Page 86 of Lust

“That’s not a bad idea,” I say. “If our powers don’t work against it, at least we’re armed.”

“Okay,” Cody says. “We’ll text about the details as we figure out what’s what. Sound good?” He glances around.

Not sure if any of us are making very comforting expressions. Our solutions are speculation, but it’s all we’ve got.

After Cody calls the end of the meeting, he and Seth head out, leaving Luke and me alone in the cellar.

Luke faces the full-length mirror, staring at his reflection, clearly lost in thought. I can’t imagine what’s going through his head.

At least the guys and I have some experience with this. Not trapping a monster, but with our powers. We managed to develop these over time, acclimate to the realization that there was much more to the world than we’d ever considered. Luke hasn’t had that advantage.

I approach him. “I know it’s a lot to trust that we can pull this off, but we are strong. You saw what we did with that brick.”

His gaze meets mine briefly before he looks away. “It’s not that,” he mutters.

I step behind him, hooking my arms around his waist. He doesn’t resist me, relaxing in my hold.

Since the vision, it’s the first time I feel like as long as I can protect him, everything will be all right.

I kiss his cheek, then whisper, “Please, Luke. Talk to me.”

His reflection looks into my eyes. “Brad…” He hesitates. “There’s something from the vision I didn’t share with you. I was worried you might have had the same experience, but I can’t imagine you did; you would have brought it up.” He presses his lips together, and a subtle shake returns. “I tried to approach the impaled man, but I couldn’t. The burned man, for somereason, I could. He was writhing on the ground in agony…such excruciating pain. Then he reached out to me, and I saw his eyes. And I just knew…”

“Knew what?” I ask, though the way he’s acting, I fear I might already know the answer.

“It was me.”

My heart sinks. My gut twists up. “No…no, that can’t be right.”

“I know it in my fucking blood.”

A jolt of certainty moves through me. “We have to tell the guys. We’ll handle this ourselves.”

I’m about to head out to catch them, but Luke grabs my arm. “No, Brad. That’s why I was worried about telling you all. I need to do this. I’m not leaving you to fight this thing alone. If we can stop it from killing others, then we can stop it from killing me too.”

After what I heard him do to himself last night, I’m not surprised by his courage, but at the same time, unlike him, I’m such a selfish fuck. I’d rather know he’s safe than worry about anyone else.

“Luke…” I choke up as I say his name. My vision blurs with tears. “You can’t do this.”

His reflection breaks eye contact, and he turns to face me, my arms still keeping him close, since he’s activated this primal protective instinct within me.

“Even if you guys got it without me, I’ll always feel like a coward if I don’t. So I don’t want you to tell the guys. Please. There’s already enough to figure out without having to deal with that too. I don’t want them to worry about me. Between the two of us, we’ll be worried enough.”

Looking at his face and thinking about the one I saw in the vision, it’s horrifying to consider that this could be a possible future for my Luke.

“I—” I don’t even know what to say. Everything’s an objection or an attempt to trick him into not following through with this.

Before I can say anything else, his lips crash against mine.

I firm my hold around him, welcoming his tongue into my mouth as we embrace.

Despite the terror he’s awakened within me, now that I know I might lose him, I just know I must take advantage of every moment…every fucking second with him.

As long as I fucking can.

Because I know nothing I say will change his mind.

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