Chapter 15 Kael #2
Jude bares his teeth, his eyes narrowing as his vampire flares to the surface, but before he can do a single thing, the sound of Walker clearing his throat from the door cuts through the air, snapping both of our gazes to him.
“This brotherly bonding session is great and all, but am I required? I have things to do, subordinates to heal if we wish to carry on,” he states, and to my surprise, my brother's fingers unfurl from around my neck, one at a time, but he doesn't take a step back as he lets his hand fall to his side.
His eyes remain narrowed, veins darkening as he speaks. “Help with the subordinates. The task will still be waiting, with the same completion timeframe. You just earned yourself a smaller window to accomplish what I wish,” he promises before taking a step back.
Walker is already out in the hallway waiting for me, and I waste no time following after him. Although, this time, he doesn't stay a step ahead, he chooses to walk at my side, waiting until there’s a good bit of distance between Jude and us before he speaks.
“Fuck, man, do you have a death wish?” he grunts, and I peer at him from the corner of my eye.
“I don't know what you're talking about,” I retort, my adrenaline still pounding through my veins, and he scoffs.
“You're either dumb or have forgotten what he did to your parents,” he mutters, shaking his head, and I don't bother to give him a response.
The truth is, he's right and he's wrong.
I can never forget what he did to my parents, but I'm not dumb. I'm dead set on protecting the girl that consumes my every breath, and if that means facing off with a monster like Jude, the boy I've been frightened of my entire life, then so be it.
Thankfully, he doesn’t say anything else on the matter as we make our way toward the subordinates. Before we reach the staircase that leads to their cell, for lack of a better word, Walker pauses at the top, handing me a device.
“I’ll go and get the heal tank set up. Bring this girl. She's number one on the priority list,” he states before disappearing without waiting for confirmation from me.
With the device in hand, I make my way down, finding the key already waiting in the steel door that divides me from the people on the other side.
My gut twists with worry, a feeling I’m not very familiar with. Especially not for others. I want to save them, rescue them, bring them hope, but that's the version of me they don't have the pleasure of seeing right now.
Instead, I take another glance at the image of the girl on the device, inhaling sharply before storming into the room, keeping my gaze fixed on the walls as I avoid the knowing stares of Elodie's parents.
Closing the door behind me, I finally dare to take in the room to find most of the subordinates ignoring me, while others perk up, waiting to hear their name.
As my gaze travels around the room, I realize the girl I'm looking for is fast asleep, propped against the wall with her eyes closed. But what's even more of a pain is the fact she's sitting beside Jenkins.
Fuck.
“Beatrice Pollack,” I call, but she doesn't budge.
Even from here I can see her frail state. Her face is gaunt, her body an awkward shade of gray, but I can hear her heart racing so I know she’s not quite dead… yet.
With a deep breath, I trudge toward her, filtering my way through the sea of subordinates before crouching down beside her.
The second I do, I sense Jenkins looking at me, but I pretend he doesn't exist as I shake at her shoulder.
To my dismay, she does little more than flutter her eyelashes, hellbent on sleeping.
A fact I wish I could say for myself too, but alas, there really is no rest for the wicked.
I’m yanked from my jealous thoughts as a hand lands on my arm, and it's not from her. My attention snaps to Jenkins and I can’t hide the grimace that shudders down my spine. He doesn't look much better than the girl in front of me.
His lips are dry and cracked as he speaks.
“Kill me.” I frown at him, certain those two words did not just come from his mouth.
“Kill me. Please, Kael,” he rasps, confirming it, and I shake my head, turning away as I pretend I can't hear him, focused on trying to wake the girl, but he doesn’t relent.
“Kael, please,” he begs, his voice little more than a whimper, one of lost hope and failed dreams.
I can't handle it.
Instincts take over and I grab the girl, launching her over my shoulder as I rise to my feet.
“Please, Kael,” Jenkins repeats, louder this time, using all of his strength, and I know we've got the attention of other people in the room.
I can’t let the facade of being Jude’s brother fall. Grabbing the scruff of his neck, I yank him toward me, startled by how weightless he feels as I bring my lips to his ear.
“There is no killing you, Jenkins. There is only saving you. Have patience,” I whisper before dropping him to the floor like a sack of potatoes.
I turn away before I can let the horror take hold and grimace. In doing so, my gaze lands across the room on the one person I wish I didn't have to see.
He's not alone. Elodie’s mother sits beside him with a hint of concern in her gaze, but it’s Odie’s black eye that burns what remains of my soul.
His gaze locks on mine and he tilts his chin, an air of understanding flickering from across the room. I'm not entirely sure I know what it means, but all he does is settle one notion inside of me that I refuse to deny.
I nod back. A promise, wordless, but still wrought with meaning.
I vow to save him, her, all of them, if it's the last thing I do.