Page 59 of Mitchell
"Non-murderous. Whatever."
"Needing it and liking it aren't the same thing."
His stare unnerved Seryn. Their brief conversation didn't change that. "What?"
Mitchell almost smiled, but he told himself not to cut Seryn a break until after he confessed. "You know 'what'."
Seryn sighed. His shoulders slumped, and he glanced away. "Daruss is coming by."
"Are Jude and Raylee coming too?"
Seryn shrugged. "Probably."
"I'd like them too. Maybe we can all go swimming."
Seryn met his gaze again. "You, Jude, and Raylee can swim. Daruss and I are going hunting."
Mitchell raised his eyebrows. "Who are you hunting?"
"Whoever is left of the Chained Devils. One of them knows something about where the guns are."
If anyone knew anything about the mess Terrell made, it was Stan, because he always cleaned it up. "Stan—"
"Is dead. Few of the Chained Devils are alive."
"There's a guy named Archie. He's the type who blends into the background. He liked to be rough with women. I'm told he even raped a few. He sort of lurked around sometimes, hiding in closets and shit like that. He might have heard or seen something."
Seryn nodded. "I'll hunt him down first."
"And bring him to me, Seryn. Understood."
Seryn frowned. He didn't like that. "I can question him, Mitchell."
"I know you can, but it's my mess to clean up."
Seryn stiffened. "You don't trust me."
Mitchell leaned over the counter, trying to get closer to Seryn. If they were going to fight over this, then he wanted to make his point very clear. The only problem was the island was too wide to be effective.
So, Mitchell walked around it and bent down to get eye level with Seryn. "I trust you with my life. Trust isn't what this is about. It's about me fixing my own problems."
Seryn smiled. It was the empty one that meant he would do whatever he wanted, regardless of what Mitchell said. "You can't tell me no this time, Mitchell."
"That's Daddy to you, boy. And I'm not telling you no. You can go on your little hunting trip. All I want is to question Archie. And you will give me the opportunity, Seryn. You. Will. Or there will be consequences."
Seryn sucked in a breath. His eyes widened. He hopped off the stool and stepped away from Mitchell as if he were suddenly scared of him. "I don't want to be punished."
"I said consequences, not punishments." Mitchell didn't step closer. Seryn needed to come to him. "I'll never hurt you, sweetheart. You know that."
Seryn averted his gaze. "What consequences?"
"Me going with you, for one. And then never leaving my sight again." Mitchell sighed. Seryn obviously didn't trust him. It wasn't the other way around. "I'm not asking for that much. It's my problem. And I love you for wanting to protect me. God knows you're more capable than most. But it's still mine to fix."
Somewhere in what Mitchell said made Seryn take notice. His gaze snapped to Mitchell as if Mitchell had slapped him. Seryn just stood there, blinking at Mitchell as if he were seeing him for the first time.
"What? What's wrong?"
"You said you loved me."
