Page 52 of Thicker than Blood

My chest tingles as his words bounce around my head and force me to speak. “Jeremy.”

“His surname?”

“Reynolds.”

“Anyone else?”

“No. I haven’t really been in a serious relationship since him.”

“Any friends who’ve betrayed you? Has anyone been unkind?”

My eyelids flutter as my thoughts turn hazy, swirling around like a tornado until producing the name of my childhood bully.

“Matt White.”

“What did he do to you?”

“Tormented me in school. Beat me up once. I hated him. He saw me years later at a club I was at for a coworker’s birthday and pretended we were friends. He caught me alone later and actually tried to hook up with me.” I chuckle darkly. “I told him I’d fuck him when hell froze over.”

Elias doesn’t laugh or even smile. Instead his eyes glow with a red ring around them. “I’ll take care of it.”

I blink, snapping out of whatever stupor I was in. “What? No. You can’t take care of anything. It’s ancient history.”

“It still hurts you. I felt it. What would you like? Their blood? Their heads?”

“Gods, no. I don’t need anything.”

“An apology? I could make that happen too.”

I wave my hand to dismiss his offer. “No. I want to move on, and right now, I want to find Enyo.”

“Very well.”

“Promise.”

He blinks slowly a few times. “No.”

I pull my head back. “No? You won’t promise?”

“No. I like you, Geordi, and when I like someone, I protect them.”

“Cool, but I don’t need that. Promise you won’t kill anybody on my behalf.”

He tilts his head. “Promise you’ll return here to visit me.”

“Negotiating, huh?”

He smiles.

“Fine. I promise to return.”

“Very well. I promise not to kill anyone on your behalf.”

“Thank you.”

He gestures toward the main club, and as we walk out, it feels like stepping through thick velvet curtains. Weird.

Elias guides me through the club, following what sounds like classical music. We step through actual curtains to find a stage with four men on it, two of whom are bleeding heavily and being dragged through some kind of waltz by the other two.

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