The Talisman War Box Set

Chapter 18

When they reached the second floor, Dakota dropped all pretenses. He ran his hands down Terrell’s chest and kissed him deeply.

But just as soon as his plans became abundantly clear, Terrell gently pushed him away. With a conflicted expression, he shook his head. “I’m sorry. I’d love to, but there’s no way. My leg is killing me.”

Dakota was unconvinced. “I can be really careful, like last time.”

“I know, but I can’t. I’m sorry.”

He didn’t know how to take that. Even with the pain, there were plenty of things they could still do together. But the look on the Terrell’s face stopped him from arguing. Emotional pain. Something that reached much deeper and caused far more of an issue than just his leg.

“What’s wrong?” he asked with real concern. “Terrell, it’s okay. It’s not a big deal. I love just being close to you.”

Though Terrell looked upset, the tear that raced down his cheek came as a surprise. “I know, I—I know. I just—I dragged you into something really dangerous. I wanted to protect you, but you’re not safe here. You’re not safe in a war.”

Dakota’s eyes widened. “What?” Sure, tangling with a torture-happy firebug probably wasn’t the safest decision, but they were all at risk. And more importantly, “Terrell, I was going to jump off of a bridge before I came here. I wouldn’t be safe. I’d be dead.” A mangled heap of blood, bones, and tissue at the bottom of a ravine.

“That’s no excuse. I’m going to get you killed.”

“No, you’re not,” he retorted decisively. “I went up against that guy without knowing what the hell I was doing, and I still made it out fine.” His wrist wasn’t even all that damaged. It just felt a little sore.

“You were lucky.”

“So? Now we know him. We know what he looks like and what he’s capable of. We know his weaknesses.” He took a deep breath. “I get that you’re worried. But you’re trying to push me away, and there’s no reason for that, Terrell! You saved my life. You saved me. You know you did. And don’t I get to decide if you’re good for me or not? Because I think you are.”

He held Terrell’s face in both hands and rubbed his cheek reassuringly. He continued, “I couldn’t go back now, even if I wanted to. I’d still be a target there, too. But I wouldn’t want to. The only thing waiting for me out there is a bridge. Here, I have a life. I’m alive here. With you. I like spending time with you.”

“You could go back, after we kill him.” Terrell obviously didn’t want that scenario, but he couldn’t let it go, either.

“Terrell, I don’t want to. I’m not leaving, okay? I’m gonna stay right here and help you and your family fight the bad guy, and we’re gonna f*****g kill him. And then maybe we can take a vacation or something. Just you and me. Away from everybody else.”

He began to wobble in place. His knees buckled. Dakota grabbed him just in time and ushered him into his room. Once Terrell held a more stable position on the bed, Dakota dropped his voice lower. “You were right. I did miss you.” He joined him on the bed, though he only leaned on his shoulder. He could feel him shaking. “Everything’s gonna be okay.” It was what he needed to hear. “I promise.”

Terrell buried his nose in Dakota’s hair. “You have no reason to think that,” he replied slowly. “But the way you say it—I can’t help but believe you.”

Some time passed while they sat in a pleasant kind of silence. Then, it shattered. “Do you think—” He hesitated. “Do you think you might love me?”

Dakota’s eyes shot open and his breath caught in his chest.

No.

No, he didn’t!

Not yet, anyway. They’d only just started understanding each other. Of course he didn’t love Terrell. He didn’t love anyone, up to and including himself. Yes, he cared about him. Yes, he planned on pursuing a relationship, and yes, he wanted nothing more than to share a bed with him. But love? Not only was it too much to ask, especially this early—it felt like desperation.

But as he looked at Terrell, trembling, paranoid, and practically clinging to Dakota, he couldn’t reject him. Theirs wasn’t a s*x-based relationship or one grounded in friendship. It constituted the beginning of a real romance. Love would happen eventually, he thought. Could he throw it away just because Terrell jumped the gun?

Lying wouldn’t hurt him as much as the truth.

He kissed Terrell. “Of course I do. I love you, Terrell. I love being with you. I love knowing you. And I love reading the beautiful things you’ve written.” That last one, more than the others, was the truest in the list.

It sounded like some vanilla romance movie. But it could work. He could fake it until his heart fell in line with his words. “That’s the way you feel about me, right?” he inquired, playing naïve.

“Dakota, I—” He gulped. “I…I feel like I’ve loved you for years.”

Hopefully, it wouldn’t take him that long to feel the same way.

* * * *

They stayed together in bed the whole afternoon. In the evening, the two actually went over some of Terrell’s notes. One conclusion rose above the rest: some of the talismans might be sitting unclaimed in art galleries and museums. If they could locate one, they would have an edge against their enemy.

The next morning, Dakota woke early. After a small breakfast, he began pulling down boxes from the attic. Terrell couldn’t climb the rickety ladder, and they wanted to check Maria’s belongings for anything useful—for specters of her mysterious past and how she came to own so many talismans. He carefully stacked them in the third-floor hallway one at a time until all eight sat ready for inspection. But instead of looking through the items right way, he nervously wiped his hands on his jeans and picked up his cellphone. Dialing a number he stored in the device, Dakota brought it up to his ear.

When a woman answered on the other end of the line, “Uh, hi, I’m—I’m calling about some test results.”

“Last name?”

“Crossley.”

After a short pause, “Dakota?”

“Yeah.”

“Last four digits of your social security number?”

For a second, they escaped him. He had to play the whole thing over in his head to remember them. “Uh, Nine. Three. Five. Two.”

“All right. Mr. Crossley, let’s see. You had the full STD work up. Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, Syphilis, HIV, of course…”

Of course? “Yeah,” he cut her off. Bad enough that Terrell and now the whole staff of a small-town clinic knew he might be sick—but he didn’t want to hear all the possible ailments he could have.

“Well, good news, Dakota. You’re all clear. No sign of infection. All of your tests were fine.”

He let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding in. “Thanks. I appreciate it.” He didn’t wait for her to reply before hanging up and slipping the phone back into his pocket.