Page 45 of Broken Obsession

Ares knew what he was asking.

Was he a killer by proxy?

A monster?

A devil?

“Mine.” He planted a single kiss on Eden’s brow and stood. “Stay.”

Eden grabbed onto his wrist when he turned, a wild, frightened look overcoming him that had Ares’ heart leaping oddly in his chest.

He wrapped his fingers around Eden’s arm and gently pulled him off. “Stay.”

“Don’t—” Eden caught himself and seemed to reconsider whatever he’d been about to say. “Where are you going?”

“To give you what you want.” Ares tapped his temple. “Head shot, remember?”

That was the only way to guarantee anything in this fucked up reality. He’d intentionally stopped Zonnie’s heart in the off-chance Eden had changed his mind. He’d be useless to Ares if he broke completely, and the torture he’d just witnessed,that he’d been partially responsible for inflicting…Not everyone could handle that sort of cruelty.

That sort of evil.

Eden frowned. “But…he’s dead already.”

“I’ll only ever offer you absolutes, Starling. There’s no room for chance with me.”

“No, but…Not even the best doctor in the universe could bring someone back from that.”

“I could.” He offered a comforting smile, though honestly, he wasn’t really sure he was successful at it, since Eden’s frown only deepened. “Wait for me. It’ll only take a moment.”

Ares left, careful with his steps, only walking on clean parts of the tarp that covered the ground. It helped that he didn’t have to get that close to the body. A few feet past the threshold, he pulled out his blaster, aimed, and put a bullet in the spot between Zonnie’s eyes.

There.

Done.

No more of this reality for him.

He found Eden exactly where he left him and, testing the new terms of their relationship, held out a hand, silently commanding him to take it.

Eden hesitated, but eventually he stood, wobbling a little on his feet, and came over. His hand was clammy when he rested it in Ares’, and there was a tremor that shouldn’t be there.

“You never looked at your family’s crime scene footage, did you?” he guessed, but Eden’s eyes flashed and his fingers tightened in his.

“Yes, I did.”

“Oh.” He’d assumed not, considering how pale Eden was and how many times he’d vomited. “Did you puke then as well?”

Eden tried to pull away, but Ares held on. “Let go.”

“You aren’t team leader anymore, babe,” he reminded. “You aren’t Ransom either. I’ve leveled up my affinity points and unlocked my official companion. You’re Starling for real now. My Starling.” He took him in. “You’re trembling.”

“Shut up. No I’m not.”

“You are. It’s an odd thing to fight about. Should I carry you out?”

“Don’t you dare.”

“Answer my question and I won’t.”