Jagged Embrace

Chapter 27 - Will

Will flexed his hands, the burn still radiating through his palms. They should've done it while they were at Mason's, but they'd both been distracted. It would've been a hell of a lot easier. When they were younger and less experienced, they used to cut their fingers to distort their fingerprints, but they both healed too fast and had to do it too often. Burning hurt more, but it lasted longer.

Most of the time, they wore gloves when they were stealing shit, but not always when on a mission. They got in the way when they fought monsters. Will hated gloves and refused to wear them, unless there was no choice. Pain, he could deal with. His hands being restricted, he couldn't.

Staring at Ander, his mind traveled back in time to when his cousin tried to saw off his own hands. It had been just after he'd gotten him from med school when he'd been a fucking wreck. The sorcerer had Ander's head so twisted, it was a miracle Will could reach him. The sorcerer was still in control of his body, but Ander had managed to take control just long enough for Will to get him back to Mason's to fix him.

He had never been so terrified in his entire life. Not when he was in the military, not when he thought he'd die several times in the clutches of a monster, not even when he woke up covered in blood and gore and didn't know what'd happened.

Will drew a deep breath to settle his nerves. Just remembering that he almost lost Ander, really fucking lost him, made him feel like he was going to puke. He rubbed the back of his head.

His eyes flicked back to Ander's right hand. There had been so much blood when he found him. Ander had gotten through his skin, tendons, and veins, and had started sawing through the bone, before he'd stopped him. Will rubbed his eyes. He still wasn't sure how Ander hadn't passed out from the pain.

Ander told him, in his crazed state, that his hands were evil. They'd done things he couldn't live with, so he had to cut them off. It took months for him to heal up, and Mason used a shit ton of magic to make sure it healed right, only for Ander to try again. Will hadn't caught him until it was almost too late. Worse than his first try, he was positive his cousin was screwed and his left hand was fucked forever. Will blinked back the moisture in his eyes, still staring at Ander's left hand. Unbelievably, it healed and worked perfectly.

"Do you want to know the translation?" Ander asked in a pained voice, stretching out his palm.

"Yeah," Will answered in a rough voice. He retrieved a beer and opened it, needing to get that shit out of his brain.

Ander glanced at the bathroom door. "This, of course, will not be perfect. I do not know Greek, and I am going from memory-"

"I know, get to it before she gets out," Will cut him off.

"I think the gorgon asked about us, referring to us as minions," Ander began. Minions? That was a weird choice of words. "Then she asked... do you no longer serve him?"

"Serve who?" Will asked. Ander shrugged. Will waved his hand at Ander. "Go on."

"Maeve said to it "I do not serve him," Ander told him. "This part is a bit confusing, because I can not figure out all the words, but the gorgon replied with something similar to "I am mortal... him. I do not want to die, I want left alone." Ander paused. "The last thing Maeve said before you cut off its head was "leave them alone."

That might have been why Maeve was upset when he'd beheaded it. Will emptied the beer bottle. He didn't like that Maeve spoke to the gorgon, and he didn't like that the blood hadn't hurt her at all. He didn't want Maeve to get hurt, but fuck, it didn't even sting.

Will grabbed another beer and emptied it. He was trying to ignore the obvious. Part of him screamed at him for being so stupid - she had to be a creature. Everything pointed to it.

She is your mate. Stop being ignorant, the voice barked at him.

Will scratched the back of his head and took a deep breath. He needed to chill out until Mason found something. He knew Mason. She wouldn't stop until she got the answer. Just needed to calm the fuck down.

Maeve opened the bathroom door, looking gorgeous. He loved the way her wet hair draped down on her back. He strode up to her and took her mouth with his, breathing in her scent of fresh leaves and cloves. His body relaxed into hers, and for a heartbeat, everything blurred around them. 

The only sound he perceived was the steady rhythm of their hearts. The weight he always carried on his shoulders lifted and floated away. His hands threaded in her hair, and he felt that with her there, in his arms, he could go anywhere - travel to places he'd never seen, or even believed existed. All he needed was this - her. He could be something more, better, if she was at his side. She was the answer. The air he had to have to breathe.

"Should we move the furniture back now?" Ander asked, louder than usual, and interrupted their moment.

Will pulled his lips from Maeve and glared at his cousin. Ander stared at him impassively and waited. Will's rage flared, and he wanted to gut him for interrupting.

"I can help if you want," Maeve's soft voice said beside him.

He snapped his head back to her. His anger disappeared at the sound of her voice. "No, it's fine. We got this."

They moved the furniture mostly back to where it'd been. He ignored the pain in his fingertips. "I'm gonna go grab dinner. You want anything specific?" He glanced at Maeve as he finished another beer.

Maeve shook her head, smiling in a way that made his groin tight. He cleared his throat. Maybe he should tell Ander to get dinner. Almost on cue, Ander walked into the bathroom.

Shit. He kissed Maeve lightly on her rosebud lips and made sure he didn't let himself linger, or he wouldn't leave for dinner.

"Be safe," she whispered.

"As safe as I always am." He gave her his charming smile and winked before he grabbed the keys and went out of the door.