— Léon —
"... And there. Safely cracked open and ready for your perusal," Satina said with a smile. She checked her phone. Turning it around, she smirked; her screen read 00:19:13. "With a few seconds to spare, Rafaela."
"I'll be damned. She really did it," Rafa said with a chuckle. She didn't sound impressed—only amused, as if she already knew about Satina's talents.
The others cheered, and for a moment there, Léon almost felt like he was back to working alongside Mary and Tiny back at Invidia. In some ways—and there was no lying to himself about that—he almost missed his job as a villain. It would sure be useful to have Iara's help in this situation.
Rafa leaned forward to peek over Satina's shoulder. "What did you find?"
"There's only a bunch of confusing formulas and scientific bullshit in here," Satina said. "Notes about a serum, logs with all that happened during experiments, and so many formulas." She clicked her tongue. "From all of us, the only person who might understand all this shit is Aunt Kali, and who knows where she is."
"Maybe we can find someone in the hospital who can make sense of it," Léon suggested.
"Good idea," Rob said. "But if we're really looking for someone, we'll need to rush." He strode to the door and paused in front of it, ready to go. "I'll try to find Kali first, but if I—"
"Wait." Rafa straightened her back and furrowed her brows. "There's no need. I can understand it."
"You... can?" Rob echoed. There was more than a little disbelief in his voice. "But how?"
Phillip perked up. "Wait. Is that...?"
Rafa looked at Phillip and gave him a slow nod. "The memories I received in Toni's undimension. Rio gave me his memories, Phillip. Look at this section here." Rafa pointed at the projected screen and showed part of the text. "I remember writing this while you complained about your Godmother Ilda and how distant she was—at the same time I cleaned your burned hands."
"The burns caused by Léon's powers being freed," Phillip said.
"Yeah. The patterns in your palm's skin tissue and the way it was molten by the cosmic trace looked exactly like the degrading process caused by the sickness. And this one?" Rafa scrolled to another part of the text. "In this one, you were describing Léon's powers and what it was like to travel with the step-through—"
"Which is exactly what Jackal used to create this fucking trap," Phillip growled.
"And also the basic idea for the serum." She stopped and turned around. "In an indirect way, your proximity with Léon helped them to develop their research, Pheels. The memories Rio has of you are all tangled with his research."
The room grew silent. Somehow, Phillip's silence was the heavier among them.
And Léon could imagine why. Léon exchanged a look with Rob and Satina. Like him, they showed a mix of pity and sadness.
Phillip rubbed his chin. He paused, his palms up as if to weigh his own words. "So... what? He's been using me all along? Not only four years ago"—his voice cracked, so Phillip cleared his throat—"but during the whole time we've been together?" He raised his eyebrows and let out a mirthless chuckle. Phillip didn't seem aware of how much he was blinking and how fast he was breathing.
"It's what it looks like, mate. I'm so sorry," Rob whispered.
"Yeah, not even a jerk like you deserves this," Satina muttered.
"That's life. That's life." Phillip pursed his lips and shrugged.
"We're here for you, Phil," Léon said in a low voice.
For a moment, all Phillip did was to fiddle with the plastic tubes of a deactivated life-support machine. But when Léon outstretched a hand to place it on his arm, Phillip huffed and let out a laugh that, in every detail and pitch, brought old Phillip back to life.
"Well, you little fucks. You know what? To hell with this," Phillip said. "Cause it's clear that all he wants now is someone to clean his mess before everything goes south. Well. South-er." He scoffed, pushing away from the wall and opening a menacing smirk to an empty point in the room. "I can deal with that, Rio. Mentally. You'll see, you crap-eating piece of—" He stopped himself and groaned. Then, his eyes met Léon's. "Listen, I'm not gonna do what that fucker wants." Phillip stepped towards Satina. "So you better hand me that damned data drive, cause I'll fucking destroy it!" he shouted.
"Oh. Oh, no you'll not." Satina placed a protective hand over the device. "Stay back, Phillip. You don't want to see how strong I got!"
"Wait. Wait!" Léon tried.
The situation was escalating quickly and the unstable beating of his heart was already starting to blur his vision.
"I'll count to three, Satina!" Phillip slid his hands to his back and unsheathed his daggers with a metallic hiss. "One..."
Without a word, Satina furrowed her brows and raised her hands as a layer of cobalt blue energy covered her fingers.
"Two..."
"Stop, you two!" Rob growled. "That's not time to—"
"Three!" Phillip shouted.
But when he started towards Satina, Rafa was faster. She craned a heavy hand around the back of his neck and raised her plastered arm as best as she could, keeping him in place.
"You heard her, Pheels," Rafa said in a hard tone. "Stop."
"Stay out of it, Rafa," Phillip growled. He raised a hand and gripped her wrist, his upper lip curled up like a rabid dog.
"You need to curb that anger so you can think clearly, mate. For your friends..." Rafa tightened her hold. "Look what you're doing to him!"
Phillip paused. He looked around the room and bit hard on his lower lip. Whatever he saw when his eyes met Léon's, it was enough to make him lower his weapons.
"I won't let go, Phillip," Rafa said in a low voice. "But we need that data drive because Léon needs it."
They shared a charged look, long and drenched with meaning. The silence in the room was filled by muffled announcements in the hospital's speakers and chirping birds announcing a new day. Outside, a group of people rushed by, wheeling a hospital bed.
Finally, after a sigh, Phillip's shoulders sunk.
"Fine, Rafaela. Do it your way—but don't count on me, did you hear?" Phillip jerked his shoulder free. "I swear to Goddess I won't lift one fucking finger to help that piece of shit."
Just like that, it was easy to breathe again. Léon massages his temples and leaned against Rob, who received him in a side hug.
"I don't think we have an option here, mate," Rob said. Léon knew him enough to understand that, by the way his neck muscles strained, he was trying hard to keep himself in control. "We either find another way to solve the serum conundrum and save those trees, or Jackal will continue to push for experimenting on Léon. And I don't think I need to remind you that we're in a bloody cage. We can't fucking escape her!" From then on, his tone grew cold. "So I don't give a rat's ass about Rio's intentions or why he gave us that shite. All that matters to me is that I won't let my husband suffer in Jackal's and Toni's hands again." Rob's arm tensed around Léon's shoulders, bringing him closer. "In anyone's hands."
Satina tried to hide her wide grin with a hand while Rafa schooled her amused expression. In his corner, Phillip didn't seem to share their excitement. Like before, his eyes kept trained on the tips of his boots. Unlike before, the wetness in them gave way to a dangerous type of determination.
And with that, something also changed in Rafa's expression. Her shoulders tensed.
"Hey. Phil? Come here." Rafa tugged him towards the bed. "Why don't you put your daggers down and lie down for a while, mate? It might take a moment to go through all that data."
"Yeah, whatever. I'm just furious," he mumbled. "I'm so fucking furious I'm starting to..." His breathing quickened. Phillip shut his eyes and slid under the thin sheet. "To sweat. And turn off that damned AC, it's getting cold in here. I'm angry enough."
"Oh, we can see that," Rafa answered. Rafa sighed and stepped towards Satina. "Can I please see the data-something?"
Wait. Why did Rafa sound so scared? And why was Phillip so pale?
Léon furrowed his eyebrows. A thought crossed his mind, and a cold wave of fear cross his entire body.
"Sure," Satina said, raising an eyebrow. She looked from Rafa to Phillip, then from Léon to Rob as if waiting for an explanation. When none came, she sighed and unclasped the device from around her wrist. "Here. Just be careful—it's my baby."
"I'll treat them as my own." Rafa nodded and took the device from Satina's hands. "Beto?" She jerked a chin to point towards the table.
Without a word, Rob walked up to it and offered her the datapad he had been studying.
"Thank you." Rafa leaned against the wall.
Léon had never seen anyone reading that fast before. Rafa slid her index finger across the projected pages, flicking to the right with small and precise movements.
"Brash made her attend to a dynamic reading course every summer," Rob explained in a low voice. "But she never reads that way. She hates it."
"Well, if it helps us to find a solution faster, I'll be nothing but grateful," Léon whispered back.
***
Once Rafa finished with both files, her eyes seemed darker.
She asked for a moment to breathe and stepped outside the room with something that Léon could only describe as the gaze of a corpse. In the five minutes after she left, Satina got up to follow her. At the ten minutes mark, Rob left to find them.
Léon glanced from the door to Phillip. The latter was already asleep. The first, as the perfectly inanimate object as it was, stood in place.
He shut his eyes. Léon wanted so much to just stay here and wait. He wanted so much to feel safe and in control! He hid his face in his hands. The last time he had felt like that, really felt, was four years ago, when he drank from Mary's special cognac. He was pretty sure that it was spiked with Mary's golden dust or something...
What the hell were Mary's powers anyway?
He shook his head.
"No. No spiraling. Focus, Leo," he mumbled under his breath.
With a shaky breath, he stepped towards the door. He could always say he stayed back to take care of Phillip. Another step. Besides, maybe they didn't even need him. Yet another step. What could a loose cannon like him do besides hurting anyone around him?
He reached the door and took in a deep breath.
"Whatever," he whispered.
If Rafa, Phillip, Satina, and Rob were doing all they could for him, then he would do too. He placed a hand on the doorknob.
"Hey, Leo?" someone said.
He paused and turned around to look at Phillip, ready to complain about the interruption.
The words died in his throat.
There was a grin on Phillip's face when he wiped his nose with the back of his hand, leaving a wide smudge of black blood on his lips and cheek. From the corner of his eyes, bloody tears fell in time with two other trails from his ears, and as Phillip placed his fingers back on the mattress, dark blood boiled under his skin, spreading dark, webbed veins across his entire body.
"I feel funny, Partner," Phillip said. "You think there's something wrong with me?"
***
Here it is, my darlings! This is my final chapter of 2021, but not of this book, of course xD hahaha! I hope you're enjoying the story. If you liked this chapter, please don't forget to vote!
Today's note will be a little on the short side, cause I'm preparing a proper New Year celebratory message in the next few days. But let me already tell you this:
You're my reason to write and my courage, so thank you for letting me share my stories with you. Without your reads, votes, and comments, I wouldn't be in the place I am today, so thank you²! You are stars in my very lonesome sky.
So yes, I love you, and I wish every single one of you all the good fortune, health, and happiness in the world. ♥♥♥ May your 2022 be 100% AMAZING!
Ligia