Page 23 of Dream Lost (The Fae Universe #12)

23

B as and Bridget had only just tidied up and made it back to their chairs when Apollo finally broke through the wards Bas had put up on the library door.

“Where are you hiding, you little asshole!” Apollo bellowed, charging in. He took one look at Bridget’s confusion and Bas’s sly grin and covered his face with his hands. “Seriously? You couldn’t fool around somewhere else?”

“I have no idea what you are talking about,” Bas said, straight-faced.

“The fuck you don’t. Bridget, talk to your boyfriend about locking his beloved family out of their library so you two can fuck about.”

Bridget pretended to think about it and grinned. “No.”

“You two are both ridiculous.”

“Calm down, we were working too—” Bas began.

Apollo interrupted. “You better have been! At least tell me you have something worth reporting back to Kenna because she’s been calling me. Someone hasn’t been answering her calls, and she’s pissed.”

Bas took out his phone, ignored the missed calls, and held out the picture of sweaty Lachlan in Apollo’s face. His brother shut up instantly. His eyes went gold and dreamy.

“Finally, he shuts up. As I was trying to say, we think we have identified the dream monster,” Bas said.

Bridget was going red, trying not to laugh.

“Well. Good. That’s good,” Apollo stammered, his expression refocusing. “What?”

Bas put the phone down. “What did Kenna want, Apollo?”

“Um. Kenna? Oh! She said that the victims who are in comas or sick have all been moved into the Trinity Centre at St. James. The doctors are worried it’s contagious, so they have been quarantined until the researchers can figure it out. Kian got in contact with the hospital, and they have agreed to let us look at those who are affected,” Apollo said. He rubbed his eyes. “That’s a dirty trick using that photo for evil.”

“It worked, didn’t it? And who is we? Are you coming with us?” Bas asked.

“I’m an alchemist getting a chance to snoop about a research hospital ward. Of course I am coming. Reeve and Charlotte are going to meet us there.”

Bas turned to Bridget. “Come on, sweetheart. We have a hospital to get to.”

“Promise me that you aren’t going to do something dumb like try and pull all the creature’s hooks out of them like yesterday, or I’m not going anywhere,” Bridget said stubbornly. Bas hesitated a beat too long, and her eyes narrowed. “No, Bas. There has to be a better way to do it than you going into their minds like that.”

Bas rubbed his neck. “I’ve been trying to think of one.”

“You are a magician. I’m sure you will be able to figure it out. I won’t let you get hurt again,” Bridget said, eyes blazing.

Bas couldn’t handle causing her any worry, so he relented. “Okay, I promise I’ll try to think of something. Charlotte is really good with magical sigils. She might have an idea.”

Apollo snorted. “As far as I can see, the only hooks Bas has to worry about are the ones you have him in, Bridget.”

Bas opened his mouth to tell Apollo to fuck off, but Bridget beat him to it.

“Is Lachlan going to be at the hospital? I really didn’t get a chance to thank him for helping me yesterday,” she asked sweetly.

“No. I don’t know. Probably not.” Apollo squirmed. He realized a beat too late she was teasing him. He made a frustrated noise, turned on his heels, and strode off. “I’ll meet you in the garage!”

Bas pulled Bridget in for a kiss. This woman was everything.

“What was that for?” she asked, cheeks flushed.

“For worrying about me and for dealing with my drama queen brother with grace.” Bas kissed her once more and took her hand. “We better not keep him waiting, or he will leave without us.”

Bas hated hospitals. He had avoided them as much as he could in his life because the psychic whammy that radiated out of them hurt him to be around.

Unfortunately, in this case, it was unavoidable. He let Apollo drive so he could sit in the back and hold Bridget’s hand. Her warm touch just made him think about what they had done in the library, and that made him smile.

“What is that grin about?” Bridget whispered.

Bas shot her the memory of her coming, and she whacked him in the chest. “You asked.”

“Time and a place,” she said with a roll of her eyes.

It’s helping to distract me from thinking about hospitals because I hate them, he replied. There were some conversations he didn’t need to have in front of Apollo.

I’m thinking about it too. I’m just being more subtle about it, Bridget admitted, squeezing his hand a little tighter.

“Are you going to be okay going into this place?” she asked aloud.

“Yeah, I’ll just put up my mental shields really tight and try and get out of there as quickly as possible.”

Apollo looked at them in the rearview mirror. “We wouldn’t make you go if it wasn’t important, little brother. Reeve and Charlotte should be ready for us, and we have reserved parking. Any time you need out, just say so.”

Bas frowned. “I wish you both would stop thinking I’m made of glass.”

“You hurt yourself yesterday. We are allowed to be worried. Right, Apollo?” Bridget said.

Apollo nodded. “Right. Lachlan had to carry you inside, and I didn’t like it.”

“Which part? Me needing to be carried or Lachlan being the one to carry me?”

“Take your pick,” Apollo muttered. “Stupid Lachlan and his face and muscles all heroic and shit.”

Bridget giggled. “Are you okay?”

“He’s fine. He’s just got a severe case of yearning.”

Apollo groaned. “Don’t be dicks. I’m doing my best.”

Bas really hoped that was going to be enough to see Apollo through because when they pulled into the parking lot next to the Ironwood SUV, Lachlan got out with Reeve and Charlotte. He was wearing dark jeans and a black button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up.

“Oh god, why is he wearing a shirt that tight? And forearm porn? It’s not even mid-day. Is he hoping to pick up a ward of nurses?” Apollo complained.

Bas couldn’t resist patting him on the shoulder. “What did you call that look on me the other night? Respectable but slutty?”

Bridget chuckled. “Perfect description, and for the record, that look? It worked.”

“It always works,” Apollo grumbled darkly and got out of the car.

Bas couldn’t help but notice his brother had dressed in respectable tweed. He only played with those kinds of outfits when he wanted to blend in with academia, which wasn’t often.

Reeve caught Bas up in a tight hug as soon as he got close enough. “I should kick your ass for pulling that stunt yesterday.”

Bas ruffled his already messy hair. “It’s okay, baby bro. I had good backup. Reeve, Charlotte, this is Bridget. She’s my…” he fumbled, trying to find the right word. “Ah, my Bridget.”

“Your Bridget? Very eloquent, Basset,” Charlotte said primly, but she still smiled warmly at them. “It’s nice to meet you, Bridget. Apollo tells me that this creature we are hunting has you in its sights.”

“It does, and I think I have figured out what it is. Have you heard of a Brollachan? They are Scottish,” Bridget said.

“No! How interesting. Tell me about it,” Charlotte replied, leading Bridget towards the hospital entrance.

Bas watched them wander off together, already chatting away about what Bridget had discovered and her own experiences with it.

“She’s cute,” Reeve said slyly.

“She’s my mate, and I can’t tell her just yet, and neither can you and when I look at her, everything goes haywire in my head,” Bas blurted out in a low whisper. “Val told her we are dragons because he doesn’t know how to shut up, and I don’t know what to do because all I want to do is protect her and never let her out of my sight again.”

Reeve laughed and hugged him. “You’re a bit fucked from the sounds of things.”

“That’s what I told him,” Apollo said. “You should see them together, Reeve. It’s sickening. I thought she was going to fight us all yesterday when he got hurt.”

“It was rather sweet when she threatened to ‘rip my fucking face off’ if I went anywhere near him,” Lachlan added.

Apollo’s eyes narrowed. “She did what now?”

“She got over it,” Lachlan said with a shrug.

“We had best follow them before they leave us behind altogether,” Reeve interrupted, and they all started moving towards the big glass doors.

Bas was surprised when Apollo didn’t make some excuse to leave, but maybe the lure of messing about in a research hospital was enough to get him past his need to run in the opposite direction whenever Lachie was around. Or maybe he didn’t want anyone getting close enough to hit on him. With Apollo, it was anyone’s guess.

Bas took a deep breath, locked his mental shields down tight, and hurried to catch Bridget and Charlotte.