Be Careful What You Wish For: A Zombie Apocalypse-Chapter 508: Gluttons For Punishment

Everyone had decided to eat dinner in the kitchen that night. Even Papa Khaos loved the gumbo, swearing that it was the best he had ever eaten.

Right after that statement, I found out that this was the only gumbo he had ever tasted, but I was still counting it as a win.

However, night came, and the kitchen was quiet again.

The scent of spice still lingered in the air from earlier, but the laughter had faded. I had gone to shower and then curled up in front of the TV to watch a movie. I needed to let the warmth of the gumbo and the soft buzz of peace settle into my bones before I went off to bed.

Beau stayed behind in the kitchen, in easy eyesight of me.

So did Eric.

When the atmosphere got a bit too tense for me, I got up off the couch and kissed both on the cheek before leaving the first floor. Clearly, they wanted to talk, and I wasn’t going to get in the way of whatever had created that sort of tension.

-----

Beau leaned against the counter, a half-empty glass of dark liquor in his hand. He wasn’t smiling. Not really. His easy charm was dulled, as if some weight was settling into his spine.

Eric stood across from him, his arms crossed, mouth drawn tight in that familiar ’I’m about to blow something up’ way he had when things got too quiet.

"You saw her, right?" Beau asked, finally breaking the silence. He continued to look at the couch where Hattie was just lying down on, like he could still see her.

Eric didn’t answer right away; he just stared into the cooling pot of gumbo on the stove like it held answers to live and death. "Yeah," he grunted. "I saw."

"Don’t try to science it right now, doc." Beau’s tone was too calm, his piercing eyes turning toward the other man. "Just tell me what you’re thinking."

Eric’s jaw clenched. "I’m thinking that I should have been first."

Beau blinked. That was not what he was expecting the man to say. "What?" he grunted, his brows furrowed.

"I should have been there at the beginning," Eric said, voice harder now. "Back when she was still figuring everything out. Before the tether, before the silence, before the kingdom. When she still needed someone to catch her when she fell."

Beau took a slow sip of his drink. "You were, remember? When she went to Sanctuary by herself, you were there. In fact, that little stunt you pulled, calling yourself her husband, is probably one of the biggest reasons that you are here. At the same time, you’re not the only one who thinks that."

Eric looked up sharply. "You too?"

Beau gave a lazy shrug, but there was no amusement in his eyes. "I’ve loved her long before I should have," he admitted. "I mean, at least she was legal, but I didn’t know that at the time. Governor Marcus Delacroix pulled me out of my condo to look at his ’daughter’. That was the first time I saw her. The second I looked into her eyes, I was gone."

He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. "But I didn’t make a move. I was waiting for the right moment. Thought if I bided my time, I’d get it right. I was the last human to take on a Sin... something about the previous Gluttony shooting himself in the foot one too many times. But I am an outsider, just like you."

"And now?" asked Eric, intrigued. He didn’t know about Beau’s history with Hattie. He had always assumed that Beau was there from the beginning. Like Luca, Ronan, Salvatore, and Dimitri.

"Now I’m not so sure there is a right moment. Not with her," sighed Beau. There was way too much pressure on being perfect, and now, he felt that he had missed his chance at his happily ever after.

They stood in silence again, but this time it wasn’t strained. This time, they understood each other that much better.

"She deserves more," Eric said softly. "More than all of us fighting for a piece of her while she breaks, trying to carry the weight of us all."

"She doesn’t want to be worshipped," Beau said. "She wants to be understood, protected, cherished."

Eric’s gaze flicked to the hallway. "And we’ve all failed at that, haven’t we?"

"Maybe," Beau said with a shrug. "But we’re still here. That’s gotta count for somethin’."

Eric finally nodded, his shoulders loosening just a little. "I hate that I envy you."

Beau scoffed at that statement. "Me?" he asked incredulously. "You have to be kidding me."

"You make her laugh," Eric said. "She trusts you in ways she doesn’t trust the rest of us. It’s not about powers or souls or timelines. It’s just... you. You get under her skin."

Beau looked genuinely taken aback. "You’re the guy who helped build her mental fortress. You gave her silence, man. You know more about being an Original God than anyone else. You have so many ins with her that I would give my left nut to have."

Eric gave a humorless chuckle. "Doesn’t mean I know how to show her I want to be more. Every time I flirt or try to push, she shrugs it off like it’s nothing."

The quiet that followed wasn’t heavy—it was honest. Raw in a way neither man could say aloud.

Then a voice cut through it.

"What are you two plotting?" I asked from the doorway, arms folded, eyebrow raised. I thought I had heard a wish with a sacrifice of a left nut, and I wasn’t doing that again. Not on one of my guys.

Beau straightened instantly. "Wouldn’t dream of it, sugar."

Eric muttered, "We were definitely plotting."

I stepped into the room, bare feet soundless on the stone floor. "Or flirting. Could’ve sworn I walked in on something intimate."

Beau gave a smirk. "You’re not entirely wrong," he purred, coming around the counter.

"I should be concerned," I said dryly, "but I’m too tired for jealousy."

Eric tilted his head. "You okay?"

"For now," I said. "The silence is... manageable. Weird, but manageable."

I looked at them both. Two men who had waited. Who had watched. Who had held back. They didn’t get nearly as much attention as the others, and still... they stayed.

That had to mean something... right?

Beau raised his glass. "To patience."

Eric gave him a look but touched the rim of his mug. "To whatever comes next."

A glass appeared on the counter in front of me, and I held it up. "To gluttons for punishment."