Page 19 of Death Bringer
“Because he liked to experiment with stuff.” Penny shook her head. “That was another reason why we argued. I’ve seen addicts come into the ER. I wouldn’t want to end up like that. Brad should know that too. He’s training to be a freaking doctor!”
“At this point, the medical team isn’t quite sure what Brad took, or didn’t take. All we know is that he is in a severely heightened state of anxiety.”
“He’s probably scared his daddy’s going to cut off his money because he missed class again. I kept telling him he should just admit to his parents that he doesn’t want to be a doctor, but he’s too afraid of letting them down.”
Vadim smiled. “I know that feeling. Do you really think he’s scared of his parents?”
“Wouldn’t you be?” Penny’s faintly mocking smile disappeared. “He called them the Kennedys on speed. He was terrified of messing up.” She hesitated. “Is Brad here? Do you think I could see him?”
“He’s heavily sedated at the moment, Ms. Jordan, and not receiving visitors. But we will keep you informed of his progress, if you wish it.”
“I’d like that.” Penny rose and tossed her coffee cup in the trash. “He might be a jerk, but I still care about him. When he was nice, he wasreallynice, you know?”
“Oh, I know. The jerks always are.” Ella held out her hand. “Thanks so much for talking to us, and as my colleague said, we’ll keep in touch.”
She waited until Penny closed the door behind her before sitting down next to Vadim again.
“She seemed way too nice to be going out with Brad.”
“He certainly didn’t come across as a very admirable or likeable character, did he?” Vadim stretched out and crossed his legs at the ankle. “I actually felt quite sorry for him.”
“For Brad?”
“He’s under a lot of pressure from his family to conform. It’s hardly surprising that he’s acting out and is so immature.”
“You can obviously relate. Was that your excuse for getting kicked out of Otherworld?”
He considered her for a long moment, his expression bleak. “For my youthful behavior? No, although the damage I caused was far more long lasting than Brad’s.”
“What did you do?”
“Eventually I conformed.” His mouth twisted. “That’swhy I got kicked out of Otherworld.” He rose to his feet. “Do you want to go back to the office and start looking for Adam, or stay and talk to Brad again?”
“Brad’s in a fairy-imposed coma.”
“From which I can awaken him.” He stood by the door and stared down at her. “What do you want to do?”
“I suppose we should go back and tell Feehan what we’ve learned so far.” Ella groaned. “Liz might have more information too. We can also check in with her about the mysterious Adam.”
“So let’s go back.” He held open the door for her and followed her down the hallway. “Brad’s probably better off sleeping, at the moment.”
* * *
Feehan openedthe door into the big conference room and snapped on the fluorescent lights.
“Let’s get everyone in here, shall we?”
Ella followed him in, glad to see that someone had taken down all the horrific pictures and info about the empaths the Siren had murdered, from their last case. She was happy that he was dead, but it didn’t bring back her fellow empaths, especially her best friend, Laney. She missed Laney like a sister…well, more than a sister. Ella’s real sister drove her nuts. If it hadn’t been for the Siren, she wouldn’t have met Vadim and ended up mated to him, likely to live a long and happy life. Was she only allowed one special person in her life at a time?
“Sit down, Ella.” Feehan pulled out a chair for her and hovered over her solicitously. “How are you feeling? I know your twenty-seventh birthday is coming up next week.”
“I’m feeling good, boss. How about you?”
She gave him her best shark smile and he backed off and took a seat at the other end of the table. She supposed, being her superior, he had a right to inquire about the state of her mental health. Unmated empaths had a tendency to go nuts from psychic overload as their twenty-seventh birthday approached. And hers was next week. He didn’t know she was mated to Vadim yet. No one did, although Liz had skated pretty damn close to working it out.
Not even her parents knew she was going to survive. She’d refused to consider choosing an Otherworld-approved mate until Vadim had practically forced her to take him on. She’d only done it then because he’d made it seem more attractive than death in an elevator shaft. If she was honest, admitting she was going to live after spending the last twenty-seven years deliberately pissing everyone off in the belief she would die young was somewhat embarrassing. She was still debating whether to mention it to them or not. She’d agreed to go to their house in the East Bay and eat birthday cake on the weekend. If she wasn’t going out of her mind, that might just do it for her.
Vadim slipped into the seat to her left and Liz took the one on her right. A minute later, Andrew and Rich came in, accompanied by her trainee empath, Sam. As usual, they were arguing about something baseball related and barely stopped to acknowledge anyone else in the room.
