Page 75 of Runaway Magic
With some help from Fourteen, Cym pulled the hoodie on, leaving his injured arm out of the arm hole and zipped safely inside. The cheerful visage of Hello Kitty winked up at him from his good arm, and he decided to take the kitty as a sign of good luck.
When Cym got to the pants, he paused. “Um…” He wasn’t sure if he was going to be able to get them on himself, but having Fourteen help him in front of his brother seemed like a recipe for disaster.
“Maybe I should help you with that.” Sterling volunteered awkwardly.
Fourteen gave his brother a threat-filled glare, letting Cym know he wasn’t as indifferent about Sterling’s shifting loyalties as he had seemed a minute ago.
Sterling held both hands up in surrender. “I get it, I get it, okay? You’ll rip my arms and legs off if I hurt him,” he said irritably and stepped forward to help Cym. He only made it two steps before stopping in his tracks with a strange expression on his face.
Cym hobbled backward hastily while Fourteen stepped in front of him, looking ready for anything.
“Are you okay, Ster?” Cym asked, cautiously peeking around Fourteen’s shoulder.
Sterling shook himself and frowned. “Yeah, I just… maybe your champion should help you after all. I’ll turn around. Just… hurry up, okay?”
Cym met Fourteen’s eyes, still dark with promise from their kiss earlier, and gulped. “Okay…” Standing injured in a half-destroyed garage with his brother standing awkwardly to one side wouldn’t have been his first choice for letting Fourteen seethe goods for the first time, but perhaps there was a workaround for that. “Could… could you close your eyes?”
Fourteen gave Cym an amused look that said he had no problem defiling Cym right in front of his brother, but he nodded his assent and closed his eyes without a word. Cym leaned onto Fourteen’s arm and did his best to shimmy out of his torn pants one-handed without taking off his shoes—the floor was too icy to contemplate touching with his bare feet. At one point he nearly fell over, and Fourteen shot out a hand to stop him. Startled, he looked at Fourteen’s face, expecting his eyes to be open, but he was confused to see them still closed.
“How did you…?”
Eyes still closed, Fourteen lifted a shoulder minutely in a shrug. “All part of the training.”
Shaking his head, Cym went back to pulling on the yoga pants over his sneakers. Fourteen had no idea how effortlessly cool he was. Cym finally managed to work the pants up his legs with one hand and reveled in the leftover warmth they retained from being carried against Fourteen’s body.
Was this what being cared for felt like? Being protected whether he asked for it or not? Having someone else put his needs above their own? He pressed a cheek against Fourteen’s broad chest. This dependable, surprisingly thoughtful, cool-as-fuck man had attached himself to Cym whether he deserved it or not. Cym knew he didn’t deserve it, but he would work to make sure he did one day.
Cym reached up with his good hand to touch Fourteen’s cheek. “Fourteen… I’m so sorry… I-”
With his eyes still closed, Fourteen said, “Later. Apologize when you’re safe.”
“I’ll do that,” Cym promised, planning to apologize to Fourteen hard enough to get himself pregnant if he’d possessedthe proper parts for it. “I’m decent now. You can open your eyes.”
Fourteen’s eyes opened and he gave Cym a once over. “How’s your ankle?”
“It’ll survive.” Cym would keep up no matter how it felt. If Fourteen was going to keep risking his life for Cym, then Cym vowed to do everything in his power not to drag him down while he did it.
Fourteen kissed Cym in response.
“You two are being way too quiet over there,” Sterling said in a disgruntled tone.
Cym tried to skitter backward, but Fourteen held him fast and said, “All clear.” So when Sterling turned around, he didn’t have any illusions about what he’d interrupted them doing.
Sterling gave Fourteen the stink eye but didn’t comment.
Cym slapped on a fake, cheery voice and said, “Okay, so what’s the plan? Even if we get out of here, we’ve got Sterling and Hester with us now. We can’t leave her behind or that nightmare will just go back to her. We can’t hide all of us using your shield. Well, not for very long.” The mental image of Fourteen carrying all three of them around in his arms for the rest of his life made Cym smile.
Fourteen put a hand up reminding him of a child asking a question in school. “What’s a nightmare?”
Oops. Fourteen was so efficient at everything he did, Cym kept forgetting that they weren’t from the same world and he had a lot of gaps in his knowledge. Cym hurried to explain. “A nightmare is a creature that has escaped from the dreamscape; they’re created from the fears of humans. Guardians are supposed to hunt them down and destroy them before they make it to the Real—the waking world—but I think this one has been running around here for a long time.”
“Guardians? I met some people claiming to be guardians earlier today, right after you ditched me,” Fourteen offered.
“I didn’t—” Cym tried to protest, but he stopped when Fourteen gave him a sharp look. Cym had totally ditched him and didn’t have a leg to stand on. Fourteen had one hell of an apology coming to him. Was cock-sucking a good method of apology? Cym would happily become a pro if that’s what it took.
Sterling ignored their by-play and said excitedly, “If we can get out of here and make it to the Guard, we might have a chance. Cymbeline, the entire family isn’t like her.” He motioned toward Hester. “There are a few of us who are just scared and want away from what’s been happening. If you go to the Guard, they can help you take over the family. I mean, it’s supposed to be yours in the first place.”
Cym looked at Fourteen, questioning.
