Well, dammit, he really hadn’t expected that at all. Nick glanced at the flash drive, then met Galen’s eyes. “I’m sorry too. I came in there ready to fight, and I didn’t give you a chance. I shouldn’t have given you ultimatums.”
Nick held out his hand, and Galen gave him the flash drive. “I’ll take a look at it and give you a call in the morning.”
“Wait.” Galen stuck his foot in the door before Nick could shut it on him. “Come on, let me watch it with you. It’s only video, there’s no sound. I can tell you what was said, and we can figure out where to go from there. I have questions, and I’m sure you will too. It’ll go faster if we look at it together.”
Nick studied Galen, at war with himself. The last time he’d let Galen into his apartment, it had gotten ugly. And they were already on edge with each other. To have Galen so close would bring all those temptations right back to the surface again. He’d like to believe that he was over Galen, but his reactions proved otherwise.
He couldn’t deny that Galen was right, though. He’d have questions, and he’d want answers. Curiosity outweighed his misgivings. “Fine, come in.” He opened the door and stepped back. “What made you change your mind? Is it just because of the statues?”
Galen shook his head. “I’ll admit I hate the idea of losing them, though that isn’t why. The reason I didn’t say anything earlier was because I didn’t think you’d believe me about what happened. I didn’t believe it myself. It’s insane. But somehow you’re involved too, and I need to talk to somebody who sees the things I’m seeing. And I’m really hoping you can help me make sense of it.”
Nick took a closer look at him. Galen had changed since he last saw him. He hadn’t noticed it earlier, but the infuriating wall he always kept up seemed to be gone tonight. The tightness had disappeared from around his mouth, the unhappiness he tried to hide in his eyes. Before there had been an air of desperation about him, as if he’d been running from something or trying to fill a hole. Nick could never figure out which. Even that had faded.
Maybe they had… no, better to squash that line of thought before it started.
“I have to agree with you on one thing. I think you’re the only person I know who might give credence to the family legend.” Nick gave him a small smile. And that alone was worth the ache of being in close proximity with Galen and not being allowed to touch. It didn’t stop Nick’s fingers from itching to do so. Would he find other changes if he kissed Galen?
The cockatiels sang out a greeting as they entered the living room and Galen grinned. “I see you found a friend for Rory. What’s its name?”
Galen remembered his pet’s name. That both touched and flustered him. Not two minutes into his apartment and Galen already had him off balance. They hadn’t exactly just hung out at his place, and Galen had always refused any invites to linger the whole night. Still, he remembered. “That’s Amy.”
Galen shot him an amused glance. “You’re such a geek.”
“You’re not one to talk if you picked up on my homage to Doctor Who.”
He led Galen over to the couch and opened his laptop on the coffee table. Galen sat on the edge of the couch, his hands clasped together as he leaned forward. Whatever was on the clip really had him going, and that only made Nick more curious. When the clip started, Galen pointed toward the whole statue on the screen. “This is what’s really screwing with me. Last night, when I came in, Dexios was still by himself. How come that’s not showing here?”
“It’s the same with the old pictures I have of the Collection. In all of them the first statue is whole. I checked them when I got back from the museum.” Nick grabbed the journal from the table and flipped through it until he found a photograph to show Galen. “I think the same thing happened in the past. And if the legend doesn’t get fulfilled, I bet the security tape and the pictures will revert back to the way they’re supposed to look.”
“I’d love to know why we’re not affected when everyone else is.”
Nick had his theories, and he didn’t like them one bit. His feelings for Galen were his own. He didn’t want them bound up with the legend. Besides, it couldn’t be possible. Their relationship had ended with no hope in sight. So the statues had to be reacting to another couple. Maybe Nick had a long-lost cousin he didn’t know about who worked at the museum.
Another man stepped into view on the screen, and Galen’s breath caught. Nick sensed his heightened awareness, and when he stole a glance at Galen he couldn’t miss the rapt expression on his face. Whoever this man was, he had certainly made an impression on Galen. Fucker. Nick clenched his jaw and suppressed the white-hot surge of jealousy. He didn’t give a rat’s ass who Galen ogled.
Then Nick got a closer look at the strange man on the screen. His skin prickled and broke out in a wave of goose bumps. He knew that man. He’d dreamt of him last night with Galen. He’d read about him in the journals. He was a myth come to life. Dexios. Holy fuck.
“What are you two talking about?”
Galen shrugged and two spots of color appeared on his cheeks. “Nothing much. He seemed to mistake me for Lykon. And he asked me to make him whole.” Galen shot a sideways glance at Nick. “I thought I heard the same phrase when we first brought the statues out to the exhibit room, but Ella was in there too, and she didn’t hear anything.”
He gestured toward the screen, drawing Nick’s attention back to it. “Actually, I mistook him for you at first. There was something about his eyes and the shape of his face that reminded me of you.”
Nick started to respond, then the action on the screen changed as Galen and the strange man kissed. Nick’s gut clenched. He had seen Galen kiss many men, but not like this; even through the screen, the energy between them sparked. Nick tore his eyes away before he got himself worked up. He had no claim on Galen. He never had, and he needed to keep reminding himself of that before he lost his self-respect.
The moonlight seemed to shimmer around the statue of the men embracing, and Nick thought he saw them shift to embrace each other tighter. “Did you see that?” He pointed toward the screen as the moonlight brightened even more.
“Weird, I didn’t notice that last night. I was—What the hell?” Galen jerked back away from the computer, his face pale, then leaned forward again to hit Pause.
“What is it?” Nick leaned forward too, and studied the statues, searching for whatever had startled Galen.
“Hold on, let me play this back in slow motion. This is about the time I started to feel real strange. Like there was another presence in me fighting to come out, and suddenly I recognized Dexios. No, more than recognized, I knew him as well as I had known….” Galen trailed off and started the clip again. “Now look at my face when we break apart.”
Nick frowned and peered at the couple. He didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, definitely not anything he hadn’t seen before. Then just as Galen began to pull back with a shocked expression, his face changed, his features shifting until the man who looked back at Dexios had only a passing resemblance to Galen. The features were similar, but the other man’s hair was curly, his cheeks unshaven, and his shoulders broader.
They kissed, a torrid, desperate kiss, and clung to each other as if they were afraid they were about to be torn apart. This was different from when Nick had watched Galen kiss the other man. That had him wanting to stake a claim on Galen, but this made his heart twist in empathy. Their desperation was almost palpable, even through the camera.
The man in Dexios’s arms stiffened and went limp. As Dexios caught him midfall his features returned to those of Galen’s, and another indistinct figure rose from his body. It became solid, turning into another man dressed in Greek armor. The man who had possessed Galen. Dexios said something, and the other man gave him a sad smile, touched Dexios’s jaw, and turned, disappearing into the statue.
CHAPTER SIX
“I KEEP telling myself it couldn’t have happened, yet it did,” Galen said softly. The situation was stra
nge enough without adding in the thought that he’d been possessed last night by some ancient spirit and somehow it had entered the statue. The only thing that kept him from freaking out entirely was having Nick next to him and knowing that other than passing out, no harm had come to him at all.
Galen and Nick watched Dexios lift Galen and carry him out of range of the camera. Nick sat back, his expression troubled as he continued to stare at the quiet exhibit room. “I woke up this morning in my office.” Galen turned toward him on the couch and indulged in the chance to watch him. “I’d hoped that I dreamt the whole scenario, because my other thought was that I had a mental breakdown. Either I’d been hallucinating, or I’d let an intruder get away with breaking into my museum. Neither was a happy thought. Now that I know I wasn’t crazy, it’s even scarier knowing that something had changed me.”
Nick remained silent, and he worried the corner of his lip, his brow furrowed in thought. Galen studied Nick’s profile: the long nose, the heavy brows, and strong chin. His gaze returned to Nick’s lips, firm, sexy. He remembered how Nick got the hint of dimples when he smiled. He loved Nick’s mouth, and thoughts of leaning over to kiss him crowded his mind.
“What did you dream last night, Nick?”
Nick finally looked at him, his brows still drawn together, and Galen wasn’t sure if there was awe or fear in his eyes. “Almost everything that happened on the tape. Then it became me kissing you, and not Dexios, and when the dream changed again, we were making love in some camp near the sea, only it wasn’t really us. I can’t explain it.”
Galen had dreamt, too, though he didn’t remember the details. Nick’s words tugged at him, conjuring up wisps of half-formed musings that had filled his night. The idea that they had shared the same dream was ludicrous. However, there were a good many incidents that had happened ever since those statues showed up that could be called the same. He didn’t know what to think anymore.
Nick rose, slamming the laptop lid down and startling Galen out of his thoughts. “Dammit, you couldn’t have called before? Six months without a word, not even an e-mail or text to let me know you were doing okay.”
They were going to have it out. Somehow Galen wasn’t surprised. Deep down he knew he wouldn’t have been able to come over tonight without discussing their aborted relationship. And this was a normal conversation, though uncomfortable, a step back from the weird. He craved that sense of normalcy. Once they talked, they’d both know where they stood with each other. He needed to know if Nick was involved with someone else because Galen did not poach on anyone’s territory. Despite how heated the vibes were that had been passing between them since he arrived, there were some lines he wouldn’t cross.
And the pain in Nick’s voice that he tried to disguise with anger made Galen more than a little ashamed of himself. Now all of his excuses for not calling seemed to be just that—empty, cowardly excuses.
“I thought about it more than once, even went so far as to pick up the phone a couple of times,” Galen said, his elbows on his knees as he stared down at his hands. “The longer time went on, the more I thought about it, not less like I’d assumed I would. I didn’t realize how much you’d already become a part of me.”
“Why the hell didn’t you call?” Galen looked up only to be pinned by Nick’s reproachful gaze. Before he could find the words to reply, Nick continued. “I left it as your decision. I didn’t push you or come begging for you to give us a chance. I expected you to back off, not disappear entirely.”
“Remember what I said when we first hooked up?”
Nick threw up his hands and disappeared into the kitchen as one of the birds called after him. Galen rose with a frown and took two uncertain steps in that direction when he heard the fridge door open and the clink of glass against glass. Moments later Nick returned with two beers and he handed Galen one. “Look, I know I broke the rules when I—”
Galen held up his hand and shook his head, interrupting him. “I didn’t mean it as an accusation. I’m sorry for how I reacted when you first told me how you felt. I wasn’t ready for any of it. Not for how you felt about me and sure as hell not for how you made me feel again. I wanted to be dead inside and I couldn’t, not with you. So I ran.”
Shock crossed Nick’s face, and he sat down across from Galen, then took a long drink from his bottle. “I always thought you were running from something. I thought maybe a bad ex. I never thought I might’ve been the cause.”
“No, you were right. I was running, and not from an abusive relationship. And you didn’t do anything wrong. You were yourself, and it drew me in and scared me at the same time.” Galen took a seat on the other couch and set the bottle down untasted.
“I cared, more than I wanted to, about your feelings. I didn’t want to string you along, give you false hope, and wind up hurting you even more. When I called you, I wanted to be sure it was because I was ready and not out of a selfish need to see you when I couldn’t promise to be what you needed. It was different when I’d believed we were using each other. I couldn’t continue when it changed.”
“Why didn’t you tell me all this then?” Nick looked so bewildered that Galen wished he could find some magic way to make things better. Rory lit onto Nick’s shoulder and he stroked his feathers with a finger. Galen remembered the strength and gentleness of those hands, and he wanted them again. “I would’ve backed off, given you the space you needed.”
“You? Come on, I’m telling the truth. You need to give me the same courtesy. At least be honest with yourself. Having something you want out of your reach drives you batshit. You would’ve tried at first. I know you would’ve, but….”
“I’m possessive?” Nick broke in, and a rueful smile touched the corner of his lips when Galen shrugged. “Yeah, I suppose I am.”
“It’s one of the things that drew me to you, and at the time I couldn’t open myself up to someone else.” Galen’s mind flashed back to that horrifying night. The pouring rain. The terrible sounds of glass shattering, metal crumpling, and Bryan’s scream. He banished the dark memories with a firm shove. He couldn’t go back, only forward. He’d spent too much time as it was wallowing in the past, blaming himself for things that couldn’t ever be fixed.
“You’re right.” Nick leaned forward, his gaze intent on Galen’s face in a way that made his heart skip a beat. “It would’ve made me nuts. I was already making myself crazy. I knew we could be so good together if you’d take the chance. And seeing you flirting with all those other men, knowing that some were taking you home and that I had no real claim on you, yeah, it did raise every possessive instinct I had.”
Galen glanced down and took a sip of his beer. That’s how they’d met, hooking up for a semianonymous threesome. They’d returned more than once to the same dynamic. Galen had gotten off on Nick’s hot, possessive eyes on him when someone else touched him, fucked him. And Nick had gotten off too. He couldn’t deny that. That’s why they both had kept going back for more. Nick had been the closest that Galen had come to seeing someone regularly in a long time.
Then something had changed for them both. Galen had no idea when the line had been crossed. He found himself losing interest in having a third person with them, and Nick had gotten pretty vocal against it as well. More and more often it had become the two of them alone. It had changed from just sex to hanging out at the clubs beforehand, sometimes even meeting for a quick dinner.
And it had all come to an abrupt halt when Nick admitted he loved Galen.
“That being said, I couldn’t have told you what was going on in my head anyway. I needed to face it first and understand what drove me. I needed to know what I wanted out of life.” Galen lifted his head and met Nick’s gaze. “I’m sorry I ran. I’m sorry it hurt you.”
“So am I.”
They stared at each other, neither of them quite ready to break the silence, to take the next step. At least that’s what Galen hoped Nick’s silence meant. Maybe he’d already moved on. If that were th
e case, well, Galen would have to learn to live with it. He couldn’t lay a claim when he’d given up that right six months ago. He had to know before it ate him up inside.
“When I called you the first time, it wasn’t about the statues. I remembered how much you liked art history, and I hoped they were enough to pique your interest and get you out to dinner.” Fuck. He was going about this backward, and Nick’s expression remained unreadable, which did not help the nerves plucking at him. “I guess what I’m trying to say is… are you seeing anybody else right now?”
Nick rubbed his palms on his jeans, then leaned forward to grab his beer. Rory launched from his shoulder with a raucous cry and glided over to his cage where he continued his barrage of irritated calls. “No, I’m not seeing anyone.” He took a long swallow of his beer, his gaze everywhere but on Galen. “Are you still partying every night?”
He didn’t say what Galen knew had to be uppermost in his thoughts. Was he still sleeping around? Fair enough. He could understand why it would be a deal breaker for Nick at this point.
“There hasn’t been anybody since you.”
Nick’s eyes jerked toward him, widening. “For real?”
“You showed me how empty it was. Besides, it would’ve defeated the purpose of getting my head clear. I don’t want random strangers anymore.”
Nick looked as if he wanted to say something. Instead, he rose and walked over to the bird cage and fussed with it. Galen watched him and gave Nick a chance to gather his thoughts. The tension over the statues had broken, and the big question that had loomed over him ever since he’d decided to call Nick had been answered. They’d both had a chance to bring up the past and now Galen didn’t know where to go from here.
Their future remained uncertain, a dark labyrinth rising up before him. If he opened up the door and Nick stepped through, he’d be vulnerable again. Six months ago the thought would’ve had him both angry and scared and not even willing to consider it. Now, after seeing Nick again, remembering all those things he’d missed about him, had him thinking that no matter what the future held, not trying would be the worst thing he could do.
Make Me Whole Page 7
