Page 10 of Brush with Death (Not Quite Dead #3)

SINCE CYRIL COULDN’T use his ability to talk to Sam, he and Vale had decided to do the next best thing. They were digging into Sam’s social media accounts, sometimes with Rachel’s help, sometimes on their own. Cyril wasn’t planning on disturbing Katie again until they had something to tell her, but so far, he could only see what Rachel had pointed out.

Yes, these people were a little strange. Sam had been a part of a few groups where people talked about summoning demons and what was supposed to happen when they did, but Cyril was pretty sure those people were harmless. They wanted their lives to change, and it was easier to think they could do so by summoning demons than accepting that they would never become billionaires. It was a lot of talking and nothing much happening, anyway.

“Sam was talking a lot to this guy,”

Vale said.

“He’s creepy.”

Cyril glanced at the screen. The guy was creepy. His profile picture was just a black circle, and there were no pictures of him anywhere on his profile. He went by the name of The Master, which was ridiculous. Cyril probably would’ve made fun of him in any other circumstance.

Cyril didn’t stop to read all of the rants the guy had posted on his page. Mostly, he complained about how the people in charge of the country couldn’t do their job, and about how he deserved more. He complained about not having money or a girlfriend, but just a few scrolls down, he declared that all women were sluts. That wasn’t conducive to him finding a girlfriend. Cyril understood why women stayed away from him.

“He’s definitely a creep,”

he agreed.

“What was Sam doing, talking to him? It wasn’t like him to allow anyone to talk that way.”

“From what I can see, Sam only commented on the posts talking about changing things, not on the ones where this guy goes nuts.”

“Still. I have a hard time believing that Sam would associate with this guy at all.”

Vale reached over and squeezed the back of Cyril’s neck.

“You heard Katie. He was having a hard time. If I had to guess, I’d say that this guy manipulated Sam. He’d been fired and felt that it wasn’t fair, and this guy took advantage of that. He goated him on.”

“Do you think he’s the one who killed Sam?”

“I don’t know, and I don’t think we’ll find out on social media.”

Cyril huffed.

“What are we doing, then?”

Vale narrowed his eyes, and Cyril sucked in a breath. He knew he was being a brat. He just hated being useless.

Thankfully, they were distracted by a knock on the door. They weren’t expecting anyone, but Cyril’s mother often came around without telling them about it. It was something Vale wasn’t quite comfortable with, so Cyril had been trying to convince his mom to at least call first, but she sometimes forgot. They were working on it, though.

At least she didn’t let herself into the apartment like she used to. She waited outside the door for Cyril to open, and when he did, she beamed at him.

“Hi there. How’s your vacation going?”

Cyril wasn’t sure what his expression looked like, but his mother’s smile fell. She stared at him for a moment, and he waited for her to berate him for not taking that vacation she’d mentioned. Right now, he wished he had, but he wouldn’t have been able to help Katie if he was out of town.

His mother shook her head.

“I see. Well, I brought food for you and Vale.”

“You didn’t have to do that,”

Cyril said as he stepped aside to let her in.

“I didn’t have to, but I did anyway. I know that now that Vale is in your life, you don’t forget to eat as often as you did before, but I can still check on you, can’t I?”

“He’s been eating,”

Vale said as they joined him in the kitchen.

“I made sure of it. “

“I always said that Cyril needed a keeper, and I’m glad he found one.”

Cyril crossed his arms over his chest.

“Are you two having fun?”

His mother rolled her eyes.

“We’re not having fun. I always worry about you, but I know I don’t have to anymore, and it makes me happy. Don’t you want me to be happy?”

“I want you to be less dramatic,”

Cyril muttered. He loved his mom, but sometimes, she was a lot.

“Dramatic? How about this for drama—I’m starving. I hope you boys didn’t have anything planned for dinner because I went to that Mexican restaurant I like, the one with the red hat in the logo.”

Cyril glanced at the computer Vale still had in front of him. The only thing they’d been planning was to continue poking around the Internet, but Cyril could use a break. He didn’t feel they were getting anywhere, and it was starting to weigh on him.

Vale closed the computer.

“No plans,”

he told Cyril’s mother.

“I’ve never been to that restaurant. What did you get?”

USUALLY, VALE AND CYRIL took turns cooking. It was supposed to be Vale’s turn tonight, but there was nothing for him to do. He couldn’t say he was sorry. He didn’t particularly like cooking. He did it because he had to, but he was happy when he could avoid it.

He could tonight. He watched as Cyril and his mother got the food Eva had brought out of the bags. They were talking about how Cyril didn’t take care of himself, and while Vale agreed that he wasn’t great at it, he didn’t give them his input. They didn’t need it.

He enjoyed listening to them talk. He’d never had that kind of relationship with his own mother or his father. He’d never had that type of easy relationship with anyone. He and Russell were best friends, but Vale was annoyed with Russell most of the time. It wasn’t the same kind of affection, anyway.

“So, what are you up to these days?”

Eva asked as they sat down.

Vale wouldn’t touch that question with a ten-foot pole because the answer was getting himself in trouble, but Cyril wouldn’t want her to know. If Cyril wanted to lie to his mom, he was welcome to, but Vale knew she would see right through him.

Cyril squirmed in his seat.

“Not much.”

“Don’t bullshit me.”

Vale pressed his lips together so he wouldn’t laugh at Cyril’s offended expression. Eva knew her son.

“I’m not bullshitting you. You know I can’t work.”

“That doesn’t mean you’re not trying to work. Come on. Be honest with me.”

Cyril squirmed in his seat and glanced at Vale. Vale pointedly looked away. Cyril was on his own when it came to his mother. Besides, Eva didn’t want to hear this from Vale. She wanted to hear it from Cyril. Vale thought she probably knew that Cyril had found a way to work, even though he was still healing. She was calling him out on that.

When Cyril smirked, Vale knew that he wouldn’t like what was about to come out of his boyfriend’s mouth. Cyril would do anything to distract his mother from the fact that he was working through an injury. Apparently, that included throwing Vale under the bus.

“We met a friend of Vale’s the other day, John.”

“Cyril,”

Vale growled.

“What? He’s sweet and cute. I really think you should give him a chance.”

Cyril turned to his mother.

“John has been looking for work, so I mentioned that maybe Vale should hire him for his PI agency.”

“So you decided to open the agency?”

Eva asked, turning to Vale.

She was smiling as if she was happy to hear that. She probably was. Vale wasn’t her son, but he was dating Cyril, and she wanted Cyril to be happy. By extension, that meant she also wanted Vale to be happy.

She didn’t know what Vale had done for a living before. He and Cyril had told her that he’d retired recently, that he didn’t have to worry about finding another job because he was comfortable when it came to money, but also that he didn’t want to stay at home the entire time. Vale had told her about the agency because he didn’t want her to think he was taking advantage of Cyril, but he hadn’t thought it would be brought up again.

He should’ve known better. At the very least, he knew Cyril. His boyfriend was squirrely when it came to telling his mother what he got up to. He didn’t want her to worry, so he’d never told her the dangerous things he’d been through recently. Vale understood why, but he wished Cyril wasn’t trying to distract his mother by using him.

He cleared his throat.

“I haven’t decided anything yet,”

he told Eva.

“I’ve been talking to a friend who might want to open it with me, but he’s still working, which makes things a bit complicated. So far, everything’s still up in the air.”

“But you’ve already found your first employee. That should help, shouldn’t it?”

“I’m not sure I want to work with John. He can be unreliable.”

Vale still didn’t like that John had taken the hit on his head. He hadn’t been the only one, but he was certainly the only one still hanging around. Vale didn’t know why John was still in town, and he didn’t care. He just wanted John to stay away from him.

He was pretty sure he wouldn’t get his wish.

“He’s young and needs guidance,”

Cyril said.

“I really think that the two of you would work well together.”

“I think I’d want to strangle him after five minutes.”

Hell, probably less. These days, he wanted to strangle John as soon as he saw him.

“You’re being too hard on him.”

Vale was glad to be interrupted when they heard the skittering of tentacles on the floor. Eva lit up and turned in time to see Oscar coming into the kitchen. He made a beeline for her, raising his tentacles to be picked up. She did so without asking Cyril or Vale, who grimaced. Oscar may not have fur, but still. Was it necessary to have him at the dinner table?

Eva settled Oscar in her lap and stroked the top of his head.

“There’s my good boy. Where were you?”

“The last time I saw him, he was snoozing in the clean laundry pile,”

Cyril told her.

Vale groaned.

“And you didn’t shoo him out?”

“It’s not like he’s going to get the clothes dirty.”

“He’s a pet, and I don’t want him sleeping on my underwear.”

Eva laughed. Vale did his best not to laugh, too, but in the end, he gave in. It didn’t really matter that Oscar had been sleeping on his laundry. Nothing beyond the smile on Cyril’s lips really mattered, and it was as bright as the sun. Vale would allow Oscar to sleep on his underwear every single day if that was what he wanted, as long as it made Cyril smile.