was he thinking? What had he seen? He’d mentioned fire, and Calder had talked about sucking sand—how was Cort explaining these things to himself? And how was he going to take all this? Wiley had accepted it, while Dane had freaked. Clay had almost lost Dane.
Would he lose Cort just when he was really starting to care about the man?
And wouldn’t it be better if Cort did leave? Grey was putting him into danger by having him near. It wasn’t even fair to him.
All these questions backed up inside him, making him want to scream. They’d been seconds away from dying, and Cort had to know that. He was a smart man. And Grey couldn’t have saved him. He could only stand there, unable to see anything.
The guilt threatened to swamp him.
“That was wild,” Calder said from the front seat. “Those smelly guys have been after me for a year, and you guys got rid of them like that.” He snapped his fingers as if to emphasize his point. “How did you do those things?”
“We’ll explain at the estate.” Clay brought the SUV to a stop before he hit the gas.
“Estate?” Calder asked.
“Yeah, the big house where we all live. You’ll see. What were you doing at the beach?”
“Enjoying the water. I have a thing for it.”
Grey swallowed a snort. This guy was obviously their Water Weaver. He still couldn’t believe he’d gotten an image of him in his mind. He’d done that with Lucien but never expected to be able to do it without his sight. Everyone else around had been nothing but blurs, but Calder had popped right into his head. He wondered if it was due to him being one of them, because he sure as hell couldn’t get a picture of Cort in his head, and he was dying to see what he looked like.
Warm sun came through the window and warmed Grey’s face. He ran his hand down the smooth, leather seat, his fingers coming in contact with Cort’s thigh. He imagined the man’s eyes on him as he moved his hand away. He didn’t want to—wanted to grip that thigh and feel the strong muscles. Wanted to reassure them both that they were still alive. Instead, he closed his hand into a fist and put it into his lap. Cort smelled so fucking good next to him, that faint musky cologne or aftershave teasing his senses.
He was completely attracted to a man he’d never seen, and it tripped him up. He wondered if Cort felt any attraction to him.
The tires crunched on gravel, and he knew they’d hit the rough road that led to the house. Grey looked Cort’s way, wishing he could get inside his head.
“Wow, this place is amazing,” Calder said.
Cort stayed quiet the whole time they parked and got out, then grabbed Grey’s arm and led him to the stairs to his apartment. “We have to talk.”
Grey felt like he was being led to jail as he walked up the stairs. Cort never let him go, and Grey opened the door and waited for Cort to go through. But Cort held on to him and they squeezed through the doorway together.
“I’m not gonna run,” Grey muttered.
“I wouldn’t put it past you right now. Just to get out of this conversation we’re about to have. Hell, I don’t know what I think.” Cort finally released him and his footsteps scraped the floor as he walked into the living room. “Come sit. You have a lot of explaining to do.”
Grey walked to the window and opened it to let in a much-needed breeze. He moved to the couch and sat, his nerves pricking at his skin. He ran his fingers over the rough surface of the cushion, then clasped his hands in his lap. He forced himself to relax. This was his damn reality, and now it had become Cort’s. He felt like shit about it, but the man had seen everything and deserved an explanation.
Cort took a deep, loud breath. “I don’t even know where to begin. What the ever-loving fuck, Grey?”
“I take it you saw some things you can’t explain…”
“I saw Lucien’s hands on fire, how he threw those flames, and that you guys are killing men. And that’s not all I saw. I saw the sand suck a man into it!”
Oh boy, he’d seen a lot. Grey ran his hands down his pants to get rid of the sweat. “First of all, they aren’t men. They’re creatures from another dimension.”
Cort