Page 9 of Always Watching

“I’m staying, Ranen. I’ll make sure you’re safe so you can rest.” Never mind that it still doesn’t make sense. He’s in a hospital; he’s probably completely safe here between the staff and security, but I don’t trust them. And Iseeit when something akin to relief sweeps through his gaze. I smile at him, and it takes me a second to realize that it feels so foreign on my lips because Imeanit. His relief makes something in me feelgood.

“I guess… if you insist.” I reach out and brush my fingers lightly along the back of his hand, careful not to press against any of the bruises that litter his skin while I silently take stock of every single one of them. When I find the asshole who hurt him, I’ll return them tenfold.

“I’ll stay.” I say it again, and it’s a promise that seems to catch between us both like some invisible tether. He accepts it, maybe because he’s afraid, or maybe because some part of him is giving in to the trauma of being attacked and the fact that I was the person who saved him. I hold it close to my chest because there’s no other answer.Thiswas the feeling I was missing earlier when I killed Austin—this satisfaction.And then there’s a burning excitement for the future. I’m not going anywhere; I didn’t kill whoever attacked Ranen.

I don’t know if they’re going to try again. Judging by the way they hurt him, by the way he screamed for help, it was something personal—they were someone who’s done this before. My instincts were right to lead me here. Something wasoff, and I felt it. Ranen was afraid before, and he’d been terrified when he screamed for help. He was hurt.

I refuse to let that happen again.

The cops are useless. They called earlier and let Ranen know they checked his place over but didn’t find any evidence—I could tell by the way the asshole spoke he was judging Ranen for his occupation, so they’re no help.

Even though the injuries look horrible, the nurse tells us he’ll be released soon, as long as everything stays steady on his charts. He’s mostly covered in bruises and a few tiny fractures—it’s nothing that won’t heal with a little extra care. The wordsextra careare said with emphasis, and it takes me a second to realize Ranen’s nurse is staring at me when he says it. He’s a pretty man, slender and willowy in a way that makes him seem like he could have been a dancer in another life.

It would probably be easy to kill him too, and I think about it when his hand lingers on Ranen’s arm for a few seconds too long. It makes meloatheto leave the hospital, but if I’m going to follow through with what I’m thinking—and I know I am—I have to go for at least a few hours.

I wait until they dope Ranen up with pain medication, though I have a feeling it’s more to make sure he gets a good night’s rest without nightmares than for the actual pain, before I stand. I only take a step out of the roomafterI double-check that no one is lingering in the bathroom and the windows are locked tight. When I’m sure the only way someone will get to Ranen is if they get through me, I pull out my phone and dial a number I know by heart.

It takes three rings before my dad answers, and his voice is gruff and thick with sleep. I didn’t bother to check the time, and I feel no guilt when he sighs.

“Did you kill someone?”

“No.” Fuck, do I sound angry about that? Yes. I’m furious I didn’t catch the man who was in Ranen’s apartment. I’m furious I can’t promise him that the fucker died screaming. Or maybe I’m angry because I can’t offer to let Ranen deliver the killing blow so he can feel that satisfaction.

Not that Ranen looks like a killer. There’s something soft about him. Something sweet. The person who exists in his live show is a performance and I know that, but the bruised man on the bed who looks at me with wide eyes?

I want to know him even more than I wanted to know the man on the screen. I want all the pieces of him. The drive is stronger than anything I’ve ever felt. It flows into all those places thathave been feeling soemptylately, even when I’m killing. I can’t explain it, and I’m not going to question it.

Which means I need a favor.

“North? It’s midnight. If you didn’t kill someone or you haven’t lost a limb, I’m going back to bed.” My dad still sounds half asleep, and I find myself thankful that heknowswho I am. Hell, he raised me to be exactly this person. He saw in me the same things he’d always seen in himself—that violence, that darkness, that danger—and instead of trying to change me, trying to make me into something I wasn’t, he taught me to embrace it from a young age. He taught me how to keep myself safe.

And now I’m breaking one of the cardinal rules—I’m getting attached to someone who could never reallyseewho I am beneath the mask I wear.

He’ll forgive me later.

“I need you to come to the hospital.”

“Hospital?” he parrots, concern clear in his voice. “I was joking about the limb thing, North. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” I cut him off before he can work himself into thinking I’m half dead in a hospital bed. “I need you to watch someone for me.”

Maybe I can use the fact that I’m in public to my advantage.

“Who?”

“I was…” I frown, thinking about how to phrase this. “I found someone interesting.”

“Someone interesting?” I can already hear the apprehension in his voice.

“Yes. He was attacked, and the man who did it got away. Ireallydon’t want him to be alone while I try tofigure it out.”

Hopefully he’ll come to the conclusion that this isn’t about Ranen at all—if he thinks it’s about the hunt, the thrill of chasing after someone who’d attacked a random man, Dad will probablybe more inclined to grant me my favor without question. As long as he isn’t in the room with both of us at the same time, I’m safe.

Probably.

“Figure it out? You’re hunting a predator, hm?”

“That’s right.” It’s so much easier when he’s the one filling in the blanks.

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