27. Betrayal

Benji's POV

I left the two men alone to get their relationship back on track, and I was reminded of the aloneness I feel all the time. I miss the time I used to spend with friends other than Mikey. I mean, I love him a lot, but it's just like Oliver said. The more time I spend with him, the less I want to be close. I need a little bit of breathing room, and I've been getting that over the past few days. However, I still needed some more, and I knew that he felt the same way. I guess it's just the nature of the beast.

I was walking down the hallway when I heard a loud shout from one of the rooms. A man scrambled out with panic in his eyes, and I was shocked to see blood pouring down his face. "Run," he darkly whispered while staring directly at me. Shivers ran up and down my spine, but I didn't follow his order. Instead, I went up and peeked into the room. It only took a few seconds for a bullet to whiz past my head, and I felt the wind of it in my hair. That was way too close.

I charged up my magic before jumping out from my cover, and I wasn't able to hide my shock for long. Connor isn't going to be pleased... I took up a defensive position, no longer afraid to hurt a human and look bad. This isn't just another human... He's something more than that. He's had too much of an effect on our lives for me to just leave him alone. His eyes, which were so pale blue they appeared gray, were narrowed with the intention to kill. It wouldn't be easy, though, because he may have a gun aimed at my face, but I can stop a bullet with just my eyes.

"Why are you doing this? Do you have any idea how much this will hurt him!?" I shouted, but he didn't really seem to care. I don't remember his name since it's been so long, but he did try to stop our planning. He had pretended that he was just a worried husband, but he would sit in and listen to everything we would say sometimes... Maybe I gave him too much trust without knowing him well enough. Oh well, there's no time to think about that now. I have to act.

"I think you know what I'm here for. It should be obvious to you what I'm doing."

"But why? What has possessed you to come here and screw us all over?" I know my voice is beginning to rise into a yell, but I was getting hysteric. I couldn't hold it in anymore. How could someone do this to my friend? He's so kind; I don't understand why he's behaving this way...

"Oh, but don't you know? I've been the one screwing you over this whole time."

"What?"

"How have you not figured it out yet? Are you seriously that dull? For shame, for shame."

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about!"

"You have to figure it out for yourself. Go on, I'll wait." He made the same face as a pretentious teacher waiting for the class to be silent, but I wasn't going to be putting up with that bullshit today.

"You tell me, or you're going to regret the day you were born." My voice was dead serious, but I honestly didn't know if I could go through with the threat. I mean, I think that I can because he's hurt Connor by doing this, but it will be hard for me. I always find a way to see the innocence in people that don't deserve it. It's been my downfall, but also my rise.

"I don't believe that you would do that, Benjamin Evans. You're a pussy, and that's all you're ever going to be." There aren't words to describe how much I want to invert his asshole right now. No, not that. I want to rearrange all his insides so that his mouth is his ass and his ass is his mouth. No one limits me to a box and hurts the people I love at the same time.

"You want to test that theory?" My entire tone of voice had changed, and I stalked a step forward. I could see in his eyes that he could tell he had messed up, but I didn't care. I was like a wild cat about to pounce on a gazelle, except that gazelle had just stolen a cub. The anger was there, and that's really all I need. I'm peaceful most of the time, but once you mess with me, I won't hesitate to tell you how I feel.

"Now that I think about it, maybe I don't want to be having this conversation."

"Oh, is that the case? Well, I'm sorry, but that isn't currently an option. You've taken a step too far. The line is way back there." I pointed at the ground behind him with a patronizing smile, and I kind of enjoyed the way he squirmed. No! This isn't me; this is what Oliver would do. Stop it!

"What are you going to do with me, huh? What's your master plan that's going to shake the very earth we walk on?"

"I'm going to put you in our jail for prisoners of war."

"Why is that? I'm not a prisoner; I'm Connor's husband."

"You overstepped that boundary the moment you came in here with a gun shooting at my people. He can let you out if he wants, but I'm certainly not going to do it. You're a sad excuse for a person."

"Will you let me go if I just tell you what I did."

"It depends on how bad the thing you did is. I'm going to get it out of you either way; it will probably be better for everyone involved if you just tell me what it was."

"I'm only going to do it if if you guarantee you aren't going to hurt me."

"I don't think that's going to be possible. Please try again next time, I implore you."

I grabbed onto his arms tightly, and he struggled against the hold. However, I know that there's a dead body in the hallway. Someone has to be held responsible, and it appears to be him. I don't know for sure, but the way that he's talking makes it pretty obvious. I hope that I'm not wrong, but it would be worse for me to just let him go free. That man was innocent, and of course, it had to be a human. Now all of the others are going to be less trusting of me. Maybe he did that on purpose... I just can't believe that someone so close to our cause would behave this way. Unless... He isn't the way he seems...