Free Jessica Meigs - The Becoming by Brothers in Arms Page B

only be a matter of time until that happened. Heaving a sigh, he nodded in an attempt to reassure himself and moved forward, heading to the elevator at his right.
    Theo pressed the elevator’s call button and shifted the bag on his right shoulder, trying to balance it better against his back and squeezing the axe’s handle. As he waited impatiently for the elevator to arrive, his blue eyes repeatedly flickering to the display above the elevator doors, his worries over Gray churned in his stomach, making him feel nauseated. “Come on, you fucking elevator,” he muttered. He slapped his hand hard against the call button and then looked at the display again. The red LED number still said “3”. Clearly, the elevator was stuck on the third floor. Theo sincerely hoped that that fact didn’t have anything to do with his younger brother.
    Heaving a sigh and turning away from the elevator, Theo resigned himself to climbing the stairs. He shoved the stairwell door open and stepped inside, squinting in the flickering light from the fluorescent light bar above him; several moths buzzed around the light fixture, slamming themselves against the plastic covering. Frowning, Theo let the stairwell door fall shut and listened past the buzz of the lights and the thumps of the bugs for any noise. Nothing met his ears. It seemed the stairwell was empty of everything but him and the bugs.
    Blowing out a heavy breath, Theo grasped the railing and started to climb the steps, taking them two at a time in as rapid an ascent as he dared. His heart was racing by the time he reached the third-floor landing. After a bout of uncertainty, he kicked the door open and burst through it, the axe ready to swing at whatever came at him. He stepped into the dim hallway with only a momentary hesitation and made straight for Gray’s apartment door.
    As he approached the elevator, Theo slowed his rapid pace as he saw a body lying half inside the elevator, blocking the doors from closing. His pounding heart jammed itself into his throat. He swallowed hard, trying to stuff it back down, and took another step closer. As he got a clear look at the body lying there, a surge of relief ripped through him so powerfully that it nearly sent him to his knees.
    The man on the floor was much older than Gray, maybe in his late thirties or early forties, his dark hair going salt and pepper. Theo didn’t recognize the man and didn’t have any way to; his face was bashed in, his nose shattered and the bones around his eyes and forehead visibly crushed. He took another step closer, contemplating checking to see if the man was alive. Then he shuddered and shook his head. No, he decided. There’s a reason this man is like this. Gray is more important.
    Theo forced himself away from the body and moved to Gray’s door, knocking even as he dug his keys out of his pocket and thumbed the right one free. He slipped it into the lock, took a deep steadying breath, and turned the key. The lock snapped, and he pushed the door open. The hinges squeaked softly, and the door brushed against the carpeted entryway with a soft shushing sound.
    The first thing Theo’s eyes registered was the darkness inside the apartment. He fleetingly wondered if Gray had actually made it to his apartment or if he was, God forbid, lying somewhere outside on the pavement, dead or dying. The thought sent a lightning bolt of fear through Theo, but he pushed it down and closed his eyes for a moment to listen carefully before he called out, “Gray?”
    Gray knelt on the floor at the end of the hallway, slumped sideways with his head resting against the wall. Even from where he stood, Theo could see Gray struggling to breathe, his shoulders tight and tense, his hand pressed against the wall, fingers curled and blanched as if he were trying to claw his way into the sheetrock. “Fuck,” Theo muttered. He rushed forward and dropped to his knees in front of Gray. He offloaded the heavy bags from his shoulders,