He handed Lilac back his phone. “I dialed my former boss’s number. He’s a good man, and he takes care of omegas. If you need anything, I’m sure you can call him and he’d be more than happy to help.”
Lilac clutched the phone and nodded. “Thanks. I’ll call him if I ever need anything, I think.”
Puppy gave Roman’s sleeve a tug and nodded her head at the door, and he took the hint. She was ready to go. “All right, let’s head out. Lorcan said he had a car for us at a gas station, but it’s going to take us a few hours to get there on foot.”
“No stealing this time?” Sidian asked, a hopeful note in his voice as he shouldered the duffel bag they’d stolen from the closet upstairs.
“No stealing this time. Probably for the best. If we hadn’t been driving across state lines, I don’t know how much longer we would have kept the Ultima.” Hopefully, Lorcan had chosen something inconspicuous enough not to stand out, though Roman wouldn’t be surprised to find a sleek black van that screamedSomeone who kills people drives this.
They would have to make sure not to stray so far from the trees that it was difficult to duck into the foliage if need be during their walk. After all, the last thing they wanted to do was draw the attention of the police. None of them had any form of ID, whichwould not be explained easily. And cops made everything worse. What if they tried to take Amey?
Roman didn’t want to kill a cop if he didn’t have to. After all, it was always such a fucking mess.
“Sounds like a plan.” Sidian pouted his lips, and Roman gave him the kiss he wanted before he picked up the car seat, letting himself get used to the weight of it. He’d switch it back and forth from hand to hand as needed. “Are you ready to go on a quick trip, Amey? We’re going to find somewhere nice and pretty to settle down. Somewhere you can grow up big and strong and not afraid of anything.”
Amethyst kicked her little feet and giggled with delight, and Roman felt a warmth swell in his chest that was unfamiliar to him. Fatherhood was going to be an adjustment, but he was glad for it.
Because she was Sidian’s, and that made her more precious than anything in the world.
He ran through a mental checklist of everything they had as he shouldered the heaviest of the duffel bags, which held all of his and Sidian’s clothes, as well as a few weapons secreted between the folds just in case. Sidian’s duffel bag contained the food that Roman felt comfortable traveling with, and he refused to let Roman take the diaper bag, which was fine. If he tired of it, Roman would take it without a word, and they both knew it.
They had what they needed for the time being. On foot, they’d put some distance between themselves and the house. Get some fresh air, soak in some sunshine, enjoy the scent of rain drying on the damp asphalt. They would reach the gas station, pile into the car, choose a direction, and just drive for as long as it made sense to. They could decide where to stop when they were ready to rest.
And Puppy would tag along for as long as she wanted to. Roman didn’t know why she wanted to stay with them, but asshe turned curious eyes to Amethyst once again, he found he didn’t care so much. As long as she kept his mate and child safe, she could stay as long as she wanted.
Lilac opened the front door for them, and Roman stepped out onto the porch, turning to offer his free arm to Sidian, who tucked up underneath it with a happy little trill. Though his hair hid his mating bond from view, Roman didn’t mind; he knew it was there, and he delighted in it. And even without seeing it, he felt it; Sidian’s happiness was like champagne, bubbly and sweet. Seeing him smile,feelinghis joy, Roman was at peace for the first time in… Maybe ever.
Distantly, he wished his father could have witnessed it. Dad had done everything in his power to help Roman, and none of it had worked in the end. He’d tried to help Sidian, but all it had done was end in bloodshed. But that was the past. It was time to let it go once and for all.
It was time to let everything go but the present and the immediate future, to plan for what came next and to play everything where it lay. They could do that much.
“I’m thinking cottage in the woods,” Sidian said, spreading his hands out in front of him as they walked down the long driveway toward the road. “Honeysuckle and wildflowers. What do you think?”
Roman considered the image. It seemed a little more storybook than he would have thought his mate wanted, but it had potential. “We could hang feeders outside the house. We might see hummingbirds in nicer weather. They’re beautiful.”
Sidian beamed up at him. “You've gotta take care of any wasp nests that show up.”
“I think I can handle a few wasps now and then.” They stung like motherfuckers, but Roman had been a young alpha once, and he still remembered just how many times he’d end updealing with the stings every single spring and summer without fail. He never learned.
Puppy snorted into her hand and hurried around him to walk next to Sidian, peering at him out of the corner of her eye as if she thought Roman might have missed that.
He jabbed a finger at her, and she stuck her tongue out at him. It took him aback at the same time it relieved him; any small show of humanity was worth something, after all. “What was that? You think I can’t handle a wasp? It’s abug.Anyone can handle a wasp.”
She had the audacity to mutter at him, and Sidian smothered a laugh behind his hand.
Fuck, he had such a beautiful laugh. He was beautiful, snarky, and sweet, and Roman loved him so much he didn’t know what to do with himself anymore.
He watched as Sidian tilted his head back toward the warm morning sunlight, his eyes closed, his lips parted as he sighed. The sun brought out the hints of purple that highlighted his black hair, and then he looked at Roman as if feeling the weight of his gaze. Their eyes met, and the gentle happiness in Roman’s chest that was not his own glowed just a little brighter.
“Not to get sappy,” Sidian said, “but I was thinking about what you said.”
Roman arched an eyebrow at him. “What I said about what?”
“When you told me you thought you loved me the first time we met.” Sidian nibbled on his bottom lip, and Roman felt the telltale urge to kiss him, complicated only because Amethyst’s car seat swung between them, ensuring Sidian was as close to her as he could be. “I don’t even know if I could love another person back then when I hated myself so much, but I still fucking adored you. You were too good for me, but I wanted you.”
“No,” Roman corrected him. “You were perfect for me. It’s that simple.”
He could have argued the point that Sidian was the better of the two of them, poised and graceful, strong and stubborn, embodying every aspect of survival. He’d come out the other side of something horrible, and he had everything in the world to show for it.
