Page 106 of Lust

We coordinate plans before he and Cody head out, leaving Seth and me alone together, Seth avoiding eye contact as I text Dan.

My uncle is worried, I can tell by the half words and no punctuation in his reply, but I assure him I’m all right.

Dan: be there soon love you.

Me: I love you too.

With that out of the way, I relax against my pillow, noticing Seth lingering awkwardly near the bed.

As much as he’s pissed me off since we’ve met, something changed last night. And I know I asked a lot of him.

“Thank you, Seth.”

“Huh?”

“For stopping Brad. You didn’t have to do that, but you knew it was right.”

His gaze meets mine briefly before he nods. “No problem. Guy would have thrown himself on that fire to save you.”

I knew it too. I saw the determination in his gaze as he started toward the fire. We both would have died to save the other.

Seth’s quiet for a few moments before he adds, “I’ve been a dick to you since you got here. But what you did…that was really noble. If I’d been in that situation, I doubt I’d have been able to sacrifice myself like that.”

It’s a sincere remark, a rare occasion for him. At least with me.

“I guess you don’t know until it happens, right?”

“I think you’re the only one between us who’d know the answer to that. It was just a fucked-up situation. I’ve never betrayed him before. I would do anything for these guys, so it was a mindfuck for both of us. Seeing him hurting, knowing I was the one doing it… I don’t think Brad hates me, but it must be hard for him to reconcile what happened with the fact that I’m his friend. Just like it’s hard for me not to feel guilty, despite telling myself I was doing the right thing.”

Like most of this shit, and like life in general, it’s complicated.

“I don’t know that any of us will ever be the same after last night,” I say.

And that seems like a massive understatement.

28

BRAD

The following evening,after Luke is released from the hospital, we return to the dorms. I’m wondering if we’ll encounter Alexei, but he’s not here.

Luke steps into the room, glancing around, not like he’s looking at anything in particular, but at something in his mind’s eye. It reminds me of how he stared out the window on the drive back. He has plenty to think about, so I’m not surprised he’s out of it.

The past couple of days have been surreal.

Seeing Luke ravaged by fire.

Battling in vain against Seth’s push so I could reach him.

And then…the end.

At least, that’s what I thought, but Luke didn’t die. His eyes closed, his body shivering, he was still breathing.

Felt like an eternity before the paramedics arrived. Luke was rushed to the hospital, and fortunately, Seth’s powers got us intel from the doctors and access to see him.

But trying to piece together everything that happened is a whole other beast. From Cody’s scribbling about Luke and fire and the other messages, it’s apparent there was more to all this, and it’s weighing on all of us.

Luke turns to me, and I move close, hooking an arm around his waist and resting my hand against his cheek. His gaze finally meets mine.

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