His eyes slid away from me, and he gave a look to Keifer that clearly said, ‘Not here.’
I was about to ask what was going on when Merrick’s back bowed again and he started seizing.
“Put him to sleep!” Ian said urgently. “Give him a sedative.”
Blythe ran for the med cart while Brooklyn ran to raise the bed rails on his bed.
It wouldn’t do to have Merrick falling and breaking a bone after he was just healed.
“What’s going on with him?” Blythe asked once she returned with a syringe.
She depressed the plunger and injected the meds into Merrick’s veins via the IV.
Merrick instantly calmed.
“That’s the side effect of using my powers,” Ian said, sounding tired. “Causes seizures and shit.”
I whirled around and glared at Keifer. “You knew this was going to happen?”
Keifer shrugged.
“We weren’t getting anywhere the easy way,” he said unapologetically.
I narrowed my eyes at him, but Ian chose that moment to pass out.
He hit the floor so hard that I was worried he’d broken something.
He’d fallen well, though, his head landing on my feet rather than the concrete floor beneath them.
I crouched down and rolled him over to his back, checking his pulse.
“He’s fine,” Keifer said.
I growled.
“Nikolai,” Brooklyn said through clenched teeth. “If you care for your brother at fucking all, you’ll get him the fuck out of here before I kick his ass.”
I wisely said nothing as to how improbable that was, and grabbed my brother by the collar and started ushering him outside.
Brooklyn
“Fucker,” I muttered under my breath.
“He’s protecting me,” Blythe said softly.
I looked over at her where she was checking Merrick’s blood pressure.
“I don’t really give a fuck,” I said.
She flinched.
“I know it’s harsh,” I said. “But you need to get him under control. He can’t put his people at risk to save you. When’s it going to be too much?” I asked. “What if next time it’s me?”
She didn’t have anything to say to that, and frankly, neither did I.Chapter 15Never tell someone that their butt looks like an elephant’s. Even if you mean it in a nice way.
-Words to the wise
Brooklyn
“I’m not really convinced y’all are bikers,” I said to Nikolai.
Nikolai rolled his head in my direction.
“What makes you think that?” he asked.
I sat up and grabbed the pillow that was beside my hand, pulling it into my lap and leaning forward slightly on the bed as I addressed him.
“Well,” I said. “Y’all don’t dress in leather other than your vests when you leave the estate.” I flicked up a finger. “You don’t act like bikers.” Second finger. “You don’t ride your bikes all that often.” Third finger. “And y’all don’t give off that whole biker-esque feel.”
Nikolai raised a single eyebrow.
“Who are you to dictate what a ‘biker’ does and doesn’t do?” he asked. “And how many bikers have you known in your life?”
I snapped my mouth shut.
“Well…” I smiled.
There was Sons of Anarchy, after all. I felt like an expert.
He grinned.
“We’re going on a fun run next week,” he said, leaning back in his computer chair.
As he did, he propped one foot up on the bed and made it lean back even further.
He linked his hands behind his head and stared at me.
“What’s a fun run?” I asked.
“It’s just a fun ride. We have a destination in mind,” he said. “But sometimes we go further than that.” He shrugged. “Just depends on our mood.”
“You’re going by yourself?” I asked warily.
He snorted.
“Like I’d leave you here by yourself,” he said.
I narrowed my eyes.
“You don’t think I can take care of myself?” I questioned him.
“It’s not a matter of you taking care of yourself,” he said soberly. “It’s a matter of people knowing our weaknesses, like Merrick did.”
“You know as well as I do that Merrick couldn’t control what he did,” I said.
And Merrick was dead…practically.
He wasn’t dead yet.
But he would be.
Soon, according to Ian.
And Merrick’s sister and dragon were missing in the meantime.
He had to die knowing he wasn’t able to save them.
Nikolai raised his hands and tiredly rubbed them over his eyes before he ran his hands through his hair roughly.
“I know. God, don’t you think I know that?” he snapped.
I raised a brow at him.
“Is there something bothering you?” I asked.
He sighed.
“I don’t like that you’re spending more time with him than me,” he admitted.
I couldn’t help the laugh that escaped my mouth.
“I freakin’ work there. What’d you want me to do?” I asked.
He stood up and started pacing.
“I don’t like the way he looks at you. I don’t like the way he can hide what he doesn’t want us to know. I don’t like the way he can get you to do whatever the fuck he wants you to do, either,” he snapped.
“Is there anything you do like?” I snapped back.
He glared at me.
“What?” I asked. “He had no control about telling you those things due to the geis he had on him,” I said. “You’re really going to hold that against him?”