Chapter 30
I force back the hiss that tries to escape my parched mouth. I lick my lips and swallow, trying to quench the thirst.
“She should have cracked by now.” Frustration is thick in Felix’s voice.
This keeps me strong enough, along with the idea that my friends should be here any moment.
My mother will be safe, and I will survive this.
I don’t think of the pain that has me rolling my eyes. I either feel too much or nothing–– my brain has problems taking my senses seriously, fighting against the idea that I am dead.
I can’t be. I can hear them whining and shooting orders to increase the voltage.
A shudder ripples through me, but it must be the adrenaline stopping me from breaking down.
I’ve lost all sense of time.
Felix approaches me and barks in my face.
“We can go on like this forever.”
“You don’t have forever,” I croak.
“Who are you working with?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know?”
“I’m done with this. Let’s get it over with,” Caleb says.
Panic seizes my lungs when he returns with a syringe. The evil smile on Caleb’s face tells me I won’t like this.
“This will feel like your insides are burning.”
“Bring it on.”
“Just do it. She won’t withstand the truth serum,” Felix says.
As he injects me, I look at the people working for them. Scientists who should be up to greater pursuits, yet here they are, inflicting pain. They avoid my glances as if ignoring what happens to me would make it better. We all have a choice.
A scream erupts from me the moment the drug hits my bloodstream. It seems like my body has given up on me. I can smell the burn, as if my flesh disintegrates from my body. I feel the wetness soaking the front of my pants, and I know it is not from sweat. Embarrassment clings to my drenched clothes. I toss in my confinement in vain.
“What about now, Celine?” Felix asks.
“We forgot to tell you, the pain increases if you struggle until you faint and then we will do this all over again,” Caleb says.
“Sir, we should take a break.”
Look at that. Someone in here is growing a conscience.
Everything is a jumbled mess in my head. Sounds are amplified, lights flash before my eyes. Then it all turns black.
I have blacked out three times since I’ve been here. A part of me, the one responsible for my survival, says, tell them the truth. My friends are on their way anyway, the other part insists on keeping going.
I must preserve the element of surprise.
My eyes open and I gasp for air. My body shakes uncontrollably. Ice cubes pelt my body.
“Hmm, I have to give it to you. I never thought you’d hold on this long,” Felix says.
“Why do you hate me so much, huh? Do I remind you of everything that could be yours but isn’t? Like how my mom never looked back after meeting my father?”
He huffs. “Your mother is my trophy.”
“You have a woman who didn’t choose you of her own free will. But then again, who would do that?”
“Shut up.”
He slaps me and I spit the blood right onto his polished shoes.
He rakes a hand through his hair and my heart aches for Kaden. Felix is a despicable human, but he gave life to the love of my life, my dreams, and my future.
“Your system doesn’t work. Look at you. Where is the loyalty, huh? You go against the order for what? More power?”
“Power is everything, silly girl. And the old woman has reigned long enough.”
“And it can be taken away, just like that.”
I hope that Grandmother has read my letter by now. At least, if not for me, for my mother. But my hopes are slowly dissipating.
“Tell me, Celine, did it pain you to know my son renounced you? All that puppy love––”
“Don’t you dare talk about us. You know nothing.”
“I think we’ll celebrate his and Abigail’s wedding right after your death.”
“What about Grandmother?”
“That old witch doesn’t have much time left.”
The way he thinks he’s invincible ignites in me a fireball of rage.
He’s a damn lunatic.
“You planned the accident.”
“Of course. The matriarch had one soft spot: your mother. Instead of appointing me the leader of my generation, she moved on straight to yours. She had no issue with you and Kaden. But I would never allow the daughter of a nobody to be with my son.”
“I’m the product of their love.”
He slaps me again.
A big grin splits my face. “And it kills you, doesn’t it? I even take after my father.”
His jaw might break with the pressure he applies. I know I shouldn’t antagonize him, but I inherited the strength of my mother and the patience of my father.
Pain surges through me again, even sharper this time.
I black out. Again.
When I come back to my senses, Felix and Caleb are gone.
Someone steps into my line of vision. The view is blurry, but her voice is soft. “Your body won’t resist any longer.”
“Then help me.”
“I can’t.”
“Then my death will be on your hands.”
Her hands tremble, and she pulls something out of her pocket. I try to focus on the picture, but it’s a blur.
“That’s my little girl. I thought I won the lottery with this job, but when I found out what they were using our research for, I wanted to quit. They threatened my daughter’s life if I didn’t comply.”
“I’m sorry.” A pang of guilt strikes me. That’s the thing, choices can also be taken from you.
“Please, give them what they need. It’s not worth your life.”
“Would you die for your daughter?”
“Yes.”
“Then there’s your answer.”
She gives me some water, wiping the mix of saliva, blood, and sweat from my face.
The doors slide open, and she shrieks, jumping two steps back. She looks panic-stricken. With every second that Blake isn’t here, I inch toward a lower point.
Felix and Caleb return with Blake on their heels. I know I look worse than I can even imagine when he comes to an abrupt halt.
I try to signal to him that I am hanging in there, but I doubt that it’s working, since his features remain frozen.
Blake inches toward me, and I mouth no. I haven’t endured all this for him to grow a conscience right now.
“What do you think, son?”
“I thought we wanted answers, not her death.”
“Well, she proved the most resilient out of all you. Though, no one has a perfect son like mine.”
Blake clenches his jaw.
“My son will be the next leader.”
“The best one will,” Felix says, approaching me.
Ah, so this is all about who will lead the Family. Another thing they want to change, the primogeniture right so the leadership doesn’t necessarily go to the firstborn.
It was never about love. Felix’s motivation has been power all along because my mom was the firstborn in their generation. How na?ve of me to think differently.
I burst into a fit of laughter, my body hurting with the effort.
An alarm sounds all around us, and I sag in relief.
Finally.
Caleb and Felix rush out of the room, shooting orders off while Blake dashes toward me.
“We don’t have much time.” He plucks something out of his jacket pocket.
“I’m not getting another injection my entire life,” I croak.
“This is adrenaline. It should be enough until we get out of here. The second I am out of the door, I will open your restraints. Can you handle these two?”
“Please.”
The needle pricks my skin. The liquid travels through my system, reviving my body and sharpening my focus. My heart pumps faster like I could sprint out of here and take them all down. A surge of energy awakens my senses. My vision becomes clearer. My hearing is sharper. My strength returns, making me feel incredible.
“Enjoy it,” he says.
“You owe me.”
“So you just look like shit. Good to know they didn’t break you.”
I am not going there right now.
Felix and Caleb step back inside and Blake slips out. They are too focused on their hushed argument to realize he’s gone.
“Something wrong?” I ask.
Felix glares at me while talking to Caleb. “Take care of her. And then the facility. No one can know what happened here.”
He storms outside. As Caleb approaches me, the metal bars around my body open. I ball my hand into a fist, propelling it toward his face. He stumbles back and I shoot up. Gripping his neck, I shove him down, planting my knee on his nose. A bone breaking sound fills my ears. He crashes on his knees, holding his face.
“You fucking bitch.”
“Ah, Uncle, what kind of language is that?”
“Hold her,” he shouts, but the two remaining scientists run out of the room.
“It’s just you and me now.”
Caleb crab walks to the doors.
“Not so courageous when I’m not tied up and wired to a hundred sensory patches?”
He tries to stand up, but I drive my elbow in his throat. His chest rocks with a fit of coughs, and is weak on his legs. I’ve accumulated so much rage, my body vibrates with an eagerness to punish him. At this moment, I’m his judge, jury, and executioner. And I’ll make him regret his sorry existence by the time I’m finished with him. Rotating, I put all my force in lifting my foot and jamming it in his solar plexus. He falls back, a grunt escaping his mouth when his body collides with the floor.
“Please, Felix used me. Believe me.”
I kick him again with a force that cracks his jaw and sends his head flying back.
But I can’t let my anger win or I will kill him.
I crouch down and say, “Your organization is filled with rats. That’s how we shut you down from the outside in.”
His brows furrow, eyes slitting from left to right.
“Do you know who headed this little coup? Your son.”
“That’s impossible.” His face contorts into rage, but he can’t do a thing about it. I look around. I see nothing to tie him with, but my gaze lands on the chair.
If this isn’t divine intervention.
I drag him up and push him into the chair. The metal cuffs automatically wrap around his legs and arms. His body stills while I wire him up.
“Ah, and here I thought the best scientists test their creation first.”
“Celine, don’t.”
“I endured it for hours. Let’s see how long you last.”
I press the green button and he pisses his pants when the first shot of pain goes through him, making me feel vindicated.
“Don’t go anywhere.” I touch my forehead. “Oops. That’s right. You can’t.”
“You’ll never get out of here alive.”
“Ah, are you worried about me? That’s cute. To me, it appears your friend left you here. But this is my promise: you’ll be reunited soon.”
I slide past the doors and run down the corridors. Pushing through a wave of disorientation, I make my way to my mother’s cell, only to find it empty.
I turn around and Blake says, “She’s out.”
A body casts a shadow on the floor, and I yell. “Watch out.”
He turns around and smacks the gun out of the hand of a guard who tried to sneak up on us.
“We’re the only ones here, and there are still guards roaming around,” I say.
He throws the gun at me, and I catch it.
“What about you?” I ask.
“You shoot, I punch.”
Realization hits me. “What did they do to you?”
“This is not the place nor the time. Cover me.”
We pass another corridor. I hate this fucking labyrinth so much. I pull the trigger the second I point my gun around the corner.
“Perfect shot.”
“Now, pick that gun up. How is everyone?”
“They’re outside. Abi and Mia are with your mother. Dane is ready to burn this place to the ground.”
“Good.”
Two more men approach us and bullets explode through the air as we shoot them. The two guards drop to the side.
Blake turns around and his eyes widen.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
“You got shot.”
Huh? I don’t feel a thing.
“Fucking shit,” he says under his breath.
Blake rushes to me and I look down to see blood gushing from a small hole in my bicep and dripping down my arm. He rips his coat off and then his T-shirt, tearing the fabric in two strips. He wraps them around the wound. Red immediately coats the material.
“This is going to hurt when the drug vanishes from your system.”
I lift my arm in time to shoot the next guard coming our way.
“You should check your back instead of fussing over me. I told you I am fine.”
My legs give out, but I push through the bout of fatigue and dizziness, steading myself.
“You must have developed a higher pain tolerance.”
“Well, I call it training.”
With every step, my body signals that it can’t hold on much longer.
I don’t even see the next guard until Blake shoots him right in his torso.
He catches me as I fall back.
“Leave me here. There are just a few left.”
“I’m not leaving you.”
“You’re one stubborn guy.”
“Reinforcements should be here any moment. Only a few more guards.”
“I have one more bullet.”
“Two.”
I arch a brow at him. “Do the math if there are more than three guards.”
“I’m not leaving you.”
“I don’t need a hero.”
“No, but I’m your friend. You trusted me.”
“You basically forced me.”
“Whatever.”
We chuckle. I guess this happens when you’re near death.
“When this is all done, tell Mia I’m sorry.”
“Tell her yourself.”
“I’m not normal, Celine.”
“What did he do to you?”
A shadow approaches and I take my last shot. Blakes takes care of the next two.
“Fucking leave,” I grit out.
He turns to me, and I watch him bending over, palms on his knees.
“Kaden will kill me for this.”
“I’ll protect you.”
“For whatever it’s worth it, I think the girl you were has nothing on the badass you have become.”
“If we’re exchanging confessions. I’m afraid he loved that version of me more.”
He lets out an incredulous huff. “You can’t be serious. It was pure, it was different. Now, it’s something else. A love between people who crossed a bridge over deep water filled with secrets and poison. Don’t mourn that. You have a life together to realize this is more real.”
“I thought I didn’t deserve him. I thought I was a burden.”
“And now?”
“Now, I feel like his equal, his partner.” Thinking of him has my chest aching with longing. How cruel it would be to die without looking one more time in his eyes, kiss his lips to nurture my soul, be held in the cocoon of his arms and feel at home. I don’t want to be separated from him. Not now, not ever.
“That guy will love you even if you turn into someone unrecognizable. Your hearts bind you.”
“Shut up already. Your metaphors make me nauseous.”
Another shadow approaches.
“It’s okay. I’m here,” he says in a calming voice.
I open my mouth to tell him to leave already, but blood spatters on Blake and me, painting my face, I can almost taste the metallic tang.
When the guard’s body drops, behind him stands a man who, even with a mask, I would recognize as mine.
Kaden rips the mask off and drops to his knees.
And I was never so happy to have someone else’s blood on me.