24. Anders

Chapter twenty-four

Anders

“ L evy, do you hear that too?” I hissed, slapping my cheeks roughly to wake myself up. I swore I could hear a woman screaming…

“Levy?” I crawled as far as the chain would allow me, wishing he would answer me. He’d gone silent after Douglas had tortured him again, and I was worried that he’d done permanent damage to my already broken ghost. The sounds Levy had made… I would never forget them. I could only imagine what Douglas was forcing him to relieve with his sick power. I’d tried to snap him out of it again, but the concussion was making him too susceptible. I had been awake now for almost two days straight, my mind starting to lag as the sleep deprivation and the hunger weakened me. Soon, he’d be able to get to me too.

“Levy, please, I need your help,” I murmured, closing my eyes and pressing my forehead to the floor as I curled in on myself. “I just need to sleep for a couple minutes. Can you wake me if you hear anyone?” I asked. I couldn’t even see him anymore. What if they’d taken him away and I was just talking to an empty room? I begged my muscles to sit up, forcing my eyes back open.

“Leviathan, answer me!” I snapped loudly, staring at the empty space across the room. Frustrated, I pulled off one of my socks and balled it up, tossing it over to the corner where I expected him to be. The sock landed on the floor, and I blinked, staring at it for a moment. “Levy?” My voice broke.

A prone form flickered into view, and I sat up in horror. Levy was naked, his body covered in deep lacerations all over his back. A belt was still wrapped around his neck, too tightly, it would be cutting off his air for sure.

“Levy, look at me!” I ordered, standing up and leaning as close as I could, trying to see if he was still breathing. He wasn’t moving, I couldn’t even see the rise and fall of his chest. No, it wasn’t possible, I’d stayed awake the entire time! They couldn’t have gotten to him, it wasn’t possible, I was awake the whole time!

Another scream echoed from somewhere nearby, and I flinched back, watching the door wearily. It was a woman, I was certain, and my heart began to pound as fear coursed through my limbs. No… he couldn’t have… Erik would have protected her. There was no way…

The door swung open, and a guard dropped someone onto the floor inside the room, leaving them with me as he slammed the door shut once more. The tiny form on the ground trembled violently, and the mess of blond curls had me lunging forward, the skin on my ankle ripping open as I strained against the cuff. “Kitten, is that you?” I asked hoarsely.

The figure uncurled, and I cursed violently as I tried to reach her. Grace was a broken mess as she half-crawled, half-dragged herself toward me, my arms outstretched to grab her. There was a long gash from her temple down to her jaw, and she was covered in bruises on her face, her throat… everywhere. Her shirt was torn, hanging on by mere threads, and I could see the devastation they had wrecked across her body. She collapsed as she reached me, and I dragged her into my lap as gently as I could, trying to assess the damage. Blood coated the insides of her thighs, and she had several deep lacerations across her chest and stomach. Too many injuries, too much internal damage.

“Grace, just hold on, okay?” I murmured, cradling her to my chest as my heart cracked open, despair threatening to drown me as her eyelids fluttered closed, and her chest stopped rising and falling with her breath.

“No!” I shouted, reaching for her heart, willing her blood to keep pumping. But there was nothing. No blood. I stared down at the figure in my arms and swore viciously, dumping it on the ground in front of me. “Douglas!” I snarled, and the world around me trembled and cracked apart.

I rose on shaking legs, in the same room as moments ago, but Grace’s body had disappeared, and so had Levy’s. The real Levy, my Levy , was sitting hunched over with his knees tucked into his chest, watching me with terror in his eyes. “Douglas you fucking bastard, come in here and face me like a man instead of hiding behind a door!” I could feel a couple bodies behind the wall, two of them far too oily to get a firm grip on. But that third one, oh, it was ripe for my rage. I reached out and yanked, feeling the last of my energy bleed out of me as muffled shouts echoed behind the door.

I sank to my knees, laughing maniacally as the door opened, and my father of all people strode inside, looking equally disgusted and impressed as he surveyed me. Douglas was on his heels, but stopped further back, using my father as a sort of shield. Fortunately for him, I was tapped out for the moment, I’d wasted it on… I glanced behind them to see the corpse of the giant who would always loom over Grace, lying on the floor, blood still pouring from every hole in his head. “Father,” I spat, glaring up at him. “Double-cross us already? I had my bet placed for later this week.”

He rolled his eyes, shoving his hands in his pockets as he loomed over me. “Enough, son. You know very well I couldn’t have my only heir remain a prisoner,” he muttered. Of course, because that would have been so embarrassing for him.

“What did you trade me for, huh? A piece of your kingdom? Riches? Status?” I glanced at Douglas, watching the sinister smile creep up his face. There was no way, Erik never would have allowed it. “You didn’t,” I snarled. “Tell me you didn’t. Show me there’s an ounce of humanity in that cold husk of a body standing in front of me.”

“Your flare for the dramatic never ceases to disappoint me.” My father sighed. The screams made sense now, they had been real. Grace was somewhere in this house, hurting and alone, thanks to the sick fuck I shared blood with. “The deal still holds, with new conditions. I get my grandchild, and Douglas keeps his sister. It was mutually beneficial and made the most logical sense.”

I glanced at Levy, who was vibrating with rage as he flickered in and out of view, and my lip curled back in a caustic scowl. “I will never give you what you want,” I announced coldly. “Grace will never have my child, I will make sure of that.” The room started to sway as I fought another wave of exhaustion, but I willed my body to hold out just a little while longer. “The curse of this fucking bloodline dies with me. Do you understand? I refuse to carry on your legacy.”

“Once again, you are letting your supposed morals cloud your judgment. This is not just my legacy, this is yours as well. A child that’s half Harding, half Howell would be powerful beyond measure! A new era of humanity where they are a god amongst mortals. Don’t let your narrow-sighted view of-” A bang cut him off, and my ears rang as something warm sprayed across my face. I stared at the bloodstain forming on the front of my father’s suit jacket, stemming from the hole in his chest.

I blinked, my mouth opening and closing as I watched him sink to his knees in front of me, a look of surprise on his face. His mouth opened, but no sound came out, and he collapsed next to me, unmoving. “That’s enough, Doug,” I muttered, willing myself to wake up. If he thought watching my father die was a nightmare he had sorely misread our family dynamics. I reached out with my weak powers, and I felt my fathers blood ebbing out of the wound in his chest, pooling on the floor underneath him. “Oh.”

“He sure talked a lot.” Douglas sighed, tucking the hand gun back under his suit jacket. “He is right though, your DNA is just what we need.” He grinned at me, leaning back against the wall as I knelt frozen next to the corpse of my father.

“What… the fuck did you just do?” I rasped, trying to put the pieces together in my hazy mind.

“Just taking care of a loose end. You see, while my lovely Gracie is the golden goose, I couldn’t have your father stealing any of my golden eggs. I know a buyer for powered children, and ones with two powered parents will fetch me ten million apiece.” He smirked at me like this was a totally reasonable thing to do, selling babies to a fucking company that was using them for god-knows-what.

My stomach dropped out in horror, and I realized the implications of his words. Specials weren’t easy to come by, so for him to knock up Grace with a special, it would be us… or it would be… Oh my god, he was truly a sick fuck . That’s why he’d been there, with those men at the club. The possessive behavior, the inappropriate touches… bile rose up in my throat.

I spat at his feet, and he laughed, pushing himself up off the wall. “Listen, Howell, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. I don’t give a shit which you choose, but you might want to consider that the hard way will be a lot harder on your wife.” He smirked at me as he walked out, shutting the door behind him.

“Fuck!” I stood up slowly, inching as close to my fathers body as I could reach, trying to avoid the puddle of blood congealing next to him. I dug through his pockets, trying to find anything that might be useful. A phone, a pocketknife, hell I’d settle for a toothpick at this point, anything that might help me do something in here other than wait for that fucking prick to come back. My search came back empt; the fucker must’ve left his phone in the car. Useless, even in death. I kicked the corpse once, and stalked away from it, putting as much space between myself and it as possible.

“This isn’t happening,” I muttered, shaking my head. Maybe it was all a nightmare, and Douglas was fucking with me some more. Or maybe I’d finally snapped and lost my mind.

“We gotta get Grace outta here,” Levy mumbled, and I met his deep blue eyes across the room before he faded away again. I nodded sadly. We had to, even if it meant dying ourselves. Douglas would use her up until there was nothing left, and I refused to let that happen.

“Where the fuck are Erik and Jesse?” I muttered, rubbing my face. Maybe they were already dead—it would explain how my father had managed to bring Grace here. We needed luck right now, and it appeared that we were fresh out.