Chapter Eighteen
I SNAPPED FROM ONE NIGHTMARE TO ANOTHER.
Fury ignited as my gaze landed on Rook—strapped and imprisoned.
I fought against my own restraints. White-hot agony exploded through my body.
Every bone that the fire had fractured back in Brimstone screamed.
My ribs stabbed my lungs like giant splinters.
Lashes of marrow-deep agony pulsed in my left femur, right forearm, and far too many cracks everywhere else.
A guttural groan tore from my throat as I forced myself to stop moving. Cold sweat broke across my skin as black spots danced across my vision. The pain was so intense it threatened to drag me back under.
Stay awake. Stay awake. Fucking stay awake!
I blinked hard, fighting the crushing waves of agony.
“Rook.” A wet, painful cough ripped through me, tasting of smoke. Blood trickled out the corner of my mouth. “Are you okay?”
Not waiting for her to answer, I snarled, “Get these cuffs the fuck off me!” I didn’t care about the pain as I thrashed and kicked, calling on the fire to help.
But once again, it didn’t answer. I had nothing left. Back to being pathetically, ridiculously human.
That made fury pour on top of fury. I struggled harder, causing the heavy chair to rock on the thick carpet.
“Now, now, don’t hurt yourself any more than you already are.” A man stepped closer. “Just calm the fuck down for a second.”
I stopped fighting—not because he told me to, but because every cell in my broken body locked onto Rook beside me. Did they hurt you?
She shook her head, her hands balled on the armrests. I’m fine. I’m so glad you’re finally awake. Her filthy nightgown still covered everything important, and I saw no new bruises or cuts—just the ones I’d caused when I’d lost control back in the lobby.
I relaxed a little only to tense all over again as my eyes locked on the leather straps holding her down. I’m so sorry I left you alone. I’m sorry I couldn’t control it.
She sniffed as tears stuck to her eyelashes. Tell me you have a plan on how to get out of here?
I flinched and looked away because...what the fuck could I do when I had nothing?
Unable to look at her, I glowered at the man who’d spoken. “This has nothing to do with her. Let her go.”
He nodded with a sigh as if he’d expected me to say such a thing. “While you’ve been in la-la land, your girlfriend and I have had a nice little chat, haven’t we?” He glanced at Rook and that same snarling, primal possession rose.
Girlfriend?
Once again, that word offended me.
What I felt for Rook exceeded any label. She was everything. And if he touched her, I honestly didn’t think I’d be able to control myself. Broken bones or not.
“Well, now I’m awake and you can talk to me.” I bared my teeth. “Let her go.”
“We’ll let both of you go once we’ve established some ground rules.
And by go, I mean to the quarters we’ve designed especially for your stay.
We’ll even let you bunk together rather than break you apart...
as long as you behave. Right...” He clasped his hands and came toward me.
“Rook and I have had a nice little conversation but now it’s your turn.
” He smiled and...a punch of familiarity hit me square in the face.
“You.”
He stilled. “Me?”
“I know you.”
His eyes narrowed even as another smile crawled over his lips. “I did wonder if you would. Long time no see. I wanted to visit you in Cinderkeep over the years, but Marcus advised against it due to your...unstable mental condition.” He chuckled and a different type of recognition struck me.
I knew him because he was second-in-command to Marcus. He was a member of the Brimstone board and had been there the day I’d been dragged into surgery for the vitalsync core. But...I swore I’d seen him recently. The shape of his mouth, his bone structure, even his eyes...where had I seen—?
“You’re looking at me as if you’re pondering violence.
So...let’s get the typical questions of how, where, and why out of the way, shall we?
” He sighed as if he was doing me a massive favour.
“You’re currently in my home in Cobham. My estate is private, walled, and gated.
I have no neighbours and every inch of the grounds is watched by CCTV.
Consider this your new temporary home until we relocate you back to Cinderkeep after our initial extraction is complete.
Originally, we were going to get the technical, scientific stuff out of the way at Brimstone but you had to go and mess that up—”
“Fuck you.”
“Ah-ah, I wasn’t finished.” He scowled. “That’s the ‘where’.
As for the ‘how’—you were both brought here with utmost secrecy from China and, as you can clearly see, have not been hurt in any way—apart from what you self-inflicted.
You were the one to destroy your own headquarters.
You were the one who used far too much power.
Have we taken retribution? No. Do we look angry?
No. We’re very happy to finally have you back, Lucien, and as long as you obey and do what we say, we won’t do a thing to harm you—minus the quick sting of a needle, of course.
However...” His voice turned black. “If you show any sign of disobeying. If you attempt to use your unique pyro ability, I’ll be more than happy to install a new frequency emitter in both of you that’ll deliver a constant dissonant dose, ensuring you’re both as weak as newborn kittens. ”
“You said you wouldn’t do that,” Rook cut in.
“If you can lie, so can I.” He flicked her a smile.
“You’re going to do that anyway,” I snapped. “The moment you’re finished doing whatever it is you’re about to do, you’ll insert another vitalsync core and enslave us.”
“So cynical.” He frowned.
“I won’t let that happen.” I forced a savage smile. “I’ll kill you all.”
“I will admit I enjoy talking, but when it comes to ridiculous threats, I’m unamused.”
“Oh, it’s not a threat.” I leaned forward, fighting agony and the straps. “I promise you...I will kill you.”
He clucked his tongue as if I’d merely refused a cup of tea. “Going back to the word ‘enslave.’ That’s a bit harsh, isn’t it? Is it really enslavement when you’ve spent most of your life in a palatial palace?”
“It is when you’re draining me like a fucking vampire.”
“We all have to make sacrifices.” He shrugged. “You were blessed with power that we would like for our own. It’s only fair you share those powers and give the rest of us the chance to evolve with you.”
“By drinking my blood, you mean.”
“Correct.” He nodded with no shame. “Your blood is the key to becoming better than the rest of the idiots on this planet. We want to become immortal. Like you.”
“Like me?” I laughed coldly. “Hate to burst that bubble but...I’m dying. Are you blind?”
“If you were dying, you would already be dead. You have numerous broken bones yet you’re spitting and hissing with fire.
Look...” Strolling around the room, his gaze strayed from me to Rook and back again.
“Obviously your temper is getting the better of you like it always did in the past, so instead of talking let’s just get started, shall we? ”
“Like I said. Fuck you. You’re not taking anything.”
“That’s nice.” Brushing down his lapels, he stopped by the door, sandwiched between other men I vaguely recognised. “Is that everything? Got all your curses and questions off your chest? If so, I’ll step aside and let my colleagues get to work.”
If I could access the fire, he’d be a pillar of ash.
I sank inside myself, hunting, begging—
But Rook met my eyes, giving me a quick shake of her head as if urging me to stay calm.
I reached out with my heart, hoping to sense her arctic coolness. To feed off her energy like I had back at Ashfall Cliff but...she was just as ruined as I was.
No frost. No snow. Not even a cool breeze.
I couldn’t even tap into her heartbeat.
I couldn’t hear any of their heartbeats, leaving me completely useless.
Sagging in the binds, I held her stare. Can you access anything? Anything at all?
She sucked in a breath and shook her head just a little. Nothing. Not even a snowflake.
Well, fuck.
We could bluff all we wanted but if we couldn’t follow through, we didn’t stand a chance.
God, what was going on with us?
Why could we access the ice and fire before, yet now it felt as if it never existed? Why did every ticking minute make nausea settle heavier and my fractured bones throb as if they were moments away from dissolving?
Gritting my teeth, I tore my eyes off Rook and locked them on the man.
I might recognise him, but I couldn’t remember his name.
Almost as if he saw the question in my eyes, he grinned. “The name you’re looking for is Dr. Swift. But...seeing as I’ve taken over for Marcus and we’ll be spending a lot of time together going forward, you can call me Roy.”
Swift...
That name dredged up Cinderkeep. Memories where those bitches, Lydia and Evelyn, had bullied Rook. The night where I’d ripped the throat out of one and Whisper slaughtered the other—
Swift!
A cold chuckle escaped me as Roy leaned against the wall, giving the white-coated scientists space to park themselves on either side of me and Rook and rip open a few sterile packages, getting needles and siphon tubes ready.
My skin crawled as they wiped disinfectant on my inner elbow, tapping my arm to bring veins to the surface. “You’re Lydia Swift’s father.”
“What?” Roy froze, his hand going tight around the e-tablet he’d just collected from the side table. “How the hell would you know that?”
I laughed again, recalling how his daughter admitted she was there to breed me. How she’d admitted if she could have my heir, she’d be worshipped by her family. My hands fisted in rage but then...I smiled, recalling the sounds she’d made as she choked on her own blood and died by my feet.
“You were a greedy fool for sending your daughter into my cage, you know.” I ran my tongue over my bottom lip. “You knew the statistics of what happened to the women they gave me. Either you didn’t love her or your plan backfired...badly.”