Page 97 of Devil May Lie

“For our date.”

“Our date is tomorrow.”

“Let’s have it early.”

Berga glanced at Baikal, but it was impossible to tell what the Dominus was thinking. “How far away are you?”

“I’m already in the car,” Madden replied. “Only a few streets left to go and I’ll arrive at Void Manor. Is your super awesome boss going to let me on the premises, or should I be worried about being shot at when I pull into the driveway?”

Baikal rolled his eyes but asked, “How are you feeling, Berga?”

“Fine.” Excited, actually. The second the Mad King mentioned seeing each other, his heart had picked up the pace in his chest. Had he…missed him? It’d only been a couple of days…How odd.

“And the girl in the pink dress?”

“She’s…” He frowned and glanced around. “Gone.”

“They abyss?”

“Dissipating.”

“Shouldn’t I be the one asking those questions, Void?” Madden drawled.

“You’ll be allowed entrance, Odell,” Baikal said. “I think it’s fine to hang up now since you’re close. Come inside as soon as you’re here, just in case.”

“Will do,” Madden stated, then to Berga, “Wait for me, baby.”

Baikal clicked the end call button and let go of Berga’s wrist.

“What?” he asked, when the Dominus stared at him a little too intensely.

“If I find out you faked this in order to put on a demonstration—”

He bristled. “I would never use my sister like that. Not even her ghost.”

“Do you really think that’s what you see? Her ghost?”

“Of course not.” Berga was a man of science, after all. He knew it wasn’t really any part of her. She was gone. “It’s my mind struggling to make sense of what I went through that night. It’s trauma-induced hallucinations, that’s all. It’s only you and I in this room right now, Baikal. She isn’t here. She never really was.”

He seemed impressed but also like he wished he wasn’t. “That’s all it took? A few sentences from him, and suddenly you’re back in your right mind?”

“I’m still working through the how,” he agreed, “but yes. That’s pretty much all it takes. If it’s coming from Madden, my subconscious instinctually trusts him.”

“That sounds…dangerous.”

“It has the potential to be,” he admitted. “But I’m aware of that and monitoring the situation. I have it all under control.”

“Keep saying that, Berga. Maybe eventually we’ll both actually believe it.” The sound of the front door opening and slamming shut cut off anything else Baikal might have wanted to say. He motioned toward the entranceway to the drawing room. “You better go meet him. He’s only been here once or twice before, and one of those times was when we were children. Do you remember? You watched him from the top of the stairs like a creep the entire party.”

Berga had been about to leave, but that had him pausing. “I don’t know what you’re implying.”

“That we both always knew it was just a matter of time,” Baikal drawled, the sound of footsteps getting closer. “Go. Figure out your shit before I’m forced to step in and play the Dominus card.”

Since there was no way to continue this particular talk with Madden so close, Berga turned on his heel and headed out to find the Mad King.

And, ideally, do as Baikal commanded.

Chapter 24: