24. Payback
Payback
LUKE
C onsciousness crawled into Luke’s mind bit by bit.
He was cold. So fucking cold.
His head throbbed like his brain was attempting to leak out of his skull.
More of his body hurt, but it was difficult to pinpoint the exact locations when it all mixed to make a nauseating brew of pain and cold.
Part of him wanted to slip into the black void of unconsciousness again, but there was something nagging at him, pulling him toward being fully awake.
He didn’t know what. Everything in his head was fuzzy and hurt.
The feeling grew more urgent as the seconds ticked by until at last he forced himself to pry his eyelids open a crack.
Darkness.
It was almost a relief considering how badly his head hurt.
He slowly opened his eyes the rest of the way and looked around.
This wasn’t his room or the house he shared with the demons.
It wasn’t anywhere he recognized on campus, either.
He was lying on a dirty concrete floor as far as he could tell, but everything else remained in heavy shadow.
It was all indistinct blobs looming over him.
The scent of rust, dust, and mold was thick in the air.
He attempted to pull his arms under his body to push himself upright, but he couldn’t move. Panic sliced through his heart. His wrists were tied behind him. Someone had bound his ankles as well. He couldn’t move. Couldn’t sit up. What the fuck was happening?
It all came to him in a violent flash.
He and Matteo were walking to campus.
They were being followed.
They ran.
The stalkers chased. Outnumbered them.
Someone grabbed Matteo.
Someone else caught Luke.
A car’s tires squealed.
Pain. Someone hit him on the back of the head, knocking him out.
They’d been kidnapped and taken only God knew where.
They needed to get out of there as quickly as possible. Where the hell were the crows when he needed them? They’d followed him anytime he stepped outside the mansion. Why couldn’t they have been following tonight?
Maybe it was because it had been after one in the freaking morning and icy cold outside. The crows needed to sleep too, asshole.
Luke mentally groaned at himself. This wasn’t the crows’ fault. He had to find a way out of this.
Lying on his side, Luke lifted his head as best as he could and attempted to look around. It seemed as if he’d been left alone. At least for now.
“Matteo?” he whispered, then winced. His throat was killing him as if he’d swallowed a box of razor blades. It was either from earlier screams, or he was catching a cold from being sprawled on the frozen concrete for so long. But he had to push on. “Matteo?” he tried again, this time a bit louder.
There was a soft scrape of something on the concrete not far away. Luke froze, his ears straining to hear better what it could be.
“Luke?”
Relief and grief swelled in equal measure in his chest. Matteo was alive and with him, but his voice wobbled and sounded as rough as Luke’s.
“I’m here. I’m here.” He was quick to reassure him. He attempted to shift and scoot across the floor toward Matteo’s voice, but it wasn’t easy. Pain radiated through every part of his body.
“What…what happened? Where are we?”
“I-I don’t know. I—” Luke’s words were cut off when a door on the far side of the room burst open and slammed into the wall.
The metal reverberated loudly through the room, nearly drowning out the sound of approaching footsteps.
It was too late. Whoever had kidnapped them had finally decided to make an appearance.
“Well, well, well, seems like Bird Boy has got himself in a little trouble,” an all-too-familiar voice mocked.
Luke’s heart froze. It couldn’t be.
Bright flashlights pierced the gloom, sweeping over the room to reveal old tables, rotting boxes, and what might have been old machinery.
Cobwebs hung from the rafters and crowded distant corners.
They’d been brought to an abandoned factory or warehouse.
As their attackers stepped close, the snickering and flashes of light solidified some images in his head.
Those fucking frat bros who’d taken it upon themselves to harass him had captured them.
Except it had largely stopped after Atticus and the other crows had chased a trio of them across campus.
“W-w-what do you want?” he stammered. “W-why did you grab us?”
The ringleader kneeled in front of Luke and seized a handful of his hair, lifting him partially off the floor while pain screamed through his scalp. “I thought some payback was due for what you did.”
“What? I didn’t do anything to you!” He winced and swallowed carefully against the pain in his throat.
The asshole snarled and threw him to the ground. “Fucking liar!” He shoved to his feet and kicked Luke in the stomach. Fresh pain exploded across his abdomen, and Luke moaned loudly.
“Luke! Luke! Leave him alone! He’s done nothing to you!” Matteo screamed, seeming to lose his mind. Luke wanted to say something to calm him, but at that moment, he was simply trying to figure out how to breathe without puking up blood and guts.
“Shut him the fuck up!” Asshole bellowed.
Lights flashed everywhere, and shadows scrambled. There was the sound of flesh hitting flesh, followed by a groan before Matteo grew quiet.
“Leave him alone!” Luke tried to shout, but it came out barely more than a whimper. “He’s got nothing to do with this.”
“Yeah, but hurting him hurts you, and I call that a win. Especially after you trained all those birds to harass us whenever we go outside.”
Luke’s brain blanked out. The crows and other birds were still bothering the frat bros? He’d had no idea. He’d never even asked Atticus and the other crows to go after those assholes. There was no way he would have asked them to continue their attacks.
Those swirling thoughts were still churning in his head as Asshole kicked him in the stomach a second time. The pain in his body doubled, and all his thoughts flew out of his head.
“Maybe we should strip you and coat you in bird shit,” Asshole suggested.
“Chuck him outside like that.” Another snickered.
He was going to die. They might mean it all as a prank, but Luke was sure he was going to die because of their so-called prank.
Fear so thick it was nearly choking him rushed through Luke’s system.
He didn’t know what to do, how to escape.
If they killed him, even if it was by accident, wouldn’t they kill Matteo as well? Just to cover their tracks.
“Hey!”
“What the fuck!”
“What’s going on with the flashlights?”
The growing sounds of panic from the frat bros jerked Luke out of his depressing thoughts. He blinked tear-filled eyes to find that the flashlights on the phones were flickering and dying one after another as if their batteries were being drained.
“You morons forget to charge your phones?” Asshole snarled.
“My battery was fucking full!” someone else shouted back at him, but there was now a note of panic in his voice.
The moment the last light went out and darkness swallowed the giant room, the sound of skittering claws across the concrete filled the air. And then across the walls. And then a metallic tink tink tink as if something were crawling across the metal girders that spanned the ceiling.
Many somethings were there, and they were surrounded.
His saviors had finally arrived.
Luke closed his eyes and choked out a ragged laugh.
“What the hell are you laughing at?” Asshole snapped, but Luke could hear the fear thickening his tone. Yeah, he had a damn good reason to be afraid.
“You’ll see soon enough,” Luke rasped.
Panicked and fearful screams rang out one after another, filling the warehouse. There were the sounds of scrambling feet on the concrete and people falling in their rush to escape. Doors slammed, and they raced out of the room where Luke and Matteo were being held.
“Luke! Luke! Are you okay?” Matteo called, sounding more afraid than when he’d first woken up.
Shit! Luke was happy to have Asshole and his companions scared shitless, but he didn’t want that for Matteo.
“I’m here! I’m okay!”
“Lu—” His voice was suddenly cut off, and Luke’s heart stopped.
“Matteo!” he screamed.
A hand landed on his shoulder and lightly squeezed. Luke jerked his head up, but it was too dark to see anything. There was a sense of something incredibly large standing over him.
“Azroth?” he squeaked, praying he was right. Was he wrong about what had crept into the warehouse? Please don’t let this town be a haven for more than my demons .
“It’s me. You’re safe now,” Azroth murmured.
A breath of relief rushed out of Luke, but it turned into a fractured sob before he could catch it. Behind him, he could feel the ropes on his wrists loosen. He moved and found that both his arms and legs were now free.
“Hold still. You’re still terribly injured.
I need to fix you up.” The demon had barely finished speaking as the most wonderful warmth swept through his body from the shoulder Azroth was still holding to the top of his head and down to his toes.
He even removed the sharp pins and needles that filled his limbs after being trapped in a single position for so long.
“Matteo?” he demanded when Azroth lifted his hand.
“I put him into a deep sleep so he won’t be frightened by what’s happening.
He’s perfectly safe. I’ll heal him as soon as I’m sure you’re okay.
” It actually took Luke a moment to register the loud, frantic screams of terror mixed with the loud banging and crashes from the next room.
It had become little more than white noise, his entire focus locked on Matteo.
With that reassurance, Luke threw himself at Azroth, wrapping his arms around the demon’s neck. His fingers brushed leathery wings, and his frame was filled with sharp bones, but he didn’t care. Azroth had saved him and Matteo.
The demon froze under him as if it were the first time he’d ever been hugged. Luke didn’t care. He was alive because of a demon.
“Thank you for saving me and Matteo,” Luke choked out, tightening his hold.
Azroth huffed and patted him lightly on the shoulder. “Silly human. Of course, we came for you. Don’t you know? You belong to us, and we protect what is ours. I’m just sorry we couldn’t get here sooner.”
Luke let out a teary laugh. He released the demon and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. All the aches and pains were now gone. He wasn’t cold anymore.
“Now, we have one other matter to take care of. In the next room.”
Screams of terror were now punctuated with broken sobs, but for some strange reason, Luke couldn’t summon up a single shred of fear or remorse. Azroth was right, but there was something more important that needed to be handled first.
“Where’s Matteo?”
Azroth lifted one clawed hand, and a glowing red orb formed.
It floated out of his palm and glided easily across the room, casting everything in a bloody light.
A short distance away, Luke spotted Matteo sprawled on the floor, his arms tied behind him and his ankles bound.
His hair was a matted mess, and there was a trickle of blood coming from his bottom lip.
“We can’t leave him here. He needs to go to the house and be healed,” Luke stated.
Azroth nodded as if he’d expected it. He snapped his fingers and, a heartbeat later, Tog appeared in his towering, beefy demon form. A giant grin was on his face as he stared at Luke.
“Az fixed you up. Good. You can help us get revenge now,” Tog said.
“Change of plans,” Azroth interjected sharply. “You need to take Matteo to Luke’s room.”
“What? No!” Tog roared. He stomped his foot, and the entire building shook.
Luke reached out and placed his trembling hand on Tog’s hand.
The demon quieted instantly. “Please, Tog. I need you to take him home, heal him, and tuck him into my bed so he’s warm.
Please, I know you’re the only one to keep him safe for me.
Matteo is a thousand times more important to me than anything that happens here tonight. ”
Tog’s face scrunched up, and Luke tensed, waiting for the demon to explode or at least stomp his foot again. A couple of tense heartbeats later, Tog exhaled and nodded. “I’ll take care of your Matteo. Heal him and protect him until you return.”
“Thank you, Tog. Thank you so much!”
The giant demon shrugged, looking uncomfortable. He pulled out of Luke’s grasp and turned to Matteo. In the blink of an eye, they were both gone, leaving Luke alone with Azroth.
“Don’t worry. Tog might seem like his head is filled with worms, but he really does have a brain in there.
He will take good care of your new boyfriend.
” The demon’s wing extended, wrapping around Luke in such a way that it pulled him closer, almost cocooning him in his own safe haven.
“Now, I believe we have some very stupid humans who need to learn that they have fucked with the wrong Bird Boy .” The words twisted and writhed before flying off Azroth’s tongue.
It was very clear that the demon was pissed.