CHAPTER 56
FRANKIE
∞
“Why am I here, Adrian? I thought you wanted me to focus on the tower assignment.”
I glare at Adrian behind his desk, and I can feel the hostility radiating from him as he lifts his gaze to mine. My throat tightens and my body feels cold as his gaze burns into me.
“Where were you two days ago?”
His tone is cool, but I can hear the hint of barely contained fury behind his words.
“What?”
“Two days ago,”
he says again. “Around ten in the morning. Where the fuck were you, Frankie?”
I take an involuntary step back when he lurches from his chair and comes around his desk to stand in front of me. Two days ago. That was the day after the club incident.
“I was in my apartment.”
“And the night before?”
“I…”
Should I be telling him anything about the assignment. I don’t know how many details Wren wants me giving to Adrian in regard to what we do and what we find out, and his tone is making my shields go up. “I was on assignment.”
“Where,”
he growls.
“I was sent to Syringe Nightclub with Alex to gather any information on the vampire that was recently killed there.”
His eyes flare and he takes another step towards me. My body is frozen as the anger curling from him presses into me. I can’t go against Adrian. The brand won’t allow it, and I can’t do anything but whimper as the brand takes hold of my body.
“Did you see Jullian that night?”
The question surprises me, and I stare at him with a blank face as I try to register what he’s getting at. Why does it matter if I saw Jullian. It has nothing to do with the assignment, and he shouldn’t care either way. I feel dread settle into the pit of my stomach, and I swallow around the lump in my throat.
“Yes, he was there.”
“There was an altercation,”
Adrian grits out through clenched teeth.
“Wr---King Valkyrie and Jullian had words, yes. What’s this about?”
“Everyone knows of your hatred towards Jullian, but he was the alpha of Felton.”
Wait. Was?
“I’m disappointed in you, Frankie.”
“Adrian, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Jullian and his pack are dead.”
“What?”
The air squeezes from my lungs. A tickle of joy flutters in my chest that he finally got what he deserved. “Who? Who did it?”
His hard gaze settles on me, and my breath catches in my throat. “You have no alibi, Frankie. You hated him and you’re fully capable of taking down a dark worlder all on your own.”
No. He can’t possibly think…
“I…I didn’t do anything!”
I can’t breathe. My chest heaves as panic sets in and he takes a step closer to me.
“You are the only one that makes sense.”
I stagger back and fall to the ground. My jaw pops and I feel blood trickle down my chin. He hit me. My lip is split open and tears well in my eyes as I feel the bloom of a bruise already spreading across my face. My entire body is shaking as he towers over me. “You think I could take out an entire pack of werewolves on my own?”
I can’t keep the sob from bubbling up my throat.
I gasp out in pain as he grips the back of my neck hard. “I think you could take out Jullian and his pack. You knew them. You knew everything about them, and you took advantage of that fact. You filthy fucking human. How dare you!”
He slams my face into the ground and pulls away, kicking me square in the stomach. Pain rips through my body and I cry out when he does it again. My ribs shatter from the force and I’m gasping, struggling to pull in a proper breath, but he's relentless.
I want to fight back. I need to fight back or he’s going to kill me. I drag myself up to my hands and knees as blood pours from my mouth. “Adrian, please,”
I beg. I’m fucking begging for my life once again. “I didn’t do this, I swear!”
“Take her to the cage,”
he mutters. “The King will not be happy with you for starting a war within the dark world, Frankie. You let your hatred overtake any sense of reason.”
Two other enforcers grip my arms hard. Adrian grabs my chin and forces my face up to look at him. “I’m going to fucking break you,”
he spits out. “You thought your life was bad before? You have no idea what you’ve done.”
I’m dragged off towards the cage as tears stream down my face and sobs wrack my body.
I’m so sorry, Wren.
I should have never left him this morning, and that’s a thought that will stay with me for the rest of my short-lived life. I’m going to die. Adrian is going to kill me and there’s nothing I can do. The brand ties me to him and he can do whatever the fuck he wants with me.
Shackles are strapped onto my wrists and my arms are hoisted up into the air. My feet barely touch the ground, and my shoulders scream at the strain on them. I hear the enforcers step out of the room and the distinct click of the metal door locking shut. I hear footfalls come towards me and I struggle to lift my face. Adrian is rolling up the sleeves on his dress shirt as he reaches to one of the walls, pulling down one of the multi-tined whips from its hook.
My heart is pounding against my chest and true fear rips through my body. The cage is not somewhere anyone wants to be. It’s a torture chamber for those we bring in for crimes against the Kings of the dark world, and by some fucked up twist of fate, I’m its next victim.
“I didn’t do this,”
I sob again.
“Lies.”
My toes curl as the pain from the whip slashing against my back overwhelms my very being. He went for the big guns right off the bat. The metal tines on the ends, bite into my skin in excruciating agony and blood drips from my back onto the cold stone floor.
“Please,”
I cry. “Please!”
The whip comes down again and my body feels weak as my life pours out of me. My legs give out from under me and the small purchase I had with my toes becomes non-existent. The chains above me snap taught and the bite of the metal cuffs adds to the pain wrapping around every inch of my body.
“I didn’t…do this,”
I whimper weakly.
Pain layered on pain is all I feel as the whip slashes against my broken flesh again. Tears stream down my face and all I can think about through all this pain, is Wren. Will he be angry to hear the news that I supposedly killed the werewolf Alpha in his territory? Would he be able to forgive me for something I never did? I wish I could see him one more time before I die. I hope it doesn’t break him…the thought of my betrayal. I knew my life would be short, living as a human, but I never thought it would be this short. Just when I was starting to finally live, it’s being ripped away from me once again.
Why?
Why can’t I be allowed to be happy for once in this fucked up life? Why must I continue to suffer even after finally finding someone who seems to care about me and like me for me? Why…why do I have to die?
I sense Adrian move around in front of me. I’m so weak and broken, that I haven’t the strength to lift my head. I barely have the strength to breathe. My blood stains the floor, running into the cracks and crevices in the stones, mingling with the fallen before me.
He slides his hand into my hair, tangling his fist around my strands, and rips my face up to look at him. My eyes feel heavy, and my mind is clouded. Hazed over with the blood loss and pain. I drag my eyes open to see his eyes glint with something…joy? Pleasure? I feel like there’s something hidden behind those eyes, well beyond the obvious hatred of my presence and betrayal. His fangs drop and I close my eyes, knowing what’s about to come.
He’s going to drain me. He’s going to snuff my life while taking pleasure in feeding off of me. Not like it matters. My blood is leaving my body quickly already, so I doubt he’ll satiate his hunger with what little is left within my system.
His fangs pierce my neck and new pain rips through me. He’s not gentle or kind, and I feel his teeth gnash and tear at the delicate flesh. Tears break through my lashes and my heart shatters as the life drains out of me.
Goodbye, Wren.