26. Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Four

T odd tried to talk Ulises out of walking to his appointment. He was still recovering from his head cold and had some congestion. The sinus thing had somehow crawled its ugly way to his chest, making him cough on occasion.

"I'm fine. Plus, Easton could prescribe something for the cough. I'm pretty sure he'll tell me to let it run its course anyway." Ulises waved to a woman across the street. The woman stood in her doorframe with a blue mug in her hand. She was middle-aged but eyed them as if she were trying to figure something out. When Ulises waved to her, she held up her hand, returning the greeting. "I could have walked on my own."

Todd tried to take Ulises' hand, but Ulises pulled away. "You're not one hundred percent yet. You still need us."

Ulises snorted as if he found something funny in that statement. And then he coughed.

To Ulises' point, the phlegm was loose inside his chest. Each cough seemed productive. So he was on the mend, but Todd wasn't ready to let Ulises go. Izzy wasn't ready either.

In terms of making headway toward wooing Ulises, it was two steps forward and one step back. They were in the regressing stage where Ulises wasn't accepting their advances.

Todd had been in the same position not long ago. He hadn't budged even a little either. For Todd the Evan ship had left port for parts unknown and Todd had been happier waving from the shore.

Evan had always been more interested in working, which Todd had understood. Evan was a doctor. Evan had put Todd so far down the priority list, he'd never considered Todd in any decision. That had been why it had been so easy for Evan to choose to have a quick fuck in a supply closet with some random person.

With Izzy, Todd was a consideration. And what was more, Izzy focused on him in ways no one ever had. He was also super protective, to the point of watching them leave Ulises' apartment as they headed over to the doctor's office before heading to whatever thing he had to do.

Izzy had called his thing work but Todd knew Izzy didn't have a normal job. However he made money was most likely not legal. He'd wanted to ask Izzy about it but so far, he hadn't mustered the courage. He already knew he wouldn't like the answer.

"You do need us, Ulises. And we need you."

"I've lived my whole life without you and Izzy. And Izzy doesn't need anyone. If you knew where he was, you'd understand that."

"What is he doing?"

"Making sure the Dragon Skulls’ associates know not to fuck them over. Daruss might be trying to go legit, but he hasn't totally succeeded yet." Ulises knew a lot more about the Dragon Skulls than Todd had thought.

"What does that mean?" What did Izzy actually do for the Dragon Skulls was a better question, but it was one he needed to ask Izzy.

"It means he's threatening someone's life because they owe us money."

Izzy was the muscle for the Skulls? Maybe it shouldn't have come as a surprise but it still did. "Like those crime shows on television?"

Ulises shook his head. "You have a lot to learn about your mate. And about the Dragon Skulls."

"You could teach me." Todd brushed his hand against Ulises’. This time Ulises didn't pull away, but Todd didn't take his hand like he wanted to. He bided his time, waiting for Ulises' wall to come down.

"I would have thought Seryn already taught you a few things." Ulises glanced at Todd, eying him as if he thought Todd was a na?ve boy.

Maybe he was but Todd hadn't been born yesterday. His life hadn't been all roses either. "I've been through shit too. Before helping Seryn rescue Mitchell. Before I let Evan fuck up my life. Maybe I'm not a drug dealer or hitman and whatever else Izzy is and maybe I haven't been sick my whole life like you have, but I'm not devoid of experiences. I've known tragedy."

"Like what?"

As much as Todd didn't want to talk about his past, he had brought it up. He'd practically invited Ulises into his life story. "When I was six, two men came into my house and killed my mother. It was in the middle of the night. I still have nightmares of her screaming sometimes."

Ulises grabbed Todd's hand and leaned into him. "That's awful. I'm so sorry. You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

It didn't matter if he continued or not. It wasn't something he would ever move on from. "My father had a mistress. I remember meeting her once although I hadn't realized who she was at the time. She'd been nice to me. She gave me crayons and a coloring book. I still don't understand how she could do what she did. But I guess hiring two people to kill my mom probably made her feel less culpable."

Ulises stopped on the sidewalk in front of a huge mansion. The white sign in the house's yard said it was a community center.

Ulises pulled him into a hug. "You're right. You've been through a lot too. I'm sorry I made you feel as though it was a competition. It's not."

"I know." He'd just wanted Ulises to understand he wasn't as innocent as he seemed to think. Ulises ended the hug, so Todd asked, "What about you? What's your job in the club? Not an enforcer or whatever Izzy's called."

"I don't have a job with the club." They started walking again. "Izzy and Daruss rescued me."

"Rescued you from what?" There weren't any cars parked on the street except for one. A red pickup truck that appeared as though it were brand-new. It stuck out more than normal because of the dark tint on the windows. They were so dark they appeared black. On a truck it seemed odd. Todd had seen the truck before. It had been parked on the street outside Ulises’ house.

Street parking wasn't a thing in Wingspan because they didn't need it. The houses were spaced far enough apart for driveways.

"Some very bad people." Ulises didn't elaborate but he did notice the truck a second after Todd did. He frowned but otherwise didn't mention it. "I'm not sure what my kidnappers wanted but they snatched me off the sidewalk on my way to class one day. I was in undergrad school for teaching. The experience completely derailed me."

"So you didn't go back to college after that?"

"Nope." Ulises pulled Todd into the community center doorway.

Todd glanced out of the window, watching the person in the truck drive away. "Should we mention that to Izzy?"

Ulises shrugged. "I keep seeing it. It’s followed me before."

They shouldn’t leave Ulises alone anymore, just to be safe.

The room they had entered had chairs stacked against the far wall. A table had a coffee pot on top of it. They headed down a hallway and then turned at the end. Todd wouldn't remember the way out. They took a series of turns before Ulises opened an unmarked door.

No one was inside the room, but the area was set up as though it were a waiting room.

Ulises entered the examination room without knocking. He held Todd’s hand the entire time and then pointed to a chair in the corner.

Machines and computers sat on top of a long counter. Todd recognized the microscope but not the thing the doctor fiddled with.

The doctor wore a lab coat and jotted down notes in a book. He waved the pen he held at the exam table. He didn't take his focus off what he was doing. "Sit. I'll be right there. Just gotta prepare for you. How's the cold, by the way?"

Ulises sat on the exam table.

The doctor turned, seeming startled but he recovered quickly and met Todd's gaze. "Oh. Hello. I didn't realize Ulises had brought someone with him."

Todd shrugged and sat where Ulises had indicated. "Just me. His future mate."

The doctor raised his eyebrows and directed his gaze at Ulises who blushed and shook his head. "He's not serious. He's mated to Izzy. Not me."

That made his eyebrows raise even more. When he turned to Todd, he smiled, losing some of his curiosity. It was as if he had figured something out. "I'm Easton. Ulises’ best friend and doctor. I assume Izzy has come to his senses."

"Yes. With my help."

Easton grinned and met Ulises' gaze again. "I like this one."

Ulises shook his head, but he smiled. "I do too."

Todd winked at Ulises but otherwise didn't respond. Ulises and Easton start talking about Ulises' health, so he didn't want to interrupt them.

"The cold has gone into my chest, but I think I'm at the tail end of it."

Easton picked up a needle and alcohol swab. He lifted Ulises' sleeve and wiped the fleshy part of his shoulder. Before he stuck the needle into Ulises' arm, he said, "This is just vitamins that will give you energy and boost your immune system. B12 and 6. Vitamin C mostly. But also Selenium and zinc."

"Okay."

Easton administered the shot. "I was going to give this to you anyway because I think I've improved the drug that will shrink your tumor."

Ulises sucked in a breath. "Already?"

Easton nodded. "I just needed to tweak it. But I don't know the side effects so maybe you should stay with Gavin and me again."

Ulises sighed and seemed to deflate a little. "I feel like I just got back home."

"Izzy and I will stay with you." The offer was out of Todd's mouth before he knew he was going to say it. The more he thought about it, the more he liked it. It was an excuse to stay close to Ulises.

Ulises narrowed his eyes at Todd. "No thanks."

"We've been living there this past week anyway. Most of my stuff is there." Todd would need to do laundry if he were to stay any longer. He didn't have clean clothing at Ulises' house. Although he could wear Ulises' clothes—they were about the same size. "But I guess I shouldn't speak for Izzy. I'll definitely stay, though."

Todd pulled out his phone and texted Izzy about staying longer with Ulises.

Easton smiled but tried not to. "They'd be able to keep a close eye on you."

"Real close." Todd waggled his eyebrows.

When Ulises chuckled, Todd knew he'd won. "Fine. But only until my next doctor's appointment, which is…"

"Two weeks."

Easton administered the next shot. "This is the improved tumor shrinker."

Ulises snorted. "Is that it's official name? The Tumor Shrinker."

"It sounds more like a very bad book title," Todd said.

"My tumor shrinker would be about my tumor slowly getting smaller and smaller. It would become afraid of Easton, the murderous tumor killer."

"No happily ever after for the tumor, huh?" Todd smiled. He loved Ulises' humor. It was one of the most attractive things about him.

"None whatsoever."

"If you had more than one tumor, I'd be a serial killer."

Ulises widened his eyes. "Oh, you need a serial killer name."

"I thought it was the Tumor Shrinker."

Ulises waved that away. "That's too soft. It needs to be more badass. Like you need to leave a calling card. You know what I mean. Like the guy who wrote letters to the press and named himself."

"The sticker." Todd gestured to where Easton had set the shots. "Since he's shot you up two times in the span of three minutes."

Ulises bounced atop the exam table. "Perfect."

Easton shook his head and chuckled. "Does Izzy know your brains are starting to sync up? Like cycle sisters."

"No. And don't tell him." It would be way more fun if Izzy found out on his own.