Chapter 15
FIFTEEN
Cian
Voices floated above me like smoke. Jace’s angry, staccato bursts. Rhys’s low, soothing murmur. I tried to move my lips. Tried to use my own voice.
D—
De—
Dev—
But nothing came out. My lips closed around hard plastic. My thoughts drifted away, and the voices evaporated as I was pulled back under.
When I woke again, warmth blanketed my arm. I lifted my hand to sift through the soft waves of Devlin’s hair, but the texture was all wrong. This was—
“Cian,” Jace breathed. I opened my eyes to a blurry, pale face. Honey-brown eyes blinked at me. The tube in my mouth was gone, and I could move my lips, but my tongue struggled to form any words.
Jace’s head turned away. “Rhys! His eyes are open.”
A shadow shifted to my right. Then Rhys was at my side, his brows drawn low and his jaw tight. “Ci.”
I took a few deep breaths as I fought my way to full consciousness. Pain had settled into the left side of my body like it belonged there, a bone-deep ache that grew sharper every time I swallowed. I was in my apartment. There was an IV stand next to my bed and a needle in my arm.
“Hey. Don’t move.” Rhys’s hand settled on my thigh. “Dr. Bev said—”
I gathered my elbows beneath me and lifted myself into a reclining position. “H—” Only a whoosh of air came out. Fire raced through my throat as the muscles tightened. “How long?” I forced out.
“Two days.” Jace stood over me now, hands fisted at his sides.
“You got shot, brother, right where your shoulder meets your neck. Luckily, the bullet went clean through. An inch or two over and—” He choked on the rest of the sentence, his voice rising with an angry tremble.
“You almost bled out. She had to use two fucking bags of blood on you—” His voice cracked, and he turned his back to me as he tore his hands through his hair.
Rhys’s gaze shifted from me to Jace. He stayed still, watching my brother until Jace finally turned back around, eyes wet. I lifted a hand to his face, and he leaned his cheek into my palm like a cat. My hand scraped against his patchy stubble. Kid still couldn’t grow a beard.
“Well,” I croaked with a grimace. “I’m alive.”
Jace’s lips pressed into a thin line. “But you almost weren’t.”
“Almost isn’t dead.”
You promised. You promised me you’d be the last face I’d ever see. You have to stay alive and keep that promise.
I could feel the ghost of his warm hand in mine, his broken voice lingering in my ear. “Wh-where’s Devlin?”
“Don’t worry about that fucker.” Jace’s tone made my heart pound. I turned my head, and even though the small motion made my body lock up with pain. Jace’s eyes flickered. “What?”
“Where is he?” I was breathing harder now.
“Cian…” Rhys spoke in a placating tone that set me on edge. “Just focus on healing—”
I gritted my teeth. “Where. Is. He?”
“Come on—”
I struggled to sit up fully as I spat the words past the pain. “Where the fuck is Devlin?”
Rhys’s brows drew together. “Why are you worried about him?”
I managed to roll my body to the side and sit up on the edge of the bed. The room spun, and Jace reached out to steady me as I planted my feet on the floor.
He squinted at me in confusion. “Cian, what the fuck?”
My neck felt like someone had taken a hatchet to it. “Take me to him.”
“No,” Jace said firmly, like I was a child. “Absolutely not. You can’t even walk—”
I pushed to my feet, then promptly fell back on my ass.
The IV stand toppled over, and I ripped the needle from my arm before forcing myself upright.
Blood dripped onto my sweatpants. There were two Jaces standing in front me now, and my eyes darted between them as I fought to focus on the correct one.
“I’m asking one more time. Where. The fuck. Is Devlin?”
Rhys came around the bed to stand at my side, one hand raised. “There’s plenty of time to make him pay for what he did to—”
“Where is he?!” I roared. Pain lanced through my neck like a blade.
Jace jerked back like I’d just hit him. Rhys blinked a few times, waiting a beat before answering in a slow, careful tone. “He’s in Bo’s old room. We cleared it out.”
I stumbled toward the door on bare feet. Throwing it open, I tripped into the hallway and slammed into the far wall.
“Jesus Christ, Cian!” Jace hollered from somewhere behind me. I felt the whisper of a hand on my back, but I was already stumbling down the stairs toward Bo’s room. So close. Just down the hallway. To Devlin.
I don’t like the dark.
I’ve got you. You’re not alone. I’m right here.
Men peered out of their rooms as I staggered down the hallway. I vaguely registered the heavy thuds of my bare feet against the wood floor. I knew I was making a scene. I just didn’t fucking care.
I reached Bo’s old room and slumped against the door as I typed in the code. Beep. Incorrect. I growled and tried again. Beep. Incorrect again. “Fuck!” I raged.
Rhys appeared next to me and gently pushed my hands away. Then he calmly typed in the correct four digits. The lock unlocked.
I half-stepped, half-fell into the room, only managing to stay on my feet by sheer force of will.
The room was dark, and my shaky fingers scrabbled at the wall until I found the light switch.
Soft light from a domed ceiling fixture flicked on, revealing an empty room save for one small body curled into a ball in the corner, his back to me.
Blood stained the floor beneath a familiar head of auburn hair.
“See?” Jace snapped from behind me. “He’s suffering. Whatever you need to do to him can wait.”
I couldn’t keep my balance anymore. Not when the man who’d held my hand in the dark was lying broken in front of me.
“No,” I breathed as I crashed to my knees. The body still didn’t move. I crawled toward him, ignoring the way Rhys sucked in a breath behind me.
“Devlin.” I touched his shoulder. “Dev.”
I rolled him onto his back, and a broken sob lodged in my throat.
His face was a bloody mess—and it wasn’t my blood, either.
One eye was swollen shut, almost completely black.
His lips were split and bleeding in three different places, and bruises covered most of his pale skin.
His left forearm looked swollen and angry.
Dirt and dried blood had left his once-white T-shirt a grimy mess, and I could see more bruised skin through the ragged tears in the fabric.
He still wore the same pants from two days ago, the ones with that stupid sauce stain on his thigh.
I lightly cupped his swollen cheek. I didn’t even know where I could touch him without causing him more pain. “Devlin. Hey. Look at me.”
He didn’t move, and I panted in panicked breaths as I searched his bloody neck for a pulse. Relief coursed through me the second I felt it.
“Devlin…” my voice cracked. “Come on. It’s me.”
His lips twitched, and he opened the only eye he could. A burst blood vessel stained the white sclera around his green iris, making him look like the demon he was. He blinked, and his brows furrowed slightly.
“Cian…?” he whispered, then shook his head with a wince. “No.” A weak whimper escaped as he sucked in a breath. “You’re dead.”
I skimmed my thumb along his jaw. “No, devil. I’m not.”
“Th-they said… They s-said you were.” A tear slid from his one eye. “H-how are you here?”
I drew him into my lap with one arm behind his knees and the other at his back. Pain streaked through my shoulder, and I sucked in a ragged breath. Something wet trickled down my chest.
Devlin reached out with his uninjured hand. “Y-you’re still bleeding? Why? You need… to rest.”
I gritted my teeth through the pain of what felt like skin tearing and the strain of muscles that didn’t want to obey as I curled Devlin protectively against my chest and rose to my feet.
My head spun, and my vision tunneled before righting itself into something resembling focus. I turned and stumbled.
Rhys reached out, but I instinctively pulled away from him with a snarl. “Don’t fucking touch him.”
Rhys, normally so stoic and in control, frowned in confusion. “Cian… I don’t understand. He…” His voice trailed off as he stared at me.
The room stank of blood. My muscles trembled. I felt less than human, like a beast protecting its mate.
My lips curled into a snarl. “He saved my fucking life.”
I took one step forward. Then another. Pain saturated every movement. My leg buckled, nearly sending us to the ground before I caught myself, and Devlin cried out in pain as he jostled in my arms.
“Get Dr. Bev,” I grunted to Rhys. I didn’t have much left in me.
I could feel my vision darkening at the edges.
My thighs burned and shook as I shouldered past Rhys and Jace to make it out into the hallway.
Eyes were everywhere now. Men crowded along the hallway, silent and watching as I carried a limp Devlin toward my apartment.
Every step felt like a mile. The scent of Devlin’s blood kept me conscious, while his ragged breaths grated in my ears.
Then my apartment door opened in front of me.
Maybe Rhys had done it. Maybe my fingers had typed in the code out of habit.
Maybe I’d willed it open with my mind. But then we were there.
Inside. And my bed was there. Right there…
I stumbled again, nearly dropping Devlin as he clung to me with his one good arm.
We hit the mattress with identical pained groans.
I collapsed to my knees beside the bed. Devlin’s upper body lay on the mattress while his legs dangled off the edge.
I pushed his matted hair off his forehead. “I promised, didn’t I?”
Another tear slid down Devlin’s temple. His fingers brushed across my lips, and I pressed them to his knuckles in a kiss. His chin wobbled, and the vulnerability nearly undid me completely.
Footsteps creaked across the floor behind me, and I lurched to my feet with gritted teeth. Rhys stood in the open doorway to my room with his arms crossed over his chest. Behind him was a very pale Jace, twisting his fingers together in a nervous habit I hadn’t seen in years.