Jagged Embrace

Chapter 22 - Will

"You should stay the night and set out in the morning," Mason said as she handed Will a beer from the fridge. Ander continued to dry the dishes that were washed.

"Okay, you got anything for us?" Will asked before he tilted the bottle back.

"Yeah, a couple of things. Ander, you'll get the files later. You need to sleep tonight, not play around in your morgue," Mason told him sternly. He nodded. "So if you insist on keeping the girl with you, she needs to learn some basic things about protecting herself," Mason stared at Will.

"Yeah, we already talked about that, didn't we, Andy?" Will asked. Ander nodded. "We got it covered. Gotta be able to leave her in the motel room or have her lookout or whatever." He finished his beer.

"You swap out the stones?" Mason asked.

"Yeah, they set up the same way?"

"Same as the ones you just brought back. Might add a few bells and whistles to the next set," Mason grinned.

"Don't make them overly complicated like the other ones. I could barely get the barrier up."

"That is because you did not listen to instruction. I had no issues setting the barrier," Ander said in a snooty fucking tone. Pompous ass. Will glared at him.

Mason grunted. "Alright, one of you is on watch. I'm tired and going to bed," Mason shuffled out of the room before she had a bout of coughing.

Will's chest tightened. He hated that fucking cough. "I guess that means I'm on watch," Will said in a sour tone. He wanted to take Maeve to his room and make her quiver again, but Mason told Ander to rest, so that meant he was on god damn watch. He glanced at Ander. Maybe he wouldn't go to bed for a while, then Will could have Maeve come back to his room.

"I think I will sleep on the couch again," Ander replied.

Fuck, it was his night with Maeve. Will gritted his teeth. It wasn't turning out the way he'd wanted. Of course, what he wanted he had to wait for, anyway. He needed a long night of nothing but being inside of Maeve. He rubbed the back of his head. Is that what normals felt like all the time?

He had never waited to fuck a woman if it was what he chose. It was too easy to convince women to get into bed with him but he'd never craved anything like he did Maeve. It wasn't just that he wanted to fuck her. It wouldn't be enough. He had to have everything, consume every piece of her. Will shook his head to shut his crazy up.

His eyes flicked to Ander. Maybe it was why he was so moody. He probably hadn't fucked anyone since he was back.

"When we leave tomorrow, we need to talk to Maeve about training. She won't like it. She thinks she will, but she's gonna fucking hate it," Will said.

"I agree. She will not enjoy it. Do you want to begin her training as we did?" Ander asked.

"Kinda, we don't have time to start from the very beginning. But yeah, she can't handle anything but the basics right now."

"Perhaps I should have her run with me to work on her endurance," Ander suggested. Will chuckled and nodded. Maeve would detest running. Fuck, no one liked to run but Ander. The only cardio he was interested in was with Maeve was in bed.

Ander's movements stopped and he stared into space. Will waited, but after a few seconds, panic surfaced. What had set him off? Shit, he had to get him back. If Ander had a bad bout, he'd start hallucinating and freak out about shit that wasn't there, but he hadn't done it since Maeve was around. Will drew a deep breath and waited another couple of seconds.

Ander's eyes were unfocused and didn't respond when Will waved his hand in front of his face. "Andy?" No response. Fuck. Time to touch him. He hoped Ander didn't flip out, and they ended up destroying Mason's kitchen. She'd be pissed.

"Andy," he said louder and touched his arm that held the towel. Nothing. Will put his hand on the bowl Ander held and tugged it out of his hand. Ander didn't resist at all.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Not good.

"Hey, I need to go to the bathroom, but I can't remember which hall..." Maeve's voice carried into the kitchen.

Ander blinked and inhaled as his eyes became focused. He looked down at his hands, confused.

"Sorry, did I interrupt your conversation? I was waiting for Mason to come back, but she never did. I remember how to get here because I helped carry the dishes in, but then I got turned around," she explained.

"Of course not. We were discussing your future training," Ander answered smoothly.

"Really?" There was a note of excitement in her tone.

Will swallowed and put the bowl on the counter and took a steadying breath before he turned back to them. He'd almost gotten used to Ander acting mostly normal. That had been a mistake. He knew better. Don't let your guard down, never get lulled into feeling safe or that things were "okay", because they never were. That's what idiot normals told themselves, not Soldiers of Night. They were trained better.

"Yeah, we can talk about it on the road," Will said, to shut the conversation down. "Follow me," he told her more firmly than he meant to.

He took her to the bathroom, distracted thinking about Ander. When she was done, they returned to the den, where, thankfully, Ander sat. He was on his laptop, probably reading mission files. Good.

Will moved to the chest of drawers by the door and poured himself some bourbon. He took his glass and sat in the chair with the ottoman, trying to figure out what set Ander off, and why her voice, and not his, reached him.