Page 37 of Cole: Bloodlines
Devlin looked at the two men, his face tense with strain. “He was upset. I couldn’t console him. I was afraid he might inadvertently hurt himself.”
Fuck.Dane pressed his hand to his eyes. “What room?” he whispered.
“302,” Devlin said, then grabbed Dane’s arm before he could leave. “He’s sleeping. He’s okay for now. I need to talk to you about Abel.”
Cole came to attention. “What about Abel? Where is he?”
“He’s being examined.” Devlin looked sick. “You saw him… the bruises.”
“I’ll kill the fucker,” Cole’s voice trembled violently, fear and rage clashing within him.
“I hope so,” Devlin murmured. “But he isn’t the one who caused the bruises… not directly.”
Dane frowned. “What do you mean? Then how did he get the bruises?”
The sick look in Devlin’s eyes grew worse. “He told me…” Devlin swallowed, tears forming. “He told me that the man kept him in a cage, and he… he raped and killed a girl in the cage next to his. But it was dark, he couldn’t see her face, and the man… he let him think it was… Savannah.”
“What?” Dane breathed.
Cole just stared at the doctor, silent—with a look of pure horror on his face.
“That’s how he got the bruises.” Devlin’s voice trembled as tears started to spill over. “He was…” Devlin ducked his head, his throat tightening with emotion. “He was… throwing himself against the bars… trying to get to her.”
“Jesus…” Dane swallowed hard and hugged Devlin.
“He was crying so hard I could hardly understand him,” Devlin sobbed against Dane’s shoulder. “Even finding out it wasn’t her didn’t ease the trauma of the moment.” He raised his head, breath hitching, a new level of horror reflecting in his eyes. “He said… He said the mankilleda boy right in front of him and Savannah… a boy he said wasMaddy.”
“What?”
“He had a bag over his head, but he was wearing Maddy’s clothes. He made them think…” Devlin sagged against him. “Heguthim open… they thought it was Maddy…” Devlin broke. “And then sitting under that tree…” Devlin gripped Dane’s back, shaking. “… thinking it was Savannah and Maddy hanging above him… their blood dripping all over him…fuck…”He clung to Dane, sobbing.
Dane looked at Cole. The man was staring at Devlin, eyes glazed with tears—and a fuck-load of guilt rolling off him in waves.
Cole excused himself to the restroom while Devlin took Dane to Angel’s room. As soon as he closed the door, the shakes hit him. He fell back against the door and slid down to the floor, clawing at his hair as he broke down crying.
Just stop, you motherfucker—you won! You fucking WON!
His hands trembling badly, Cole dug out the cell and made the call.
“Checking up on your hubby?”Daniel’s voice drifted through the phone like a malevolent spirit.
“Please stop,” Cole whispered, sobs breaking his words. “Please don’t hurt them anymore. You won… they’re not… they’re not going to heal… I’m not… going to heal. Please let them go… you won…” Cole’s head sagged into his hand as he sobbed into the phone. “…you won…”
“I haven’t won until I get what I want.”
“What do youwant?”Cole cried.
“What I’ve always wanted,”Daniel said.“I want my… legacy.”
“What?”
“Now that you’re reminded who I am… what I am,”Daniel murmured, “It’s time we talk again, and start working on ourfather-sonrelationship.”
Cole listened in numb silence as the Mangler finished speaking, then ended the call with a simple mumbled—“Okay”—as the final remnants of the life he loved so much crumbled into ruin.
Dane lay on the bed with Angel, holding the boy in his arms while he slept. He wished his husband could stay asleep until the nightmare was over. But what if it was never over? If Maddy didn’t come home—or he came home broken—Angel wouldn’trecover. Dane feared it might already be too late for healing. The boy had suffered a mental blow that shattered his entire world. How does one come back from that?
He's come back before and healed. He can do it again.
