Page 45 of The Devil's Bargain
It was Calix.
“Cal.” He shoved Zane away and then stood, almost falling over as his legs gave out from under him. Someone else caught him, that Nero guy who’d arrived like ten minutes ago with a damn fruit basket. Aodhan had wanted to skin him then, thinking about how he’d gotten Calix drunk, but now he clung to him for lack of a better option.
He couldn’t risk falling. His Third needed him.
Cal needed him.
“Mercy,” he said it hoping one of them would take the hint and get the director. Obviously, if he was experiencing this, Mercy had to be as well, but Aodhan admittedly didn’t know what to do.
He always knew what to do.
As soon as he’d regained enough strength, he used Nero’s body to streamline his momentum, shooting toward the door fast enough the world spun around him. His hand was already on the handle, yanking it open, just in time for Mercy to appear.
“Thank Light.” Aodhan collapsed again, but Mercy caught him.
He lifted him and quickly rushed him to the couch, setting him down with a pinched expression.
“He isn’t here,” Aodhan said, knowing that’s why Mercy had come here first, to see if Calix was there.
“Stay.” Mercy went to leave, but he grabbed onto his wrist, another jolt of fear seizing Aodhan before he could help it.
This was worse than when he’d thought he was about to die. At least then it’d just been him. Just been his life. But this was Calix they were talking about. Their Calix. It hadn’t even been a full year since they’d lured him to them. They couldn’t lose him so soon.
They couldn’t lose him ever.
Aodhan didn’t think he’d be able to bear it.
Weak.
When had he gotten so weak?
“Tracking device,” he reminded, reaching for his wrist where his multi-slate should have been, before recalling he’d left it on the end table.
Zane grabbed it and brought it over, handing it to Mercy. “What’s going on? What’s wrong with him?”
“It’s not him,” Mercy explained tersely as he clicked into the device and went straight for the tracking app. “It’s Calix. Something is happening to Calix.” He swore suddenly, and any other time, Aodhan would have teased him for it, but all it did in this instance was make his blood run cold.
“What?” he almost didn’t want to ask.
“He’s in the building,” Mercy stated.
“Isn’t that a good thing? He’s close,” Zane said. “It hasn’t been long since he left, either.”
“The problem is that’s all I can see. I can pinpoint his exact location.”
And the hospital wasn’t exactly small.
Mercy was panicking.
How out of character.
Aodahn almost laughed, because wasn’t being weak out of character for him as well?
“Who could be doing this?” Nero, surprisingly, also sounded concerned. “Is someone targeting you two?”
Calix kept insisting he had a gut feeling that the car accident had not been an accident. It was thanks to that feeling that Mercy had all but locked Aodhan up in this hospital room, refusing to allow him to so much as wander the hallway on his own.
But none of them had considered Cal’s safety.
