Page 19 of The Devil’s Bargain (A Devil to Die for #3)

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.

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.

Now they were paying the price for it.

“Think,” Mercy demanded, and it was impossible to tell if he was talking to them or himself. “Where could he have gone? There are only a few places in this hospital he would visit.”

Right. They needed to narrow it down. They could do that.

“He isn’t here,” Aodhan dumbly pointed out. “Were you just in your office?”

Mercy nodded.

So not there either.

“The cafeteria?” Zane suggested.

“He never remembers to eat,” Mercy said, but before he could fully rule it out, Zane added something else.

“He got a call just before he left.”

“The fact he was here was mentioned,” Aodhan recalled. “They may have asked him to meet at the cafeteria.” Some of Calix’s coworkers who came by to catch him before and after visits would grab a late lunch, bringing Cal along with them.

“What about Mitri?” Nero suggested. “His car was in the lot when I got here.”

“He could have called him about the case,” Aodhan agreed.

“If that’s the case, there’s still a good chance they’re at the cafeteria,” Mercy said.

“I can check the mortuary,” Nero offered. “That way, if I find him there alone, I can ask him to help search.”

“I’ll go with you.” Zane took a step forward, but Mercy held up a hand, stopping him.

“No, stay here. I need you with Aodhan,” Mercy said.

“Like hell!” Aodhan growled. “I’m coming!”

“You can barely move,” he pointed out. “You’re still stabilizing after the crash.”

“I’m not going to let you sideline me while our Third is in danger!”

“That’s the very reason why I need you to stay out of the way,” Mercy argued. “I can’t worry about you both, don’t you get that, Aodhan?”

“I—”

“He’s dying!” he snapped, and a pall settled over the room in an instant. His next exhale stuttered out of him, and Aodhan could truly see how desperately Mercy was holding himself together right now. “We’re going to lose him. I can’t…”

“Go.” Aodhan shoved him toward the door. “Don’t worry about me and go. Hurry up!”

Mercy hesitated but must have seen the fear in Aodhan’s eyes reflecting back at him, because he ended up nodding. Just before leaving, he turned to Nero. “If he’s down there, call me immediately.”

“If he isn’t, I’ll keep looking,” Nero promised, with enough sincerity that everyone in the room believed him.

Aodhan waited for the two of them to burst from the room, listening to the sounds of their racing steps receding down the hall before he held out his arm to his brother and gave him a dark look. “Help me up.”

He half expected Zane to argue with him, so was pleasantly surprised when Zane instantly did as he was told, slinging his arms over his shoulders and hoisting him back onto his feet.

“You aren’t going to try and stop me?” Aodhan couldn’t help but ask as they started for the door, most of his unbalanced weight leaning on his brother. They were slow going, but they were going nonetheless.

“If it was Pavel in trouble, I would crawl to him if I had to,” Zane stated.

“You sure this isn’t just because you kind of hope I’ll get caught in the crossfire and you can finally be the only Solace son?” It was a joke, a terrible one, but Aodhan needed that thread of humor right now or he’d lose it.

They didn’t actually know what was going on. For all they knew, Calix was choking on a meatball in the cafeteria.

But it didn’t matter what was happening.

All that mattered was that it needed to stop.

The corner of Zane’s lips quirked. “The only one allowed to kill you, brother, is me. I don’t know what’s going on, but if there really is someone trying to harm you and your pod, I’ll help you.”