Because Reece was going to come with him,becauseof him, because that empathy was drinking in his feelings and Grayson’s pleasure was his pleasure—
That tumble of thoughts pushed him over the edge. He fumbled for Reece’s hand as he came, hearing the audible gasp as he linked their fingers, and felt Reece’s shuddering under him as he fell apart too.
In the afterglow, he rested on top of Reece, their still-joined hands cradled on the pillow next to Reece’s head. He wasn’t ready to move, but he aligned their palms together, fingers still entwined, and ran his thumb along the side of Reece’s hand in a light caress, hoping that empathy could pick up all the affection he couldn’t yet put into words. He heard Reece swallow. Then lips brushed his hair. Message received, then.
There was so much still to come, so much still to deal with, so much still to process, for both of them. But for this moment, they were safe here, together. And Grayson’s heart—once so shattered he hadn’t wanted to feel anymore, so broken he’d chosen the path of the Dead Man—finally had a reason to heal.
“Care Bear?” he heard himself whisper.
“What, baby?”
“Is this feeling what I think it is?”
Reece squeezed his hand. “Yeah,” he whispered back. “And I love you too.”
Epilogue
Three weeks after the panic at Lumen Field, Seattle still has questions: Where did the rampages come from? How did they start? What really happened that day?
We’ve all heard the rumors that empaths were involved, but savvy readers of the number one empathy advocacy blog in the Pacific Northwest are too smart to fall for that. WE know empaths can’t even WATCH football.
And we also know the REAL questions Seattle should be asking: Who is the true mastermind behind a story like this? Why do they want to turn the rest of us against the empaths? Which politicians and corporations have the most to gain from xenophobia?
Read on for a post byEyes on Empaths’ hottest new guest blogger—I promise no one is ready for him.
—Gretel Macy, blogging forEyes on Empaths
Reece squinted at Grayson’s laptop, which was open on the studio’s island kitchen counter, his internet browser launched to a familiar website with its familiar banner sprawling across the top of the page.
Well. Mostly familiar.
“Number one empathy advocacy blog,” Reece read out loud. “Huh.”
On the other side of the studio, Grayson was pacing back and forth, having a one-sided conversation into the phone against his ear. “Yes. Yes, ma’am, I still think the same thing, that Alex will have gone to ground if he’s smart, which he is. You’re not gonna find him anytime soon.”
At Reece’s elbow, his own phone chirped. He pushed up the sleeve of the University of Texas hoodie, which had slipped down to cover his hand again, and lifted the phone from the counter to see a text from Jamey, who was on her way to stay with Liam’s family.
Jamey:Just landed in Juneau. Yes, Diesel stayed behind at the new facility with Aisha. Yes, all the empaths are okay. And yes, you still have to stay far away from Orion.
Reece’s throat tightened. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair that he was free and the others were locked away in the Orion facility in BC. It didn’t matter that their rooms had mountain views and saunas and cold plunge tubs; gilded prisons were still prisons, and maybe Reece still couldn’t remember what all he’d done under corruption’s influence, but he was certain he belonged behind bars.
Reece:I deserve the same fate
He sent the text to Jamey. He’d said it to her a thousand times already, but the guilt wouldn’t let him go.
Across the studio, Grayson was still on the phone. “No.No, ma’am, I’m quite sure I don’t want to meet with him. I appreciate the update, but respectfully, Senator Braun is still not my problem.”
Reece’s phone chirped again.
Jamey:I’m going to choose not to be insulted by your ongoing implications that Evan and I are flailing idiots who don’t know what we’re doing by leaving you in Seattle.
Jamey:But try to remember that we care about the Orion empaths too. We’re going to help them. ALL of them. And you’ll help us help them—when it’s SAFE. Not just for you, for EVERYONE.
“You fighting with your sister again?”
Reece looked up from his phone as Grayson joined him at the counter. “How’d you guess?”
He brushed his finger gently down Reece’s forehead. “Your brow’s furrowed.”
