Fear the Reaper [malexmale]

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

"This is insane," Rowan concluded as we sat in the living room. Simon continued to smoke like a chimney, having popped into the kitchen for a bag of funyuns that he was now inhaling like a vaccum cleaner. Meanwhile, Rowan was sitting in his armchair, facing me with his arms draped across his knees, his black eyes narrowed as he ran through my plan in his head, probably trying to find a reason to take back his offer for help. And yet, oddly enough, he wasn't telling me to go fuck myself and returning to his old lady news station.

He just didn't look too pleased with it. Not that I blamed him, because it was going to be both awkward and intense.

I needed to get those books, though. I needed to get into Joxeia's office, occupy his time, and have Rowan find and snatch the books for me in a way that he won't be detected by Jo. Of course, one would warn me no, Stanton, don't, he'll steal the books from you. No, he wouldn't. If Rowan wanted to get those books back from Joxeia so badly, he would've gone and gotten them himself, with Simon, days before I got out of the hospital. Instead, here he was, offering to help me, at the risk of an awkward and uncomfortable situation.

Not to mention, I remembered his conversation from earlier with Simon. Rowan liked me, and I was starting to debate whether that like was platonic or romantic. Either way, I could use it to my advantage. Rowan wasn't going to hurt me or take the books without my knowing. His offer was genuine, and so was the look that finally settled upon his expression as he came to his conclusion.

"When should we leave?" He asked. I glanced at the clock, then took out the scrap of paper with Joxeia's office hours.

"Says he's open from eight to five. Or seventeen. Or whatever time frame pleases you. We should leave in about ten minutes so we can get there around lunch. Joxeia will happily cut out his lunch hour just to talk to me. Trust me." I stood up and Rowan followed suite, nodding slowly as if he already understood without my needing to explain anything further.

Joxeia would jump on the chance to help me. He'd pretty much shat on me in the past and he'd see this as a fantastic opportunity to patch things up between us. And poor Jo saw the good in everyone. Too bad for him that there was no more good left in me, apparently.

"Watch the house," Rowan told Simon, who tilted his head back to look up at us boredly, "We'll be back in a couple of hours. Think you can handle that?"

"I am so fucked right now, I don't even think I can get up to piss," Simon responded flatly, then turned back to the television. Rowan looked back at me, his flat expression making me smirk. We left the house and he locked the door behind him. I turned to Rowan, who took a deep breath and cracked his neck from side to side. I stepped out from under the small roof overhead and into the sunlight that shone down overhead, casting a shadow just below me.

Rowan stood in the shadow of the roof, his eyes closed. His image began to fade, like he was becoming transparent, only darker and darker until he was nothing but a filmy black shadow that blended in with his surroundings. It was almost like watching him disappear, except he latched onto my shadow a second later.

A shudder went through me, raced up my spine. I sucked in a deep breath, feeling a tingle rush through my bones, centering at the back of my neck. Jesus, it was like a strange little brain orgasm or something. I glanced down at the shadow on the ground. I could feel Rowan there. I could feel him almost as if he were connected to me. And oddly enough, for the first time since I was with Alaric, I didn't feel alone. To test it out, I walked to the end of the walkway and my shadow followed along as it should. Nothing out of the ordinary, nothing strange or funny about it. A few people passed by on the street, some pausing to wave, others smiling, and some just kept going. No one suspected Rowan was even present.