50. Chapter Fifty
Chapter Fifty
Reaper
Consciousness comes and goes in sharp, jagged flashes. Pain is a hum now, low, steady, threaded through my nerves like a second heartbeat. I can feel the slower parts of it, the bruising, the deep ache in my joints, the sting beneath my ribs.
The sharper parts come next. Sebastian steps back into my field of vision, rolling his sleeves like he’s preparing to cook, not carve. “You know,” he says conversationally. “I didn’t expect you to last this long.”
I lift my head as much as the restraints allow. “Then you don’t know shit about soldiers.”
He smiles. “Oh, I know plenty, and they all break so beautifully.” He presses something against the inside of my arm.
A metal rod. The ends are rounded, almost smooth.
Almost. Pressure builds first. A slow, twisting push into the muscle.
Not piercing, but grinding. A white-hot bolt shoots through the nerves up to my shoulders.
The kind of pain meant to break breathing, break resolve.
My breath rips in short, sharp pulls. But I don’t give him the scream he wants. Instead, I laugh. It’s strangled, ugly and wet. But it’s a laugh. Sebastian stops mid-twist.
“There it is,” I rasp, voice slurred from the pain. “The look on your face. Confusion.”
He inhales sharply. Then twists the rod again.
My vision explodes in a burst of white heat.
My body jerks against the cross. My ribs tremble.
Inside, something in me buckles, the place where I store the ghosts from the military.
The smells, the sounds, the moments I don’t talk about.
My mind slips for a second. Just a second. Enough to see.
Her.
Wrenley running toward me through the maze of glass rooms, eyes wild with fury and terror. Max at her side. Torque behind them. Riot and Wrecker kicking in doors. Elias shouting coordinates. Hugo charging in front of them, teeth bared.
For a breath, for a heartbeat, I think they’re really there. I think they made it. I think she’s safe, she’s whole, she’s alive, she’s—
“Liam.” Her voice cracks like glass inside my skull. “Liam, look at me—” She’s reaching out—
The scene fractures. Colors leak. Shadows warp. The edge of the vision bends like melting film. Suddenly she’s gone. Max is gone. Torque, Wrecker, Elias… all gone. Hugo’s shape dissolves into smoke. The world snaps back into razor-focus.
Sebastian stands in front of me, wiping sweat from his brow with the back of his hand. His smile returns, slow and delighted.
“Oh,” he purrs. “That was interesting.”
I blink hard, trying to anchor myself in the present. My heart is hammering too fast. My breath is too shallow. “What… what did I say?” I grind out.
Sebastian taps a finger against my cheek with mock affection. “You begged,” he says softly. “Not for yourself. Oh no. You begged for them.”
My stomach drops. He leans close, his nose almost touching mine. “You begged me not to hurt her. Not to hurt Max. Not to hurt your little Serpent family.” He whispers. “How touching.”
My throat burns. He steps back, clasping his hands behind him like this is all a lecture.
“I think I’ll keep you alive long enough for them to try and save you,” he says lightly.
“I want to watch her walk through the doors of this place. I want to see her face when she sees what I built for you all. What I’ve made of you. ”
My pulse spikes, pure terror this time. Not for me. For her. Sebastian sees it.
He inhales in satisfaction. “Ah. There it is. That beautiful fear.”
He presses the rod back to my arm. My breath stutters. “Let’s see what you hallucinate next.”
Sebastian circles me, wiping the rod clean like he’s doing something civilized instead of twisting metal into muscle. “Well,” he says brightly, “Since you’re still conscious… Let's talk.”
I drag a breath through my teeth. “What the hell… about what?”
He smiles like a knife. “About her. And about you. And your little arrangement.”
My jaw flexes. He steps close, voice turning syrupy and invasive. “How does it work, Liam? Are you and Max both devoted to her like dogs? Does she split you? Does he get the scraps or do you?”
I laugh, even bleeding, even half-dizzy, I laugh. “You don’t understand a goddamn thing about us.” Sebastian's smile twitches. Good.
“So, she’s the center of your little… triangle,” he continues, ignoring the warning in my stare. “You two climb over each other for her affection. Pathetic, really.”
My voice drops to a growl. “Keep talking about shit you know nothing about.”
“Oh?” He taunts. “Am I wrong? Doesn’t he get jealous when she chooses you? Or do you get jealous when she chooses him?”
“Jealous?” My lips curl. “You think love works like that? That loyalty works like that? You really are alone.”
Something flickers, a crack, right behind his eyes. He masks it quickly. But not quick enough.
“So, you and he aren’t lovers,” he says, waving a dismissive hand. “Fine. Then what are you? Brothers-in-arms? Competitors? Both crawling for Wrenley’s attention?”
“You don’t get to say her name,” I growl. “And Max isn’t the weak link you think he is.”
“Then what is he?” Sebastian presses. “Your rival? Each other's replacement for when one of you dies?”
My rage goes cold. “He’s my family,” I say simply.
It lands like a gunshot. Sebastian’s smile falters. He expected lust. Conflict. Division. He doesn’t know what to do with loyalty. Before he can recover, I lean forward just enough that the restraints groan.
“You want to know why we work?” I rasp. “Because we’re not afraid of sharing the weight. You wouldn’t understand that even if someone carved it into your skull.”
His jaw ticks, control slipping, and he drives the blunt rod into the side of my ribs. White fire detonates across my chest. My vision pulses black at the edges. But I don’t scream. I laugh again, panting through it.
“Pathetic,” I spit. “I’ve had corpsmen do worse trying to pop a dislocated shoulder back in.”
The next strike comes faster. My body jerks, muscles spasming, nerves firing like live wires through old scars from places I don’t talk about. A flash, not of pain, but of a memory. A tent, a field hospital, screaming, sand, a medic’s voice shouting at me not to pass out.
Then, another hallucination. Wrenley’s face, her hands on my jaw. Max behind her, shouting my name, Torque dragging a man out of my way. Hugo barreling forward. For one wild heartbeat, I think they found me.
“LIAM!” His voice rings like salvation—
The world snaps back. Sebastian stands where she was. His smile is too wide. Too bright. “Oh,” he purrs. “That was fascinating.”
I choke out. “What… Did I say, this time?”
He strokes a finger down my cheek with casual cruelty. “You asked me not to hurt them.” A pause. “You begged me, Liam.”
I snarl. “You’re lying.”
“Am I?” His eyes glitter. “You said they’re family. That you’d rather die than see her walk into this place.”
My heart stutters like it’s trying to claw out of my chest. Sebastian steps back, grabbing a small tablet and flicking it on. Lights hum to life. Cameras activate. Screens blink awake. My blood turns to ice. “What the hell is that?”
“Cameras,” he says cheerfully. “Placed all throughout my maze.”
I pull at the restraints so hard the wood groans. “Don’t send them this—”
“Oh, I’m not sending them anything,” he purrs, “I’m patching them in, they get to watch it live.”
My stomach drops.
“You didn’t want them coming for you,” he says. “Which is precisely why I want them here.”
His grin widens into something monstrous. “I want them to watch what I make of you. I want her to see it. I want them to see it. I want them all to see what happens when someone tries to take my legacy.”
He lifts the bludgeoning probe again. “And I’m going to keep you alive long enough for their rescue attempt.” He leans in. “So, you can watch them fail.”
The next blow lands so hard my vision bursts into static, and for a moment I think I scream her name. The world slips sideways. Pain comes in pulses, flash, blur, dark, light, like my body is fluttering in and out of existence.
I hear buzzing. Or maybe it’s my pulse. Or the cameras turning on. When I force my eyes open, the room tilts like the floor is moving. Sebastian is humming. Actually humming. Something upbeat. Something wrong.
Then he speaks, not to me. To them. “Well,” he says brightly. “Look who made it to the party.”
My heart slams against my ribs. No. No, no, no—
He taps the control panel, and a tiny crackle fills the space. Voices. The faint murmur of comms. Wrenley’s voice. “Liam? Liam—talk to me. We’re close.”
I jerk against the restraints so violent the wood groans. Sebastian’s smile widens. “Ah. She can see you now.”
My head tilts to the side, barely an inch, but enough to catch the flicker of a monitor he’s turned to face me.
And on it, her face. Wrenley, Max, Torque, Wrecker, Margot, Elias, storming through an intersection, weapons drawn, eyes blazing with fury.
They’re outside. They’re coming. A strangled sound drags from my throat. Relief. Terror. All at once.
“Liam!” Wrenley’s voice cracks through the speakers. “Hold on—we’re coming for you. Hold on.”
My vision blurs.
Sebastain laughs softly. “Oh, baby sister, you should hurry. He won’t hold on much longer.”
He turns the camera mounted in the corner, angling it back to me, and I see what they see. My body strapped to a cross. Blood streaks across my ribs, some drying, some fresh. Purple bruises blooming along my jaw, shoulder, abdomen. My wrists are raw. My breathing ragged. I barely look human.
I hear Max swear in horror. Torque’s roar. Wrecker mutters a promise of murder. Margot goes silent, the worst response of all. And Wrenley, “Liam,” she whispers, voice breaking on my name. “Baby we’re coming. I swear it. Just—just stay with me.”
My eyes burn. Sebastian moves behind me, out of the camera's view. I feel his hand slide along my ribs, pressing into the tender places he hit earlier.
He speaks loudly, projecting for the mic. “You’ll find what’s left of him,” he says pleasantly. “If you hurry.”
Then he digs his fingers into the fresh cut he made before turning the cameras on. A blot of agony explodes through my ribs, sharp enough to tear a cry from my throat before I can stop it. Wrenley screams my name in response. It guts me.
Sebastian isn’t finished. He picks up a dagger. My dagger. Her dagger and strikes. Not full force, not lethal, just enough to make the sound that comes out of me echo through the entire chamber and out through the speakers. He cuts once, twice, and the third time, Wrenley’s voice snaps.
“SEBASTIAN! STOP! Stop—please—stop—let him go—LET HIM GO—”
Tears hit my vision before I realize they’re mine. Sebastian turns the camera toward me again, leaning in close so only I can hear him. “If you have anything you want to say to them,” he whispers sweetly. “Now would be your chance. I don’t imagine you’ll be talking much longer.”
He switches the mic to face me. And I know, this might very well be the last time they hear my voice. My throat is raw, but I force sound through it. “Don’t” I rasp.
Wrenley chokes. “Liam—”
“Don’t come in here.” I swallow blood. “Don’t… don’t you fucking dare come any closer.”
“Liam, stop,” Max says, voice breaking. “We’re not leaving you.”
“You have to,” I gasp. “He wants you here. He wants her here. He—he built this whole thing for her.”
A sob breaks through from Wrenley.
Torque speaks. “Liam—hang on—”
“Listen,” I cut in, dragging the words out like they weigh a thousand pounds. “I love you. All of you. You hear me?”
Someone curses. Someone cries. Someone whispers a prayer. I keep going before I lose consciousness entirely.
“Max,” I say, voice barely more than a breath. “You take care of our girl. You… you hold her together. You keep her safe. You’re the st-strongest man I’ve ever known.”
His breathing collapses through the speakers.
“Torque,” I whisper. “You’re my brother. Always have been. Do-don’t let this break her.”
Torque makes a wounded sound I have never heard from him.
“Riot,” I get out. “Don’t do anything stupid.”
“Too late,” Riot chokes out.
“Elias,” I murmur, “You get them out alive. All of them.”
My vision goes in and out, light, dark, light— “Wrecker…” My chest tightens. “Brother… listen to me.” There’s a sharp inhale through the feed. “Daisy needs you,” I rasp. “More than she knows. You… you take care of her. You keep her safe. She trusts you. Don’t let her down.”
Wrecker’s voice cracks. “Liam—don’t you fucking do this—don’t—”
I push past the pain. “You guard that kid with your life.”
A choked sound leaves him, half-sob, half-growl. “You have my word.”
I nod weakly, even though I know they can’t see it clearly.
“And Margot,” I whisper next. “Don’t le-let them fall apart…”
There’s one voice missing. One name I’ve been saving for last. I inhale, sharp and ragged, tasting metal that might be blood or might be memory.
“Wren…” my voice breaks. “Little warrior...”
A soft whimper tears through the speakers. “I’m okay,” I lie. “I’m okay, baby. But you—you have to live. You have to stay alive. No matter what happens to me.”
“Liam,” she sobs. “Don’t do this—don’t you dare say goodbye—”
“I love you,” I whisper. “From the first moment I saw you. From the first breath you took near me. From the first time you said my name, like it meant something.”
Sebastian stands next to me, hands clasped in delight.
“I love you,” I breathe again. “I’ll love you in this life and whatever comes next. But you—Wrenley—you cannot walk in here. Promise me you won’t. Promise—”
My voice collapses. My head falls forward. The mic goes silent. The last thing I hear before the darkness takes me, is the sound of her screaming my name.