Page 109 of My Revenant
CHOICES.
When I woke up, the room was still dark. Shadows enveloped our surroundings, the furniture only discernible by its faint outlines from the moonlight streaming in through the uncovered window. It meant we had more time together before the world woke up and he had to leave this bed, only when I shuffled back to find Dex, he wasn’t there.
The sheets were still warm on his side, but he wasn’t there. Shards of ice sliced through my chest, and suddenly I was wide awake, ripping off the blankets, determined to find him.
The rest of the house was dark. He wasn’t in the bathroom, and I stumbled down the stairs without bothering to even put clothes on first. The front door was slightly open, and as I approached, the sound of his voice on the other side already had the ice embedded between my ribs melting. He was still here. He hadn’t left.
I took a deep steadying breath before approaching, wondering who he was talking to.
“Whoa there, calm down, little Snake Prince.”
Little Snake Prince? I stalled in place. A new kind of cold spread through my core. Who the fuck was he talking to? My gut twisted with adrenaline. I stepped a little closer to the door, trying to hear better. Through the gap I could see him; his back was to me as he faced out over the blackness of the front yard. He was alone with his phone tohis ear.
“Okay, stop. Don’t say anything else. I said stop… Okay. Breathe in deep and just listen for a second. Do not tell me any more details right now. Do not tellanyoneany details right now. Don’t call anyone else. Just tell me where you are and explain when I get there. Got it?”
What the actual fuck was going on?
“Okay. I’ll be there in an hour. Stay put and stay quiet… Okay… I’ll see you soon.”
He hung up the phone, and I darted backward, away from the door and back into his room. By the time he came back in, I was pacing, and it felt like there were bugs under my skin making me all kinds of itchy.
“Hey, you’re awake. So—” he began, but I immediately cut him off.
“Who the fuck is Snake Prince?” He stared at me instead of answering, so I continued. “Seriously, Dex? Little Snake Prince?”
“He’s just a friend,” he explained slowly, softly. I hated it. “Just one of the Strays, Rabbit.”
“Who is he? What’s his real name? And what the fuck is he doing calling you at three a.m.?”
“Like I said, he’s a Stray.”
“Why. Was. He. Calling. You?” I said, clapping my hands between each word impatiently. Dex might have been trying to stay calm, but I wasn’t, and I wouldn’t be until I had fucking answers.
“He needs my help with something.”
“With what?”
“Stray stuff. Does it matter?”
“I don’t fucking know, Dex. What do you think? He’s calling you of all people in the middle of the night when he’s upset, and you’re just going to leave me and take off to go help him? Why can’t he call someone else?”
Dex sighed, taking a deep breath in as if seeking composure. I hated that. Hated that he was masking himself from me. “He doesn’t trust anyone else with this. He just… broke something. Something important. He needs me to come help him fix it.”
“Why you?” I pressed again.
“Because, Jonah! Just because!” The mask of calmness cracked. “Because things are happening. Things I’m involved with that I don’t want to put on you. Archer isn’t reliable anymore, so people are looking to me instead.” He spoke as he crossed the room to his dresser, pulling the top drawer out so harshly that the handle broke off. Dex grunted and tossed the handle across the room, causing it to collide with the far wall. He pulled out the first dark shirt he found and pulled it over his head.
“You’re seriously leaving? You’re just going to go and leave me?”
“I have to, Rabbit. Something bad happened, and I need to fix it. I’m the only one who can fix it. I’m sorry.”
Panic clawed up my chest. “No. You can’t go. You can’t leave me. What if I need you too?”
Dex sighed. “Then call me and I’ll come back. But you’re okay. Just stay here in bed and I’ll be back soon.”
“That’s it? You’re not even going to explain where you’re going?”
“I have explained.”
