Chapter 31

Matt

My heart's in my throat as I stare at Dylan. He knows now. How can he have missed it? Marc hasn't even had time to work out exactly what happened to me, and somehow I have to explain this to Dylan in a way that won't make him think I'm a mutant freak.

I'm barely aware of Rachel's dad's groans and shouting from elsewhere in the house, or the way silence falls suddenly. I'm barely aware of Gus talking to Rachel in a low, urgent voice, or Ian saying to Marc, "Huh… so this is why he's been weird."

My full attention is on Dylan. Who looks confused and surprised, but not… not like he never wants to see me again. Maybe that will come later?

"My apologies for interrupting your very important stare," Marc says smoothly, his hand landing hard on my shoulder. "We need to get this finished before the day begins properly. You'll have plenty of time for your personal crisis then."

I tear my gaze away from Dylan, wishing my new superpowers were enough for me to strangle Marc and not have it be a suicide mission, and follow everyone out into the hallway, where we wait while Rachel gets dressed. When she emerges, she's red-eyed and shaky, but leads the way out to the "dorms" here. This is one of the smaller branches, and there are only seventy-seven demons. Raum gives his speech to them, and then Gus explains to Rachel what she needs to do, and she frees the demons.

When she sees their relief and haste to get through the gateway, the breath she takes is jagged. "We did the right thing," she whispers. "This was wrong, and we fixed it." Tears streak down her cheeks, and Gus puts his arm around her.

"Doesn't mean it's easy," he murmurs, and I feel that right down to my bones. My parents betrayed the Collective and humanity, and they died for it. I stood against them in battle, knowing that if we won, they would die. It was the right thing to do—the only thing to do.

It was also the hardest thing I've ever done. Because even though we weren't close, even though they were asshats and I knew they'd fucked us all, they were still my parents.

"Remember their faces," I say, nodding toward the line of demons finally heading home. "Remember what this means to them."

"It helps," Ian adds.

Rachel turns her teary gaze on us. "How the fuck would you know? Who even are you?"

"That's Ian Massey, Matt Coates, and Dylan Beck," Gus tells her, and her jaw drops.

"I thought Matt Coates was dead! Jed and the others killed him."

I raise a brow at Gus. "Have we already been to Jed's house? If not, I think I'd like to meet him." With my sword.

"We've been to everyone's house," Gus says, and even though he's been in agreement with the plan, there's a trace of bitterness in his voice. "You've had your vengeance on Jed."

"You have so much explaining to do," Rachel informs Gus, just as Raum closes the gateway.

"Not here, I think," Marc interjects. "Only the… sold"—his mouth twists as though tasting something unpleasant—"demons remain in captivity, correct?"

Gus nods. "If there were seventy-seven here?"

"There were," Raum confirms.

"That correlates with the ledger. The remaining demons are scattered across America and the world."

"Then let's regroup," Ian suggests. "We humans need some rest, and Gus and Rachel probably need the chance to talk. We'll go back to California, take a few hours' downtime, then meet up to plan phase two. How's that sound?"

"I will return to Crm?rdinesgh to oversee the repatriation of those demons already freed. That will give me the opportunity to update the list of those still missing, and hopefully get a better idea of numbers," Raum says. He doesn't wait for a reply before disappearing.

Rachel stifles a shriek. She might have guessed that Raum and Marc were higher demons, but seeing it confirmed like that would be startling. I look at Ian.

"Where are Gus and Rachel going to stay? They can't come to the compound." Not yet, anyway. Eventually we'll bring them officially into the Collective, if they want, but until this operation is over, they need to stay under the radar.

"Marc's place," Ian says immediately, and Marc raises an eyebrow.

"I beg your pardon?"

"He's got a great guest room," Ian tells Gus. "It has twin beds and everything. You'll be super comfortable for a few days, until we can get something more permanent organized. We're going to need to find some money…," he muses, then shakes that off. "I'll stay at Marc's, too, so you'll have another human in the house."

"This is getting more and more offensive," Marc comments. "Why do I suddenly have three grubby humans staying at my house?"

"Shush," Ian chides. "Okay, that's settled. We'll go back to Marc's, Matt and Dyl can go home and get some rest, and then we'll all meet up this afternoon to plan our next steps. Hopefully Raum will be back by then too."

"Another houseguest," Marc grumbles. "May we leave this place, then?"

I look around at the rickety bunks and bare walls. I can feel the misery steeped into the very air of this room. Even though I know we'll need to come back to make sure every sign of what happened here is erased, I still don't want to be here any longer.

"Let's go," Dylan says, and I nod.

After leaving Gus and Rachel in Ian's care—and Dylan privately warning Marc to make sure Gus didn't get near his computer—we drive back to the compound in silence. It's been about fourteen hours since we left, but it feels like eternity. And my ordeal isn't over yet.

If Dylan leaves me, I don't know what I'll do.

He waits until we're in the house, door closed behind us, before he asks, "Anything you'd like to tell me?"

"Promise you won't hate me," I blurt. "Even if you leave me, just… I couldn't handle it if you hated me."

His face stills, then he puts a hand on my arm and guides me into the living room. "Maybe we should sit down."

I collapse onto the couch, then instantly leap up and start pacing. "Sorry. Can't sit. I… Just let me get this out."

Dylan sits. "Okay."

"I'm… It's… Fuck." I scrub my hands over my face. "Okay, so the thing is, I don't know all the answers yet. But when Marc healed me, something happened, and I… evolved."

He studies me. "You evolved."

Gulping, I nod. "At first I thought I was going crazy. Then I thought… I thought Marc had maybe turned me into a demon. He says that's impossible, though, so it's not that," I rush to add. "But I can hear better—a lot better—and see, and smell… and I'm stronger. Faster. So… I mean, this could all still be a coma dream. But if you leave me in a coma, I don't think I'll ever wake up in the real world. No pressure, though."

Dylan blinks a few times. "Wait… what? No." He holds up a hand when I open my mouth to repeat it. "Let me just… Your senses are improved, and you have superhuman strength and speed. Is that what you're saying?"

I nod miserably.

"Why didn't you say anything to me about it?"

"I was scared," I admit. "I thought… well, like I said, I thought maybe Marc had accidentally made me a demon, and I didn't think you'd stay with me in that case. Even now, I'm kind of a freak."

He makes a huffing sound that might be a laugh and pinches the bridge of his nose. "Is this why you've been so distant lately? Why you never touch me?"

"I don't want to hurt you," I explain earnestly. "I got kind of rough last time we had sex, and… I can't hurt you, Dyl. It would kill me. Plus, I was worried you'd guess, and I needed to talk to Marc first and see if the demon thing was true."

"Oh my god," he whispers, shaking his head, then looks up at me. "You are such an idiot."

"I know," I agree. "Why?"

Getting up, he crosses to me and wraps his arms around me in a huge, squeezy hug. "I love you, moron, and you were acting like you couldn't stand to be near me. I thought you wanted to break up."

" What? No!" I cringe. "Fuck, I'm sorry. I really am a moron."

"We both are," he concedes. "I should have brought it up, but I thought you were still working through some PTSD from the attack, and I wanted to give you space."

He's being very reasonable, but I'm still filled with guilt that I made him worry even for an instant. "So… now you know the truth. What… What do you think?" I try not to hold my breath.

"What do I think about you having superpowers that will make your job safer for you? Ah, jeez, how about ‘fucking awesome'?" He rests his head against mine and starts to laugh. "You really thought I'd leave you over this? Even knowing how much I worried about your safety?"

When he puts it like that… "It was mostly the demon thing that concerned me. I only got the chance to talk to Marc about it yesterday. He's the one who said I evolved and I'm not in a coma—though I guess I'll never know the truth about that. He's gotta do some more research, though."

Dylan buries his face in my neck. "We're gonna talk about the whole coma thing later," he says, voice muffled. "Along with everything else you and Marc talked about. But right now, I need you to fuck me until I can't see straight."

My dick instantly goes hard. "Yessss," I hiss. "But… what if I hurt you?"

He pulls back and looks me in the eye. "Matty, I don't think you're capable of it. Just in case, though, since you're still learning your new strength, how about I do this thing called telling you how I feel ?" His emphasis on the last words makes me feel stupid. "I have a voice. I'm not afraid to use it. And I know you would never ignore me if I said to stop."

"Never," I swear.

He grins. "Race you to the bedroom."