Page 105 of Hounded

“I wanted to be with you… but you weren’t there.”

I’d gone for the day. A matter of hours. It wasn’t like I abandoned him. My skeptical squint prompted him to explain.

“I see you when I’m high,” he said. “I see us.”

I flinched back, embittered by the admission. He’d never told me such a thing despite ample opportunities. I’d demanded answers for years. Begged him to help me understand what he needed that only drugs could give him. What more could I do to keep him clean?

Indy’s fingertips grazed my temple, then traced up over my ear, giving affectionate touches that never failed to soothe me. “It’s beautiful, Lore. It’s life, and it’s love, and it’s everything I don’t wanna lose.” His voice was thick with the same emotions that had weighed me down for weeks.

“I like to visit there sometimes,” he continued, “but it gets harder and harder to leave.”

His honesty was an affront to what I’d believed for decades. I was right about one thing: hehadkept things from me. But not his sadness. He concealed his secretescape. His attempts to resurrect the forgotten past.

“You killed yourself,” I reminded him, as if we didn’t both know.

The statement held enough judgment to give him pause. “I’m sorry, baby. I know you were scared—”

“Youdon’tknow,” I argued. “You weren’t there.”

“I’m here now,” he said. “Reallyhere. And it’s all here, too.” He tapped a finger to his temple. “All of us.”

His hands slid down to clasp mine, then he tugged my arms around him. He settled in with his head under my chin and his legs tangled in mine.

I wasn’t ready to forgive him, but I didn’t want to waste this time. After a century together, we had the opportunity to reminisce like old couples ought to, and that seemed so desperately fragile.

With my view cleared, I gazed across the valley before us. The setting sun illuminated the scene, making everything look as warm as I felt with Indy curled against me. We’d been here many times, done exactly this, and I wondered if he came here more for himself or me. I cherished familiar things, moments that blurred the line between this life and a dozen others. It made the world feel smaller and time not quite so fleeting.

“Is it going away?” I asked.

Indy hummed a soft sound. “Yeah.”

After a few minutes, Indy craned his neck to meet me eye to eye. He reached up to coil a strand of my hair around his finger, and a smile curved his lips. “You’ve had the same hairstyle for a hundred years.”

I huffed a laugh.

Indy kept twirling that lock of hair while studying melike he was seeing me for the first time. In many ways, I supposed he was.

“You told me about me,” he said. “At the laundromat. And a whole bunch of times before that.” His grin turned wily. “Now, I can tell you about you.”

I wasn’t sure how I expected this to go. A large part of me didn’t believe it. Thinking that he knew me as completely as I knew him, more fully than anyone else ever had or would, was daunting. It meant he recalled all my mistakes, my failures, and my bumbling attempts to usher him back into the world. Those ranged from better to worse.

“You don’t like change,” Indy began. “Or loud sounds, or new things, or PDA.” That made him snicker, and I rolled my eyes. His impish look softened into one that was nothing short of adoration. “And you are so very, very shy.”

His tender expression brought the flush back to my face, and I turned to scrub my cheek on my shoulder.

“Sully called you rigid,” he added. “That’s true, too.”

The mention of the witch stirred feelings of fresh betrayal. I bristled, but no sooner were my hackles up than did Indy offer a final reassurance.

“But you keep me safe, Lore.” He smiled. “You take care of me.”

For all the things Indy knew—for however long he knew them—the trouble in Hell remained a secret. I should have told him, warned him, that he was wanted. There were more vicious beasts than me currently straining on their leashes, anxious to scour the world until they cornered him.

Itriedto keep him safe. I’d managed for a long time now, but previous threats paled in comparison to this. This was an onslaught, set to be a massacre, and it terrified me.

Indy expelled a deflating breath. He had moved from playing with my hair to dragging the backs of his fingers along my jaw. The repetitive motion mollified me so I almost didn’t hear him say, “I’m sorry.”

I cocked a brow. “For what?”

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