Page 84 of Cohesion

“Ready.”

He would never be ready. He would never find a way to keep the nightmares at bay.

PEYTON HEARD THE SIRENSas he weaved through the streets on his way home. There were always sirens going in Sydney.

The last thing he expected was fire trucks, ambulances, and police vehicles in front ofhisapartment building. He skidded to a stop, uncaring that he was double parking and blocking in two cars. He left his bike there, only remembering at the last second to turn it off and grab his keys before sprinting across the space.

He spotted his brother, Lucas, and relief warred with his increasing heartrate. “Luc!”

Lucas glanced behind himself, and then waved him over. “Thank fuck you’re okay. We’re still searching the building, and I didn’t know if you were in there. Ever heard of answering your phone?”

“I was riding,” Peyton said, only half listening as he glanced around. “Where’s Will?”

“What do you mean, where’s Will?” Lucas asked.

Peyton’s heart stopped. Oh, fuck. “He’s in there. Luc,he’s in there.”

Lucas grabbed Peyton before he could bolt. “Hey, calm down. We have guys still going through the building and getting everyone out while we get the fire under control. It started on thesecond floor and has spread to the third but not further yet. If he’s in there, they’ll find him.”

That wasn’t good enough. “The alarms are going off; he wouldn’t have willingly stayed in there. If he hasn’t come out, something’s wrong.”

Lucas hesitated. “You don’t know that.”

He did know that. “I’m going in.”

Lucas grabbed his elbow. “No fucking way. You aren’t qualified, and we haven’t contained anything yet. Go sit down and let us do our jobs.”

Peyton forcefully shrugged him off. “I’m not stopping you from doing your job. But I’m going in, whether you like it or not.” He didn’t wait for Lucas to respond—or give him another chance to detain him—and bolted for the front doors.

Lucas yelled out to him, and he ignored it. Their fucking apartment building was on fire, andWill was still in there. With everything that was happening, it couldn’t be a coincidence. If Will hadn’t come out here himself, there had to be a reason. Will wasn’t stupid. He wouldn’t just stick around in a burning building and ignore the alarms.

Peyton took the stairs two at a time, ignoring the calls from firefighters inside and the heat coming from the staircases on the second and third levels. He pulled down his long sleeve over his palm and checked the stairwell door on their floor. It wasn’t hot. It hadn’t reached here yet. Thank fuck for that.

He almost had his hand on his apartment door, heart in his throat, when the door across the way opened, and their elderly neighbour, Ruth, peeked her head out.

“Peyton, dear, what’s going on?”

What’s going on? Couldn’t they hear the fire alarms going off? “There’s a fire. Don’t grab anything, just head down the stairs. Firefighters will meet you there, and they’ll get you outside.”

“A fire?”

“Yeah.” Peyton didn’t have time for this. “They’ll—it’ll be fine—Just head downstairs, please. And watch your step.”

The door to their apartment was unlocked—that was enough for Peyton’s pulse to ratchet even higher—and Peyton burst through, yelling Will’s name.

“Peyton! I’m in the bathroom!”

The relief at hearing Will’s voice staggered him, and he almost tripped, running in that direction.

The relief lessened when he got to the bathroom.

Will sat on the closed toilet lid, twisted awkwardly, with both hands cuffed to the towel rack. A shallow cut crossed the side of his forehead and went into his hairline. Drying blood covered half his face. He smiled weakly. “Was wondering when the cavalry was going to arrive.”

“What the hell happened?” Peyton yanked open the mirror cupboard and pulled out bandages and a hand towel from under the sink. He gently wiped at the blood, checking if there was any other damage. Looked like it was just the one cut, surface level, that had already stopped bleeding. “Are you hurt anywhere else?” He cradled Will’s face, pressing tenderly around Will’s cut. “Who were they?”Tell me so I can hunt them down and end them.

“I’m okay,” Will said. “I was washing my hands, and they got a lucky hit from behind, the assholes.”

“And this?” Peyton asked, gesturing at the cut. It looked red and angry. Just like him. How dare someone come into his home and do harm toWill, of all people.

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