42 | Sitkolson

Chapter Eleven | Nature

The meeting Ricky and Ryan had been invited to was to lovingly hosted at a rundown abandon warehouse. They understood why their associates wouldn't want them finding out about any of the society's secret bases of operation, but they expected something a little cleaner than this. The two stayed to the shadows, uncomfortable with the company—An ancient evil and his telepathic son, a pint size assassin, a kidnapped prison guard, and whatever the fuck kind of crazy Asher was. Despite their insanity and sadism, they were thick as thieves. Everything they discussed appeared to be legit, and it seemed like they knew what they were doing. That didn't make the couple any less suspicious of them.

As they were wrapping up the meeting, planning to head out to execute their break-in plan immediately after, Ryan felt the burner phone in his pocket vibrate. He retrieved it, seeing the exact message he feared. His son was shamefully texting him to confess his failure. Ryan flashed his screen over to Ricky.

"Go. I'll take care of this." Ricky placed his hand on the side of Ryan's head, looking deep in his eyes, "I promise."

Ryan pecked his lips, then took off through a portal. He didn't need to say anything else, not even an "I love you" because they just knew. Their connection and care for one another went beyond words. Unfortunately, he couldn't expect the others to understand that. When he turned himself around, they were staring, waiting for an explanation.

"Family emergency." Ricky stated.

"What do you know of family?" Beau snarled.

Covey placed his hand upon his son's shoulder. "Leave it be. We have other issues to tend to. Without Ryan, we're without a proper teleporter. I have it within my ability to open portals but I can't pass through them myself. I'll have to trust you all to see this through."

"We will." His child replied, "I promise."

Croc piped in, "I'll keep 'em in line."

Covey smiled softly, "I have no doubt you will. Alright. We should be going, then."

He moved to an open area of the warehouse. Covey tapped his staff against the concrete three times, then swirled it around as if he was stirring a pot. A swirling black hole formed on the cold, grey ground, twirling away at reality's edges. The less sane, such as Friday and Asher, had no issue in leaping through. Ricky was expectantly hesitant. Years by Ryan's side had taught him the vindictive and conniving ways of magic and it's users. He stepped forward, falling far down into the darkness, only submitting to it's weight because he had no better option.

Everyone found their way through, except Vinny. He stared down the pit like a child scared of jumping into the deep end for the first time. Covey observed him, his eyes glowing a haunting purple from the voodoo magic running through his veins. "If you turn back now, no one will blame you." He said, "Once you go through there, there's no taking it back. You'll be like us—A martyr."

"I don't take myself that seriously, but yeah, guess you're kinda right. No one will ever see me the same. I'll be a bad guy. I know what I'm doing is morally right, and I'm tryin' my best to get better about not giving a fuck about everyone else's opinions." Vinny responded.

He took a deep breath, then leaped in. Covey shrunk the portal so that it was small enough to go undiscovered by the prison staff on the other end, should they run across it. He left it open just a crack to allow Beau's telepathy to travel through to him. His heart ached for Vinny's foolhardy youth, but he wasn't going to save the soul of a boy he barely knew over the life of the man he loved. If the cost of saving Jasper would be Vinny's hero status, that was something he could live with. He's done worse for love before.

—

Ryan returned to his apartment as fast as he could. There were only two things he truly cared about in life—His boyfriend, and his son. The fact that the two didn't get along very well was also about the only thing that ever bothered him. Despite how Ricky felt about Jani, he knew how important he was to his dear love. He didn't even give it a second thought when he told Ryan to go after his son instead of focusing on this mission.