A few minutes later, Jordan and his mate Telias entered the hospital room. Fyn would have preferred to meet Eondar's younger sibling under better circumstances, but unfortunately, neither of them had a choice. Telias was a tall lifebearer, as tall as his bondmate, with dark skin and hair like his brother's and a sharp, striking face with unusual dark ruby eyes. All in all, he looked like a person not to be trifled with, and Fyn instantly liked him.

Telias stepped up to the bed and gently stroked his brother's face. "You come back to us, you hear me?" he whispered. Then, he leaned down to kiss Eondar's forehead.

"I'll stay here tonight," he announced. "Jordan, you go back home to the kids. They don't need to know that something's happened. Tell them that I'm working, okay?"

Jordan nodded. With a last, sad look toward his brother-in-law, he nodded a greeting to Fyn and Celia and then left. The young agent also went outside where she stood guard until her colleagues arrived.

Telias McKenzie finally noticed the other person still present. His gaze lingered on Fyn for a moment. "So you're Eondar's new boyfriend?"

"You could say that," Fyn replied. "Fyn Sheldon. I've been looking forward to meeting you."

The other lifebearer gave a humorless laugh. "I can't say I have. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy that my big bro has finally found someone else after all these years of moping. But as I understand it, he definitely picked the wrong guy since all of this is more or less your fault."

The journalist opened his mouth to argue, but then he closed it again. As hard as it was to hear that, Telias had a point.

"And now, I'd like you to go," Telias continued, voice still sharp and unforgiving. "Eondar has had enough catastrophes in his life."

Fyn hadn't been at a loss for words often in his life, but this was one of the occasions. Being thrown out like this, he couldn't do much else than leave.

Outside, he met Celia talking to Mr. Talbot. The man looked even more morose than before, and his face darkened with every word. "I'll see to this, agent. The honor of our organization is at stake here," he grumbled, ignoring Fyn's presence. "And please keep that little journalist from writing anything about it."

The lifebearer turned around and went down the corridor of the hospital.

He had had enough. And there he thought a day couldn't get worse than the ones he had had just recently. But today... Kalish almost getting hit, Eondar getting shot, his brother throwing him out and that damn Mr. Talbot ignoring him the whole time.

Fyn didn't stop even when he heard Celia call him. All the hurt and frustration, the disappointment and worry knotted themselves together deep inside him to form the biggest mass of hate and anger he had ever felt in his life.

Yes, it might have been his fault - partly. But the one mainly to blame was Sylair Holden. And Fyn wouldn't rest until that bastard was under lock and key.

"Fyn, please wait!" Celia grabbed his shoulder to stop him; the familiar address indicated her worry. "You can't go and find that assassin or Sylair on your own!"

"And why not? Do you think that a little, nosy journalist like me can't do anything useful besides causing trouble for other people?" the lifebearer shot at her, eyes blazing. "You saw what happened when I leave the job to the so-called professionals! Eondar barely survived! And who's next? Kalish? Othric? My parents? I won't sit here and wait until that happens!"

"Then help us," Celia pleaded. "Let's work together. If we..."

"We? You heard your boss. He's just afraid I'll write about the Alliance's failures. Maybe he doesn't even truly believe my theory about Sylair Holden being the one behind all this. Sorry, Celia. You're a good and competent person, and I know you believe me, but I'm done trying to work with people who don't take me seriously."

With those words, the lifebearer left. The young agent shook her head with a sigh, but didn't stop him.

Fyn took a taxi home. His apartment still smelled of delicious food, but his stomach was in a tight knot. The journalist cleaned up the kitchen and tried to think. What could be done? His anger wasn't productive, he knew that. If he really wanted to make a difference in this matter, he had to think clearly and rationally and not let his judgement be clouded.

After cleaning up, Fyn sat down in the living-room and took out his cell phone to call Cat. It wasn't possible that she had information for him after only a few hours, but he wanted to tell her about the sniper. There couldn't be many people in this city who were marksmen this good. The building under construction was rather far away on the other side of a broad street, and the kitchen window was fairly small, not to mention the moving target behind it.

Cat answered the call after a few rings. "Hello, darling. Are you a telepath now? I just wanted to call you," she said. "A few friends of mine informed me about the shooting. Is your friend alright?"

Fyn told her in a few words about Eondar's condition. "Please tell me that you have something new for me," he pleaded.

"Actually, I do. It's very possible that the assassin isn't from here. A friend of mine has been... working for some people doing transactions with Zarnian crime lords in other cities, and he mentioned that the Shark has a bodyguard who is an uncanny marksman. Maybe he's the shooter."

Fyn felt his heart beat faster. "Any names or descriptions?"

"Apparently, that guy isn't from Zarn, but an Avran, so he has no accent to give him away around here. A fairly plain-looking lashran sire with light brown hair, no distinctive marks besides a tattoo on his left wrist in the shape of a snake. He's known as Viper," Cat told him. "I know, it isn't much, but..."

"It's more than enough," Fyn answered. "Thanks, Cat. If this Viper guy is here, we have a serious lead now."

"Maybe. Good luck, darling. I'll keep you posted," Cat promised him.

Fyn put his cell phone away. The description his informant had given him sounded somehow familiar, but he didn't know where to put it. All the horrors of this day didn't help either. The lifebearer turned off the lights and decided to go to bed. However, the bed felt strangely cold and empty, and the thought of Eondar lying in the hospital, still unconscious, kept him awake.

Fyn stared up at the dark ceiling for what seemed like hours, until he finally dozed off. Seconds later, he practically jumped out of bed, once again wide awake.

He had just remembered where he had seen a man matching Viper's description. It had been the bartender at the hotel bar where he and Kalish had gotten so terribly drunk the other night.

To be continued...

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