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“Always do.” I reached for the handle of the door and yanked it open. “The Towers are a few blocks to the right. Think you can find your way?”
“What do you care?”
“I don’t want your death on my conscience.”
“No fear of that,” Gavin said as he began to walk backward, then he turned away from me and continued up the alley. “I’m pretty sure you don’t have one.”
As I stood there watching him go, I cursed myself—and him—for the fact that I let go of the door and followed after him. It wasn’t until I saw him weaving his way through the handful of people out this late that I stopped, satisfied he’d made it out of the alley and onto the well-lit city street. Then I turned and headed back to the entrance underground.
I might not havemuchof a conscience, but what little I had seemed to be laser focused on Gavin Truitt.
ELEVEN
gavin
I LAY IN bed wide awake as the minutes and then hours ticked by. As much as I hated myself for it, I couldn’t sleep knowing Daire was still out there. What if he’d gone back to whatever fight club situation that was and gotten into some kind of trouble? It wasn’t like he had anyone to back him up. Sure, he could hold his own—I’d seen that with my own eyes—but in a tag-team situation, would that still be true?
A small noise had me lifting my head, waiting for Daire to walk in the front door, but it proved to be a false alarm.
I couldn’t stop the anxiety curling and spreading through my body as I glanced at the clock again. It was a little after five a.m. and he still wasn’t back yet. He wasn’t usually out this late, and now knowing what he’d willingly walked back into, what he did on these nights out, I doubted I’d ever sleep again on nights like this.Morningslike this.
The front door opened suddenly, and I shot up in the bed, my heart beating fast. Part of me wanted to go out there, make sure he was still in one piece and didn’t need an ambulance, but the other part of me couldn’t shake all the things he’d said to push me away.
He didn’t want my help. He didn’t need it. And when I heard his bedroom door close without him coming in to apologize or show me he was alive, the concern I’d been feeling the last few hours abruptly switched to anger.
Good, he was home safe. But fuck him for the fact that he gave no shits about himself or anyone else.
I had half a mind to go beat down his door and give him another piece of my mind, but God forbid he might twist it and think I want to fuck him.
Besides, nothing seemed to get through that thick skull of his, so anything I did would be futile. It would make me feel better to yell at him, though. Or would it? Because all I’d felt walking away from him after our fight was rage and exasperation, and that was exhausting. Worrying about someone you couldn’t even get answers out of was bullshit. I didn’t understand him at all, and that was the way Daire seemed to want it.
So why, after all the shit he said to me, am I still awake thinking about it?
With a frustrated sigh, I fell back on my pillow and forced myself to shut my eyes and try for a couple hours’ sleep. What a wasted night. I barely remembered the date I’d gone on before this whole thing with Daire exploded so spectacularly, and it wasn’t Trevor’s face I saw behind my eyelids.
It was Daire’s. That defiant confidence as he’d walked into the circle to challenge the Destroyer. I’d been so shocked at where following him underground had taken me that I was only now remembering the way he’d laid into the bigger guy without letting him land a blow. Obviously that wasn’t always the case, if the bruises on his back and torso were anything to go by.
But no one had touched him tonight. He’d taken out several people in the crowd as well, in a way that was instinctual, doing it without having time to consider the consequences.
Now that the overwhelming terror I’d felt watching him had faded somewhat, I could acknowledge that he was an impressive fighter. I’d always assumed he honed his muscles in the gym, not beating people half to death, but it was clear he wasn’t just good at it, not with a nickname like Reaper. He was great. The fact that Joey even stillhada face told me Daire had held back and kept his promise of not killing the guy.
The thought had an ember of something warming my chest, but just as quickly as I felt it, it was snuffed out by the words he’d spat my way.
Goddamn, why did he have to be such a dick?
LESS THAN TWO hours of sleep made me a grumpy bastard the next morning. I’d fully expected to go through our usual non-speaking morning routine while getting ready for school, but Daire was already gone when I ventured into the kitchen.
How did I know that he wasn’t dead on his mattress? Because I’d knocked on his door and, when he didn’t answer, checked his room to make sure he was alive. If I hadn’t heard him come home earlier, I would’ve freaked out, but this was pure avoidance, and if he wanted to play that game, so be it.
I thought about telling the guys what had happened on our way to Astor, since Daire didn’t make an appearance there either, but something held me back. I didn’t know why, but it felt like the right thing to do, keeping Daire’s secret even though he hadn’t kept mine. He’d done it for my benefit, though, even if I didn’t see it that way at the time, and what good would come from the other guys knowing? They’d only venture down into the tunnel and put themselves and Daire in danger.
So I kept quiet, too tired to contribute much to the conversation, and made sure to hit up the coffee bar the second I walked into Astor. I’d need more than what I’d finished off atmy place if I was going to make it through the day with my eyes open.
I turned down the hall, on my way to my first class, and stopped short when I saw the three guys gathered up ahead.Shit.That was all I needed this morning—Joey and his band of dicks all hanging out by the lecture hall I needed to go in. Usually I got there early so I would miss this exact thing. They were less likely to bother me when surrounded by others—yes, they were still bothering me, all these months later.
Why couldn’t Joey just let it go already? Oh, wait, he was an egotistical asshole who’d been handed his ass for everyone to see. So now he was making it his personal mission to make my life hell—whenever I was alone, that was.
My grip on the coffee cup tightened as I braced myself for the usual onslaught of insults about to be hurled my way. I probably should’ve told my brother what was going on, but that would only lead to even more retaliation from the guys. And since that was what had landed me in this position to start with, I figured the best course of action was to ignore Joey and his goons. They’d get bored eventually, right?
