Love is Always Write Anthology Bonus Volume

always woke before Daren unless a nightmare was involved, but it had proved a reasonably quiet night. Now Daren's big blue eyes seemed to be boring into his head from just a foot away.
    "Good morning."
    "Good morning," Daren replied politely.
    "Have you been awake long?"
    "An hour or so."
    Sebastian rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "You should have woken me up."
    "It's okay. I was thinking."
    "Thinking about anything interesting?" This was a talkative as Daren had been in days.
    "I hate my family." Sebastian snorted. "No, I mean it. I've always quietly loathed them but just in the way teenagers usually do. But I truly hate them. I hate their lies and hypocrisies. They are bullies and cowards who are nearly always above the law. I hate all that they are. I hate looking in the mirror and knowing I'm one of them." There was a cold edge to Daren's voice as he spoke.
    "What about your mother?"
    "My mother has been a valium-fueled zombie since Richard left, enabled by my father and the doctors he finds for her. She hasn't been the woman who was my mother in a long time, and the family prefers her that way. My grandfather rules over us all, and he is… evil. And he's spread that evil to all of us."
    "I don't believe you are evil."
    "I want to watch them burn," was Daren's reply. "I want to see their empires crash down around them. I hate them all. I hate them for what they've done to me. For what they let happen. For what they let me become. There are…" Daren pulled a breath through his teeth like he was in pain. "When the FBI told me what kind of files to look for, where I should be digging…. Oh, the things I found. Files, accounts, family archives. They have centuries of blood money stashed here and there. Dirty deals with evil people. Bribes and threats. Tax evasion. Weapons deals. That maid wasn't the first rape they've buried. Not by a long shot. The things they have done…"
    Sebastian took Daren's hand in his as Daren's breathing became ragged.
    "And I hurt so much. It's like glass in my head, and it all just hurts, and no one will ever make them pay. No one will ever care. They just have no fear."
    "Of course they have fear. They fear you."
    Daren closed his eyes and held tight to Sebastian's hand. "I don't know what to do."
    "We can figure it out. We still have a little time."
    "We."
    "I haven't put all this work into fixing you up just to push you out the door to fend for yourself. You're going after something too big. Don Quixote needs Sancho Panza."
    "I just read the Cliff Notes, but I'm pretty sure Don Quixote was insane and Sancho was an idiot."
    "Sancho was loyal, and Don Quixote saw the world as it should be."
    "Doesn't Don Quixote die at the end or something?"
    "No idea. I left my copy on a bus in Hong Kong." Daren smiled at that. "I'm going to see this through."
    Daren lowered his eyes. "Thank you," he whispered.
    Sebastian just gave his hand a small squeeze, deciding there were things Daren didn't need to hear, like how every day Sebastian had more respect and fondness him. How every day he had a stronger desire to strip off his gloves and just wrap himself around Daren's broken body like a human shield. To protect the good man that had somehow managed to develop in the shell of an out-of-control brat. Like how much he wanted to find Richard Smith, SAS, and thank him for planting the seed of that good man in a child that could have so easily become just one more monster.
    He let go of Daren's hand and gave his head a quick pat. "I'll go make breakfast." He tossed back the blankets.
    Daren pushed himself up and grabbed his cane, which was leaning against the bedside table. "I think I'd like to start eating in the other room."
    "I think that's a good idea."
    ****

CHAPTER 6
    The rest of the day followed much as the one before. Daren was still quiet— and still stared off into space and still pushed himself to tears— but Sebastian had hope that he had reached some kind of bottom and was starting the real climb back out.
    Then there were the nightmares.
    Sebastian wasn't even sure how many he'd missed before one woke him after midnight. It was not the usual screams and thrashing. Instead, Daren muttered and hissed, his head snapping one way and then the other. He caught the word "no", but it sounded less afraid and more defiant. Sebastian shook him awake. Daren's eyes snapped open, and he gulped for air before settling back into sleep and starting the process over.
    After the third waking that night,