Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Time has lost all meaning for me. Have I spent hours strapped to this table? Days? Someone must be giving me fluids, or I’d be dead by now -- that much I’m sure of. Pain has become the centre point for my entire existence, and although god knows I’ve had plenty of time to get used to it, it hasn’t gotten any easier. It feels like my body is giving out on me, all hope of accessing my powers now long gone; the essence of my magic is now dripping into a beaker on the other side of the room, and I’m helpless to stop it.

The laboratory technician doesn’t say much during my ordeal, but Hawthorne paces restlessly at the front of the room, his hands clenching and unclenching as the gears turn in his head. He’s wondering if the guys will take the bait. To be honest, so am I. If this were a movie or TV show, I would have found some way of warning them, of encoding my words with a secret message about what waits for the guys here, but I’m barely holding together anymore, and even speaking has become an immense challenge. A horrible possibility keeps dawning on me: what if they didn’t realise the danger? What if they show up here, expecting an exchange, only to get blindsided and captured? That would be it for me, I think; there’s no way I could live with myself if I led them into danger. All I can do now is wait and hope.

Eventually, though, Hawthorne’s voice filters back to my ears. “...at the main entrance.”

“Will you go meet them?” asks the assistant.

“No,” he replies. “Hugh is on his way, along with a few of my other enforcers. I’m not taking any chances until they’re inside and prepped for the procedure.”

My heart sinks. They came after all, and by the sounds of it, not with guns blazing. I drop my head back to the exam table and squeeze my eyes shut, already bracing myself for the worst. Who would have thought the greatest torture imaginable wasn’t being drained of your life force, but having to watch the men you love walk into a trap?

“Yes, Sir.” The technician steps away from me. “Should I go prepare the other rooms?”

Hawthorne nods to him, waiting for him to scurry away before turning back to me. “Looks like the gang’s all here, Ms. Brix,” he says with a smile. “You got what you wanted. Let’s just hope it’s worth it to the rest of them.”

“We’ll see,” I spit out through gritted teeth. My voice sounds foreign to my own ears, like the voice of a dead person.

Hawthorne chuckles but says nothing. A few minutes later, the sound of approaching footsteps can be heard outside. Hawthorne perks up and shoots me a look before leaving the room to meet the group. If I weren’t so weak, I could try to work on my restraints, but I’m past the point of being able to struggle by now. “Well, boys,” I hear him say, sounding like the cat that ate the canary. “It’s nice to be seeing you all again. I wish it were under better circumstances.”

“Cut the crap.” The voice is achingly familiar -- Shade’s, if I’m not mistaken. “Where is she?”

“Now, let’s just take it easy for a minute,” Hawthorne begins placatingly. “I don’t want anyone doing anything they’ll regret-”

“Let us see Millie, or we’re going to make this a lot harder for you.” That sounds like Hunter, and his tone is brokering no argument.

“Believe him,” Landon mutters. “We will.”

“You had to know we would want to make sure she’s still alive,” reasons Silas.

There’s a long pause on the other side of the door. I hold my breath. Finally, the bolts slide away and Hawthorne shoves the door open again. I find myself face to face with a cluster of familiar faces, and my breath hitches in my chest.

I can feel Hunter staring at me from the other side of the room, his expression drawn and menacing. Slowly, he turns back to Hawthorne. I feel like we’re on the edge of something, and the window of opportunity is shrinking fast. If something is going to happen, it needs to happen now. Otherwise…

“On second thought,” Hunter says, his tone more dangerous than I ever could have imagined coming from him, “maybe we’ll make it hard for you, anyway.”