Chapter 26 #2
“Fuck. Broken leg, head injury that’s still bleeding, lacerations on his wrists from the cuffs, two wounds covered with gauze on his thigh, and needle pricks on his neck.
I’m assuming some form of drug was administered, but that’s all I can visibly see.
” Matt lowered his body, quickly lock picking the iron holding him to the cot.
“Hey, Liam. It’s me, Matt. You’re going to be okay, buddy. ”
Liam sobbed, his timbre rasped like he’d been strangled. “N-No more… no more… no more… no more—”
“No more,” Matt repeated, sliding his arm underneath his shoulders. Carefully placing his other arm beneath Liam’s thighs, he hoisted him from the bed, and his visceral gasp spiked my heart rate. “Bruising… Significant bruising around his throat. I think he was collared.”
The word slipped from me before I could stop it, my horror flooding the line. “Collared?”
“Collared?” Simon shouted, keyboard slamming to the side. “He… He…”
“They put a collar… on him?” Oren whispered, almost undetectable.
Matt turned around, tears streaming down his cheeks, unaware of my mistake. “Thorne. He needs medical attention now. Let’s go.”
“Move,” I commanded, ushering him out of the cell before I spoke through the earpiece again. “Levander. How far is your nearest med unit?”
“Roughly a few miles.”
I glanced at Matt. “Get him out of here.”
“Yes, sir. Follow behind?”
I dipped my chin, and he took off, cradling Liam to his chest with a tenderness that man had not received for as long as he’d been here. Staring at their departing figures, it was too late for me to follow before I heard panting behind me.
Pain ruptured up my spine, the kick impacting with a force I knew belonged to only one person. But before I could elicit a response, he broke through the line.
“Matt… Matt, did Thorne stay with you?” Oren’s panicked voice broke through.
Silence.
“Baby, are you with Matt? God, tell me you didn’t stay behind.”
My rasped breath was my only reply as I struggled to catch myself on the wall. Hissing sharply, I clenched my jaw, drawing in a shuddered breath through my nose.
“I was waiting for you to make your appearance, cunt.”
Stefan snarled. “I thought that bullet killed you.”
His fingers tangled in my locks, shoving my face against the concrete surface in front of me. Knee digging into my thigh, the pressure he applied was relentless.
“As my fiancé says…” I growled, slamming my elbow into his stomach. “…I’m a stubborn fuck.”
“Thorne? What’s going on?”
“I-I don’t know, Oren. I’ll see if I can tap into the cameras down there,” Simon answered.
Stefan grunted, his hold loosening as he stumbled back. “F-Fuck!”
Pivoting on my heel, I grabbed the pistol from my thigh, raising it in his direction. Firing off one round, the bullet pierced his thigh. “That’s for Levander, you fucking prick.”
A shout billowed from his lips, palm covering the wound. Where one expected pain to follow, a sickening laugh ruptured from him, coating him in a thick layer of mania. “Oh, fuck, this… this will be fun.”
Lips lifting with a sneer, I spat at his feet. “Yeah? I suppose you’re correct. I’ll enjoy gutting you, bitch.”
“Got in!” Simon yelled. “He’s… S-Shit. He’s fighting Stefan.”
“Stefan? Baby! Get out!” Oren blurted, but I was too occupied with the motherfucker in front of me.
Stefan grinned. “Yeah? And I’ll enjoy gutting that fiancé of yours—”
Not giving him the time to finish, I charged, arms wrapping around his stomach. We toppled to the ground, and my earpiece slipped from its position just as his head cracked against the cement.
Lacing my fingers through his hair, I ripped him forward before driving his skull into the unforgiving surface beneath him. “Keep my fucking fiancé out of your goddamn mouth!”
Despite his daze, his knee slammed into my injured stomach, a harsh cry tumbled from my lips, and anguish spread through my abdomen. A wet cough billowed from his mouth. “What? Oren Valens? The… The man his father used to pass around for men like me to use?”
Sweat beading against my brow, I struggled to maintain my position above him. “S-Shut… Shut the fuck up…”
Before I could move away, the tip of his knife slashed across my stitches, my life force making its appearance once more. Without a pause, he took two fingers and wedged them into the wound, curling as he yanked me toward him.
“Oh, now I remember. He was a cute little thing. Blonde hair, blue eyes, delightful little mouth. Really liked to be silenced.”
Biting my cheek to prevent myself from screaming, I gasped as the sharp tang of copper flooded the back of my throat. “You… don’t know what… you’re talking about…”
“Oh, yes, I do. His mother wore a pendant, right? It used to dangle over my face while I fucked her senseless. And her son? Yeah… blissful while his mother cried in horror.”
My face twisted with confusion, my mind trying to put together the pieces of information he offered. He’d fucked Oren’s mom? How? When? Did Oren know? Had Oren been aware of who Stefan was the entire time?
“I see you’re confused. Maybe you should ask your fiancé how involved he was with his father. The great Andrew Valens.”
“What… W-What are you suggesting?”
“Suggesting? Oh, no, these are facts. And the fact is, while Oren Valens might have had freedoms my other children did not, he frequently submitted himself to me. He knew of this place, these people, and yet, he has done nothing to eliminate me. He was a scared boy, always whimpering and crying despite the roughness I used, as his father permitted us to.”
Oren had known…
Oren had known, and he hadn’t fucking told me…
He’d fucking known.
Chest aching far more than my stomach, my desire to continue fighting dissipated as I shoved myself from Stefan and leaned against the wall. Resting my head against it, a rasped chuckle left me before it built into my own heightened mania as I planted my hand over the freshly opened wound.
“God, I’m a fucking idiot.”
Stefan laughed, prying himself from the floor. “Indeed, you are. There are a lot of things you still don’t know, Graves, but I’m afraid we’ll have to discuss next time. Time’s ticking if you want to save the kids upstairs.”
My glare deepened as I looked up at him, but I didn’t offer a single word. I was too focused on every fucking lie I’d been fed. The man whom I’d continuously sacrificed my sanity had turned his back on me while claiming he trusted me.
Lies.
Fucking lies.
Turning around, Stefan made his way to the exit. Stopping, he craned his head over his shoulder. “Got about three minutes. Until next time, Graves.”
Without waiting for a reply, he left me in that desolate chamber, every shared connection Oren and I had crumbling to a pile of bitter nothingness.