And yet.
He stayed until the first glimmer of daylight peeked through the edges of the curtains, then slipped back into his own bed.
Chapter Four
Austin pushed a massacred omelette around his plate. “Where is he now?” The flash of appetite from yesterday had deserted him quickly, anxiety over what the day might bring spoiling his willingness to fill his stomach. It didn’t bode well for the amount of food Liam had bought to fill the cupboards and fridge.
Liam eyed Austin’s untouched meal, his own plate empty. “Why don’t you eat first—”
Austin tossed his cutlery carelessly onto the plate and thrust the dish away from him. He fixed a pointed stare on Liam, who frowned at the rejected food.
“You can try a bite and see if the recipe is okay at least. It’s plain, the way you like it.”
The baiting was so obvious that Austin didn’t even respond.
Liam pulled the dish in front of himself, surveying the mutilated remains. “You could keep a run of chickens fed with the amount of food you scrape into the bin.”
“Where is Wilbur?”
Liam sighed. “Wicklow, in Carnew town.”
Apprehension prickled through Austin’s gut. “My old boarding school? What is he doing there?” Austin hadn’t set foot in the place since Cessair dragged Connor back to the lab for close monitoring. Cessair had enjoyed fashioning creativechains that would ensure Connor couldn’t escape him, even if he wasn’t technically locked up in a lab. That had been what Cessair originally wanted to do. Austin had talked him out of it, and to this day, he still didn’t know how. Austin’s voice never worked on Cessair. His working theory was that Cessair had lacked a heart to corrupt.
“Investigating is my guess, not that it will prove fruitful. All your classmates have graduated, and the teachers know better than to talk about you,” Liam said.
They ran the risk of Austin unleashing a tsunami of Cessair’s assets on them if they did, and he’d made damn sure last year that they knew it.
“After that, I’d guess Wilbur will either track down former classmates or try to find you himself.”
How hard would that be? Austin’s residence wasn’t listed anywhere, and though the surrounding lands belonged to him, as far as state records were concerned, they still belonged to the farmers who had sold them. But though this cottage was off-grid—the only person who knew of its existence sitting opposite him—his regular presence in the seaside town just next door was known. He could circumvent that by never going into town ever again. Living the rest of his life within these four walls.
“Connor will be easy to find.”
Liam brought their dirty dishes to the sink. “He’s usually off gallivanting, isn’t he?”
Gallivanting wasn’t the right word. Austin had spied Connor from a distance many times, and his adventures typically led to his nose buried in a book as he lounged somewhere or other on the ocean. Austin had got furiously bored watching him on several occasions, while his new merman boyfriend had basked in his presence, usually with his head resting on Connor’s lap.
Austin decided not to correct Liam’s word choice. “Annoyingly often, yes,” he muttered.
Hands in the sink, Liam peered over his shoulder and studied Austin’s face. That single look was enough for Austin to read the question, and he sneered at the man. “I’m not stalking him,” he denied angrily. “I can just feel when he’s not in this world. It makes me want to tear my skin off.” To alleviate the feeling, Austin had to either drink himself unconscious or travel through that thing after him.
Liam’s steady gaze didn’t falter. “That’s where you disappeared to.”
It was a statement, not a question, so Austin didn’t bother responding. He stalked to the stereo and turned the volume up so high a headache bloomed behind both eyes. Liam’s curse was lost to the noise, and he quickly flicked water off his hand and turned the volume right back down.
“What is blowing out our eardrums meant to accomplish?” Liam asked, put out as he rubbed circles beneath each ear.
“I won’t have to listen to you anymore.”
“What’s it like?” Liam ignored the ill-tempered remark, the same way he seemed determined to ignore everything else ill-tempered about Austin.
“Hot.”
“I figured that much at least. That’s why this area was always a biodiverse hotspot—the warm water flowing in from ‘there’.” Liam dropped his arms and leaned back against the counter. There was a spark of genuine curiosity in his eyes. “There are people?”
“There are more monsters than people,” Austin allowed.
“Mermen?”
