Page 41 of The Devil's Mercy

Because as fucked up as it was, he could get used to parts of this. The parts where he was fed and bathed and cared for? Yeah, those parts didn’t entirely suck, and they weren’t experiences he’d ever had with anyone else. Caldidwant to belong somewhere. He’d just never pictured that somewhere being the house of two murderers.

He’d been trying to getawayfrom his darker nature, not enter a place where it would be nurtured.

Even if that meant he also started despising himself and who he was at his core being a little less.

“What makes you so sure I’ll end up accepting?” he ended up asking. “I didn’t even know you liked me before this.”

“If I didn’t like you, you wouldn’t be here.”

“Obviously.”

“I mean on this planet, Calix.”

“How do your abilities work?”

Titus tilted his head, watching him closely. “Still running, little monster?”

He’d been the one saying Cal wasn’t ready for that conversation not too long ago, but he didn’t bother pointing it out.

“What can I say,” he drawled, knowing exactly what the director was referring to and opting to just be honest, “it’s what I’m best at.”

“Aodhan says you’re best at taking cock.” Titus smirked when that had Cal coughing around his last bite of pizza. “Here.” He picked up the can of soda nearby and popped the top for him before holding it out.

Calix chugged a third of the contents and then frowned at the brand name. “This is the same one you bought me in the hospital cafeteria.”

“It’s my favorite. It has vitamin C, so you can even pretend that it’s not entirely bad for you. There’s another thing you’re good at. Pretending.”

Cal thought about his confession that he’d changed the items in his hotel room. The shampoo and conditioner brands in the bathroom here were the same as the ones he’d had in his hotel. This soda had been stocked in the hotel minibar. His gaze dropped down to the silk pajamas he was wearing.

“Titus,” he gave the other man a suspicious look, “what are you sleeping in?”

“Do you not like it?” The director reached out and undid the top button, careful not to allow them to touch skin to skin. “I think you look fantastic.”

“Answer me or I’ll stop talking to you.”

He chuckled. “You’re the one who wants to keep me talking. You're afraid if you don’t keep me distracted, I’ll try something or put you back on the hook. You can relax. I’m not planning on doing either of those things. I won’t touch you tonight, Calix. You’re safe.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re an adrenaline junky and making you sit here is the least exciting thing in the world.”

“I’m not—”

“No?” He quirked a dark brow. “Should I read what your past partners have all said about you? The I.P.F. let you quit without much argument because everyone knew one day you’d either get yourself or an innocent bystander killed.”

Calix…couldn’t really say that wasn’t true. He’d heard it a thousand times, that he was reckless, that he didn’t have any self-preservation. That he leapt into danger without thinking.

“I didn’t do anything stupid this time,” he felt the need to clarify, though why he bothered was beyond him.

Titus found it ridiculous as well, scoffing at him. “Detective, you chased me into the woods your very first day on the job, and then you kept our interaction to yourself and didn’t report me or inform your team. Don’t even get me started on how you handled the rest of the case.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?!”

“Your heart wasn’t in it,” he leaned closer, voice deepening as he spoke. “You know it. I know it. Aodhan knows it too. Want to tell me why that could be?’

Calix turned his head away.

“Fine, I’ll tell you. It’s because a part of you realized the truth.”

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