Deserted - Auctioned

They found a night-light for Justin. One of those with an adhesive on the back that you just stuck to the wall above your bed and pushed in when you wanted more light.

It took about ten minutes for Darius to come back, and by then, Gray and Jayden had made it to the crafts for kids.

“Are you ready to test your math skills, buddy?” Gray picked Jayden up from the cart and set him down. “See these boxes of crayons?”

Jayden nodded and eyed the crayons on the bottom shelf.

“I want you to pick boxes for a total of twenty-five dollars.” Gray bent down and grabbed one box. “It doesn’t have to be exact. Don’t worry about the cents.”

“Okay, I think I got it.” Jayden squatted down on the floor and picked three boxes, then started counting on his fingers. It was too cute for words. And it would keep him occupied for a bit.

Gray joined Darius a few feet away.

“He’s all right for now,” Darius said quietly, much to Gray’s relief. Thank God. “He goes from nightmares to flashbacks, where he thinks he’s still got the GPS tracker embedded in his neck. So he wakes himself up clawing at his neck, trying to dig it out. Apparently yesterday, he’d woken up with blood everywhere.”

“Jesus.” Gray’s stomach churned with unease. “Is there anything we can do? I thought I could reach out to them and suggest a group chat, but I don’t know if it’s enough.”

“Group chat sounds good,” he replied with a nod. “Charlie will be fine, I reckon. He wears his grief on his sleeve and goes to therapy every day. He’s not hiding anything, and he’s close with his family.”

That was good to hear, at least.

Gray glanced over at Jayden, who was juggling a stack of seven or eight boxes of crayons while using his free hand to count.

“I shouldn’t be surprised you’re keeping track of everyone,” he murmured.

Darius rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m just texting their folks.”

There was no “just” about that.

Gray leaned up for a quick kiss, but Darius held him there. He palmed Gray’s cheek and kissed him slowly.

“I’m looking forward to tonight.” Darius ended the kiss with one, two, three soft pecks. “You, me, good food, and a movie.”

Gray blinked and nodded dumbly, a shiver traveling down his spine.

“I think I’m done!” Jayden declared.

Gray was fairly sure he was done too.FifteenGray was by no means comfortable with the routine he established in the following weeks, but it would have to do for now. Mom had been right; adding work to all this would’ve been too much. He reached his limit for being around people very quickly, and thanks to Darius’s support—and constant reminders—he didn’t hide his discomfort anymore. If he had dinner with his family, he often excused himself after an hour or two.

He was really only at ease when he was with Darius and Jayden.

At ten every morning, Gray picked up the boy from outside Adeline’s facility, and then—for the most part—they went back to Westslope and Darius’s cabin.

Jayden fucking loved it there. He could run around with his action figures and explore the property.

They were getting an extra-long day together today, because tomorrow would be the first time they didn’t see each other at all. Willow was getting close in her search; in fact, she’d already pinned down the buyer’s name and address. But as Darius had pointed out, people who led double lives didn’t have just one home. And Willow had determined that the penthouse in downtown LA where the son of a bitch lived was unlikely to be the place he’d taken Jackie.

Either way, Darius and Gray were heading out into the wilderness tomorrow. One professional was gonna stage a rescue operation for a newbie. Gray would be in charge so Darius could evaluate.

They’d timed their little outing so Jayden wouldn’t get too worried. He’d be busy with Adeline and many of the others at the facility, who were going on a field trip to the aquarium in Seattle.

“Can I FaceTime Malley when we get to the cabin?” Jayden asked.

“Of course, buddy. I bet he’ll be happy to hear from you.” Gray turned onto the bridge and crossed the river. “Did the girls like your gifts yesterday?”

They’d done another run to Target to buy Jayden some rain boots he needed, and he’d asked if he could buy Justin a small action figure with his own money. Gray had kind of melted, so he’d bought some toys for both boys. And then he’d told Jayden to find something for the girls too, which had resulted in two sparkly pen cases and glitter glue.

“Yeah! They put that shit everywhere,” Jayden replied, laughing. “Anna had glitter in her hair at breakfast.”

Gray smirked wryly and pinched Jayden’s side playfully. “That’s fun to hear, but I believe that’s a quarter off your next allowance.”