CRIMSON DEBTS Chapter 45
Chapter 45: The Broken Sanctuary
The morning had been unusually bright. Before leaving for the timber yard, Kaelen had trapped Julian against the kitchen counter, his arms encircling his waist, pulling him into a possessive, grounding embrace.
"Don't work too hard today," Kaelen had whispered, his lips brushing the sensitive skin below Julian’s ear. "I’m coming back to eat lunch at home with you. Make sure that wine is chilled."
"I’ll be waiting," Julian had promised with a soft smile, his hands resting on Kaelen’s chest, feeling the steady thrum of his heart.
But as the afternoon sun hit its peak, the wine remained unopened.
Julian had just finished setting the table with the good linens, humming as he placed a small vase of wildflowers in the center.
He heard the gravel crunch outside and his heart leaped.
Kaelen. He pulled the back door open, a playful scolding on his lips.
"You’re right on time, love! I haven't even poured the—"
The words died.
Standing in the doorway was the man he knew as Elias, but the medical glasses were gone, and his eyes were cold—devoid of the warmth he had faked for weeks.
Before Julian could draw breath to scream, a hand moved with surgical precision.
A cloth, heavy with the chemical sweetness of chloroform, was pressed over his face.
Julian’s world spun into blackness, his last sight being the charcoal "ring" on the mantle falling to the floor as the door was kicked shut.
The Surgeon’s Gallery
When Julian finally drifted back to consciousness, his head felt heavy, a dull throb pulsing behind his eyes.
He tried to move his arms, but they were pulled back, bound tightly to the cold rungs of a wooden chair.
His ankles were lashed to the legs, the coarse rope biting into his skin.
The room was dim, smelling of turpentine, old dust, and antiseptic. It looked like a grotesque distortion of his own studio. High-end canvases stood on easels, but the windows were boarded shut with steel plates.
"Finally awake," a voice echoed from the shadows.
Elias—or the man Julian thought was Elias—stepped into the light. He was meticulously cleaning a set of scalpels.
"Why are you doing this?" Julian rasped, his throat burning from the chemicals. "Kaelen will kill you."
"Kaelen is a Thorne," the man replied, his voice devoid of emotion. "And Thornes deserve to lose everything they love."
The Return of the Ghost
Twenty minutes after the abduction, Kaelen arrived at the cottage. He found the back door swinging in the breeze. The lamb stew was a scorched, smoking mess on the stove.
"Jules?"
Silence. Kaelen’s eyes landed on the floor. The framed charcoal vow was shattered into a thousand jagged diamonds. Julian was gone.
Rage, pure and blinding, led Kaelen back to the one place he swore he’d never go: The Thorne Estate. He stormed into Silas’s study, slamming his hands onto the oak desk with enough force to crack the wood.
"You gave your word!" Kaelen roared. "Bring Julian out now or I will burn this house to the ground with you in it!"
Silas Thorne didn't flinch. He looked up, his expression uncharacteristically grim. "I don't have him, Kaelen. I have kept my word. I have not touched the painter."
Kaelen searched his father’s eyes. He knew the look of a lie, and this wasn't it. Silas was truly in the dark. "If it's not you... then who?"
As Kaelen turned to leave, Silas’s voice stopped him like a bullet. "Kenneth is alive."
Kaelen stopped dead. He turned slowly, his face pale. "What? He’s my cousin. He died when we were kids. Elena—your own sister—said the surgery failed."
"That is what she told us," Silas said. "I only found out recently. She faked his death and hid him abroad to keep him away from me. He’s been living in the shadows for twenty years, Kaelen. He is a ghost with a grudge."
The Bloodline’s Call
The burner phone in Kaelen’s pocket vibrated. He ripped it out, his knuckles white.
"Hello?"
A melodic, distorted laugh came through the line. "Long time no see, bro."
"Kenneth?" Kaelen’s voice broke. "You... you’re alive? You’re the one who did this?"
"So, the old man finally told you," Kenneth said, the sound of his voice turning cold and jagged. "You stayed in the palace while I was cast into the dark. You got the name, the power, and now... you have the artist."
"He has nothing to do with our family issues!" Kaelen screamed, his eyes burning with fury. "Julian is innocent! Let him go, Kenneth! I am the one you want! Take me, but let him go!"
"Oh, I’ll take you too," Kenneth whispered. "But first, I’m going to make him see you for the monster you really are. I’m going to show him that being a Thorne is a debt that can only be paid in blood."
The line went dead. Kaelen looked at Silas, the "Enforcer" mask sliding back into place. The war wasn't over; it was just becoming a family affair.