Page 40 of Basilisk

“I don’t care. And you shouldn’t either. Not if you care for him.”

“I do.”

“Then give me his address so I can park my big, round ass outside his door and wait for him to come home.” He approached Xavier, still having to lift his face though the sorcerer was half sitting on the desk. “He’s your best friend, so understand something. My plan is to make him happy. Happier than he’s ever been in his life. I love him. More than I even knew it was possible to love anyone. I want him, and if he’ll have me…and he’d better…I will do everything to make him see that he can’t scare me. I want him just as he is. Hell, I find his other form beautiful.”

“It is,” Xavier murmured, the corner of his mouth twitching. “You’ll do, Clive Manning. You’ll do perfectly.”

“So you’ll tell me where he lives?”

“Oh, I’ll do better than that.” Xavier stood and walked around to his desk. He waved a hand over a drawer and pulled out a key. “There will be no need to wait outside.”

Chapter Nineteen

Bain

Bain grabbed his bags and took the stairs up to his apartment, moving slowly because he was exhausted. Vacation or not, he’d barely rested, and his body was now complaining. But it didn’t compare to the pain in his heart. No matter how much he’d tried to sleep, he just kept seeing the expression on Clive’s face as he’d looked at the remains of that demon. Then again, that fear when he’d gazed at Bain. Bain held the power to mesmerize with his eyes. To kill. And yet Clive seemed to have a similar power over Bain. One look and Bain’s heart just stopped.

He’d had nightmares about that expression.

Walking was like trudging through sludge, but he didn’t want to try and sleep again. He didn’t even want to finish moving up these damn stairs.

He’d walked away from his soulmate.

Xavier had tried calling him several times, and he’d ignored the calls, knowing his friend would only read him the riot act. Call him foolish. But Xavier hadn’t seen Clive’s face. The pure horror and fear had been stamped into Bain’s brain like a morbid Edvard Munch painting come to life.

When he reached his door, he paused. Even as exhausted as he was, his senses were sharp and he knew he wasn’t alone.

Someone or something was in his apartment.

Fury streaked through him even as he relished the idea of a fight with the mood he was in. With his place heavily warded, the only beings that could be inside would be powerful ones.

Right before he opened his door, one thought hit, and his shoulders slumped. It was probably Xavier, who had a key. Did he even want to talk? No. But turning away, when Xavier would know he’d arrived, was a coward’s move and he certainly wasn’t that. Still, he took a deep breath and readied himself to listen to Xavier bitch at him. Or, knowing Xavier as well as he did, quietly reprimand.

But it wasn’t Xavier on the other side of his door. It was Clive, and utter shock froze his limbs. He could only stare, his gaze starved for that precious, freckled face. It may have only been a week since he’d seen him, but it had felt like a year.

Before he could speak, anger tightened Clive’s features and he abruptly growled and shoved his hands into Bain’s chest, making him take a step back. Clive marched around him and slammed the door shut before turning back to face him. “You just left. Not one word. After everything we shared, how could you do that?”

That wasn’t at all what he’d expected to come out of Clive’s mouth. He twisted fully to face him, surprise making him mumble, “I was actually supposed to go on vacation before I took the job for you, so I was due.”

“Vacation? Really? That’s your excuse?” He stomped farther inside and threw his hands into the air. “So I was just a job? Was the sex a part of that job?”

That stabbed through him like a knife to the gut. “You know it wasn’t.”

“Then what was it? Because if you say it was just some fun, I’m going to punch you. We both know it was a lot more than that.” He spun around, and the pain in those blue eyes cut into Bain again. “Is that what you’re going to say?”

Bain’s shoulders slumped. “No, Clive. I can’t say that.”

“How could you have left like that?”

Bain couldn’t help but briefly shut his eyes before he opened them to gaze at Clive sadly. “I saw your absolute disgust over what I did. Your horror.”

Clive threw up his hands. “Of course I was horrified! I was looking at body parts. Blood. Gore.” He walked to Bain and grabbed his arms. “But none of that horror or disgust was because of you. Those demons would have killed me. You were protecting me.”

“I didn’t have to lose it the way I did but when they hurt you—” Bain swallowed the hard lump in his throat. “I felt more rage than I’ve ever felt in my life. Didn’t even know I was capable of that.”

“So you horrified yourself.”

It wasn’t a question, but Bain still nodded.

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