Page 60 of Creed
“Hold on, let me get you untied,” he said.
I supposed that made sense. It would be a lot harder to do anything while I was still tied up.
I waited until my legs were free, and I tried to sit up and reach for him again. However, the moment my body was vertical, everything around me spun on its axis. I could no longer tell up from down, and my balance disappeared. I slid right off the edge of the bed and collapsed into a heap on the floor, clutching my head to keep it from spinning right off my shoulders.
“Oh, God! Creed. Are you okay?”
Kayden’s ran his hands over me, checking for injuries, but even that touch felt good, cooling. Maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea just staying on the floor. It was almost as comfortable as the bed, and the world didn’t spin so much down here.
“Hey, I need some help,” Kayden continued to shout. “Where are... Oh, Brody, how long have you been standing there?”
Brody was here?
That probably meant Magnus was here as well. Everything would definitely be okay if they were here. Although, I didn’t want an audience. I hadn’t even told them about my relationship with Kayden. I’d barely even admitted to them that I was gay. They knew, of course, in the same way that I knew about them, but it had always been an unspoken thing between us. I was barely willing to admit it to them out loud, let alone let them see me with Kayden.
As these thoughts raced through my head, the conversation continued above me.
“What are you...” Kayden’s voice trailed off, sounding confused. “Why are you recording? How long have you been doing that?”
“Since we got here,” Brody said, his voice stern and matter of fact. “We’re going to need evidence to prove what this cult did to us, otherwise they’ll just be able to go free and continue harassing us. This needs to end now.”
Kayden sighed, and I felt the ghost of his breath against the back of my neck.
“Fine, but can someone help me with him? We need to get him out of here. I don’t... I don’t know what they did to him, but he’s clearly been drugged.”
More words were exchanged, and it was arranged that Magnus would take Kayden and I... somewhere, while Brody stayed behind to take care of things here.
I should have paid more attention. “Take care of” could have a lot of different meanings. It could mean that Brody would contact authorities to handle things, or it could mean that he simply planned to kill everyone involved. Either option was possible.
I should care. Even when we were all serving together, I hated the idea of my friends killing people for my sake. However, at the moment all I could feel was a sense of relief and security that someone else was taking charge. I could finally relax and focus on my important things.
Like how to convince Kayden to get back on the bed with me.
To my dismay, instead of returning to the bed, Kayden and Brody worked together to help me off the floor and herded me out the door. I was unstable on my feet, and they had topractically carry me with one arm draped over each of their shoulders.
The fresh air outside hit me like freight train, and I nearly collapsed on the spot into a shivering mess.
“Fuck,” Kayden gasped as he was suddenly forced to bear more of my weight. “Seriously, what did they give him? I’m not sure we’re going to be able to get him out of here.”
“I can answer that,” Magnus’s voice reached us. “Here, look.”
It was just as I suspected, if Brody was here, then Magnus was as well. There was no doubt that the two would come for me, just as there was no doubt that I would come for them if the situation were reversed.
I was too busy staring at the ground, desperately hanging onto consciousness, to look up, but I could still hear what everyone was saying.
“What is that?” Kayden asked, sounding both curious and horrified.
“I think it’s the drug they gave him,” Magnus answered.
There was a shuffling sound as the people above me moved around, possibly passing the drug between them. Then, a moment later, Brody suddenly cursed.
“Fuck. I recognize this. Seriously, of all the drugs... There are better options if they just need an aphrodisiac.”
Kayden’s hand gripped my shoulder even tighter. I was kneeling on the ground, barely able to breathe without panting, but he’d never once let me go.
“What’s wrong? Is he going to be okay?”
“It won’t kill him, but...” Brody hesitated, and I knew whatever he was about to say wasn’t going to be good. “Most drugs like this will eventually wear off over time, but not this one. There isn’t even an antidote. The only way to make the symptoms stop it is...” He paused again, but this time the silence sounded different, more charged. “Relieve them.”
