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I’m laying on a bed of nails, literally. The torture method is meant to drive you insane. Lying here, the pressure will start to give and begin to push into your skin if you don’t move. If you do, the nails will push in because of your shifted weight.
The only way to relieve it is to tense up your muscles and elevate your body as evenly as possible. It’s exhausting. I’ve only been here for a few hours max, and I can already feel the wounds in my back forming.
My body tenses to counter gravity as best I can while watching the bastard who chained me to it.
“I don’t play mind games like your uncle. My form of training hurts. It makes you submit because your body learns to realize you have no other choice. You will submit and I will train the attitude right out of you.”
My chest heaves in real fear because I know that with this, he’s right. I won’t last much longer than a day or two on this bed. Panic begins to set in, and Damien's father’s face takes on a new look. One of pure evil. I believe this is a monster I won’t be able to get away from. I won’t be able to fool him.
“I’m going to make sure that if any of them ever do find you, you’ll have no choice but to hurt them. Maybe I can even convince you to kill them too.”
Just when I think it can’t get any worse, he grabs a car battery and hooks one end to the metal of the bed.
“Let’s begin.”
Chapter 6
Alright, time to bring this family back together.
Alexi may actually be losing it right now, and Lev is in no position to take point, so it’s up to me. Evie wouldn’t want us drowning in our sorrows, so it’s time to get up and do something about it. All of us.
Entering the hospital, where I know I’ll find Havoc and Laney, I prepare myself to take on the job of the boss man. Arrow is still in a coma and the two of them haven’t been alright since then. Maybe even before that, I’m not sure. But the fact that Laney refuses to see Havoc while also declining to leave Arrow’s side, I’d say there’s some drama there.
I find Havoc in the coffee shop on the third floor. He looks as miserable as he did yesterday when he came to the estate. And now he’s sporting a black eye matching Alexi’s.
Men. Why is violence always the answer?
“Hey,” I say as I clap Havoc on the shoulder. “How’s it going?”
He looks up at me, his eyes drowning in emotion. I take a seat across from him as he shakes his head, seeming to come out of a daze. I guess he did lose his man and his woman as well as Evie, so I can’t imagine what he must be feeling right now.
“It’s shit, Damien. How’s it going for you?”
I throw on the sarcastic bravado that always seems to lighten the mood. We need our wits about us. Being depressed has the tendency to strip us of that.
“Dandy, planning on getting my girl back while hoping to find a way to take down a thousand-year-old assassination league at the same time that I watch the only people I’ve ever loved mope around.”
He rolls his eyes, but I see the corner of his mouth lift a little.Progress.
I lean forward to rest my elbows on the table as I get serious. “Really, though. How you holdin' up?”
He sighs, leaning back in his chair and rubbing a hand over his face. “Well, I'm fairly certain I’m doing better than you, so there’s that.”
I hold a hand to my chest in mock offense and gasp. “Hey. I’m still breathing. And so are the two guys locked in the basement right now.”Probably. “I’d say that’s progress.”
He rolls his eyes before his face falls. “What are you doing to manage? Have you talked to Dr. K at all?”
Havoc nods, looking away. “I have. Right now, I’m surviving by having fake conversations with both of them in my head.”
“Oh really?” That’s kind of smart. Can’t fall into a depressive pit if you convince your mind that what’s lost really isn’t all that far away. “What would Evie say if she were here right now?”
He leans in, as if to tell me a secret, so I get closer.
“She would say,” he sniffs, “that you need a shower.”
I bark out a laugh leaning back in my seat, and Havoc finally lets a smile loose. Fuck, it feels good to laugh.
“Then, she would tell you to let me take the lead because I know what I’m doing.”
