Page 9 of Escape into the Night

“Yeah. Same. We need to figure out the extent ofandmitigate the damage.” Theo gradually pulled himself from Connor’s arms and vigorously rubbed his face. “I need your help with that.”

“Yeah, shit. Of course.” Taz seemed to pull himself together in much the same way, for all intents and purposes. He wasn't fooling Connor, and he definitely wasn't pulling the fleece over Luke’s eyes, either.

As quickly as the two had been ready to rip one another’s throats out, they recovered. Connor stood back and tried to make sense of how they could go from homicidal one second to working seamlessly side by side the next as the monitors began blinking back to life, one by one. He rattled his head and huffed a cautious laugh, giving Luke another sidelong glance to hopefully garner some clarity from the man.

“Don't look at me. I don't fucking know, bud.” He shrugged and jerked his chin toward the stairs. “We’ll be the snack bitches so they at least eat today. Beer?”

“Reckon I might as well.”

Hours passed. Way too many hours, in Connor’s opinion. He and Luke swapped snack duties, creeping in to refresh drinks and a supply of moderately healthy foods that could be crammed in while the two became fused with the blue-glow labyrinth of a world Connor would never understand. The whole house was on high alert, aware of the tension smoldering in the subterranean world beneath their feet. For that reason alone, the response time was instantaneous the moment bickering became audible. Connor and Luke both jockeyed for first place in the race down the stairs. Fight club was looking more and more likely, after all.

“Make it make sense! I know you know something!” Theo’s curls were as wild as his gesticulations as he cornered Taz in his rolling computer chair.

“I can’t tell you!”

“Bullshit!” Theo whirled away, his hands still erratically flying to punctuate his words. “You're a shit liar! Tell me why they stole what they did!”

“Enough!” Luke bellowed, muscling Theo backward till his shoulders hit the farthest wall. “Calm. Down.”

Oh, shit.Connor’s protective rage instantly flared as he gripped Luke by the bicep and hauled him away from Theo.

“Fuck you!” Theo barked at Luke with seething intensity. Connor’s first lesson in dealing with trauma survivors—you never told them to calm down.

“Out of line,” Connor grit out through clenched teeth, his glare broaching no argument as it bore into Luke’s gaze.

“Taz, talk.” Luke dipped his chin toward Connor in assent before shaking himself free and putting much needed space between himself and Theo.

“Luke, I can’t—”

“Now, Timothy!”

Taz slumped deeper into his chair and dropped his face into his hands, muffling the words but not enough to lessen the blow. “They stole that information to formulate an attack because Elias is planning to run for President against your fucking mother, okay?”

Connor's eyes snapped toward Theo and caught the instant the words hit him right in his core. He didn't even have to think about his actions as he propelled himself forward to yank Theo into his arms.

“No. He wouldn't… no.” What started as a small, jerky movement became a frantic bid for denial as Theo’s head shook back and forth. “No.”

“Yes.” Taz looked up and the devastation in his face was enough to give Connor pause. Outside of himself, Taz was theone person who knew full well what the implications of what he’d said were.

“He would have… he would have told me.” Theo’s shock was slow growing until it wasn't. Lost and reeling, tears sprang to his bright hazel eyes as he searched Connor's expression for an answer neither of them had. “No.”

“I'm sorry.” The words were so soft and plaintive, Connor earnestly believed that Taz was also fighting back tears. “I'm sorry, Theo.”

“He… it… no.” Despite his stammered words speaking in denial, the truth burrowed in and Connor had only a blink of the eye to react before he bore Theo’s full weight in his embrace. Too many times, he'd held his defeated lover’s body when the burden of it was too great. Never had he imagined the source of the pain would be Elias.

“Baby… lemme get ye home.”

Nobody spoke, but the harried looks told enough of the tale as Connor glanced over Theo’s tousled curls and communicated in silence with the pained expressions on both Luke’s and Taz' faces. There wasn't anything that could be said. Not in the face of something this big. Connor tore his eyes away to concentrate on the most important thing in that moment—his Theo.

Chapter Five

Caleb

Notgood.Thiswasnot at all good. Caleb eyed the text from his Tazzy and the internal cringe became an external one. This was so not good. DEFCON Five levels of bad, and the shit storm was en route to their doorstep. He knew this news would float like a lead balloon, but he'd figured maybe they'd have more time to soften the blow. Unfortunately, that was not the case. He should have known better—nothing ever went according to plan for them. His political brain warred with his soft heart as he scanned the warning text from Taz once more before shutting his phone off and abandoning it on the kitchen counter. Theo knew. Theo knew and he was, not unexpectedly, very unhappy about the situation.

Caleb paced the kitchen, the foyer, the living room, and back again as he mumbled strategy to himself. He hated having to apply strategy and careful wording when it came to the friends they called family. His confidence in Elias running waned a little as he worked himself into a tizzy. Perhaps El’s reluctance wasn't completely unfounded. Caleb cursed himself again as he pivoted on a socked foot and prepared himself to dive in headfirst withthe kink in their plans. His knuckles rapped gently on the frame of the door leading to their shared office.

“El, baby doll.” Caleb peeked in and found his husband bent low over a pile of paperwork on the desk. “Company’s coming and we have a situation.”

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