Page 92 of Own

Ididn’t think we’d been down there longer than a few hours, yet it felt like an eternity passed. I stayed for all of it. From Legend breaking the man’s kneecaps to the shattering of each of his feet to when they began to carve pieces off of him.

The horror of it all seemed permanently etched into my brain. Not because of what they did to him—frankly, Reznik was trash. He traded in people. He made his money off the suffering of others. He’d also betrayed the guys. He’d betrayed them and cost them.

No, I was fine with them taking him apart. What I couldn’t quite shake was how long he held out. How much pain he endured before he finally started answering questions. Even though it had been cool in the root cellar, I was sweaty and gross.

Once back up in my room, I stripped and climbed in the shower. I scrubbed every inch of me, then washed my hair. By the time I rinsed off, I’d rediscovered some measure of peace. How much hate and spite did you need to harbor toward people to endure that much pain?

I wrapped up in a towel after I squeezed all the excess water out of my hair. Imagining it was the stress, the memories, andthe pain I squeezed out also helped. Sighing, I let myself out into the bedroom.

“Don’t be too surprised.”

The voice came from across the room, calm and gentle.

Alphabet was there, seated in a battered armchair near the window, a tablet in hand, boots unlaced, sleeves rolled. He hadn’t looked up yet. The tablet he’d had earlier was in his lap. Goblin lay sprawled on the floor, snoring. He thumped his tail once then closed his eyes again.

“Hey,” I murmured, moving to the bag to fold up the clothes I’d changed out of. The sweatshirt was huge and I loved it, so it was going in my bag.

“Hey,” he answered, closing the tablet he held and setting it aside.

“How are you doing, AB?” I pulled out clean panties and a sports tank with a built in bra. I had one pair of clean jeans left and another pair of yoga pants. I tugged the latter out.

“Pretty sure I should be asking you that,” he murmured, studying me.

“Well, you can, but since I asked first.” Since I was still in a towel, I had a few of choices. Go back into the bathroom to get dressed, wiggle into panties one-handed, just drop the towel here and dress, or set the clothes aside for now and stay in my towel. “Will you tell me if something else is wrong?”

Huffing out a half-laugh, he shook his head. “You already learned how to ask questions carefully. Not asking ‘if something is wrong,’ but ‘if something else is wrong.’”

“I like to think of myself as a fast learner.” I set the clothes aside and crossed the room to him. With care, I eased onto the arm of the chair. This angle put me closer to eye level with him. I braced one hand on the back of the chair and trusted the towel knot to do its job. “I know there’s lots of stuff wrong. There’s a few things that are right too, but… today was a lot.”

He dismissed that with a shrug. “Weirdly, not as much as you might think it was, Gracie.”

“Okay.”

As he stroked his hand along my thigh, he studied me. I’d seen the same look in Lunchbox’s eyes earlier. When he told me I could stay but it wouldn’t be pretty.

“Just okay?” A boundless kind of curiosity reflected in his blue eyes.

“Yes, you know what is a lot or not for you. I accept that. Just like I accept that something else is wrong or maybe it’s just more of the same. You really haven’t been sleeping.”

That last part worried me most at the moment. I stroked my fingers through his hair. It was even more disheveled than usual, yet, that chaos just suited him. His eyes drifted half-closed as I massaged his scalp.

“No,” he half-mumbled the words. “I’ve got too much to do. I’ll be fine with naps. Promised you I would find your sister. I’m going to find her, dammit.”

“AB,” I whispered the letters of his name, trying to sum up all the emotions swarming me. “Youneedreal sleep. You can set up one of those decryptions and tell me what would be a problem. I can wake you up if it happens.” Was I offering to babysit his computer program?Absolutely.

A long sigh escaped him as he leaned into the contact. “I’ll be okay, Gracie.”

“Will you?” Worry crept through me. Because he seemed to grow wearier and wearier each day we’d been here. The attack at the house hadn’t helped nor the separation from Goblin. Since we reunited, the stress seemed ever present. “This isn’t what you signed up for, you know?”

That made him tip his head back, eyes narrowing as he really looked at me. The sleepiness vanished, chased off by somethingsharper, something awake. “Gracie…youare the reason I signed up for this. Exactly you.”

I swear the air snagged in my lungs like it forgot how to move. His fingers brushed my jaw, light and deliberate, like he was mapping something he didn’t want to forget.

“We promised each other honesty, remember?”

The reminder caught what little breath I had left and tangled it in my throat.

“We did,” I murmured, tipping my head into his touch as his hand slid higher.

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