Page 65 of Bloom in Darkness

"The debt is worse than I’ve made it sound," Astra says eventually, and Caelan’s thumb stops moving over his hand.

I adjust Astra higher against me because he has started sliding down my chest. "Worse how?"

"The original amount was real." His fingers tighten around Caelan's. "I needed the money. Then there were advances after that. Rent once. Medical stuff. A couple costume deposits when I first started. I thought I was paying all of it down because Sabine takes her cut before I ever see my money."

"But?" Caelan asks, turning fully toward Astra.

Astra laughs without humor. "But the shoes Sabine requires can become another charge. Refusing a room can become a fee if she says she lost the booking because of me. If a client cancels after she schedules me, sometimes that gets billed as lost time. She charges interest on advances, and at least one of the older advances keeps showing up in different pieces even though I know I've paid more than the original amount back."

Caelan’s scent sharpens, pulling Astra’s attention toward him.

"Do you have statements?" Caelan asks immediately.

Astra rubs his thumb over Caelan's knuckles. "Some. Not all of them."

His hand stays on the mattress between them. "Contracts?"

"The original one. A few amendments, maybe." Astra rubs his thumb over the edge of Caelan’s hand. "I stopped asking for copies every time because it never changed anything. The total just moved."

Caelan leans away, his hand leaving Astra's as he reaches toward the nightstand. I catch his wrist before his fingers reach the phone. "Tomorrow."

Caelan’s fingers hover near the phone. "I can call Forrest now."

"Tomorrow," I repeat, keeping my hand around his wrist when he reaches toward the phone again.

"Bryn, if the accounting is structured the way he's describing, I need to know whether—"

"Sit the fuck down." Astra startles against me, and I ease my grip on Caelan without letting go. "Sit here. Please."

Caelan glances down at the mattress beneath him. "I am sitting."

Caelan drags a hand over his face, his scent still sharp around us. "I can't lie here knowing she saw him like that and still thought about putting him in a private room."

"There's nothing you can do tonight that won't still be there tomorrow," I tell him.

"I can call Forrest. I can start pulling records. I can find out whether Silas was actually in the building."

"And then what?" I ask. "You call Sabine at one in the morning and give her the rest of the night to start cleaning shit up before we know what Astra has in writing?"

Caelan pauses. I slide my hand from his wrist to the back of his neck. "Look at me."

Some of the fight goes out of Caelan when my hand settles at the back of his neck. I rub my thumb once beneath his hairline. “Your scent is filling the fucking room right now.” Astra grips the front of my shirt. Caelan looks at him. "He got out. Nobody touched him. He's here with us."

Astra keeps hold of my shirt. My hand stays at Caelan's neck. "Sabine's books can wait until morning."

Caelan lets his hand fall away from the nightstand. I pull him closer by the nape and kiss him, both of his hands catching in my shirt.

I kiss him again, slower this time, until his grip finally loosens. "Settle."

Caelan breathes out against my mouth. "I'm trying."

"Try here." I catch his arm and pull him back onto the bed with us. Astra shifts into the middle, his back against my chest while Caelan settles in front of him with one hand over his ribs. Mine rests across his waist.

For a while, none of us says anything. Then Astra whispers, "This is what I mean."

Caelan lifts his head slightly, his hand still resting over Astra's ribs. "What is?"

"Everything costs something." Astra stares at the front of Caelan's shirt. "At the club, I mean. Sabine helps with rent, it shows up later. She gets shoes because she says I need them, they show up later. She covers something when I'm short, and six months later it's still there with three other fees attached."