Sinful [malexmale]

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-One

I was getting sick again.

I could feel the harshness in my throat, the sting each time I swallowed, the pulsing pain in my temples and behind my eyes. My nose was becoming clogged with snot and my eyes watered randomly. My cough was hoarse and disgusting.

And there was no way I could let anyone know what was happening.

I managed to keep the rouse up the first day. No one noticed, and thankfully, my sunglasses hid my watery red eyes. I just wanted to rest, though. My whole body was beginning to ache right down to the marrow of my bones. I hated myself for accepting Anza and Dev's invitation to go out for lunch in Portius, but I couldn't resist. After being away from them so long, I wanted to accept any invitation they threw at me. We went to another small diner and took a booth settled in a corner.

"So, how was your date the other night?" Anza asked, taking a gulp of her iced tea and reaching for a deep fried pickle. Dev and I exchanged quick looks before Dev grinned widely at Anza.

"I don't kiss and tell." He answered. Anza snorted and threw a pickle at him, which he dodged, then rolled around to pick up off the floor.

"Don't give me that bull," She drawled, "You kiss and tell all the time, cowboy." Dev shrugged helplessly. I shook my head, swallowing mouthfuls of hot tea to soothe the aching in my throat. I could feel a tickle beginning in my throat to urge me to cough, but I drank more tea to soothe it away. It was getting harder and harder to pretend I was fine. I was feeling so weak that walking was enough to tire me out.

"You all right, bunny?" Anza asked after she was done teasing Dev, who instantly looked at me with concern. I nodded, taking another gulp of tea and picking at the crust on my bread, placing it on the side of the plate.

"Yeah, just feeling tired. I didn't get into bed until late last night. I was looking over the recent reports from the front lines. Coyotl's been emailing me his reports too and that guy is a sucker for detail." I explained with a shrug. Dev's frown deepened.

"Reports? Rave, you just got back. Take a break. No one's launching attacks right now--"

"Right now," I repeated sternly, "But what about later? Tomorrow? The day after that? Besides, I'm trying to pinpoint Julius's troops." The last part came out as a mutter. So far, all the reports I'd received didn't say anything about Julius. His soldiers were fighting, but he wasn't anywhere to be seen and that made my gut churn. Where could he be? He was a bloodthirsty bastard. He lived to fight and torture. Was he hiding out because Hades had discovered that I was alive, and not actually dead?

"You need to chill," Anza said after a moment, "You look really pale."

"I'm fine," I insisted, then pushed the crusts onto a napkin before taking pieces off my sandwich, "Let's talk about something else. I've been staring at reports and listening to people nag at me until four in the morning. What's everyone planning for the day?" Anza and Dev exchanged stares before Anza spoke reluctantly.

"Got another date with Maggie today." She said at last. Dev arched a brow.

"Whoa, Anza has a second date with the same woman?" He asked, intrigued. Anza narrowed her eyes at him, then picked up her packaged straw, ripped off one end, then blew into it so the wrappers hot off and hit Dev in the face.

"She was real insistent 'bout hangin' out again. And she's real sweet, so hell, why not?" She huffed, sitting back and folding her arms over her chest. Dev just grinned and wiggled his eyebrows at her, making her roll her eyes. It was amusing, and interesting. Anza didn't date. She was like me in the sense that work came first, then family (in her case, the other Sins and I), then food, sleeping, and so on and so forth. Dating was at the very bottom of her priorities list. For this woman to insist they go out again, Anza must be really interested in her. It was actually pretty nice to see Anza getting serious about someone. I actually wanted to meet this woman.