Nightmare - Secret Identities Book 1

Chapter 13

Virgil's POV

It'd been a week of Roman and I officially seeing each other, neither one of us venturing far enough to call it dating.  I'd refused to stay at his place again; "I'm sleeping better now," I'd lied.  In fact, I'd been staying at my old base.  It made me feel safe.

I worked on my laptop, typing away on a document I hoped no one would ever have to read.  I rolled my shoulders and pulled out the flash drive, stuffing it in the pocket of my sweatpants.  Looking around the empty office, I sighed.

Any sane person would be asleep right now.  What did that say about me?  Maybe...

My powers activated and I reached out to someone familiar.  Hey, Prince. It didn't feel like he was asleep, but I didn't get a response.  After a while, I slumped down on the couch, loneliness overwhelming me.

Someone tapped my shoulder.

I screamed and teleported.  I'm not wearing my mask; I'm not wearing my mask.  "Holy shit!" I yelled.  I looked around and realized I'd teleported myself into the bathroom.  My back pressed against the door, I called, "Prince?"

"Yeah, it's me." His voice came from right outside the door.

Oh, Jesus fucking shit.  "I didn't expect you to come over.  I just..."  I couldn't breathe; my powers were going crazy.

"Raven, please calm down."  His voice was straining.

You're hurting him.  Goddammit!  Why do you have to be so useless?  Hearing that name again didn't help. "I'm not wearing my mask," I said between breaths.

"Don't worry; just tell me where it is."

"Okay...  Um...  The-The desk drawer...  One-One-One of them."  Deep breaths, Virgil.  Come on.  Not for you, but for him.

"Found it!" he announced, and I could really feel the joy... and something else.  His footsteps approached until he stopped outside the door.  "If you open the door just a bit, I'll slip it in, okay?"

Okay.  That's okay.  You can do this.  I repeated it again and again in my head: You can do this.  I eased the door open and gently took the piece of fabric into my grasp.  Securing it on my face, my powers finally calmed.  I opened the door the rest of the way, my breathing still uneven.  "Ya' know, when-when I called out, I-I-I expected a late-night conversation, not a visit."  I tried to laugh.

He pulled me into a hug, and there was that other emotion again.  Sorrow?  Anger?

No.  He's discontent...

"I hate that we have to hide our faces from each other," Prince mumbled into my hair.

My self-esteem—or lack thereof—began to surface. I pulled away, craving the contact but hating how it made me want to tell him my name.  I kept my head low as I wandered back to the couch.

He sat down next to me.  "So, uh...  Why'd you call?  It's pretty late." He held my hand and began rubbing the back of it with his thumb.

My eyelids suddenly heavy, I leaned my head on his shoulder. "Can't sleep."

His chuckle shook his shoulders, though just barely. "Maybe that's because you're at your office and not at home." He wrapped his arm around me.

"Last time I slept at home, my powers broke a pot," I laughed weakly. I hadn't realized just how thoroughly exhausted I was. "No one should be here, so I just feel... safer."

Roman's POV

He was drifting off to sleep before my eyes. I caught him before his entire body went limp and he tumbled to the floor. Easing the two of us to lay down, his back pressed close against my chest, I wrapped us in the nearby throw blanket.

He's damn cute; I'll give him that.