Page 11 of Pain Run Rampant

Someone’s knocking.

Who could… fuck.

I hurry over as I fix the satchel’s single strap over my shoulder. “You need to hide,” I hiss.

“I thought we were going on a grand journey,” Invictis mocks me with a smirk, almost devilish. “We can’t do anything if I’m busy hiding—” After I snap my fingers at him, he closes his mouth, frowns, and then disappears into his bedroom.

After waiting a moment, I turn around and answer the door, not too sure of who I’m about to see. I swing open the door, and the moment I lock eyes with the man standing on the other side, the only thing I can say is his name: “Frederick.”

Frederick? What the fuck is Frederick doing here? My gaze drops to the straps on his shoulders, and it takes me a few seconds to realize he has a bag with him.

“Good, I caught you before you left,” he said, and even though I don’t invite him in, he steps around me and comes inside the house regardless. His brows furrow, and he glances all around. “Were you just talking to someone? I thought I heard a man’s voice—”

“Nope. Just me. What do you want? What, uh…” I trail off when Frederick looks around.

He goes to poke his head in my bedroom, like he’s some investigator or something and I hired him to sweep the house. “I know I heard another voice. It was muffled, but strangely clear. A fellow with a foreign accent—” He moves toward Invictis’s room, but before he can take a peek inside, I grab him by the arm and pull him away, and the act instantly draws his attention back to me.

“What are you doing here, Frederick?” I ask, still holding onto him. If I have to use my feminine wiles to distract him from the fact that he heard Invictis’s voice, then that’s what I’ll do. A little smiling, a little flirting, some batting of my eyelashes… shit like that.

What he says next makes me choke on air: “I came to join you.”

I’m so shocked at his response that my hand slips off his arm and I stand there like I didn’t quite hear him right. “You’re coming with me?”

“Yes. I spoke with my father about it, and he agrees you shouldn’t go alone. Plus, if you do discover anything ancient in there, I might be your best bet to translate. I also brought some empty journals to write anything we find down. We have no records of these labyrinths in Laconia. By all accounts, I will be the first non-empress to ever step foot in them—other than the ones who released Invictis from his prison.”

Okay, the reasoning makes sense, but that doesn’t change the fact that he can’t go with me for obvious reasons. The firstone being the asshole in the other room, who’s probably leaning against the door, eavesdropping on this entire conversation.

The asshole no one else knows about.

It takes me a few moments to formulate an argument against him not coming. “You can’t come with me. It’s too dangerous.”

When I say that, he taps his hip, drawing my gaze to the new leather strap and the dagger resting there. Ah, that’s definitely new. Frederick never walked around with a dagger on his hip before.

“Frederick, look. I appreciate the thought behind it, but I can’t let you come. It’s just too dangerous.” I try to say it as nicely and sweetly as possible. Anything and everything to get him the hell out of here.

“And I appreciate the thought behind that, but I’m coming with you whether you like it or not.” Frederick stands firm, not letting himself be swayed by anything I say. When I look into his warm amber eyes, I can see his resolve is resolute.

Shit.

“Frederick, I—”

He takes a tiny step toward me, lowering his voice to a bare whisper as he says, “Look, if you’re worried about me slowing you down, I won’t. I know you’re capable and can take care of yourself, and I’d be lying if I said I’m okay sending you off again, but even if I ignore all of that, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity for me, Rey. I want to see these labyrinths.”

All I can do is swallow hard and look away. My right hand fiddles with the strap on my bag. Every reason I have, everything I could say to him, he’ll have a retort ready. I won’t be able to convince him not to come, which means…

Fuck me.

“Frederick,” I say his name again, softer this time. “There’s something I should tell you.”

The moment he reaches for my face to tuck some of my hair behind an ear is the moment I realize I should’ve said it differently. The way I said it, it kind of sounds like I’m about to confess my undying love for the man—and that’s not what this is.

“You don’t have to tell me anything you’re not ready for,” he whispers, his body inches away from mine. “There’s no rush. We have time. You know I’ll always be here.” The hand that tucked some of my hair back falls to my cheek, and I swear to God, it looks like he wants to kiss me.

My eyes fall to his lips. They were soft lips, from what I remember. And, really, that kiss wasn’t even a real kiss. It was too desperate, too needy. It might be nice to kiss him again, to really lean into it and forget about all of my problems…

It’s right when I think that that the door to Invictis’s room swings open and the asshole himself steps out. Frederick whirls around as he pulls away from me, his eyes widening at the sudden interruption.

“I believe she meant me,” Invictis says with a smirk, “not whatever that pathetic display was.” He moves to stand a few feet away from Frederick, and seeing them together really puts in perspective just how tall and wide Invictis’s human form is. Frederick is maybe eight inches taller than me, but Invictis puts him to shame, too.

---