Page 13 of The Devil's Bargain
“Everyone I’ve ever killed was a hypocrite, just like Sister Grace,” Aodhan confessed quietly. “Despite what I’ve led you to believe, I’ve never stumbled on a random victim. I always know, always learn, always plan. I wouldn’t have gotten away with it all these years if I hadn’t.”
“Amory insisted she had nothing to do with Bruce’s death,” Mercy said then. “But she was close to the scene, and there was something she was withholding. After Rhett, she must have gotten wind that her name had been tied to the case. She went on the run. We’d only just found her that day you came to visit.”
Aodhan could tell Calix was surprised by this revelation. “What? You thought we kidnapped her so we could help frame Rhett?”
“Didn’t you?” Cal’s brow quirked. “Frame her, I mean?”
“We did,” Mercy agreed. “For the serial murders, in any case.”
“Why Amory? Rhett, I sort of understand,” he waved at Aodhan, “he fits your M.O. as a medical staff member who mistreated patients.”
“Technically, he mistreated the family members of patients,” Aodhan corrected, “but yeah.”
“Why Amory?”
“I didn’t like her?”
“You tried to frame her early on, too,” Calix recalled. “You lied when you told me you recognized her voice from the party.”
Okay, so he’d fibbeda little. Pot calling the kettle black. Damn.
“She’s close to Mitri,” Aodhan said.
“Mitri?” Calix frowned and then looked at Mercy. “It’s because of you, isn’t it? Aodhan didn’t frame her, you did. This is your jealousy acting up again, like it did in the woods.”
“I never claimed to follow a personal set of rules like he did,” Mercy admitted unapologetically.
“So you’ll kill just for the hell of it?”
“No, I’ll kill whoever gets in my way. So long as they don’t, they’re free to go about their lives. Plain and simple.”
“Simple.” Calix didn’t seem pleased. “Right.”
“What? Upset because if you were still a detective, you’d have to arrest me?”
“Can’t I just be upset in general? Do I need a reason to dislike the fact that the guy I’ve tied my lifeforce to is self-serving above all else?”
“Wrong,” Mercy said. “Everything I do, I do for my pod. You and Aodhan matter most, even before my own well-being. That’s what is required of a worthy First. I’d sooner cut off my whole hand than allow you to suffer losing a single finger.”
Aodhan made a needy sound the same moment Calix reached for Mercy’s collar.
Their First chuckled knowingly at them. “Really? We’re in the middle of a conversation.”
“It can wait.” Aodhan stood and started to remove his jacket.
“He’s right.” Calix undid the top button of Mercy’s dress shirt. “It’s a long trip back to Emergence from here.”
“Think you can make us each come enough times to count using all of our protected fingers?” Aodhan yanked his belt free from his pants as he delivered the obvious challenge.
“Oh,” Mercy purred, “I’ll make sure you regret that, little killer.”
“Bring it on.”
Aodhan could take responsibility for his own actions.
Even if he wound up back in a bathtub, screaming for relief.
At least this time, he was confident Calix would be right there with him.
