Broken Doll {ManxMan}

CHAPTER 50

I didn't speak to Adalard when I returned from passing out blankets, and he didn't try to make me. Maybe he noticed my red eyes and decided to leave me be, or maybe he was distracted by the preparations he was in charge of, to help get the hospital ready for the inevitable battle. Tobias wasn't gone very long, and he was back before anyone started to ask about him, his posture tight and a look of anger and frustration behind his eyes.

"So what happened?" Adalwolf asked him. "Was he trying to negotiate? What did he say?"

Tobias' face seemed to tighten before he turned away. "Nothing. It was pointless," he said, starting back for the door. "Spread the word that they're going to start an initial attack at dawn. Get up to the top floor and let Kailas know."

"What are you doing?" Sasha asked, and Tobias answered stiffly.

"Lying down."

I watched him go, wanting to follow him but uncertain if I should. He looked so upset, would he even want me to bother him? I jumped when I felt a hand on my shoulder, squeaking and dropping the plastic cups I'd been carrying, turning to gape at Adalwolf, who didn't even laugh at my clumsiness.

"Go on, get that expression off his face." He nudged me towards the door. "You're the only one who can."

I nodded numbly, turning and hurrying towards the door. Tobias was already in the hospital room we'd taken the night before, next to Logan's, lying on the cot with his hand buried in his hair, his other arm folded over his stomach, staring directly up at the ceiling. I shut the door as quietly as I could before stepping further into the room, hands fidgeting.

"Tobias?"

Instead of looking at me, he just shut his eyes, and I felt my heart skip a beat from fear. "It's fine."

"No, what happened?" I stepped closer, sitting down on the edge of the bed beside him, reaching out to set my left hand over where his was curled into his shirt. "Please tell me."

He sighed, dropping the hand in his hair to cover his eyes, his other hand turning to cling to my fingers. "He tried to make a deal I wasn't willing to agree to," he said, and I swallowed around the lump in my throat that had been stuck there since Vinet had shown up.

"Me..."

"I won't do it," Tobias said, squeezing my fingers. "I won't."

"What did he say?" I asked softly, and Tobias was silent a moment.

"He said he didn't want to fight." He admitted finally. "All he wanted was you to come... home. He promised he would pull all his troops back as long as we gave you up without a fuss, and gave us a day to comply to his demands. After which he would remove his military and return to his base, claiming he'd never bother the rebellion or the Syndicate again."

"... and we have until dawn to give him what he wants..." I finished, and Tobias' jaw seemed to clench.

That was about what Vinet had told me, and I remembered the somewhat maddened expression on her face when she told me to stay put, stay with Tobias, and just let the war happen. I didn't know why that made me feel so uneasy, even more uneasy than Bay trying to trade me for the life of every soldier we had here. Just deciding on his own that my life alone was equal to all the others in the Syndicate, the rebellion, the Asper, even Calcanthite and the other individual rogues risking their lives. If I gave my life up, all of theirs would be spared.

"Did he say anything else?" I asked. "Did he ask about Roy?"

Tobias shook his head. "Didn't bring him up."

"What about Kailas?"

Tobias was quiet for a beat. "He did," he admitted. "In passing. Vaguely about being such a bad shot with a gun, even at short distance he's unable to kill a child. He didn't use a name, but it was clear who he meant."