38. Thirty-Eight
THIRTY-EIGHT
THEO
D eath was nothing like I’d expected. It felt oddly . . . painful . My consciousness faded in and out, each wave accompanied by pain, broken only by brief flashes of her face as she struggled to get to me. I’d fought until I couldn’t, praying for a miracle. Hoping that Wrenly being taken from my arms was nothing but a nightmare. Surely I’d wake up from being plagued by her screams echoing through my head as she was dragged away from me.
But the next time I opened my eyes, everything was a blinding white. I squinted against the brightness, trying to make sense of my surroundings. Was this Heaven? Or some sort of purgatory? As my vision adjusted, I realized I was in a hospital bed in the infirmary at the manor. A figure stirred beside me. It was my mother, slumped in a chair with her cheek resting on the head of the bed. Dark circles underscored her closed eyes, and her hair was a tangled mess. She looked exhausted, as if she hadn’t slept in days.
I tried to speak, but my throat was dry and raspy. The slight movement was enough to rouse her though. Her eyes fluttered open, widening in relief as they met mine.
“Oh, thank the heavens. You’re awake!” she exclaimed, tears welling in her eyes as she grasped my hand tightly. “We thought we’d lost you. ”
“Where’s Wrenly?” I managed to croak out, my heart clenching at the memory of her being torn away from me.
My mother’s face fell, and she averted her gaze. “Sweetheart, I’m so sorry . . . They took her.” Her voice broke as a sob escaped her lips.
“Who?” I asked.
“Honey, I-I think you should rest.”
“Mom, who took her?” I demanded, sitting up.
Her eyes glistened with unshed tears. “The Collectors.”
A cold numbness spread through my veins as the reality of her words sank in. “I have to go after them, Mom. I have to get her back.”
“I know, my love. But you’re in no condition to go anywhere,” she said. “Your father and the others are already preparing for a rescue mission. They’ll bring her back, I promise.”
I shook my head. “Where are they? I have to go with them.”
“Theo, please. You need to heal,” she pleaded for me to lie back down.
“Where’s Gage? Tell him to take this IV out. I need to go get her back.”
She made no move to fetch Gage but instead stared at me like there was more she wasn’t telling me.
“Why aren’t you going to get him?”
Silence.
“Mom, what aren’t you telling me?”
Her expression crumbled, and she took a shaky breath before speaking. “Theo . . . Gage . . . he’s being questioned by Archer, Kai, Asher, Cassian, and your father . . .” Her voice trailed off.
“What do you mean, ‘questioned?’”
“While you were unconscious, the boys intercepted communication between Gage and Abel Benson. It turns out Gage owed money to The Benson Family from some gambling debts.”
“So they took Wrenly to settle a debt?”
“Yes.” She nodded sadly.
I yanked out my IV, ignoring the blood trickling down my arm.
“Theo, stop!” my mother cried, reaching for me as I swung my legs over the side of the bed. The room swayed, and I gripped the edge of the mattress to steady myself .
My vision blurred at the edges as I followed the sound of raised voices. I burst into the room where Archer, Kai, and our fathers had Gage tied to a chair, his face bruised and bloodied.
All heads turned to me as I stumbled into the room, barely able to stand. Gage’s bloodshot eyes widened with fear as he met my furious gaze.
“Theo, you shouldn’t be here,” my father said sternly, stepping toward me. “You need to rest and recover.”
“I’m not going anywhere until he tells me where they took Wrenly,” I growled, my voice low and menacing.
Archer and Kai exchanged a glance, their expressions grim. They knew better than to try to stop me in this state.
“I-I don’t know where they took her,” Gage stammered, his voice trembling. “I swear, I didn’t know they were going to take her. I thought they were going to rough me up a bit, maybe break a few bones. I never thought they’d go after Wrenly.”
“You sold her out to save your own skin,” I snarled, lunging toward him. Kai caught me before I could reach Gage, holding me back. “You betrayed us! You betrayed her!”
“I’m sorry, Theo. I’m so sorry,” he sobbed, his head hanging in shame. “I never meant for any of this to happen.”
“Sorry isn’t good enough,” I hissed, wrenching free from Kai’s grasp. “You’ll tell me everything you know about where they might have taken her. Every detail, every scrap,” I snarled, crossing the room in two strides and slamming my fist into his face.
His head snapped back from the force of the blow, blood spraying from his split lip. He spat out a mouthful of crimson, his breaths coming in ragged gasps. “Theo, please . . . let me explain . . .”
“I don’t want your excuses!” I roared, grabbing him by the collar and hauling him up, the chair legs lifting off the floor. “I want to know where they took her!”
Archer placed a restraining hand on my shoulder. “Theo, this isn’t the way. We need him conscious if we’re going to get any information.”
I shrugged off his grip, my eyes never leaving Gage’s battered face. “ You have one chance to tell me where she is, or I swear to god, I will rip you apart with my bare hands.”
“I don’t know. I swear it, Theo. All I know is I owed money to The Benson Family.”
His words hung heavily in the air, his ragged breathing the only sound in the tense silence that followed.
Gage licked his split lip, winching at the sting. “I didn’t even know it was Benson money I was losing. I was invited to one of the parties his son hosted a year ago. I got in too deep, and they called in my debt by sending this Russian psycho to collect. He’d show up everywhere I went, threatening me. He told me if I didn’t pay up, he’d take something dear to me in payment.”
“Russian psycho?” I asked, a wave of dread settling in my stomach.
“I think his name was Igor.”
I almost passed out. If Igor had Wrenly, she might already be dead.
“Where would they have taken her?” I demanded, my grip tightening on Gage’s collar. “Think, damn it!”
“I-I don’t know for sure,” he stammered, his eyes wide with fear. “But I overheard them talking about a warehouse outside the city. Something about using it for ‘special cargo.’ That’s all I know, I swear!”
I released my hold, letting him slump back in the chair. I turned to Archer and Kai, my expression hardening with resolve. “Gather the men. We’re going after her.”
Archer nodded grimly. “We’ll need more firepower than we have. The Collectors and The Petrov Family won’t go down easy. When we do this, we’ll need to have as many men as we can find. I need to call my brother.”
Atlas King’s reputation as a ruthless underground crime lord was well-known. He had no interest in assuming the throne after their father, Cassian. Instead, he held darker aspirations—tastes that The Brotherhood couldn’t satisfy. He had been given the keys to hell long ago, operating in the shadows, his reach extending far beyond the city limits. The man was as unpredictable as he was dangerous, and his involvement could complicate an already precarious situation. But if we were going to take on The Collectors and The Petrov Family, we needed his help .
“Make the call,” I said.
It was time I faced my demons and destroyed Igor Petrov once and for all.