Page 102 of Dead Vengeance

I miss him.

I miss Archer.

thirty

Necromantic Tension

Archer

The sky is grey, the weather’s cold and gloomy, and there’s nothing warm and delicious baking in my oven today. The only smells that reach me are smoke from other people’s chimneys and the black coffee that serves as my breakfast.

Am I punishing myself? Possibly.

Definitely.

Why didn’t I just tell him?

Maybe because when Liam turned up on my doorstep, he was fresh to all of this, and I think he would have thought I was mad.

Maybe because if he knew, it would have scared him.

Maybe because I’ve spent my entire life hiding who I really am because I’ve seen how badly it goes when I tell people.

But I had to tell him. Not just in some vain attempt to hold on to him. He deserves to know. To be able to make sense of what he’s seen here. To be able to decide for himself whether I’m worth the time of day to let me explain.

I check my phone for the billionth time to see if he’s replied, but only my own useless message glares back at me. ‘I miss you already.’

Too weird and too strong, even if I hadn’t scared him half to death yesterday, running off and leaving him like that, coming back with Fabian’s blood all over my hands, right after Liam discovered my office.

Christ, how did he even end up in there? No wonder he’s terrified of me. Even I’d probably think twice about dating me if I saw a room like that.

I’m snapped out of the miserable reverie by a tapping at my window. It’s not as if I could mistake that sound for anyone else, so I throw it open automatically. “Morning, Edgar,” I grumble.

“Kraa!” he shouts.

“What?” I ask.

“Kraa!” he shouts.

“Liam?”

“Kraa!”

“On his way?”

“Kraa!”

“Now?”

“Kraa!”

My heart’s beating so violently it’s like it wants to rip itself out of my chest and run down the laneway to him. “Oh my god. It’s so early. Shit. Do I look all right?”

He gurgles at me.

“Thanks a lot,” I reply sarcastically, checking my pyjamas for coffee drips. “You’re so great for my confidence.”

I get a mocking croak in response.