Mounds of snow created a tunnel for them to drive off the premises, and they continued down the wider roads, completely empty when midnight came and fireworks reminded them of it in the sky.
Knight didn’t like having so much time to think, not after receiving the shocking news of his ancestry. His belief still hung by a thread, but as moments passed, the explanation Elliot had given him seemed to provide the only logical answer. He resented the idea of Fane infiltrating his body. Every part of him twisted with disgust when he imagined sharing flesh with such a despicable monster. But that wasn’t even the worst of it. Had Fane been successful and taken over someone like him, much stronger and less suspicious than Elliot, Laurent might have died. Gray wouldn’t have followed Knight.
It was a fucking disaster.
Elliot turned down the music all of a sudden, fidgeting and looking to the backseat. “He’s gone.” He wouldn’t stop looking around but repeated the same words twice more, as if just saying them out loud gave him relief.
Knight relaxed in the seat, slowing down the car as they approached the road that would take them past Brecon, to Knight’s family home. If it could even be called by that name. “You think he can only exist in the demon’s domain?”
Elliot squinted at him. “You know about the demon? Right. Laurent. Time travel.” He grabbed his head and rocked it in his hands. “He disappeared once we drove past the gate, so that’s possible. I’m so tired, Knight. He talks so much I keep getting headaches. He barely lets me sleep.”
“He’s gone now. Relax.”
Elliot went silent and looked out the window. In the street lights they passed, Knight could clearly see the puffy bags under Elliot’s eyes. “He never wanted me. He only got me by accident. I don’t blame him for wanting you instead.”
“What does that even mean?” Knight asked, squeezing his hands on the wheel. “I mean... I guess it would have been easier to hurt people with my body.”
“Or seduce them. He’s boasted how men used to fall over themselves to get a piece of him. I don’t know what I was thinking. I just thought… he promised it would be the two of us, and I was so upset after… whatever it was that you and I had.” Elliot sighed deeply and rubbed his already reddened eyes. “I need to have realistic expectations.”
Knight swallowed hard and briefly looked at Elliot. With most people celebrating the New Year, the road was deserted, and as they drove through the dark woods toward the distant lights of nearby Brecon, the lead armor was back around his chest.
“I could have handled it better. I guess I didn’t see... you were in so deep.”
Elliot shook his head. “It’s my fault. I always get in too deep. Too deep into Martin, too deep into William Fane, and too deep into you. The difference is that you were actually... nice to me. Maybe if I hadn’t had that time with you, William would have still seemed attractive. I want too much, and I always get burned.”
Knight swallowed hard, his hand itching to grab Elliot’s, but it didn’t feel right after the way they split. “You can have someone much better than William Fane. Once we get him out of you somehow, it’s gonna be fine.”
Elliot nodded even though he didn’t seem particularly convinced. His mouth—usually so lively and generous with smiles—was now limp and lifeless, the eyes that hypnotized Knight whenever he looked into them were pools of old blood instead of dark chocolate. Even Elliot’s body seemed to have shrunken somehow, as if in preparation for a blow that could come at any moment. Seeing him so deflated only added to the ache in Knight’s gut.
Elliot sighed. “I’m sorry about the blood thing too. I meant to never tell you, but with the shit that went down tonight, I had to come clean.”
Knight laughed, even though joy was the last thing he felt. “Well, on the upside, I didn’t fuck my cousin.”
Elliot groaned and bumped his head against the glass. “There’s that. Where are we going?”
“My mom’s. She has some explaining to do,” Knight said, grinning again. His face was moving between scowls and smiles, but what was he to do? Cry?
He never cried.
“And then? My trailer? I’d need you to bring me my shit tomorrow.”
“You’re not staying in that crappy trailer. Over my dead body,” hissed Knight. “I’m not gonna let a Mercier live in such conditions.”
“I deserve it for all the trouble I’ve put you through. You don’t owe me anything, Knight. It’s me who has a debt as deep as the Mariana Trench.”
Knight frowned at him, and the sheer helplessness in Elliot’s expression made his heart ache. “What are you talking about? We’ve had so much fun together from the get-go. Even when you were still performing as that prissy bitch The Count. You said you didn’t know you were putting me in danger, and I believe you,” he said firmly.