Maybe not only a roommate, then.It sounded like something deeper, maybe even lovers, but it wasn’t Vale’s business.He didn’t care who Alex and Morgan were to each other.He cared that Morgan probably had answers to their questions.
“What happened?”he asked.“And did you call the cops?”
“I wanted to, but Morgan said not to,” Alex answered, sounding grumpy.“So instead, I called my dad.He’s a security guard.At the very least, he can make sure we’re safe.”
So Vale and Cyril didn’t have a lot of time to convince Morgan to hear them out.They could probably pass this off as Cyril being worried for a friend, but Alex knew that Morgan didn’t know Cyril.He looked willing to listen to them, though, which was a plus.
“This guy was standing in our living room,” Morgan told Vale, sounding a little spooked.“I’ve never seen him before.I asked him what he was doing there, and he said he was going to save my family or something like that.I told him to fuck off, but he had a knife.I thought for sure I was going to die, and that’s when Alex came back.He opened the door, and the guy ran right past him.”
“I can’t tell you how scared I was when someone pushed me aside to run out into the hallway,” Alex said.“I freaked out.”
“You screamed so loudly you woke up the neighbors,” Morgan said, clearly teasing him.He turned back to Vale and Cyril.“A few of them came to check in on us.I told them what happened because I wanted to be sure that no one was going to get hurt.”
“I don’t think the guy is still in the building,” Vale said.“But just in case, you should come with us.”
“We don’t know you,” Alex argued.
Morgan touched Alex’s arm.“They don’t mean any harm.Cyril is telling the truth.He’s a necromancer.I can feel it.”
“Doesn’t mean they won’t hurt you,” Alex told him, not bothering to lower his voice.He clearly didn’t care if Vale and Cyril could hear him.Vale kind of liked him and how fierce he was when it came to protecting Morgan.
“We won’t hurt anyone,” Cyril promised.“And if it makes you feel better, you can come with us, Alex.”
Vale groaned.Their apartment was barely big enough for the two of them.It had been a tight fit when John had been staying with them, recuperating.Having two guys sharing that space would make things even tighter, and that was without considering Oscar, who freaked out most of the people who met him.
There was no other way, though.They needed to talk to Morgan, and right now was the worst time to do it.Morgan was scared and all over the place, and they couldn’t leave him here in case the killer came back.That meant taking both Morgan and Alex back to the apartment.
Vale suspected he wasn’t going to get a lot of sleep tonight.
Chapter Eight
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CYRIL WAS PRETTY SUREthat his apartment was about to explode.It wasn’t big enough to contain this many people.He didn’t even have enough chairs, which was why Rachel was sitting on the floor, her computer in her lap.Cyril had offered to let her sit in his spot, but she’d refused.
He looked around.He’d been surprised when Rachel had appeared at his front door, but maybe he shouldn’t have been.She and Russell had always been there for Vale, and since Vale loved Cyril, they were here for him, too.Cyril had become friends with them, and he knew they would work as hard as Vale to keep him safe.That meant stopping the killer, which was why they were all gathered here today.
Russell and Robbie were there, too, sitting together on the couch.Morgan and Alex had taken chairs from the tiny dining area so they could sit, while Cyril and Vale were squished on an armchair.It was an extremely tight fit, which was probably why Rachel had refused it.She seemed more comfortable on the floor.
“Let’s go over what we know again,” Rachel declared.
Cyril noticed Alex leaning closer to Morgan.Oscar was in Morgan’s lap, looking blissful as Morgan petted him.Cyril wasn’t offended that his pet was dedicating time to Morgan.The poor man needed some comfort, and he’d been delighted and in awe when he’d met Oscar.Alex was a little worried, which wasn’t a surprise since he wasn’t a necromancer.He’d looked mildly panicked when Morgan had asked Cyril to teach him how to make himself a pet, so maybe Cyril would wait to do that.They had other things to focus on first, anyway.
“Morgan, you were in your apartment,” Rachel said.“You don’t know how this guy came in.”
“I have no idea,” Morgan told her.“I came home from work, and everything seemed normal.Now, I’m starting to wonder if he was hiding in the closet or something.”
“Wouldn’t he have attacked right away if he had been?”Alex asked.
“Not from what we know from the other murders,” Rachel told him.“This isn’t his first rodeo.He was waiting for the right moment.It felt like he wanted Morgan to know why he was killing him.He definitely wanted Morgan’s attention.”
“And he got it,” Morgan grumbled.“The guy was creepy.What did he mean by saving my family?”
Cyril didn’t want to go into the details, but Morgan should know so that even if they found the killer and managed to stop him, Morgan could never get close to the Threshold.
Something told Cyril that he wouldn’t.From what Cyril understood, Morgan didn’t use his ability.He had a normal job, and he wasn’t a very strong necromancer.There was still a chance he might get closer to the Threshold, but it didn’t seem likely.It made Cyril wonder why the killer had chosen Morgan.Was he moving on to killing every necromancer he found?Any of them might one day get closer to the Threshold, after all.Or had Morgan been an opportunity the killer hadn’t been able to say no to?Maybe Morgan had been the easiest target to get to tonight.
Except he hadn’t been because he was here and alive.
