Chapter 26
Damien
‘Cure My Tragedy’ - Cold
Screams fill the room. The stones are merging together, and all that I can hear is buzzing and shouting.
Flashes of light dart across my gaze. My body tenses and seizes.
The convulsions are excruciating, and I feel like I might slip into the void.
I’m floating. It’s like I’m lying under a light mist of rain, and my body tingles under the tiny drops of water.
I’m at the lake. I escaped somehow, and now I’m exactly where I should be.
I can almost feel her in my arms, and her faint vanilla scent barely hits my nose. The cool breeze wisps over my face, and I can scarcely feel the brush of her nose along my jaw. The sounds of the water gently play in the background, and her relaxed sighs mingle with the wind.
“Can we stay like this forever?” Ashia asks me softly, almost hauntingly, and the burning throughout my body subtly fades. Hearing her voice is all it took to stop the pain. I knew it would. She is the cure for every sickness, and I cling to her presence like hope.
“Of course, baby. I’d spend eternity anywhere if you were there with me,” I reassure her.
The tips of her fingers barely brush over my chest, and as they graze over my new tattoo, it stings just a little.
Under normal circumstances, this would have mostly healed a week ago, but it only reminds me of what’s happening.
It starts to pull me back from her heaven.
Her fingertips brush over the bumps and flakes of my skin in a ghostly caress.
I try to sink back into the moment with her, but it’s like there’s a wall of truth that I can’t get past.
I didn’t have this at the lake…
“I thought you promised to never lie to me?” she says so quietly that it’s like she’s barely speaking. Her words shake, and I can faintly make out a little hiccup, almost like she’s silently sobbing.
“I would never lie to you, little wolf,” I reassure her as my heart breaks.
“You just did. You’re not here right now.
” Her voice cracks, and I try to tighten my arms around her, but something is keeping them in place.
There’s a dark force tightening its grip on my limbs, and I can’t break free.
I use every bit of my strength to fight back.
Every muscle screams and stretches to the point of excruciating pain, but somehow, I don’t even budge, and my chest tightens as I start to panic. “We don’t get our forever...”
My breathing picks up, and it hurts. The muscles throughout my torso clench and cramp, and my throat constricts as I feel her pull away. No, no, no, baby. Please. Just wait! I try to scream, but nothing comes out, even as I feel the last faint wisp of her touch.
“They’re going to kill me…” she whispers.
Freezing water then drowns my face, and I gasp at the contact. The chemically-treated liquid makes its way in, and I cough and gag, trying to expel it from my lungs. It burns in my throat and up my nostrils.
I’m swimming again.
“Don’t tell me I’ve made you this weak, feccia.
Your punishment is just beginning,” DeLuca’s voice echoes against the walls.
Talons dig into my scalp as my head is yanked upward, and a sharp slap is delivered to my cheek.
The sting pulses and then radiates through my temple and neck. “Wake up. It’s time for the best part.”
My eyes tremble open, and I’m no longer at the lake, but the chill makes sense.
They’ve removed the suit, and I’m left completely exposed.
I’m back in this God-forsaken room. It’s only illuminated by the monitor in the corner, and my eyes are instantly drawn to it.
Through the scope’s view, I can see Ashia, my father, my mother, Zeke, Alex, Carter, and Serena.
They look like they’re walking out of the main hospital entrance.
Fuck, is she okay?! Is something wrong?! What was the date I saw on that fridge again? Did she have an appointment?
“The only question I can’t seem to answer, is which way is best to punish you.
Your wife, or your father?” DeLuca points to the screen, and I shake my head, willing to beg her not to harm them.
“Let’s think this through, shall we? Your father taught you everything you know.
Your abilities, your smarts, your cunning and quick reactions.
Your mother would be devastated without him, and that would kill two birds with one stone…
” She tilts her head from side to side, and then she stares at the screen like it's going to give her the answer.
“God, I hate your father,” she says with a sadistic curl to her lip.
“Please…” I try to plead, but somehow, that's the only word that makes it through my barren throat. She holds her chin between her fingers like she’s seriously contemplating other options.
“Then, there’s your wife. She would be the ultimate blow for you. Your child obviously isn’t developed enough to survive, and that’s another feathered comparison. Their deaths would certainly impact you more…”
“Please…” I choke out again, tearing my eyes away from the screen to meet her gaze.
“I’m sorry… I won’t try it again. Please, don’t hurt them.
I’ll do anything…” My voice cracks, and a part of me dies inside for having to bow to a vicious bitch like DeLuca, but I mean it when I say I’ll do anything.
My father, as strained as our relationship can be at times, means a lot to me.
Ashia is my everything. Our baby already has half of my heart.
I won’t be able to live in a world where they don’t exist.
“Anything? Be careful what you wish for, feccia.” She steps up to me slowly.
Her gaze rakes down my body once again, and as she bends down to meet my sitting height, I have to hold back vomit.
“Because I could require many things in exchange for lives as precious as theirs…” Her hand snakes down my burning skin until she grasps my limp cock.
I force myself to swallow through the fire in my stomach and keep myself from retching.
The thought of anyone other than my wife touching me this way is revolting, but I don't fight her.
I have to submit. If becoming her unwilling toy is what it will take to spare my wife, then so be it.
I'll do anything if it keeps her from killing Ashia.
My neck strains, but I force myself to nod and keep my body still.
I'm sure not to twitch or flinch, and as much as I want to allow my face to twist in disgust, I don't let it.
She breaks out into maniacal laughter and steps back, thankfully letting me go.
All of the hope I once had goes down the drain when I see the deceptive look in her eyes.
“You stupid boy. Do you think begging now will help you? What example would I be setting if I didn’t follow through on my word?
You, feccia, have made your bed. And now, it’s time you lie in it.
There are consequences for our actions, and it seems that you have gone long enough without repercussions. ”
She then brings her phone to her ear, and it doesn’t even take a full two seconds for her to start speaking again.
“Sette? Aspetta qualche istante. Poi, togli quello vecchio. Abbiamo aspettato troppo a lungo che questo giorno arrivasse.”
My heart starts to race, and I snap my eyes back to the screen.
They continue to walk through the parking lot, unaware of what is about to happen.
Ashia's face looks as sad as ever, and I see the exhaustion in her eyes.
It looks like she's listening to everyone around her, but I know that emptiness lying beneath the golden color.
I wish I could scream and tell her to run.
I'd die for a chance to warn her. A part of me wants to look away so I don't have to see what happens to the love of my life, but I can't tear my eyes away at the same time.
I need to see that I've failed her for the last time.
My father holds Ashia back a few feet before he starts to speak to her, and the anticipation might be my end. The scope darts back and forth between Ashia’s head and my father’s, and it’s at this moment that I know I’m a horrible person.
I'm a terrible husband.
But I’m a worse son.
I never thought I would wish death on my father, but if I had to choose, I would always choose my wife.
My father gave me life. He guided me through this world and gave me every chance I could've dreamed of. His sacrifices and actions allowed me to have the life I found for myself. Without him, I wouldn’t be who I am today, and that means I wouldn't have found Ashia.
A part of me thinks he would understand. No, I know he would, but that doesn't change anything. My wife holds my entire life in her hands, and while she is my heart, she shares it with what's growing inside of her. There's no life without them—no world left.
Fuck, I hate myself more than I ever have before.
I’ve sunken to a new low. Each time I’ve failed my father is coming to lay itself before me now, and there’s no way I can take these feelings back.
Once again, I’ve proven that the best of his children is the one that died, because all I can think is please, take my father…