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Caelan snorts next to me, and I whack him with the back of my hand in his stomach. He doesn’t even register the hit. Mauvy clears her throat and leans forward on her elbows.
“Nope. Apparently there is another one.”
“Well, that’s bullshit because he and Roan have been all loved up and -” his laughing tease cuts off abruptly, and for a split second I wonder if it’s because he thinks we’re still pretending this is all a secret, but no.
He pauses unnaturally still, like the hunter he naturally is, only a flicker of emotions flashing over his eyes. His head snaps, cocking to the side suddenly, spooking us all, and we jump, a dark look falling over Seldon’s face. Everything gets sharper as his eyes turn a deeper yellow colour, his pupils elongating with his partial shift. “What was his name?”
“Damien? Darwin?” Edith waves her hand about trying to remember and being unhelpful. Before any of us can jump in with theactualanswer, Seldon has shoved himself to standing, leaping to the end of the table.
“Darius?!” His screech is loud enough to disrupt the entire tavern, everyone pausing to turn and stare at my employee who is becoming more hysterical by the second. Panic grips my chest, and I shove the long bench seat back with enough force to dislodge the others sitting there with me.
“You let himgowith that asshole? What the fuck guys! Howcould you?”
The icy ball in my stomach explodes, sending heat throbs in my veins, pounding in my brain. A heavy hand claps onto my shoulder, pulling my attention away from Seldon’s panic.
“Roan, my friend, is everything okay?” Tarook eyes us all with wary concern, and I shake my head. Tor pales as Caelan jumps from the table to rush around to comfort his mate.
“I don’t know. I don’t think-” I turn back to Seldon, running a hand through my hair tugging at the strands slightly.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” The others murmur their agreement and confusion. Tarook’s hand squeezes my shoulder roughly.
“Darius,” Seldon says, shooting a pointed look at Edith, “was Theo’s… I don’t know. I wouldn’t call him a boyfriend. They were sleeping together for a long time. But from what Theo told me, the guy isbad news. He toyed with Theo and his feelings for too damn long. Keeping him like a dirty secret, breaking things offwhenever it was inconvenient, using him to get off whenever it was. He wasn’t a nice guy. He apparently got engaged to some girl you all knew growing up…” He nods to Tor who shrugs because, honestly, it could be anyone. “…he broke it off with Theo. The guy is a fucking dick and Theo should benowherenear him.”
Why had Theo never told me any of this?
“He never told me…” Similar hurt colours Tor’s voice, that we couldn’t protect Theo because he hadn’t trusted us with his pain. Tor’s eyes meet mine, and I shrug, shaking my head that I didn’t know either.
“He didn’t tell anyone. He wouldn’t have told me, but it became a recurring issue with other stuff,”—another pointed look at me—"and he just sort of word-vomited it out at me one day.”
“This guy, Darius? He wouldn’t hurt Theo would he? Maybe he just wants him back and-”
“How did he find him?” Tarook’s calm, deep, almost monotonous voice interjects over everyone. “Theo told us just the other day that he had not told anyone in his old life about where he is. He was nervous that someone would come visiting here, and he would be found. It seemed to worry him, the idea of being found.”
Another thing he’d kept from me.
Try as I might, I can’t help but feel another lance of hurt slice through me. Mauvy meets my eyes, sensing my pain maybe, after our decades of friendship. The sympathy in her face makes me feel slimy inside.
“That is a really, really good question, handsome.” Even in the grimmest moments, Edith never misses an opportunity to be inappropriate, batting her eyelashes at my old friend. I’d already noticed her pocketing the silverware from the table as we chatted. “I had a little poke and prod around his brain whenhe was talking to Mauvy. It was empty. Nada. Not even wards or protection. Just an open landscape of nothingness.”
“And that wasn’t a warning?” Tarook’s mellow softness is heavy in contrast to the sharpness of Edith's voice. At least his rebuke knocks off her flirting, firing up her notorious temper.
“Well, truth be told, I just put it down to him being a man.”
Tor’s hand slams hard against the table, putting a stop to whatever pettiness was about to ensue.
“Enough. Edith, I love you, butnow is not the time.” Now he’s the one stress pulling at his hair while Caelan rubs his back tenderly. His phone is in his hand, and he seems to be texting madly. When I catch his eye, he mouthsSeffat me. Thankful for his good sense, I just smile tightly and nod.
“He didn’t send off signals foranyof us. Is there a chance that he’s here for something totally innocent? Like, maybe to apologise or whatever? Maybe we have it wrong?” Tor continues, not noticing the exchange between Caelan and I.
The hope in his voice is so fragile, but everyone clasps on to it with both hands.
Seldon raises his hands to stop everyone from talking. “Good point, I mean, after everything that’s happened before, it makes sense that we’re all a little sensitive, but maybe we’re jumping to conclusions.”
Some people are shocked when they see this more responsible side of Seldon, but it’s the guy I knew him as before he broke out of his shell and became the flamboyant, dramatic flirt we’d all gotten used to.
He takes a deep breath, sticking his hands on hips, popping one dramatically. “Look, he doesn’t know I’m here. Where are they? I’ll go and say hi and check how everything’s going.” We let him know that he’s out at the house and begin the anxious wait to find out what’s going on.
That slimy fear still fills my guts while we wait, making me feel sick. Needing something to do, I go and check in with Woodsy and make sure he has it all in hand, along with the couple of casual servers we keep around. But as usual, he has it all under control.
