Page 12 of The Devil's Mercy

Titus allowed it. He liked when the doctor was like this, playful and bold, with all of his attention directed at him.

Aodhan set his hands on the edge of the sink, caging Titus in the same way he’d done to him earlier. “You were going somewhere with thatlittlespeech of yours,” he teased. “Well? Go on, Director. Don’t let me stop you.”

“As if you wield that kind of power.”

“I’m the only one who does.”

“Now who’s the one full of himself?” Titus crossed his arms, needing some semblance of distance between them so he really could continue the conversation. Between the other man’s flirting and the sounds still pouring from the locked room nearby, it was a wonder he could focus on anything but the thought of tossing Aodhan onto the kitchen table and having his filthy way with him for breakfast.

There wasn’t any time for that. They were both due at the hospital in under an hour, which meant they needed to start wrapping things up and getting ready to leave.

“Calix grew up in an orphanage, fighting for the attention he should have been freely given. He’s learned how to hide, not just from others, but from himself. Do you really think a sixth-ranked detective isn’t capable of putting two plus two together?”

Aodhan tipped his head. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“He knows there’s something more to this, more to us, and not just when it comes to why we took him.” Titus thought back to the conversation they’d had at the station about a month ago. “He asked me about Zane’s wedding. There was genuine suspicion in his eyes when he did.”

It was one of the few moments the detective had been one hundred percent honest in front of him, and Titus had almost given them away just to reward him for it.

“I told you not to use your ability to make him uncomfortable in front of you,” Aodhan chided.

“He would have been uncomfortable even if I hadn’t. I know about his past, remember?” Using his ability to alter a person’s emotional state had merely pushed things further along. He’d wanted Calix unnerved by him.

That way guaranteed he was often on the detective’s mind.

He’d been forgotten once already. Never again.

“A past,” Titus continued, “he can’t even admit to. We were able to convince him Rhett and Amory were behind the serial murders because everyone else was easily convinced, and Calix didn’t really care.” The detective had been hellbent on quitting the I.P.F. no matter the outcome. “But Bruce? That’ll be harder for him to swallow.”

Proof was in the way Cal had allowed Titus to dance around topics yesterday. He’d asked questions, but never really pushed for real answers. Had gotten defensive and snide, but never showed true fear or fury.

Either Calix had already guessed at more than he was willing to admit, or he was overwhelmed and unable to think straight.

Titus would bet money it was the first scenario.

“He cared about the old man,” Aodhan agreed solemnly. “We’ll need proof before we tell him, but I still haven’t found anything.”

“Which is why,” he placed his hands on the doctor’s waist and eased him back a step, “we’re doing things my way. He won’t be able to deny what he already subconsciously knows forever, and if that happens before we’ve broken him down, he’ll fight us even harder.”

“Exhaust him until he thinks it’s his own decision when he gives in,” Aodhan said. “This method might work in theory, but somehow I feel like it’ll take a million years to get it to, and I’m not the most patient person on the planet, Mercy. What if we just told him—”

“He hit that boy on purpose,” Titus cut him off. He’d seen the video. The truth had been blatantly obvious, that was why he’d deleted it. He hadn’t wanted anyone else to catch the way Calix hadn’t hesitated, or the erection in his pants, which was somewhat visible in the footage when he’d stepped out of the car. “He slammed on the brakes and drove his car into Nero Quinten in a rare moment of honesty. But he couldn’t handle it.”

His true self had frightened him, disgusted him even. Enough that he’d started believing the story he’d spun to the police and the paramedics and the crowd who’d all arrived to deal with the aftermath of his momentary slip.

“Our little monster is the best kind of liar there is. He’s so good, he can even convince himself that his false truths are real. If we confirm what he already suspects, that you and I are responsible for the deaths that brought him here, that I manipulated Rhett’s mental state with my abilities and used him as our fall guy, he’ll react the way any decent detective would. He’ll fight and then he’ll push us away.”

Titus ran a hand through Aodhan’s dark brown hair, then slid his palm to the back of his head to cup the base of his skull. “We need him to acknowledge his darkness before we can safely welcome him fully into ours. That’s not simple or easy, baby. That will, in fact, take time. You knew who you were—”

“I know who I am.” Aodhan gripped his wrist but didn’t pull him off. “I’m your Second.” Those gorgeous bubblegum pink eyes of his glinted with wicked determination. “And he’s our Third.”

“Yeah, baby,” he agreed.

They stared at one another for another moment before the doctor grunted and stepped back. “If you’re wrong about this, I’ll be pissed, Mercy.”

“I know.”

“I want him.”

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