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“They don’t have to tell anyone that; people can see,” I said and he whipped around, smacking me in the chest.
“BUM!” he screeched, then coughed weakly.
“Owain—”
“How do you know? You’re gonna tell me right now or I swear to god I’ll…I’ll…”
“You’ll what?” I asked. “Wear trousers?”
“I just might!” He stuck his nose in the air and for a moment it dawned on me that he might actually go through with it.
“You wouldn’t hurt me like that,” I said sweetly, trying to coax him back into a decent mood so we could finally talk to each other openly. I needed to know what I was up against. I needed to know how to keep him safe so something like that literal nightmare NEVER happened again.
“I would when you’re being a bum,” he said, but it came out weak.
“I’m not being a bum, love. I just want to help you.”
“Talking to my family isn’t helping, though.” His lip wobbled. “Working for them isn’t helping. Being on their side isn’t helping.”
“But I’m not doing any of those things,” I said, wrapping my arms around him and holding him close while he made a very feeble attempt to walk away before folding into me. “Not anymore. They hired ExorSquad, sure, but I did nothing they asked of me. I’m literally here with you because I picked your side, whatever that means. And…I didn’t talk to them.”
“Then who?” Owain asked. “Who told you?”
“Just tell him, Ryan.” Bronwyn’s voice carried through the wall and Owain stiffened.
“YOU!” He pointed at a random wall accusingly. “How could you?”
“You were going to get yourself killed, boy,” she replied from a spot that definitely wasn’t the one Owain was pointing to. I took his finger and redirected it towards her voice. Just felt like his stance had more impact that way.
“I wasn’t—”
“Yes, you were,” she said, blunt as ever. “You have absolutely no idea what you’re doing. Other than your never-ending enthusiasm and kindness you’re about as well equipped for this job as Ryan is for his.”
“HEY!” Owain said, but I remained silent. She wasn’t wrong.
“After that terrible ghostly girl kept us up all night making a racket we sat down and clued Ryan in.”
“We?” Owain asked. “All of you were in on it? Is this a coup? An uprising? Is this how leaders feel when their people turn on them after everything they’ve done to keep them happy?”
He slumped into my arms theatrically and I pulled him across the floor towards the chair, settling into it with him back on my lap.
“They did it to protect you,” I said. “They told me the bare bones I needed to know to at least try and keep you alive. Not that you’re making it easy for me.”
“Well what am I supposed to do?” Owain asked. “There’s this…gnawing need inside me to help, and I have ZERO knowledge or resources to actually do it. My family won’t help me and I don’t know any other human psychopomps, so I’m just doing the best I can on my own.”
His eyes filled with tears of frustration and I cradled him closer.
“Okay,” I crooned. “But you’re not on your own anymore, are you, love?”
He sniffed cutely. “I…I’m not?”
“The fuck am I, a decoration?” I asked, throwing one arm out wide.
He snorted a bit through his tears. “You are very pretty,” he said, sounding small and dejected despite the joke.
“And you are lovely. And also very proud and very against accepting help.”
“I have nobody to ask.”
