Page 121 of Devil May Lie
His hallucinations of his sister were gone, but even that hadn’t been his doing. He owed it all to Madden. The thought of carrying the Mad King the same way he’d lugged around the girl in the pink dress…Berga didn’t want that.
But he couldn’t forget either.
“Fine,” Baikal conceded.
Berga bowed again, a little quicker this time, and turned, yet still didn’t get very far.
“Wait!” Flix called out, but Baikal wasn’t finished.
“I’ll rephrase my orders,” the Dominus stated, pausing until Berga twisted to lock eyes with him. “Either get him back, or you’re fired.”
Berga frowned. “What?”
“You heard me. Your issue with Madden is what’s causing all of these problems. Once you’ve reclaimed him, things will finally get back to normal around here.”
“But…” Berga blinked in confusion. “Didn’t you want us to break up?”
“What about the elders?” Flix helpfully asked.
“Screw them,” Baikal said. “Last I checked, I was the leader of the Brumal, not those old geezers. Besides, I’m sure I can come up with some way to convince them this somehow works in our favor. Worst comes to worst, I threaten them with the Butcher’s skills.”
“Excuse me?” Berga had to be hearing things.
“If I tell them I’m in support of your relationship, and they can either get behind it or die…” He smirked wickedly. “How many of them do you really think won’t take that threat seriously? All I have to do is mention how you could slip them some horrible toxin without them even knowing and I bet they all roll over like the pathetic waste of space they are.”
It was true that Baikal hated most of the elders on the board who opposed his rule, and that he’d been plotting various ways to remove them, but up until now, he’d shown an interest in doing that the legal way.
“If threats are an option, you don’t need me to do it,” he pointed out. “Your shadows are terrifying enough on their own.”
Baikal hummed in agreement, but didn’t change his mind. “Leave the opposition within the Brumal to me. Focus on getting the Royal back.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“Nothing worth it ever is,” he replied. “Berga, are you really willing to lose everything?”
“Go.” Flix pushed him lightly toward the door, determination brewing in his eyes. “Go find him and fix this.”
“You too?” Berga sighed, but that didn’t deter his best friend, who kept shoving until he was standing out in the hallway.
“Go,” Flix repeated sternly, “and don’t return until you’ve gotten him back.”
Berga opened his mouth, but the door was slammed shut in his face, leaving him momentarily speechless.
Since there was no reason to stand around here, he resigned himself to the inevitable. They had a point, in any case. The way he’d been handling things wasn’t working. He needed a real solution. A more permanent one.
He stopped by the university first to collect a few things from his private lab, then sent off a message in his group chat with Bay and Nate asking if they knew where Madden might currently be. When the latter responded back that he should be at the boathouse, Berga opted to waste no more time.
Tonight, he would put an end to it all.
No more disappointments.
No more disgust.
Baikal had asked if he was willing to lose everything, but that was because he didn’t know the truth.
Berga already had.
Chapter 30: