Page 8 of The Devil's Bargain
“And him?” Cal’s eyes finally opened and he jutted his chin forward, indicating Aodhan, but didn’t lift his head or bother getting up.
“He’s listening. Can’t you tell? Concentrate on the bond, there are three threads. Follow his.” Titus waited patiently, watching as Cal presumably did as he was told. Describing a sensation was never easy, and he’d heard stories of newly bonded mates who struggled with learning and understanding the bond. Some people needed to see something to make it tangible, but he’d chosen well, and Cal had been doing better than anticipated.
Before they’d arrived, Titus had paid a large sum to the Owner of Moonward Manor to ensure they would be left undisturbed throughout the bonding. Since he was the only Connect amongst them, his pod would need more time to adjust than a typical one made of at least two Connects. He’d had food delivered periodically and left outside the door, but it seemedlike neither Calix nor Aodhan had noticed when he’d hand-fed them between rounds of sex.
Later, he’d have to make a confession of his own and explain to his Third how foolish he’d been to come here, of all places. But that could wait.
“There’s…awareness,” Calix finally said. “Oh. I can feel what you mean.”
“If he were asleep, there’d be more of a fog,” Titus explained. “He’d feel fuzzy, cloudy. You’ll get the hang of it. You’re doing great, Azi.”
“But you still want that confession.”
“I do.”
His eyes slipped shut once more. “Where should I start?”
“At the beginning is always a good place,” Titus drawled.
Calix sighed. “The party. Not this last one, the first one.”
“You investigated it?” Titus had been mildly surprised when Cal hadn’t gone to Bruce about what had gone on there, but Aodhan had been certain he wouldn’t, so he’d trusted him. The problem with not having seen or spoken to Calix since he’d been eighteen was that Titus didn’t really know his adult self. Aodhan was closer, would understand him better.
Back then, in any case. Titus had spent the past few months learning all that he could about their Third, from his tastes to his habits. The things that made him sad or angry or excited or happy. He was an expert on him now, which was how he’d been able to finally see through the truth.
Cal had been to calm the night they’d killed Sister Grace. At first, Titus had believed it was because he’d been in shock, an understandable reaction. But then Cal had set up this game, had lured them to Alter as a sort of test.
“I always knew you were smart, but I wrongly assumed you were lying to yourself to protect your delicate state of mind,” he said.
“No, you were right,” Calix told him. “I was doing that. I’ve always done that. My memories…they often can’t be trusted because my subconscious will rewrite them, make them more…palatable.”
Since it seemed like he’d found a way past that on his own, Titus didn’t ask about it. Instead, he brought them back to the topic at hand. “You looked into the illegal activity of the club. Find anything interesting?”
“You’ve all covered your tracks,” Cal said. “I couldn’t find anything on the club itself.”
“Then?”
“I followed the only lead I had. It was what I was really after anyway.”
Titus thought it over for a moment. “Did you happen to see Sister Grace there the night Aodhan brought you?”
“Honestly, I was sure it was another trick of the mind. It took a lot for me to break into the orphanage to check. I wanted to prove it was someone else that I saw.”
“Why? Because she always called you names and said you’d burn in hell for the things you’d done?”
“Not the things Idid,” he corrected, a spark of indignation flashing through the bond. “The things I wanted to do. Or, more accurately, have done to me.”
Titus quelled that spark, settling it and internally soothing Calix through their link before continuing. It wouldn’t do to get him worked up right now, not when he needed to rest.
“She was a hypocrite,” Calix said. “Did you know she was a member?”
“Not before you returned to planet, no.” Though he’d learned about it shortly after. He could have done something sooner, but he’d wanted to wait and make a spectacle of it. Wanted to gift her mutilated body to their Third as a token of hisand Aodhan’s lasting affections. If he’d known Calix had wanted her dead, he would have reconsidered his plans.
“I guess the secret part of the club means there are identities hidden even from you.”
“Not anymore. We needed the master list to ensure we didn’t accidentally kill an ally.”
“Just useless people, that it?”
