Page 117 of Broken Obsession

“Want to be the only one pulling my reins?” Ares asked, grunting when that earned him a painful tug on his hair. “All right, all right. I promise. You’re the only one allowed to boss me around from now on.”

“That’s not—” Eden stopped himself and blew out a breath. “Just hurry up and make me come so we can plan how to fast-track my revenge, and I can ask you about the other elephant in the room.”

“You want to get rid of Inzer already?”

“I want my revenge settled so you can prove you meant everything you said about keeping me.” Eden glanced away and then forced himself to meet Ares' gaze head-on. “If we don’t settle this sooner rather than later, my anxiety will get the best of me. The last time I was this reliant on a relationship, it was with my family, and we both know how that ended.”

“You aren’t going to lose me, Paradise.”

“Prove it. We kill Inzer, and we off Daven Dephik. That was the original deal, right? My body in exchange for Zonnie, Sedos, and Inzer, but my life as payment for you to take on someone as high-standing in society as Daven Dephik. That’s what I’m offering now. I accept the deal. So prove you aren’t justplaying with me and stick around once the revenge plot portion of the game is completed.”

“Deal.” Ares kissed him but then pulled back with a frown. “Elephant?”

“Yeah.” Eden swung an arm out to indicate their surroundings. “Why is the wallpaper made up of drawings of Ransom?”

It did look a little like an art portfolio had thrown up in there…Not a single surface on the walls had been left uncovered, papers of every size and of an assortment of materials collaged over, on top of, and around each other. There were rough sketches of Ransom and fully painted or colored masterpieces, all mixed together, taped up whenever he completed one.

Anyone else probably would call Ares obsessive and unhinged, and he wouldn’t blame them, considering it sort of looked like the lair of a psychotic stalker.

But he knew his Starling well enough by now to know what he was getting at.

Ares nuzzled the side of his jaw lovingly. “I’ll replace them with drawings of you.”

Eden hummed. “Damn right you will.”

Chapter 27:

It was twisted to believe one could heal themselves through the suffering of others, but Eden had long since given up on the moral high ground. None of the people on Dephik’s payroll had given a damn about his pain, his suffering. No, they’d looked out for number one and swept all evidence of the crime under the proverbial rug.

How did they sleep at night?

Probably like damn babies.

And that was how Eden was going to sleep from here on out as well. He was determined to.

The first couple of deaths had been…a lot. Galen had been shocking. Happening too quickly to truly process. Zonnie had been too gruesome—Eden hadn’t been aware people could come apart like that before that night.

But Sedos had been easier.

A flash in the pan.

There and then gone.

Ares had made good use of their time together at the cabin to ensure no negative emotions lingered. The result? Eden hardly thought about Sedos all week. Even when he caughtstudents talking about how tragic the whole thing was amongst themselves, he gave no external reaction.

But at night, he slept like a log, curled in the arms of his Black Hart.

His God of Creation.

The nightmares that had plagued him for years were gone. No more waking to distant screams of his family ringing in his head. No more cold sweats. No more random panic. Ares kept the monsters at bay.

Eden was doing that for him in return, he could tell. There were fewer episodes, less spacing out in the middle of a conversation. Ares was present. As close to whole as he imagined a person who’d experienced the things the Black Hart had could be.

Revenge had brought them together. The killings had brought them peace. He refused to feel guilty about it, but it also wasn’t something he’d be openly sharing with anyone else.

The other day, Eden had suggested they take care of Daven Dephik after all in part for his own peace of mind, but also for Ares. If Zar was to be believed, Ares was just as nervous about things crumbling between them as Eden was.

Ares wanted this to work.