Chapter 21 #2
Okay, she was game. She pooled all her knowledge, all her data, everything she knew about Mace and Blade…and she got her answer.
The odds, she figured, were fifty-fifty. It would be a coin toss.
And for some reason, she never won those.
Blade looked around in surprise as he entered the forensics lab on Underworld General’s second floor. The usually pristine space looked as if it had been hit by a tornado.
“Sabre, damn, this place is a disaster.”
His cousin shot him the finger. “No shit.”
Blade took in the overturned furniture, shattered equipment and glass, and destroyed containers leaking various-colored liquids. “What happened?”
“A Darquethoth mental patient escaped his ward and made his way to my lab.”
Blade considered that. “How the hell would you know that a Darquethoth demon has mental issues?”
Sabre shrugged. “I dunno. Maybe he doesn’t enjoy killing people?” He sighed and gestured to several smashed boxes. “And it figures that I’d just gotten twenty cases of material from a demon attack in Lisbon.”
“Don’t you have staff to help clean up?”
He barked out a bitter laugh. “It also figures that I gave my entire staff the day off for a colleague’s wedding. Fuck love, man.”
Blade felt that like an icepick to the heart. Fuck love, indeed.
“Here, let me give you a hand.” He bent over to pick up some bagged-evidence boxes, wincing at the million stabs of pain shooting through him. The training session today had been beyond brutal. The hot shower afterward had helped with the tension and pain, but he wouldn’t feel better until morning.
When they’d start the bullshit all over again.
He wanted to be pissed at Kynan for making them do this, but really, it was Mace’s fault. He’d said he was fine with what had happened between Blade and Scotty, and he’d lied. Then he’d let it fester until it erupted.
Where was Mace’s apology for that?
He loved Mace, he really did. But the guy had never apologized for anything in his life. He lived the way his bio-dad, Wraith, always had. As if the world revolved around him. The impulsive, devil-may-care shit made him the cool guy, the Seminus demon all the young ones wanted to emulate.
It was wearing thin on Blade in a way it never had before.
Sabre nodded at Blade as he plopped the evidence boxes on a desk. “Thanks, man.”
“No problem. I’m just glad you’re taking the time to see me.”
“You said it couldn’t wait until I got back to the compound.”
“That’s because you don’t get off work for four more hours, and I need to get to bed.”
“Bed?” Sabre glanced at his watch. “You must have a female waiting for you.”
Blade reached back and rubbed his sore neck. “Nah. I’m just beat.” Literally. “Kynan sent us for two weeks of boot camp at Ares’s place.”
“Dayum.” Sabre cringed. “Why?”
“Because we fucked up. Bad. And he thinks torturing us will fix it.”
“Ouch.” Sabre sank down onto one of the stools and gestured to another, but Blade had too much nervous energy to sit. “Does this have anything to do with what was going on between you and Mace the other night?”
“Yeah.”
Sabre settled back on the stool and eyed Blade with the analytical gaze he’d inherited from his father. “So, this is about you sleeping with Scotty? Are you two together?”
“No. Hell, no.” Blade blew out a long breath. He didn’t want to talk about this, but damn, he needed help. “We aren’t together. It was an emergency situation during a mission. A one-time thing. Not romantic at all.”
She’d deserved so much better than what amounted to rutting in the mud like animals.
Sabre scrubbed his hand over his face. Dude was an expert in forensics, and no doubt he’d already done the postmortem on this situation. “I’m guessing Mace isn’t handling it well?”
“You saw how he was when we met about Masumi’s bond. He seemed cool when we told him, but he’s been an asshole since.”
“Mace has always been an asshole,” Sabre said, a note of affection toning down the exasperation in his voice.
Everyone loved Mace, but only in small doses.
Blade and Scotty were the only two who saw the real Mace, the guy who would give his life for those he loved.
Who was loyal to a fault. Who hated being alone. “But yeah, I can see the problem.”
Blade leaned against a metal bookcase, and it groaned as it absorbed his dead, exhausted weight. “I don’t know what to do.”
Sabre considered Blade’s predicament as he swiveled back and forth on the stool. He was the spitting image of his dad, his lab coat lending him that same air of authority. Talking to Sabre was like talking to Eidolon…but without as much of the intimidation factor.
Which wasn’t to say that he didn’t have an intimidation factor.
The guy was a quarter Soulshredder demon on his mom’s side, and when it came out to play, it was time to run.
Fortunately, he kept the beast fed with cage matches and pit fights at skeezy, demon-run establishments.
Blade had patched him up afterward more than a few times.
“How would you feel if the situation was reversed?” Sabre asked.
The idea that Mace could have been the one with Scotty in the cave instead of Blade felt like a hot coal in his belly.
“I’d like to think I’d understand.”
“Bullshit.” Naturally, Sabre called him on it. He was so like his old man. “You guys have been best friends for as long as I can remember. You’ve managed to keep your hands off Scotty all this time…I mean, you swore oaths, and you’re telling me you’d be totally chill if Mace banged Scotty?”
Blade didn’t answer. How could he, when he wasn’t sure?
Sabre tried another tack. “How do you feel about Scotty?”
I love her. “My feelings are irrelevant,” he said gruffly. “I can’t be with her. It would destroy our friendship.”
“Sounds like that might already be happening.”
A sour taste filled Blade’s mouth. He didn’t want to lose his friends. His team. Scotty.
“It’s not,” he insisted. “We can fix it.”
“How?”
Fuck Sabre and his hard questions. Deflated, Blade leaned more heavily against the bookcase. “I don’t know.”
“Is that why Ky sent you to Ares?”
Fuck Kynan too. “He thinks teamwork will get us back on track.”
Sabre shrugged. “Doesn’t sound like a terrible idea.”
“Really?” Aaaand, fuck Sabre again. “Fourteen hours a day in Ares’s battle arena doesn’t sound like a terrible idea?”
A few seconds ticked by, and then Sabre nodded. “You’re right. I take it back. I actually can’t think of much worse.” Something next to Sabre beeped, and he ended it by pushing a button on the nearby computer. “Does Kynan know about you and Scotty?”
“No. He just knows something is going on between us that made us fuck up an assignment.”
Sabre looked skeptical. “I wouldn’t count on that. He doesn’t miss much.” He wiped some broken glass onto the floor with the rest of the mess. “And you’d better pray that Ares doesn’t find out.”
Blade scowled. “Why would I worry about him? He’s always taught us that we have to do whatever it takes to survive.”
“Yeah, well, he won’t consider doing his daughter part of that.”
Ares was a master tactician who understood survival. He’d probably be proud that his daughter had saved a life. “You really think he’d rather I die in misery?”
“Than defile his little girl? Uh, yeah. Duh.”
Shit. What if Sabre was right? Ares wasn’t stupid, and he’d eventually figure out why their team was malfunctioning. They needed to get this fixed before that happened.
“So, that’s all you’ve got? Don’t let Ares find out?”
Sabre shrugged. “Unless you guys can sit down and hash it out together. Maybe get counseling. Or have Rade get in your heads and snip that thread.”
Counseling wasn’t a terrible idea, but getting Mace to sit still for more than ten minutes wasn’t easy, especially if he had to talk about his feelings.
And as far as Rade getting into his head?
That was a hard no. He wasn’t letting his brother anywhere near his mind. Mace and Scotty wouldn’t, either.
“How about a spell that would reduce the animosity between you?” Sabre offered.
Interesting proposal. “Spells can be that specific?”
“Sure.” Sabre shrugged. “You just need to find a trustworthy spellcaster. Good luck.”
He seemed to be enjoying Blade’s predicament a little too much. That was the Soulshredder in him. They could see emotional wounds and scars, and they got off on exploiting them.
“The hospital employs some spellcasters,” Blade said. “They’d be trustworthy.”
“True.” Sabre reached for a handful of M&Ms in a bowl next to the computer. “But they’ll tell our parents, and you know it’ll get back to Ares. And then you’ll die horribly.”
“That’s so helpful.”
“I try.” Sabre tossed a piece of candy into the air and caught it in his mouth.
Blade heaved a sigh, cutting it short because his ribs were killing him. Exhaustion tugged at his eyelids. He needed to go. He’d heal fully in his sleep, just in time to start all over again.
“I’m gonna bounce.” Blade looked around at the destruction. “Unless you need help cleaning up.”
“Nah, thanks. Some staff from the morgue are coming up to lend a hand.”
Blade nodded. “Thanks for listening.”
“Anytime,” Sabre said. “Let me know if there’s anything I can do.”
Nice offer, but unless Sabre had secretly developed a time-travel machine in his lab, there was nothing the guy could do.
Unfortunately, Blade had a feeling there was nothing anyone could do.
Mace always liked going home. His mom kept his favorite hazelnut butter cookies on hand for visits, and his dad would share all the crazy crap going on in the hospital.
Man, Mace was glad he hadn’t gone into the medical field.
His dad’s job poking around inside dead demons was probably interesting, but being stuck in one place would drive Mace nuts.
He needed to be active and busy all the time, even if he was just playing video games.