Kaydon raised an eyebrow. “What are you doing?”
“What does it look like? We’re taking a swim.”
“We?”
Soon they were shoulder-deep in the water, and Bryson let his feet leave the stone floor and floated on his back, watching twilight claim the night sky. Kaydon mirrored him.
“I could kill him for you,” Kaydon said. “If you want.”
Bryson contemplated ending his father, truly considered it.
“You can kill him,”Regan’s voice whispered in his mind. “You don’t need Kaydon. You’re a monster just like me.”
Kaydon’s hand brushed against Bryson’s chest, fingers nearing the Picana scar Regan had left. Bryson thrashed in the water, recoiling as if burned.
“Fuck, Bryson, I’m sorry,” Kaydon said.
Already halfway out of the pool, Bryson fought to control his breathing, desperate to keep Regan’s phantom smell from his nostrils. This was supposed to be getting better with time, not worse.
“No, it’s alright, Kay. It just scared me, that’s all,” Bryson said, trying to force some normalcy into his voice.
Except none of this was normal.
Adria was in the room when Bryson and Kaydon returned. She and Seth were freshly showered, and Bryson didn’t miss the deep purple hickey on Adria’s neck.
He shot Seth a look, and Seth paled slightly before blushing ferociously.
Bryson pulled him into an embrace and ran his fingers through his freshly washed hair. “Have a good time?” he murmured in Seth’s ear, and Seth turned an even brighter shade of red.
“Somebodyhad a good time,” Kaydon said, pulling Adria into him and kissing her marked neck.
She murmured something intelligible before locking eyes with Bryson. “Seth and I had an eventful evening. I was thinking maybe after you and Kaydon shower and wash up we could all just watch a movie.”
Bryson felt Seth nuzzle against him, and his heart started to pound in his chest.
He wanted more than anything to lay in bed and relax with the three of them. But he felt like Regan was close. Felt him in the back of his mind. Saw him painted on the walls and ceiling that were currently closing in all around him.
It didn’t matter what he did. What he said. Or who surrounded him. What happened in that room was never going away.
“You three hang out. I need to go for a walk.”
Her voice carried behind him. “But you just had one.”
CHAPTER 50
CURITIBA PARANÁ
Bryson scanned the diner—Rolland was nowhere to be seen. Sophia had sworn he came here every day at ten.
“Maybe she was wrong,” Kaydon muttered over Bryson’s shoulder.
Outside, Seth leaned against the wall, idly tossing and catching his knife.
“He’s only fifteen minutes late,” Bryson said, tugging at his collar. “Maybe he’s just running behind.”
