Page 82 of The Wicked

His gaze flicked to me, and I took that second to appreciate how pretty his eyes were. His eyelashes made the color even more pronounced, designed to draw you in and keep your attention. When he looked back at the fire, he responded, “I don’t understand your question.”

“You hesitated before you caused the explosion. Why?”

He let the silence drag on before answering. “I told you. I wasn’t in the mood to kill anyone.”

I frowned. “I don’t understand, you kill people all the time.”

“I do?” he asked.

“Seriously? You tried to kill me a few days ago.”

“I had a reason to. I don’t kill people without a valid reason. I don’t hurt people I don’t know.”

I scoffed. “Right, what about the families of the people you killed? Did you know them?”

He went silent, and I thought he wouldn’t answer until he… did. “No,” he said. “But I know grief. I danced with it. Lived with it. I kill them for their sake. The grief of losing a loved one is… brain-damaging. No one deserves to go through that.”

I shook my head, watching him closely. “You can’t just choose to kill innocent people because you think you’re saving them.”

“I know; that’s why I don’t shoot anyone without a validreason. If I do shoot, I don’t shoot to kill. The healing scar on your shoulder is proof of that. If I need someone dead, I have people around me who can do it. Well—unless I’m in a mood, then, you can guess the rest.”

“So… all those people yesterday…”

“It wasn’t my intention.” He filled in, “I’ll pay for it one way or another.”

“What does that mean?”

He raised his gaze to me again before looking away, not answering the question.

When silence came again, I had the urge to fill it.

“You know… it’s not your fault. I believe in reasons. Everything that went down yesterday happened because it was meant to. No matter how bad it was. If we weren’t there, somehow a fire would have started, and there would still have been an explosion, maybe even worse than the one we caused.”

This time, when he looked up, he didn’t immediately look away. He just stared at me.

I felt my stomach clench with the feeling that came with his stare, and I sucked in a breath, swallowing to ease my suddenly dry throat.

“What?” I asked.

He shook his head. “Nothing,” he let out before looking away, adding wood to the fire.

“Was that a moment?” I asked.

He frowned, side-eying me.

“Did we just have a moment there?” I repeated, keeping my tone light.

“No.”

“That was definitely a moment; I know a moment when I see one—”

“Do you ever shut up?”

“Yes…” I let a soft edge enter my voice, calling his attention. He fully looked at me now, waiting for me to complete my statement. “Only when there’s a dick in my mouth.”

“Okay.” He moved to stand and walk towards me, and a laugh bubbled out of my chest.

“Wait, wait… sit down,” I said between laughs. “I was just fucking around. Calm your tits,Dad.”