Jagged Embrace

Chapter 48 - Will

Will cracked his neck and stretched out his shoulders before he rolled out of bed. He paused and peered at Maeve sleeping in Ander's bed. Ander was still in the bathroom. He'd been on the phone for over an hour with various officials gathering information. It'd been a long night, but they had a plan.

Mason had told him they needed to wait for backup, which, of course, Ander agreed with, but Will had no interest in it. After a painfully long conversation with Mason while he smoked, he'd relented. He made it clear that if the other soldiers weren't there by tomorrow, they were going in anyway. He couldn't leave a fleabag running around on a full moon, especially one that seemed to have better control of its beast.

Ander and he had bickered, but eventually came to a compromise about Maeve. Neither of them wanted her there tonight or tomorrow. It was too dangerous. Too many things they couldn't control. Will rubbed his face. It was so fucked up. He hadn't even got to have sex with her yet and all he did was fucking worry she was gonna die. It pissed him off; he couldn't stop thinking about it. It pissed him off she seemed so intent on fucking arguing with him all the time. It pissed him off that he had no goddamn idea what he was gonna do about her.

He couldn't keep obsessing about her dying all the time. Maybe it was what Mason meant before. It wasn't about the money, or that she might be a monster. It was this. His eyes flicked back to Maeve. It was so much easier to function without her. She should leave - he wanted her to leave.

No.

She was like the fucking air to breathe. He rubbed the back of his head and grabbed the bottle of bourbon and poured himself breakfast.

The bathroom door opened. Ander glanced at Maeve before he sat in the new chair they'd gotten to replace the broken one. He typed and then paused. "Do you think Maeve will realize?"

"That we knocked her out?" Will asked.

Ander nodded.

Will shrugged. "Maybe, just blame me. She already believes I'm an asshole." He poured himself another glass.

"I will not lie if she questions me. We both agreed on the course of action," Ander replied.

"Your funeral. She'll spazz out again." Will tipped the glass back.

"She would not be wrong to be livid."

"True. We'll have to dose her again tonight."

"She would not understand the gravity of the situation," Ander replied.

"Nope, and if she realizes what we've done, she won't trust us," Will said and drank the rest of his glass. "How in the nine fucks are we going to manage this in the future?"

Ander stared at his keyboard. "Perhaps we could attempt to trust her judgment."

"That's rich coming from the guy who gave her meds to knock her ass out," Will said and refilled his glass.

Ander shifted in his seat.

"I thought you were against putting her to sleep?"

"I did not want to spell her to sleep. The risk is too great," Ander snapped at him. "This is not the same. I am familiar with the medication. It is the only reason I agreed. You are correct, though, it is not sustainable."

"I didn't think you'd agree when I suggested it, honestly." Will emptied his glass. After they had found the body of the victim, he'd just about lost his shit. If Ander hadn't agreed to knock Maeve out, he wasn't sure how he would have reacted. The only thing he was certain about was that he refused to lose another female he cared about to a fleabag.