Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 128812 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 644(@200wpm)___ 515(@250wpm)___ 429(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128812 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 644(@200wpm)___ 515(@250wpm)___ 429(@300wpm)
Zayne's things were already in my room when we got back, keeping us from having to walk them over from the other house.
We haven't been given another job yet. I figure Zayne will have a lot more time to heal before he's sent back out, but I'm still within the two-week required downtime Cerberus has in place to maintain our mental health.
"He looks like this is punishment," Zayne mutters.
We've been back five days, and I haven't noticed a single person in the house look at us in a way that made me feel uncomfortable. The only real reaction we got was from Zero. She caught us holding hands as we came down the stairs, our second day back.
She looked at us, looked at our hands, and I was seconds away from confronting her despite Zayne's hard squeeze of my hand, a plea to just let it go, but instead she smiled.
Her verbal response was, "You know what? Hell yeah."
"I think it is," I mutter, trying to hide my reply behind the lip of my beer bottle.
Nyx glares in our direction as if he knows we're talking about him despite being thirty feet away, and that was the reaction I was worried about in the first place.
"He frightens me," Zayne says, but he makes no effort to hide his face.
He lifts the beer up in Nyx's direction, earning a deeper scowl from the man.
"Can't tell," I say with a chuckle.
"Never let them see your fear," Zayne says, his eyes still locked on the man across the room. His voice is a lower whisper than before. "It's like chum in the water for sharks like him."
Nyx pulls his eyes from us and points that hateful glare in a different direction.
I feel the relief of its absence, as if it were a tangible thing locking me in place.
"This doesn't feel weird to you?" he asks.
"They have these get-togethers all the time."
"Not that, this party in particular. I really thought he was done," Zayne says, turning toward me a little more.
"I did, too, but Kincaid sees something in him that maybe we can't."
"Is it psychosis?" he asks with a chuckle, but I'm not as quick to laugh.
"There's a need for men like him," I say, hating that we live in a world where Nyx's behavior might be beneficial in some instances. "He can do things that others might hesitate to do."
"And not be affected by it," Zayne adds.
I shake my head, rejecting the words. "He'll be affected. If he weren't, then he would have no place in Cerberus. He just doesn't process that shit the same way we do."
"Is that a Marine thing you're talking about?" he asks, real curiosity in his voice.
"Not necessarily," I answer. "But it plays a part. I don't know if he became the man he is today because of his time in the Corps or if he was that man before and thought it was the best place for him. If he were truly psychotic, he would've been rejected before ever being contacted by Cerberus."
"Should we warn her?" Zayne asks as he watches Zero approach Nyx.
I shake my head. "She frightens me just as much as Nyx frightens you."
His laughter settles inside of me, and I hope I never get used to the sound. I want to feel exactly like I do now when I hear it. It's calming in a way that makes me yearn to hear it even more.
"That still blows my fucking mind that she's that same waitress from the diner."
"Same," I agree.
"I wondered how her fucking standards could be so low that she'd like the attention she was getting. Those guys were disgusting."
"Damn good actress," I praise. "She'll be a good asset."
"Is that—"
"A smile?" I ask, feeling like we've somehow stepped into an alternate dimension, watching what could pass as a smile, especially considering it's on Nyx's face.
I don't know what Zero says, but the smile wipes away, the man's face transforming into one of the hardest looks I've ever seen the man give someone.
Zero tosses her head back with a laugh before walking away to speak with someone else.
I stiffen, feeling Zayne do the same when Nyx snaps his eyes in our direction.
"Is it voodoo?" Zayne asks, the words coming from flat lips and clenched teeth. "I don't think I can move."
I chuckle again. Nyx is one of those guys you give a wide berth, but the man doesn't frighten me as much as he'd like to think. We share a brotherhood, and there are some lines even that man won't cross.
As scary as he might be, I never see the guy attacking someone on his own team. At least I don't think he'd do it in front of witnesses.
"How do you think he's going to like New Mexico?" Zayne asks as he turns his back to Nyx, putting full faith in me that I'll defend him if the man chooses to head this way.