Page 43 of The Devil's Mercy

He wasn’t willing to accept the fact that, according to them, Titus and Aodhan had set this whole thing up from the start. They’d left a string of bodies in their wake for the sole purpose of getting Calix to return to Emergence where they could get him.

“No one’s ever done this much for you,” Titus’s voice was sultry, coaxing.

Like the devil whispering in his ear, tempting him.

“You’re overwhelmed by it all,” he continued. “Don’t think about this morally, Azi. Think about this emotionally.”

“Get out.”

Titus watched him for a moment and then nodded. “There’s a chain under the bed. Lock it around your left ankle.”

Calix hesitated.

“I’ll leave as soon as it’s done.”

If it meant getting to be alone, fine.

Cal stormed over to the bed, dropping down to search beneath it. The chain was there, with one cuff attached to a long length of golden links that were drilled directly into the floor beneath the large piece of furniture. He pulled it out and then sat, snapping the cuff around his ankle before his nerves could get the best of him again.

He wanted to say something witty and cruel, some biting remark that would help get across how frustrated he currently felt, but nothing came to mind, and he was too afraid of opening his mouth and saying the wrong thing, opting to glare instead.

Satisfied his order had been followed, Titus moved to the door, taking the empty food box with him.

“Try to get some sleep, Azi.” The director pulled the door shut behind him.

It was a few minutes later when Cal realized he’d carried the half-empty soda can to the bed with him.

He chucked it at the closed door and watched the bubbly blue liquid seep into and stain the carpet, mildly comforted that he could ruin something of Titus’s.

The same way Titus was ruining him.

Chapter 12:

Aodhan didn’t know why, but he was in a piss poor mood Monday morning.

No, that wasn’t true.

He knew exactly why.

It’d been four days since the last time he’d touched their Third, let alone fucked him. Mercy insisted on this plan of his, refusing to allow either of them to break the rules despite how stir crazy it was making them both. He could tell too, could tell in the way the director held him down every night and screwed him senseless almost until the sun rose in the sky.

It was the energy. Feeling another person that matched them so perfectly, so close, and being unable to connect with them…Aodhan could feel that physical struggle coming from Mercy through their bond.

Thank the gods he hadn’t been born a Connect. What a troublesome thing to be. Always forced to seek out solace in another being—two other beings, even. If not for Mercy, Aodhan would have been more than happy to remain alone for the rest of his days.

And yet, here he was, brooding because he desperately wanted someone but had to wait.

They’d made progress at least. Cal had admitted he’d figured out they wanted him to complete their pod. He’d brought up nothing about the topic to Aodhan personally, but he didn’t flinch away when he came to talk.

That was all he’d done. All Aodhan was allowed to do.

Talk.

Mercy took care of everything else. Bathing, clothing, food…Considering the guy had started all this by starving Cal, it was kind of ironic that he was now in charge of his everyday needs.

But it had to be that way. Calix had already developed some form of attachment to Aodhan. He needed to form one with Mercy next.

Hewasstill attached too, even if he hated it. For Cal, Aodhan would always be the first person who accepted his darker proclivities. The first to openly explore them with him. That kind of acceptance after a lifetime of rejection wasn’t easy to shake, not for someone who cared about that sort of thing. For someone who cared what other people thought of them.

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