Be Careful What You Wish For: A Zombie Apocalypse-Chapter 465: The Good Guy

I must have fallen asleep again, because the next thing I knew, I was waking up in Tank’s arms as we sat in the living room.

The rest of the guys were up and moving around us, eating breakfast and talking softly amongst themselves. It was so relaxed and easy, that I couldn’t help but let out a sigh.

"Good sleep?" murmured Tank, as he stroked my hair. "Sorry if I wore you out."

"If you are apologizing for anything that happened outside, I am going to skin you alive," I hissed, even as his other hand managed to find some of the wood-burn I had on my back. My skin was rubbed raw, and I loved it.

"I wasn’t," he assured me as the rest of the guys chuckled around us.

Before anyone could interject, a knock came at the front door for the second time today. It was like the universe knew that I wanted a peaceful, lazy day with my guys and was determined to change that.

The men around me stiffened, even as Luca held out a second cup of coffee. "You know, I can always have more candy," I smirked at him, even as I took the cup. Truthfully, I hated coffee, but at least the way he made it, I couldn’t taste the crap.

"No candy," muttered Chang Xuefeng, coming to his feet. "You are more than sweet enough. Besides, with the apocalypse going on, it’s not like we can easily find a dentist if your teeth start to hurt. When was the last time you brushed your teeth?"

I narrowed my eyes at the man who seemed to be embracing his Daddy role.

"My teeth brush themselves," I grunted, just as another knock came at the door.

Everyone’s eyes narrowed on the front door, like it was intentionally going against them. Then again, it wasn’t like the house was all that easy to find. Whoever was on the other side of the door must have been pretty desperate to find their way here.

Getting off Tank’s lap, I gave Luca a kiss before handing the mug back to him. "Keep it hot for me," I purred. Walking past Daddy, I gave him a hard kiss on his lips, dancing out of reach as he tried to hold me close to him. "I have to answer the door."

Strolling to the front door, I cocked my head to the side. The air inside cooler now, darker. The jungle had shifted—more eyes in the trees, more shadows under the roots. Tink’s chirp rang out a warning, even before I placed my hand on the doorknob, and Snowflake hissed low, like a whispered warning.

I ignored them both. I already had ten men standing behind me, their posture tense as I opened the door. Nothing was getting to me in my own house.

Looking at the man in front of me, I couldn’t help but cock my head to the side as I studied what was left of him.

He was so thin it was actually uncomfortable to look at him. His eyes had sunk into his face and blood smeared down his chin like jam from a stolen meal. His jacket hung off his body like it belonged to someone stronger, someone better fed, and his hands were shaking.

Withdrawal, maybe. Fever. Or the aftermath of a broken soul.

He looked up at me like I was the answer to a question he hadn’t even dared to ask yet.

"I was told..." he rasped, voice raw from screaming or smoke or both. "You grant wishes."

Behind me, the air changed.

I knew the boys had heard.

Knew they were probably watching, already debating if they should take this poor bastard apart just for showing up unannounced.

I raised a hand and the world stilled.

"I do," I said softly with a nod of my head.

His eyes widened with a desperation that bordered on madness. "Please. My wife. My daughter. They’re dead. But I didn’t wish for that. I didn’t want that—"

I tilted my head. "Then what did you wish for?"

He opened his mouth. Closed it. Swallowed hard. The lie was already forming in his throat.

I could smell it.

"I wished for them to be safe," he said. "Just... safe. Just long enough to get out. I wasn’t even with them when it happened. I thought—I thought they had time—" freeweɓnøvel.com

He was spiraling. Too many truths, too many lies tangled together like spiderwebs in a hurricane.

I stepped forward and tucked a finger under his chin, forcing his gaze to mine.

My voice dropped as I softened the expression on my face. Blinking my big, innocent eyes, I shook my head. "Lying will make your nose grow," I told him.

He froze.

His mouth trembled.

"I..." His voice cracked. "I wished they wouldn’t leave me."

There it was.

The wish.

The real one.

"I didn’t mean for them to—"

"But you did," I interrupted. "You wished, and the Devil heard you. Now they can never leave you, can they?"

His eyes filled with tears.

I smiled, soft and cruel. "Tell me—do they still scream when you try to kiss them?"

He broke then, his entire body collapsing on the porch as if he was still hearing their screams.

Sobbing into his hands like a child who just realized the monster in the closet was himself all along.

I turned my head slightly, sensing the boys behind me now.

Eric, silent and tense, his eyes narrowed on the stranger.

Luca, already planning which part of the man to break first.

Tank, watching from right behind me like he’d never let me out of sight again.

"I can fix it," I told the man.

His head lifted, his eyes shimmering with hope. "Fix it... please. Make it go away. Make them go away."

"Anything you want," I assured him, the innocent smile on my face.

"Anything?" he repeated, his eyes glazing over.

I crouched, cupping his jaw like a mother might her child. "I’ll take your eyes."

He blinked. "W-what?"

"Or I can leave you just as you are. Haunted. Wanted. With your rotting family dragging their broken feet behind you like wedding veils."

He began clawing at his own face, so eager to pay the price.

Snapping my fingers, his eyes turned white as pale smoke lifted from his skull as the memories burned clean through. He slumped against the porch.

Peaceful now.

Blind.

And oh, so quiet.

The boys said nothing as I stood, brushing off my knees.

"Still think I’m the good guy?" I asked over my shoulder.

"No," said Ronan quietly. "But we don’t want you to be."