Page 44 of The Devil's Bargain
“Amory.”
Shit. He did know.
“Look,” Calix blinked past another wave of dizziness as his breathing became more labored, “I didn’t mean—”
“I wanted it to be Titus,” Mitri interrupted. “I was going to kill him and use his death as bait to lure her out, but he’s on guard now that I accidentally injured Aodhan instead.”
He froze. “What did you just say?”
“I—”
It took all of his strength, but Calix unholstered his blaster and fired off three rounds in Mitri’s direction.
Unfortunately, he missed.
The room spun, black spots winking in and out of his vision for a moment before he lost his footing and crashed to the ground. His weapon went skittering across the linoleum, ending up somewhere on the other side of the room, out of either of their reach.
Cal didn’t know much about heart attacks, but he didn’t think the symptoms were quite like this.
Mitri must have dumbed it down for him so they could move on to the more important parts of the conversation before Calix lost the ability to converse at all.
Fantastic.
Was the bond still open?
He internally felt for it, but he couldn’t get a grasp on anything other than the wooziness and the cramping that had started in his chest.
If it was open, they’d be feeling this. Mercy and Aodhan would know he was in trouble. They’d know. And they’d come.
They would.
He just needed to buy as much time as he could…Was that even possible?
“How long does this take?” Calix forced himself to ask.
Mitri straightened from where he’d crouched behind the table to avoid the shots. “Truthfully, you should be dead by now. Aren’t you an Emergent?”
Oh good. The connection must still be open then. That must be what was keeping him alive. But for how long?
At least if he died, he’d die knowing he really had made a couple true friends. Saz and Reed must have been telling the truth when they’d said they hadn’t shared that Calix was a part of a pod with anyone. Clearly that included other people at the station, like Mitri.
The dots were starting to connect finally.
Not knowing that they were together, that Cal was bonded to a Connect, Mitri had chosen a drug that didn’t result in an instant death. The energy between them, the same force that had kept Aodhan alive, was also keeping Calix breathing now. It would burn through the poison, but Cal didn’t know if it’d be enough to save him, or if he’d need Mercy here to control it to ensure his survival.
“That’s not Nero,” he indicated the body.
“If I involved him, Amory would be even more upset with me when she returns,” Mitri stated.
“I’m genuinely curious.” Calix had to hold on a little longer. He had to. If he succumbed, he’d die, and that would leave Mercy open to this lunatic's attacks. They’d never see him coming. Like how Cal hadn’t seen it. “Have you always been this crazy, or is this a new development?”
Chapter 19:
Aodhan suddenly clutched at his chest, the struggle to breathe and the sudden onslaught of terror blinding before he even had a chance to separate the sensations and note that they weren’t actually his own.
His brother was there, at his side, trying to steady him, asking if he was all right, but for a moment, Aodhan couldn’t speak, too caught up in it all.
Calix.
