Chapter Twenty-Seven

I fell asleep on the couch. I didn't expect Inanis to come back quickly, even though I wasn't even sure where he went.

But when I awoke and noticed the clock read four in the morning, I became a bit nervous.

Where the hell did he go?

I started to pace the hotel room, wondering what I should do, if I should do anything at all.

I began to argue with myself. Part of me was adamant on believing he was a grown man who could take care of himself, the other part of me suggested he may be a grown man, but he certainly wasn't responsible.

But he goes out every day without me with him, how was this any different?

He also wasn't medicated and thinking irrationally.

Surely he's used to taking his pills by now.

And yet it's four in the morning, and he is nowhere to be found.

I groaned, rubbing my face in my hands, conflicted whether I should leave the hotel room or not.

I wasn't stupid, as badly as I would love to roam the streets on my own, I knew it was dangerous to go alone with my title as the Harvester.

Goddamnit where was he?

He was too stupid to own a cellphone, and I was too stupid to know who to call that would actually know where he could have gone.

For only a moment, the thought struck me that it was irrational to be worried for him. If something happened to him, it would most likely be more beneficial to this country than if he safely returned.

The thought didn't sit well in my stomach though, and for some reason, the fact that there was a chance he might not come back at all made me dizzy.

I was in the middle of hyping myself up to leave the hotel room when the door suddenly unlocked and swung open.

Inanis walked in, evident exhaustion written on his face as our eyes met.

"Where the hell have you been?" I ask him, before he could even get a word out, "Do you know what time it is?"

He ignored me, "What are you still doing up?"

"I was waiting for you, dumbass."

His eyes narrowed, as if skeptical, "Why would you do that?"

I looked at him as if he was an idiot. Because yes, he's an idiot. "Are you kidding me? I thought something happened to you that's fucking why."

There was a sudden faint hint of a smirk on his face as if what I said amused him. As angry as I was, seeing his ridiculous smirk made my chest warm.

He seemed to be returning to his regular self. The medication must be wearing off.

I was taken back by how relieved I was.

"Are you saying you were worried about me?"

I crossed my arms over my chest, and yet, for some reason I couldn't look him in the eyes. "Shut up."

He walked over, to me in three quick steps, and before I could process what he was doing he bent down and kissed my cheek.

I took a sudden step back, surprised more than anything. I touched the spot on my cheek where his lips were, "What-"

"Is that not what you were waiting for?" He said, as he backed away, shrugging off his coat. "That's normal right? A spouse waiting for their lover to come home, only to be greeted with a kiss?"

I frowned, rubbing my cheek, "You watch too many movies."

"I disagree, I have never been able to sit through a full movie in my life." He walked over to the bed where he immediately laid down, resting his arms behind his head, he stared up at the ceiling. "I just enjoy fantasizing on the absurd normalities people conclude every miserable day of their existence. Do you know people own dogs for no other reason than to own one? That's so strange."

I stood still for a moment, still a bit surprised by the sudden kiss before remembering that it was four in the morning.

"Where did you go?" I ask him again, as I slowly walked towards the bed that we were going to have to share. Normally I'd be dreading it, but tonight felt different.

I didn't care.

"I took care of some things." His voice was distant, like he really didn't want to talk about it.

Or he just didn't want to tell me, and in that case, I wouldn't let him get away with it.

"What things?"

"Just things."

I huffed, "What things, Inanis?"

His gaze was unwavering from the ceiling, "Rodney will be spared."

I stared at him for a long moment, processing what he just said, "What? How?"

"It seems you were right, there are more politicians deserving to be my playthings than a man who simply cheats on his cheating wife. We will be announcing the change of plans to the public later today."

"Who will be taking his place?"

"Caroline Lennings, some mayor of a small town in Ohio, accused of turning a blind-eye to a cult that has a body count of over thirty-six murdered women." He paused, "I mean, sacrifices."

My stomach twisted, "That's awful." But not surprising. America is full of malicious extremists

"I suppose it's only awful for her now."

We were both quiet for a moment. I could tell how tired he was, which was odd to see him so vulnerable. Normally he was good at keeping his feelings masked away. The medication must not be completely out of his system.

And, it has been a pretty long night.

"I'm sorry I hit you today." The words fell out before I could stop them. Maybe I was the one going crazy, as apologizing to him was not something I was comfortable doing.

He turned to me; our eyes locked for a long moment. At first, I thought he wasn't going to say anything at all, and then he opened his mouth, "Apology not accepted."

I narrowed, "You have got to be kidding me."

"I like forgiveness to be earned, not spat out like a minor inconvenience."

"I don't have to earn anything. If you want to hold a grudge, that's on you." I stubbornly try to climb into the blankets but stopped when my pride began to nag. I sighed dramatically, "Can't you just accept my apology like a normal person?"

"Where's the fun in that? Grudges hold so many opportunities."

"Oh, go to hell." I snap at him, as I lay down, and mimic him, and stare mindlessly up at the ceiling, "I don't have the energy to amuse you."

"And yet you have the energy to abuse me. Isn't that ironic."

"I don't abuse you!" He was baiting me, and unfortunately, it was working.

"Well, I certainly don't hit you."

I gritted my teeth. As much as I didn't want to admit it. He was right.

He has never hit me once. For some reason, I wish he had.

"Yes, but you also almost killed my father."

He huffed, "Are you really bringing this up again?"

I didn't want to admit it was all I had on him as an opposing argument.

"Never mind." I say with a long sigh, "It's late, we should go to sleep." He said nothing, so I reached over and turned off the lamp that was sitting on the nightstand. The room fell dark, and we both laid silently in the bed for nearly ten minutes.

I wondered if he was already asleep by how quiet he was. Inanis off-meds would never fall asleep before me. I know this because I've tried multiple times on numerous nights to wait until he was asleep to leave the bedroom, but he was always up, waiting for my escape attempt, ready to pull me back in.

I wasn't sure if he was awake now, and for some reason, I wanted him to be.

I turned over and dared to glance at him, he was laying quite still on his back, his eyes were closed but I could tell by his breathing he was still awake, most likely waiting for me to say something he could sarcastically dismiss.

I couldn't help but feel a little annoyed that he was acting different, our argument from the other night was still a fresh wound between us both, and I knew he was just as stubborn as I was to let it go so easily.

I frowned, laying my head back down on the pillow, I turned over and let my back face him. He chose the Bone Cutter over Inanis, there was nothing I could do about that.

Even if he went out of his way to replace Rodney with someone else. Would he have done that if I hadn't thrown a tantrum?

I closed my eyes, deciding I was too tired to try and figure out every motive my husband has right now, exhaustion finally took over, as I fell asleep.