Page 52 of A Thousand Cuts

“No need for that,” Hart said, reaching for his phone. “It’s late. I’ll call Fix.”

Liam choked on a breath. So much for boundaries. “No! Please, I’m fine. It’s not the first time I’ve caught the last train out.”

Hart frowned. “Ares can drop you home then.”

He wanted even less to be trapped in a car withhim, awkwardly twiddling his thumbs while Ares glared at the road. “Hart, thank you, but I’m good.”

“You better hurry if you wanna make it,” Cane drawled, gesturing at the clock. “O’Malley and his goons won’t bother you on the way out. They’re…otherwise engaged at the moment.”

Hart pursed his lips but nodded. “Travel safely.”

Liam gave an awkward wave. “See you around.”

“Hopefully not here,” Hart said. “No offense intended.”

Liam smiled. “None taken.”

“What’s wrong with here?” Cane said, just to be an asshole.

“You know what I mean, you just like to play at stupidity to annoy me,” Hart said, their bickering following Liam out the door.

He was almost envious.

Not exactly of the functioning dysfunction that was their relationship. It seemed to be one match strike away from igniting at all times. But there was a steadiness of feeling between them hidden under all the tension and fighting that was plain as day. They would do anything for each other. They were two halves of a weird whole.

Liam had never been a half of anything.

He refused to think of Fix. Of how they could fit together. Of how he instinctively knew it would be perfect.

It did him no good.

He made it back outside, the air more frigid than it had been when he entered, the sky darker even though he was sure it shouldn’t be possible. There was an eerie feeling hanging aroundthat made him check every corner before he stepped away from the door.

He was just being paranoid.

He couldn’t wait to get home.

He put his hands in his pockets and snuggled his nose into his collar as he set off, leaving the drab warehouse behind and keeping a wary eye out as he took a few dark alleyways that were a shortcut to the main street.

It was risky, but he didn’t have time to lose.

Liam shoved his hands deeper in his pockets and picked up his pace, crossing the road and hurrying in the direction of the train station.

If he missed the last train he was screwed, and he’dhaveto go crawling back to Hart and Cane to help him out.

The streets were almost completely empty, others either at home already or being smarter than him and already waiting on the platform. He shivered as a breeze swept through, catching trash and debris and sending it skittering down the sidewalk.

His own steps were thundering in his ears, almost echoing back at him. He had to check over his shoulder multiple times to see if anyone was following him. It was like he could feel breaths on the back of his neck.

The dim lights from the lampposts stretched the shadows into eerie shapes on the ground, illuminating the smog and steam that was commonplace this close to the industrial side of the city.

A sudden sharp, metallic sound behind him made him spin in place with a gasp, only to catch an empty can rolling out of the alley he’d just passed. His heart began to beat faster as he peered into the depths, imagining eyes staring back at him. A darkness trying to beckon him into it.

He broke into a sprint, not knowing why, his instincts just telling him to move.

He rounded the corner and almost tripped over a trash bag that had been carelessly left there, stumbling and catching himself against an electronics store window.

His breath fogged up the glass in front of him as he tried to catch it, only to startle when an older model TV in the window turned on in front of him.