Heart of Glass [manxman]

Chapter Eighteen

That was the goal of Hunting, after all. Maybe the Covenant didn't want me being part of it anymore, but I took an oath. As forced as it was, I meant every word of it. As fucking awful of a person as I was, as much of a liar and coward and murderer as I was, I stuck to my word. That time was no exception. Before I died, whether I live a long life only to eventually end up offing myself or whether the Covenant executed me in a week, the Aquireign would be gone. Come hell or high water, they would go first.

A knock on my door pulled me from my thoughts. Shoving my lighter back into my pocket, I went through the house and grabbed a gun from underneath the table as I walked up to the door, cracking it open.

Standing there in ripped jeans and a gray t-shirt, sporting hints of a five o'clock shadow and weary-looking wrinkles under his hazel eyes was Louis. In the few hours that had passed since I saw him, he looked as though he'd aged ten years. The adrenaline must've backed off him hard. Then again, I couldn't imagine I looked much better. As clinical and distant as Covenant physicians were, even the one that had checked up on me seemed a little putoff by how ragged I looked.

With everything running laps in my head, I really didn't know how well I would take Louis's honesty about what a piece of shit I was. While he deserved the chance to talk, I really didn't think I could handle it. Mentally berating myself was pushing me to the brink of breaking down, so to hear it aloud from my soulmate...

I took a breath, silently cursing myself when it trembled audibly. "I don't want to talk."

"Me either."

I frowned and searched his face, not finding a trace of malice or resentment. What was he playing at? Why would he be there if he didn't want to rip me apart? "Then, what are you doing here?"

"I don't know," he said, voice low, almost mumbling. He sighed, scrubbing a hand over his face. "Half of me wanted to come over, make sure you're okay, just sit here, and the other half is pissed off and horny and confused."

I blinked owlishly as I leaned against the doorframe. "As long as you don't talk, you can do whatever the fuck you want."

Louis bit the corner of his lower lip and looked down at his bare feet as he folded his hands behind his back. "I think I want to have sex, but as mad as I am, I don't think it's going to mesh well with your injuries."

Thinking back to how rough he liked to get just dirty talking or how hard he fought in a sparring session while we were in the midst of an argument, he was probably right. He'd turn my fracture into a snapped wrist, and how would I explain that to the Covenant physician?

"Fair point," I said. "You're welcome to get a drink and come sit on the porch in uncomfortable silence though."

Louis nodded and stepped into my apartment as I cracked the door open wide enough for him to slip through. I locked the door behind him, muttered general directions to where the glasses and drinks were, and then padded back outside to light up my cigarette and wait for him. Just as I took my first drag, he stepped outside, taking the chair next to mine.

"Any reason in particular you have two chairs when you're always alone?"

I shrugged. "Felt like it would be too easy for the students to deduce which apartment was mine if I only had one. Besides, that chair's a damn good footrest."

Louis nodded, the ice clinking in his glass. "Smoking is bad for you."

"We're immortal with increased healing abilities, I'm not too worried about it." I propped my feet up on the railing, sinking into my chair enough to see past the roof and get a good look at the little dots of white light peppered across the sky.