Killian rolled again on the lumpy mattress, the springs screaming in protest as he did before he settled back into the dream he was having.
It was the same one he'd had before. The same dream he had experienced at least once a month, for as long as he could remember. But Killian had no idea what it meant.
He was always in complete darkness when it began. The occasional flashes of red light would illuminate grotesque scenes that changed every time. But the end result was always the same. Something would come for him out of the darkness, something he couldn't see, snapping at his heels as it chased him around and around until his exhaustion finally won, and that something took him down.
The next moment he'd find himself chained to something - a wall, or a rack, or a bed - as something else with twisted features and dark eyes tried to extract as much pain from him as they possibly could. Just when he'd think he could take no more, Killian's world would be flooded with light.
Something soft and ethereal would envelop him in its embrace, pulling him from the darkness until he realized that he was safe once more.
That was usually the point where Killian would wake from his dream, drenched in sweat and panting like he'd run a marathon.
But that night, when the light came for him, something changed. When he was once again shrouded in that familiar embrace of love and acceptance, the light whispered something to him.
No… that wasn't quite right…. the light wasn't whispering something to him. It was whispering something about him.
"Killian Jones is saved!"
"Morning, Love. Can I get a cup of strong coffee and one of your breakfasts with extra bacon, please?"
The waitress fluttered her lashes in Killian's direction while his brother rolled his eyes to the sky before she finally turned her attention to Liam.
"I'll have a coffee and a croissant, please?"
She scribbled the order down onto the dirty notepad in her hands and flashed Killian another seductive smile, before hurrying back towards the kitchen.
"A croissant? Seriously? You can't have breakfast without bacon."
"You know it might do you some good to have breakfast without bacon every once in a while," Liam told his brother. "All that grease can't be doing your arteries any good."
"I'm as healthy as a horse. I think I proved that when I kicked your ass back in Boston."
Liam didn't say anything else, but the look on his face told his older brother that he felt like he'd come away from that encounter with the upper hand.
"So… do you really think Dad's in Lebanon?" he asked, as he flicked through the file Brennan had left hidden for his boys to find. While there hadn't been any details in the notes he'd left, both boys were convinced that their dad had finally gotten a solid lead on the thing that had killed their mother.
He just hadn't detailed what exactly that thing was.
"I do." Killian nodded his head firmly to show Liam just how sure he was of that. "If he's not, then he's definitely been there. Which means that we need to be there too."
"If he's not, then I need to go back home, Killian." When his brother's eyes snapped up to meet his, Liam held out a hand to halt any tirade that was building in his mind. "I know you're worried, but I can't just throw away my life to follow clues Dad's left all over the country, Killian. I have a life back in Boston. One that I love. I can't just leave it behind. I can't do that to Elsa."
"So you'd rather go back to your girlfriend than look for your father? You know, the man who raised you?"
"Dad didn't raise me, Killian. You did. You know that. That's the only reason I'm here right now. Dad made it clear I was no longer a part of this family when I left for college. I'm here because of you, Killy. But surely you can understand why I have to get back? You always said that you wished we'd had a normal life when we were kids. I have that now. You could have that too. You could come back to Boston with me. Elsa and I have a spare room that you can use until you find your feet."
While Liam and Killian had drifted apart in recent years, the youngest member of the family had to admit that it was nice to be back in his brother's company once more. He'd missed Killian, more than he ever thought he would.
But as much as he'd missed his brother, Liam hadn't missed life on the road, bouncing from shitty motel to shitty motel, as they ate in cheap diners. So if he could tempt his brother back to Boston, and back to a normal life where he wasn't constantly in danger, then he was certainly going to try.
"People are dying, Liam."
"People die every day," his brother snapped.
"Yeah. But not from vampires feeding on them, or vengeful spirit attacks. They don't need to die from that. So thanks, but no thanks. Because I am not gonna sit in your overpriced apartment; drinking shitty, overpriced, imported beer while your girlfriend watches cookery shows on TV when there are people in this country who need my help."
Both boys fell silent as their server approached the table with plates of food in each hand, and a promise to be right back with their coffee. But even she could feel the tension bubbling away between them as they faced off across the table.
Liam was the one to break it as he reached for his breakfast pastry and his knife. But Killian was stubborn, just like their father, and he refused to acknowledge his brother's presence throughout the rest of their meal. Liam only hoped that by the time they were back on the road, Killian would have lightened up a little. If not, the four-hour drive through Pennsylvania was going to be fun.
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