Chapter 128

I hold onto Beau as he drives the motorcycle up the side of the mountain once more. He’s driving as fast as before, but not quite as recklessly. Or maybe I’m just too numb. I don’t feel the same excitement as before, or the same fear. I’m only worried about Neil.

Instead of descending down the other side of the mountain into the valley like we did the night before, Beau veers off the main road and starts down a much smaller, single lane road. His moves are well-practiced, though, like he’s been this way before, so I don’t question it.

We drive through the trees for a while, then stop at a clearing. No – a cliff.

Beau parts the bike and we get off of it. I hand him the helmet and he affixes both to the bike. While he’s doing that, I start toward the cliff a little, just enough to better see the view.

For here, we can see the whole city. It looks so small from up here, so beautiful. The lights twinkle, bright and lovely. This far away, it seems so peaceful. There aren’t many cars. Maybe the world is asleep, except of us up here on the mountain.

Beau comes to stand beside me. I glance at him, at the closeness, and take a step to the side, putting distance between us.

Despite everything that is happening with Neil and all my worries there, I haven’t forgotten the pact that apparently Beau and Archer made with Wyatt to bring me down. It’s all too fresh, too raw. Neil tried to advocate for his brothers, but Beau had been so indifferent about it…

Maybe coming up here with him is a mistake.

Beau tilts his head, watching me. “You are still mad about that silly thing Wyatt said.”

I cross my arms. Like he needs to ask. Of course, I’m still pissed about it.

He shrugs. “Don’t be.”

Like it’s that simple. Like I’m just supposed to obediently say, Oh, okay, Beau. If you say so.

Bullshit. No.

I refuse to talk to him. I won’t even say one word. I’ll just look at the lights until he’s ready to go back and to hell with him anyway.

“I was an asshole,” Beau says.

The words startle me out of my anger, and I shoot him a curious, disbelieving look. No way he just said that. He doesn’t look particularly sorry about it.

“We didn’t know each other all that well then,” he says.

“We don’t now, either,” I say.

He doesn’t acknowledge that. Instead, he looks me over like he can see through me.

“You can’t tell me, when you first started living with us, that you wouldn’t have made the same pact against us if it had been offered to you,” he says.

My first instinct is to deny it. But as I consider it, I’m… less inclined to. Truthfully, I don’t know what I would have done. Things certainly were tumultuous in the beginning. Hell, they still are most of the time.

“You hated me,” I say, and noticed too late that I used past tense. Do I really not think they still hate me?

“It was less hatred and more… amusement. At least for me,” Beau says. “You’re the newest plaything.”

“I’m not a plaything,” I say.

He lifts one shoulder and lets it drop. I said what I said, it seems to say. Bastard.

But… it’s still not hatred.

“So you meant it when you made the pact, but you don’t mean it anymore?” I ask.

“Correct,” Beau says. “I said it doesn’t matter, because it doesn’t. We wanted to push you, to see how far you would bend before you broke.” He frowns a little, then seems surprised at himself. “It doesn’t carry the same appeal anymore.”

“So you like me,” I say, feeling bolder now.

He gives me a withering glance. “Do not go that far, Nanny.”

Nanny. It started as an insult. But when he says it now, it really does seem to carry some affection. It’s lilting, teasing, but not mean.

“You know I have a name,” I say.

“Do you?” he teases.

I roll my eyes at him, even as I move closer to him again, closing that distance I opened. Maybe I don’t mind him so much anymore.

“Wyatt really is an asshole,” I say.

“Gods, tell me about it,” Beau says.

I look sideways at him. “Why did you even take him on as a Beta?”

“He has the air of desperation about him,” Beau says, “And we do enjoy our playthings.”

I suppose I can appreciate his honesty, even if it’s cruel. “You want to see how far he bends before he breaks?”

Beau shrugs like he’s indifferent. “I don’t care about him.”

“Do you care about anyone?” I ask, thinking of the line of women that march through his door every night.

“Jury’s out,” he says, but he’s frowning again. Is he thinking about Neil?

I look back at the city lights, twinkling down below us. I want to ask about Neil, but I hold myself back. Too many questions might lead to more answers than I’m ready to hear.

I wish I could change Neil’s mind. I don’t even know where to start.

“It’s a beautiful night,” Beau says. “It will be morning soon. See how the light is starting to creep up behind the horizon.”

I did see, now that he mentioned it. A glimmer of orange at the edge of the world.

“How did you know about this place anyway?” I ask. “It seems pretty far off the beaten path.”

Neil gives me a sultry look, and I immediately regret I asked.

“I often bring women here,” he says, and yes, regret confirmed.

I groan, and he laughs.

It sounds nice, in the quiet of the sunrise. Below us, the city is waking up. Some of the birds behind us are starting their morning songs.

I turn at Neil, to thank him, and catch him looking at me. He has a strange look on his face. He almost looks like he wants to kiss me.

His gaze drops to my lips.

Oh, Gods. Maybe he does want to kiss me.

I feel like I’m under a spell. Maybe it’s from having been up all night. Maybe it’s the sunrise. Maybe it’s Beau so close and so handsome.

He leans in and I lean too.

A little mistake never hurt anyone.

But then we both stop. We blink at each other. I remember myself, and who he is. He must do the same. In the next instant, we are facing away from each other.

“We should get back,” he says.

My heart is racing hard, nearly ready to jump out of my chest. I’m going to die. This is how I die.

“Agreed,” I manage to say. I turn and he tosses me a helmet.

We don’t talk again, not during the drive, and not even when we get home.

Before I head back to my room, I stop by Steven’s to retrieve the baby monitor. He’s still up. I wonder if anyone in this house slept last night.

Steven is working in his lab. Some of his equipment is running. I don’t have a hope’s prayer of knowing what most of it does.

“What are you doing?” I ask.

“Making medicine for Neil,” Steven says. He doesn’t look up from his work.

“To cure him?” I ask, hope in my voice.

His shoulders slump slightly. “I can only ease some of the pain.”

“There must be a cure,” I say.

“Only if the silver is removed.”

Steven says it matter-of-factly. But… wait…

Maybe I’m tired, but it kind of sounds like Steven is saying…

“Steven,” I say. “Do you mean that Neil…”

Steven finally looks up from his work. Stress is etched all over his face.

“If we don’t get that silver out of him as soon as possible, Chloe, it will kill him.”