Page 60 of Devil May Lie
“Hey.” Madden was holding him, and he continued to speak softly, waiting for Berga to meet his gaze. “You coming back to me, baby?”
“Back…” He shook his head, not understanding. “People can’t come back. Once they’re gone, they’re gone. Once they’re…” A flash of pink to the right.
“Don’t.” Madden rested a hand on Berga’s face and redirected until they were facing one another again. “Stay with me. Just me. I’m right here.” He licked his lips. “Don’t you want me?”
“Want you?” Did he want him? Didn’t he want him? The dizziness rushed over him before he could make up his mind. “Oh.”
“The drug is kicking in,” Nate not so helpfully explained.
A second before Berga lost all feeling in his legs.
And was swallowed by the abyss for the second time that night.
Chapter 15:
“You can’t keep him here,” Kazimir argued, though he smartly kept his distance by remaining in the doorway.
“Watch me.” Madden tucked the comforter around Berga’s legs. Should he close the blinds now? His room at the Docks had a large window that greeted the sun first thing every morning. It was one of his favorite features, but Berga needed his rest, and if it woke him—
“Are you even listening to me, Madden?” Kaz growled. “He’s coming with me. He isn’t yours to keep.”
“He is,” he corrected.
“He’s Satellite.”
“This happened at my venue,” he stated. “My doctor checked him over, and he’s currently lying in my bed. He is mine, and if you keep pushing this issue, I’ll pick up that knife and make sure you leave here blinded after all.”
“Everyone calm down.” Nate grabbed Kaz’s arm and tugged him back another step into the hallway. “We’re all just worried. No one here wants anything bad to happen to Berga.”
“Exactly,” Kazimir agreed. “Which is why he can’t stay here with him. He’s Retinue. Berga and he barely even speak.”
“They’re dating,” Bay’s voice came from behind them, and both Nate and Kazimir turned to greet him.
“You’re here?” Nate hadn’t seemed to know.
“I meant to arrive for the race but got caught up with…something.” Bay cleared his throat and entered the room, concern written all over his face when he stared at the unconscious Berga laid out in the center of Madden’s bed. “What did the doctor say?”
“Three lacerations on his right hand,” Madden listed. “A busted lip and a bloodstream only mildly dosed with a tranquilizer. Considering the mental duress he was under, however, it’s likely he won’t wake up any time soon. I was told to call if he didn’t rouse by morning.”
“The doctor was speaking to all of us,” Kazimir stated, only for Madden to glare.
“Where did he get the busted lip?” Bay frowned.
“Ask this jackass,” Madden motioned to Kaz.
Bay’s frown deepened until he turned and caught a glimpse of Nate’s face. “Oh.”
“He started it,” Kaz childishly gripped.
“I’m fine,” Nate reassured Bay. “I stopped someone else from getting too close, and this was the end result, that’s all.”
“Does it hurt?” Kazimir tentatively touched the side of Nate’s face, careful not to make contact with the bruise forming there and then glared over at Berga. “I should have hit him harder.”
“I would have shot you in the back of the skull,” Madden said, settling down on the edge of the bed at Berga’s side. He wrung his hands to keep himself from doing something rash but found himself adding darkly, “Still might.”
“Aren’t we all friends here?” Sunday pipped in from the corner where he’d been quietly sitting this entire time. The other racer had witnessed the whole debacle, and in Madden’s haste to secure Berga somewhere safely away from the crowd, he’d followed them.
“No,” Kazimir drawled. “And who the hell are you anyway?”