Page 99 of I Accidentally Hired a Shadow Walker
“Why are you apologizing to me?”
“Because I didn’t give you enough credit. I thought you could never handle being here and focused more on protecting you than supporting you. But I realize now you’re okay without me.” He smiled. “I feel like I'm seeing you for the first time all over again, and it's just as impactful, and not just because I face planted on the ground after you tripped me.”
“Raymond, I know this is going to be difficult. I didn't step through a portal and walk into a new world expecting it to be sunshine and roses. Come on, I knew I was coming here for a fight. I got okay with the idea of having blood on my hands the moment they took Natalie.”
“I knew what was happening,” Raymond huffed.
“You knew they were taking Natalie?” I stiffened, hoping Imisunderstood him.
“No, of course not.” He shook his head. “You just shared something very difficult for you. You deserve to know the full truth if you're going to do this with me. I knew they were trying to kill Klougus. I was on his brother’s side until I realized I had made the wrong choice. So, I defected.”
The birds returned to their perches in the tree behind him, as if they also wanted to hear what he had to say.
“I thought I could just walk away from it. I hoped they would call it all off, but because I wasn’t where I was supposed to be, an arrow meant for Klougus landed in his brother’s chest. They coated the tip in a toxin that spread through him, killing him almost instantly.”
“You were helping them?” I questioned as my mind processed his words.
“Yes.”
“Why?” I looked him in the eye. “What made you think you should betray Klougus?”
“The why doesn’t matter.” He shook his head.
“Yes, the hell it does!” I scoffed. “You just told me we're here because you were going to help kill the person you worked for. I’m not going to pretend I completely understand how all this works, but it gives organized crime syndicate. I know damn well how messy things can get with those. You can’t just drop that in my lap and not share the reasoning. I need to know everything.”
“It's hard to admit.” He took a deep breath then looked at the treetops.
“Yeah, well, it's not easy for me to be in the hellscape, but here I am. Suck it up and tell me what happened.”
“Someone broke my heart.” He scoffed at himself. “I hate to even think about it because it’s a pathetic reason, but that's what happened. My life imploded because my heart broke, and I wasn’t smart enough to just take a trip, go away, and heal.”
“Is this a joke? Are you being serious right now?”
“No, it’s not. I loved someone who chose someone else.”
“So all of this is happening because your crush didn’t like you back?” I didn't mean for it to sound so harsh, but there was something else there, something that stirred inside me, an ache almost like anger. I did not like that Raymond had loved someone before, and I particularly did not like that whoever that was, had broken his heart. But I didn't know how to express that to him, so I made a joke. “Male egos are so damn fragile, even in other worlds.”
“Yes. I know how ridiculous that sounds, but that is why this is happening. I loved someone, and for a time, I thought she could love me back.” His jaw clenched, and I could see him biting back embarrassment. “She chose someone else. I stepped aside, but every time I saw them together, that ache grew until it ate me up. And then, after all of that, he left her. He left her, and she came back to me—not because she wanted me, but because she wanted me to help her kill the man she chose over me.”
“She sounds like a real piece of work.” I rolled my eyes. “Maybe it was a blessing in disguise that it didn’t work out.”
“Oh, she is.” He let out a hollow laugh. “The only way I thought I could get away from her was to help them take over. She would never join with the new faction if it worked. I hate to admit it, and I wish so often I could change it, but my broken heart led me down a really dark path. Eventually, I healed. I got over her, and I realized the magnitude of my mistake. It was too late, though. Everything was already in motion, and there was nothing I could do to stop it, so instead of playing my part, I just walked away. The next morning, the report came out that it was his brother who died, and I knew it wouldn’t be long before they found us all out. I didn't want to faceit, so I left.”
“What happens now? Now that you're back here, in this world.” I swallowed hard as I realized where that question came from.Oh shit. Girl, is that insecurity?
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“We're here, we're going to do this, and we are going to save Natalie.” I chanted. “But then what happens? Do you keep running, or do you stay here and face the music?”
“I haven’t gotten that far, to be honest.” He scratched the back of his neck. “Jericha, I never planned on coming back here at all, so the idea of what happens next doesn’t even register in my mind. I had firmly put this world and all those in it behind me.”
“You can’t think they are going to let you slip away after this is over. I haven’t had much time to get to know Klougus, but he seems like the sort to want to keep you around.” I frowned, remembering the brief encounter. “Just thinking about the way he looked at Metice makes my skin crawl. It’s like he wants to claim him. Did they ever…you know? Get together?”
Raymond laughed, his body shaking with each boisterous sound. “I am definitely telling him you said that. But no. As far as I know, nothing ever happened between them. Klougus is like that—possessive. It’s in his nature. If he had his way, he would keep us all locked up in little boxes, only letting us out when it was time for us to do work for him.”
“That sounds pleasant.” I frowned. “No wonder there were people who wanted to betray him.”
“Yeah, trust me, there were valid reasons for it, including the fact that he has actually locked people away to try to keep their power for himself. Usually, it’s people from other worlds. That was Metice’s job. He went from the Bane across the universes, kidnapping the strongest people to bring back to Klougus, all underthe guise that the people somehow owed him a debt. I’m not sure I entirely believe that part.”
