Ciaran relented with a smile. “You’re worried about my reaction...”
“I lied to you. I lied to everyone,” Aurin said. Salem rubbed Aurin’s back, and the contact was so welcome. So needed. By the gods, he’d never needed Salem more than he did right then. He gave him a smile of appreciation before meeting Ciaran’s eyes again. “I am sorry about that. Not for protecting Salem. I’m not sorry about that. But I am sorry if you feel you can’t trust me again. I would understand, though, and I wouldn’t blame you for putting the consortium first?—”
“Hey,” Ciaran said, shaking his head. “I don’t blame you.”
Aurin’s hearts squeezed with hope. “You don’t?”
“Of course not,” he said, and the relief that coursed through Aurin was a palpable, physical thing. He didn’t even knowhow much he needed to hear that from Ciaran until this very moment.
He became teary. “Thank you.”
Salem pulled him into his side, sliding his arm around his shoulders. “Oh, my sweet little one,” he murmured, kissing the side of Aurin’s head.
“I thought you’d be so mad,” Aurin said to Ciaran. “Maybe want us to leave...”
“What?” Sawyer exclaimed. “Never.”
“I get why you did it,” Ciaran said. “Like you said, it was to protect Salem, and I can admit that when it happened, I was mad. But I was mad at a lot of things. At Lusca for hurting Sawyer, mostly. And yes, it stung that you hid the truth about Salem from me. But what you said about Mimics being hunted....” He gave Salem a sad smile. “That put it into perspective. It’s truly awful what happened to your kind, Salem. I can’t imagine what you’ve been through.” He put a protective arm around Sawyer and met Aurin’s gaze once more. “I understand the need to protect the one you love. I’d be a hypocrite if I was mad at you over that, and I’d never ask you to leave. But please, if you ever have something you want to tell me, my door is open, always. For both of you.”
“Thank you,” Aurin said, his chin wobbling. “It means a lot.”
Ciaran smiled. “And maybe when you’re both rested and recovered, you can tell me more about your time in the mountains and the folk you met there.”
Aurin sniffed and wiped his eye, nodding. “Yeah. I’d like that.”
Sawyer reached out and lightly touched Aurin’s arm. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
He nodded, a little mad at himself for being so emotional. “I’m just really tired and glad to be home. And relieved Ciaran’s not mad at me.”
Sawyer’s face softened, and he gave Aurin’s arm a squeeze. “You should go get some sleep. We cleared out Tobin’s place. Figured you wouldn’t want to be sharing with the newly bonded throuple.” He made a face. “We can help move your things over tomorrow. Get you both set up in there. It’s a cute little place, right on the water. Or there’s an old place behind the police station. We can look at it tomorrow, if you’d prefer something a bit bigger?—”
“Tobin’s old place will be perfect,” Aurin said.
Sawyer smiled. “It’s super cute. We can help you make it more your own tomorrow.” Before Aurin could tell him that wasn’t necessary, he added, “It’s your first place together on your own. Playing house is fun.”
“You can’t lift anything,” Ciaran reminded him, holding up Sawyer’s casted arm. “You’re supposed to be resting it.”
“I can supervise while you lift all the heavy stuff,” Sawyer told him. “I’ll be fine.”
Then Sawyer studied Aurin’s face again before he looked at Salem. “He needs some sleep. Take him home. We’ll see you both tomorrow.”
Salem nodded. “We shall look forward to it. Hopefully some normalcy has returned to life in Tenebrae.”
Ciaran chuckled. “As normal as it can be here.”
“Thank you, both,” Aurin mumbled, barely able to keep his eyes open. He really was exhausted.
“Okay, my love,” Salem said, his arm around Aurin. “That’s our cue, I’m afraid. Sleep can wait no longer.”
CIARAN
Ciaran and Sawyer watched as Salem led Aurin outside and across to the pier and Tobin’s old place.
“Aurin thought you were going to ask him to leave,” Sawyer said with a frown. “He must have been so worried.”
“Hmm.” Ciaran sighed. “What does it say about me as a leader that he thought that? I would never ask him to leave.”
“He’s exhausted,” Sawyer explained. “He’s had a dreadful few weeks, sitting bedside vigil for days when he thought Salem was going to die. I doubt he slept at all.”
