Page 46 of The Devil's Bargain
Now they were paying the price for it.
“Think,” Mercy demanded, and it was impossible to tell if he was talking to them or himself. “Where could he have gone? There are only a few places in this hospital he would visit.”
Right. They needed to narrow it down. They could do that.
“He isn’t here,” Aodhan dumbly pointed out. “Were you just in your office?”
Mercy nodded.
So not there either.
“The cafeteria?” Zane suggested.
“He never remembers to eat,” Mercy said, but before he could fully rule it out, Zane added something else.
“He got a call just before he left.”
“The fact he was here was mentioned,” Aodhan recalled. “They may have asked him to meet at the cafeteria.” Some of Calix’s coworkers who came by to catch him before and after visits would grab a late lunch, bringing Cal along with them.
“What about Mitri?” Nero suggested. “His car was in the lot when I got here.”
“He could have called him about the case,” Aodhan agreed.
“If that’s the case, there’s still a good chance they’re at the cafeteria,” Mercy said.
“I can check the mortuary,” Nero offered. “That way, if I find him there alone, I can ask him to help search.”
“I’ll go with you.” Zane took a step forward, but Mercy held up a hand, stopping him.
“No, stay here. I need you with Aodhan,” Mercy said.
“Like hell!” Aodhan growled. “I’m coming!”
“You can barely move,” he pointed out. “You’re still stabilizing after the crash.”
“I’m not going to let you sideline me while our Third is in danger!”
“That’s the very reason why I need you to stay out of the way,” Mercy argued. “I can’t worry about you both, don’t you get that, Aodhan?”
“I—”
“He’s dying!” he snapped, and a pall settled over the room in an instant. His next exhale stuttered out of him, and Aodhan could truly see how desperately Mercy was holding himself together right now. “We’re going to lose him. I can’t…”
“Go.” Aodhan shoved him toward the door. “Don’t worry about me and go. Hurry up!”
Mercy hesitated but must have seen the fear in Aodhan’s eyes reflecting back at him, because he ended up nodding. Justbefore leaving, he turned to Nero. “If he’s down there, call me immediately.”
“If he isn’t, I’ll keep looking,” Nero promised, with enough sincerity that everyone in the room believed him.
Aodhan waited for the two of them to burst from the room, listening to the sounds of their racing steps receding down the hall before he held out his arm to his brother and gave him a dark look. “Help me up.”
He half expected Zane to argue with him, so was pleasantly surprised when Zane instantly did as he was told, slinging his arms over his shoulders and hoisting him back onto his feet.
“You aren’t going to try and stop me?” Aodhan couldn’t help but ask as they started for the door, most of his unbalanced weight leaning on his brother. They were slow going, but they were going nonetheless.
“If it was Pavel in trouble, I would crawl to him if I had to,” Zane stated.
“You sure this isn’t just because you kind of hope I’ll get caught in the crossfire and you can finally be the only Solace son?” It was a joke, a terrible one, but Aodhan needed that thread of humor right now or he’d lose it.
