Page 55 of Broken Obsession

“Whatisthat?” he asked but smartly shut back up when Ares gave him another warning look.

Released, Eden stood, clutching at the towel to keep himself covered. He cinched it tightly around his waist and took a deliberate step away from Ares, putting space between them.

It shouldn’t have pissed him off. Rationally, Ares couldn’t figure out why it did. It wasn’t even a full foot of distance, and yet he felt the overwhelming desire to pin Eden back down, toss the towel aside, and fuck him in front of his so-called friend just to make it clear who owned who here.

That would only result in one thing, though.

Ares would hurt him, and Eden would resent him.

That would lead to frayed reality.

All his planning would be for nothing.

He’d end up with nothing.

No control.

And the game would be ruined for him, too. That’d been a risk he’d willingly taken before, but now things were different. If he lost Eden, there was no way he’d be able to look at Ransom without thinking about him. Thinking about his empty reality.

His vision began to cloud around the edges, his teeth capturing his bottom lip and chewing madly, both signs he was slipping away. Signs that shouldn’t be ignored. How long since his last episode? It’d been before coming here, that was for certain. Before meeting Eden. His tiny piece of paradise had managed to keep the darkness at bay, but now the illusion was calling, coaxing him to step back into the shadows.

Time was false.

The world was fake.

There was no life or death.

Only despair and destruction.

Only a cosmic joke.

Headshot.

Had to be a headshot.

Only a headshot would do it.

“What's…wrong with him?” he heard Noon ask, the fear and uncertainty clear in his tone.

That wasn’t good. In this reality nothing was wrong with Ares. Nothing could be wrong with him. It was very important. His image had to be maintained to protect himself.

There could only be one mentally unstable Black Hart in their group, and Balthazar had claimed that spot already.

Zar.

He hit the speed dial on his multi-slate before he could stop himself, falling back on old coping mechanisms. The device rang out loud, the speaker crackling slightly since he hadn’t bothered taking the three seconds to put in the earbud attachment.

“Creation,” Zar’s deep voice trickled into the room a moment later, and some of the chaos Ares had been feeling instantly vanished. “There’s a fish in your pond I’d like to fry and consume. Opinion?”

“Cull the unnecessary.” Ares stared Noon down, hating that the voice actor was important enough to keep breathing.

“Even if Nyoka might be displeased?”

“He’ll form a new reality and get over it.”

“You know who I’m referring to.”

“You weren’t subtle, brother.”