Page 12 of Natural-Born Cullers

Light held his look, how the blue to those eyes were just a shade darker than Brin’s, how… how that darker shade had helped put Brin in reach of a café bomb blast. How his own brown colour had.

He couldn’t hold that blueness for too long, and he tightened his jaw as he looked away. “We’ve fucked, what? Once?” he said to Simon, then tugged the offer of a towel off him and wiped at his face. “That one-night stand made me your whore for a day, nothing more.”

Simon tilted his head slightly. He wore his suit jacket this morning, which meant Monday work at Thames House, which meant a walk away from the silence and coloured particles, back into life, into drowning out the quiet.

“Timing was wrong, I can see that now,” mumbled Simon, his look lost somewhere else. “But it would have happened somewhere down the line.” His brush of hand came at Light’s cheek, stilling him. “You said that to your father, do you remember? After he said he’d send you down for finding out we’d slept together here?” He frowned. “So, no. Touching you didn’t make you my whore. It made you my lover, all the wild fucking perfection that comes with it. But everything that came after that? This?” Simon looked around the pool and beyond into the summerhouse. “Your stay-and-play to get intel on the cullers?”

Light snorted. So that was what they thought he was up to?

Simon cupped Light’s neck, coming a little closer. “Despite all that, I’m still here. I’ll always be right fucking here when it comes to you.”

“Go on. Take his offer, Light….” A mix of blue and violet particles brushed the curve of his ear, and Brin gave a sigh. “Bloody learn to hold on.”

An alarm cut through from the kitchen, and Light pulled Simon’s grip from around his neck and turned away.

9:30 a.m.

He started chemistry lessons with Basemen at ten, and he really needed this… colour interrupted now.

“Goddamn it, Light,” sighed Simon. “Stop backing away. Let it go. Despite everything he’s teaching you, he’ll only ever give you half a deck to play with when it comes to him. You do know that, right?”

Light stopped, glanced back.

“Your father,” said Simon. “He’ll give you everything you need to survive against the cullers if you do manage to go beyond these walls. But no matter how dark you think your head is, his is more vicious, and he’ll tolerate your gameplay only for so long before he forces control his way on you if you push this. You want the intel I have on all the cullers, on the lead one who called Cath in and saw Brin murdered? You listen now to what I tell you about your fatherasa culler. Take the warning…don’tcross him.”

Light looked around, shrugged, felt a little hopeless with it. He shouldn’t have to explain this. “Like I said. I’m just here for the food…mate. I don’t need anything off you.” And he really didn’t, not anymore.

Light left him there and headed on into the bedroom.

What he wanted, what he really needed, that moment had long since come and gone. Now all that was mostly left was the silence and coloured particles breathing down his neck, to try and live through it, survive it, play along with it… play along with Gray.

“Stellar job you’re doing there, bro.”

Light didn’t look at Brin. Sitting on a chair, feet up on the desk, a shimmer of blue that outlined Brin gave a sigh as his hands went behind his head. “But you always did run blind around offers to love with the living, didn’t you?” A look came Light’s way. “It’s gonna get you killed, bro. You know that too, right? Especially as your old gaffer is off the grounds today.” Brin gave a sniff. “Where is Gray anyway?”

Chapter 6

Speak no Evil

Amongst the chaos of Piccadilly on a Monday afternoon, Ray shifted down a gear and pulled the Rolls-Royce to a stop outside of the Ritz Restaurant. He eased out a moment later and opened the passenger door for Gray, an umbrella held up for protection against the light rain and mist that had nudged its way through the blistering heat of the morning.

Gray didn’t mind the rain, but he took the offer of cover, more to delay heading over to the restaurant doors as he glanced its way.

“Are you sure you don’t need me to ask Rachel to give you a call in about… say—” Ray looked at his watch. “—five minutes, boss? A little… domestic terrorism in some obscure town, far, far away from… here?”

Didn’t matter your status, there was no parking outside of the Ritz, and Gray, maybe along with Ray, saw why Cal had chosen here: no quick escape routes for either of them.

As Gray got a text through, Ray’s smirk played a little more on his lips. “Or maybe I can just let Jack out of the boot to go accident on the fire alarms and run wild with that gas can he threatened to bring?” added Ray. “You did tell him you were dining out with family, right, sir?”

Gray took out his phone and cocked him a brow. “Did he get in the boot willingly, or did you trip him up and lend him a hand?”

As a woman in a suit walked by, Ray tried to keep his business face. He made a lousy chauffeur, shifting between boss one moment, sir the next, and he knew it. “Steve, his manager, might have slipped me a fiver or two just to make sure he disappeared for a while.”

Gray thumbed the message off Simon. He’d had a little altercation with Light, and Gray sent a text back saying he’d review the CCTV when he got back. Then he focused on what Ray had said about offering to… dispose of Jack, more how much he’d be paid for it. “Such a rather cheap side-line for your specialist services there, Ray. Disappointing, but worth knowing when it comes to debates over your next wage increase.”

“Oh just give the nod, boss, and I’ll make Jack go away for free.”

Slipping his phone away, Gray gave a soft smile as they started for the Ritz’s entrance.

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