Luca returned to the trailer. He picked up one of the food containers and gave it to Nox, then one for himself. “Toast, jelly, and pork chops. I’m not sure if the pork chops are safe after sitting out all night.”
Nox opened the container and sniffed. “It’s fine.”
“You sure?”
“I’d be able to smell it if it was bad.” Turned meat wouldn’t have harmed Nox. He’d eaten worse, but Luca would get ill. The Anubis wouldn’t let him be sick for very long, but Nox didn’t want him to be miserable even for a few minutes.
“If I puke, you get to hold my hair back.”
“Deal.”
They found a space to sit on the trailer's steps and ate. When they finished, Nox told Luca everything Isaiah had said.
Isaiah’s people converged in the open space near the RVs and sat at the picnic tables to share breakfast.
Sunlight cut glowing shapes through the trees onto the ground and the wind tossed them back and forth.
Luca stared at nothing, chewing on his bottom lip, and Nox waited.
“I can’t lose you.” Luca’s voice wavered.
“If it works, you won’t.” Luca would have more of Nox than he’d been able to give.
“I still lose you. You’ll age, you’ll die, and I’ll be alone.”
“You won’t be alone.” He would have Isaiah’s people.
“If I’m not with you, I’m alone.”
“As long as I have the ichor, they’re not going to stop hunting me.”
“Us.”
“No. Me.”
“I don’t care if I have to run.”
“It’s hard on you. I see it. I feel it. You need a place to call home. You need somewhere secure and safe where you have a warm bed, good food. Where you can be happy.”
Luca pulled his knees up and rested his arms across the top. “Why do I get the feeling you want to suggest I stay here?”
It would be better than the alternative, in Nox’s opinion. “You could if you wanted to.”
Luca glared.
Nox held up a hand. “But I know you don’t.”
“Damn right, I don’t.”
And Nox didn’t want him to stay either. He was too selfish, plus Isaiah was right. The Anubis would never abandon Luca. It would also never stop wanting him. What if it became so insistent it took Luca against his will? What if it hurt him in the process?
Because doing something so horrible would definitely break his spirit.
Nox wouldn’t be able to live knowing he’d allowed that to happen. Then the Anubis would take over and there’d be nothing to stop it.
“I don’t want you to be different,” Luca said. “I love you the way you are.” And Nox was thankful for that. “But you’re right. I want somewhere safe. Somewhere to call home. Someone to share that home with. And nowhere will be home without you.”
“Then we’ll try.