Chapter 13: Choice

Chapter 13: Chapter 13: Choice

`The bathroom door opened behind him.

Sebastian did not turn.

He knew who it was before the reflection appeared in the mirror.

Nero stepped inside dressed exactly as he had been during the ceremony, black formal trousers beneath a long Saharian coat worked in silver at the cuffs and collar. His white-blond hair remained loose down his back, untouched despite hours of ceremony, while the narrow crown he had worn in the chapel was gone.

He closed the door quietly.

Sebastian braced both hands against the marble sink and watched him through the mirror.

"You look terrible," he said.

His voice was rough from coughing blood.

Nero’s mouth shifted faintly. "You’re the one bleeding into expensive stone."

"That is not your concern."

Nero only hummed.

The casual sound irritated Sebastian more than an argument would have.

Another spasm pulled beneath his ribs. He breathed through it, fingers tightening around the edge of the counter until the marble pressed painfully into his palms.

Nero stayed near the door.

"You shouldn’t be here," Sebastian said.

"At Zion’s wedding?"

"In this room."

Nero pushed away from the door and walked farther inside.

The latch settling behind him made a soft metallic sound.

Sebastian’s eyes flicked toward it.

"You were always going to come."

"Yes."

"You are insufferable."

"I’ve been told."

"And disgustingly pleased with yourself."

That finally earned him a small smile.

"Maybe."

Sebastian laughed once, but pain cut it short.

He turned toward the sink and spat another thin line of blood into the porcelain before rinsing his mouth. Cold water ran over his fingers, carrying red toward the drain.

When he lifted his head again, Nero was watching him.

Not smiling now. His purple eyes had dropped to the suppressant case lying beside the tap.

Sebastian followed the look.

"Don’t."

"I didn’t say anything."

"You were thinking loudly."

Nero’s gaze returned to his face.

For several seconds neither moved.

Then Sebastian felt it.

Warmth pressed carefully against the ragged edge of his awareness.

The same sensation from breakfast, the library, and the balcony.

Soft enough that he might have mistaken it again if Nero had not already destroyed that illusion.

Sebastian straightened.

"Stop."

The warmth disappeared instantly.

The effect was brutal.

Pain rushed back into the space it had occupied, sharper now that Sebastian knew what relief felt like. His breath caught, and red crowded the edge of his vision before he forced himself upright.

"This is what happens when I stop," Nero said, leaning against the doorframe, white-blond hair sliding over one shoulder. "You approach berserk faster. You know what I can offer you, Sebastian. You know what I am."

Sebastian stared at him through the mirror.

Nero held his gaze for a moment, then with infuriating calm, he asked, "Do you accept me now?"

Something inside Sebastian went very still.

He had expected satisfaction, arrogance, perhaps even amusement.

Nero gave him none of those things. That made Sebastian hate him more.

For the last week, Sebastian had lowered walls he had spent seven years maintaining. He had sat across from Nero at breakfast and laughed with him. Asked questions he should have kept to himself. Stayed when leaving would have been the wisest thing to do.

He had allowed himself to remember what speaking to Nero had once been like before everything between them became complicated.

All while Nero quietly threaded himself through Sebastian’s failing control.

Sebastian’s fingers tightened against the marble.

He hated Nero for using that. He hated himself more for making it possible, as he knew the suppressants weren’t helping the past month.

"No."

The answer came without hesitation.

Nero’s expression barely changed.

Sebastian pushed himself away from the sink.

The room tilted immediately.

He caught the counter once, waited until the red receded enough to see clearly, then straightened.

Nero watched him without moving.

Sebastian crossed the bathroom slowly, every step measured because he would rather fracture something than stumble in front of him.

When he reached Nero, the difference in height forced Sebastian to lift his chin.

Neither spoke for several seconds, Sebastian passed him.

Nero moved aside.

That small courtesy nearly made Sebastian laugh.

His hand closed around the door handle and... stopped.

There was one thing he needed to know.

Sebastian looked back over his shoulder.

"If you can push berserk back..."

Nero’s face changed by almost nothing.

Sebastian noticed anyway.

"...can you accelerate it too?"

Silence.

The question settled into the cold bathroom.

Nero did not answer. His purple eyes remained fixed on Sebastian, every trace of easy amusement gone.

That was enough.

Sebastian stared at him, and a quiet chuckle escaped him. It hurt his ribs, but he did not care.

"Right."

He opened the door.

Music from the reception slipped into the bathroom again, warm and distant against the cold white light.

Sebastian stepped into the corridor.

Before pulling the door wider, he glanced back at Nero one final time.

"Go fuck yourself."

Then he left.