Cyril did, body tensing and then melting as he came.Vale followed seconds later, burying his face in Cyril’s neck as pleasure washed over him.
They stayed like that for a long moment, breathing hard, stuck together in the most perfect way.Finally, Vale carefully pulled out and rolled to the side, immediately pulling Cyril close again because even one second away from him felt too long right now.
Cyril curled into him, head on his chest, one leg thrown over Vale’s hip.Vale ran his fingers through Cyril’s hair, feeling more settled than he had in days, even though the danger was still out there, lurking.
“Thank you,” Cyril whispered.
“For what?”
“For not giving up on me.For fighting for us even when I was struggling.”
Vale pressed a kiss to the top of his head.“I’ll always fight for us.”
Cyril was quiet for a moment, then asked, “Even if I cross over?Even if the Threshold changes me?”
“Even then.”Vale meant it with everything in him.“I don’t care what you become, Cyril.You’re mine, and I’m yours.That’s not going to change.”
He felt more than heard Cyril’s soft sob.He held him tighter, letting him cry and release all the fear and stress he’d been holding.When Cyril finally settled down, Vale wiped away his tears with gentle fingers.
“We’re going to be okay,” Vale said.“Whatever happens with Meridian and whatever you learn about the Threshold, we’re going to get through it.Together.”
Cyril nodded against his chest.“Together,” he repeated.
They fell asleep tangled together, holding on tight to each other.Oscar eventually joined them, curling up at the foot of the bed like he always did.Vale’s last thought before sleep claimed him was that this was worth fighting for.It was worth everything.
Tomorrow they’d continue looking for answers and face whatever the Threshold meant.But tonight, they had this.They had each other.
And that was enough.
Chapter Seven
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CYRIL’S EYES STARTEDstinging as soon as he realized what was happening, except they weren’t his eyes.He didn’t know whose body he was in, whose life he was about to see end, but the thought that this was happening again so soon after Marcus and Diana made him want to scream.He tried to open his mouth to do just that, but of course, he couldn’t.
It wasn’t his mouth.It wasn’t his body.
He looked around, trying to understand where he was.Whoever he was in was sitting on the couch watching TV.The rest of the room was mostly dark, as was the sky outside the window.Cyril stared at the building outside the window for way too long before he realized that he recognized it.The morgue was in that neighborhood, and Cyril walked past this building every time he went there, which happened pretty often.He was pretty sure he knew which building and apartment the person he was in lived in.
That gave him a thrill.He hadn’t recognized anything in Marcus’s home, and while he’d found out where Diana lived thanks to Rachel, it had been too late.When he and Vale had gotten there, she was dead.
But this person—from what Cyril could see, it looked like a man, probably young—lived in a place Cyril already knew.If Cyril woke up, he could go there and hopefully stop the killer.
But how could he?He’d never managed to until the person he was in died.That was what he was here to see.He wasn’t going to let that happen, though.He didn’t know if there was anything he could do to stop it, but he would definitely try.
The man turned his attention back to the TV screen after looking out the window for a few seconds, but that didn’t last long.He grabbed his phone from the couch next to him and unlocked it.Cyril felt bad about reading personal messages, but it wasn’t his fault that the man scrolled to a chat he was having with someone to read them.There was nothing Cyril could do to avoid it.
At least it gave him a name.The person this man was talking to called him Morgan in one of the texts.That gave Cyril a name and a possible address.Now he just needed to get out of the dream.
He knew it was too late when he felt something change.He didn’t think Morgan noticed because he was still focused on his texts, but Cyril was sure someone was in the apartment with them.He’d never had any success manipulating the body he was in during any of his dreams, but he needed to do something, and he needed to do it now.This was probably the only opportunity he’d have to save Morgan’s life.He’d already lost two people.He wasn’t going to lose a third.He realized that it might bring him closer to the Threshold, but it was a risk he was willing to take.
He just wasn’t quite sure how to do it.He was used to manipulating death and people who’d passed away.Morgan was very much alive, so nothing Cyril could do would help.But Morgan was a necromancer, so maybe Cyril could try using necromancy anyway.At the very least, Morgan was bound to recognize that a necromancer was messing with him, right?
Morgan finally noticed movement from the corner of his eye.He turned in that direction, jerking up from the couch when he saw a man standing there.Just like Cyril had suspected, the killer was young.He looked like he was in his early twenties, with blond hair and a casual expression.He didn’t speak of murder, but Cyril knew better.
“Who the fuck are you?”Morgan asked.“How did you get in here?”
The killer shook his head.“That doesn’t matter.”
