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Carter takes a drink. It’s strong, but good. Really fucking good. He offers the bottle to Nathan. He takes it with a warm smile, bringing it to his lips. Carter has never been so jealous of a bottle.
Nathan hands the bottle back and Carter immediately takes another drink. It has absolutely nothing to do with the way he wishes he could feel Nathan’s lips against his own.
“So… what happens after the party?” Carter asks, since that’s where Nathan had left off when explaining the plan. There will be a party with spiked drinks and undercover men and back-up waiting outside, and everyone will either be killed or taken into custody of the agency Nathan works for. But they never broached the topic ofafter.
“Right after? Or as a whole after?”
“Both.”Nathan shifts on the bed, giving Carter more space than Carter wants.Probably for the best.“Well, right after, you’ll be brought to a safehouse. You and Casey both. Any slaves from here that want to be brought there will come after everyone has been rounded up and checked on medically, but you and Casey will go immediately.”
Carter’s stomach twists. “Without you?”
“I’ll come later. So will Maison and Benny.”
“I’ll wait.”
Nathan jerks his head firmly. “No, you will not. The minute we get you out of there, you will go. The three of us can’t do what we need to do if we’re worried about you and Casey. When it’s time, you will go. Promise me.”
The urge to argue rumbles beneath Carter’s surface, but he shoves it down as far as it can go and washes it away with another pull of tequila. This isn’t the time to be stubborn or a brat. This is the time to listen to the expert. To obey.
“Fine. I promise.”
The way Nathan’s shoulders relax at his words makes them a little easier to handle. “Thank you.”
“Just… promise you’ll come later. That you and Maison – even Benny – come back safe.”
He smiles softly. “I’m going to do my best to get us all out safely.”
His best isn’t good enough, but Carter is too afraid to say that in case other things come out with it. He goes the safer route and asks, “And what about as a whole after?”“That’s up to you. There will be options. I know Maison would like you to stay at the safehouse for a while, until you’re healed and back on your feet. I – well, I’d like that too.” He clears his throat, cheeks a little red. It’s unfairly adorable. Carter tries to hate it - hatehim. He fails miserably. “After the safehouse, you can either try to go out into the world as yourself again, though we don’t recommend that for anyone because no matter how hard we try, there will always be loose ends after this and loose ends hold grudges. Or you can take a new identity and start over.”
“Just… start over?”
“Yes.”
“Do I get a say? In the identity or the life?”
“Not the identity, no. But what you do with the identity is up to you. College. Travel the world. Spend a year doing nothing but sitting on a beach. Whatever else you want to do. You’ll have enough money to be comfortable forever, so…”
Carter fiddles with his moose’s antlers. “When this all first happened, all I wanted was to go back to school. To fight against this world.”
“You don’t feel that way anymore?” Nathan asks, not an ounce of judgement in his voice.
“I… don’t think so, no.” He swallows hard, feeling a little guilty for that. “I just – I don’t know. I don’t know what I want to do.”
“That’s perfectly fine.”
“What would you do? If you were me, instead of you. If you were a slave.”
Nathan’s eyebrows raise. “Wow. I… don’t know, actually. I’ve never thought about it.”
“What did you want to do before the military? Like, what was your dream growing up?”
He smiles wryly, stealing the bottle from Carter and taking a drink. He sighs when he hands it back, shaking his head. “You’ll laugh.”
“Try me.”
“I wanted to be an artist.”
Carter nearly chokes on his sip of tequila. He coughs, then laughs. “What?”
