Page 136 of Hurt

For the first time in his life, he saw an Elliott in his reflection.

The doors opened, and he saw two of his paternal uncle's men standing guard. They both blinked in shock when they saw his appearance. He didn’t stop to hear their greeting.

Two more guards were standing outside his uncle’s room. They closed ranks upon seeing him.

“We need to announc—”

Noah kicked the first in the groin. As he toppled over in pain with a purple face, he eyed the second.

“Give me the key.”

After a moment of hesitation, he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a plastic key. Noah took it and swiped it, then stepped over the injured guard to enter the room.

Luther was never surprised. Like a cat, the man had a habit of always landing on his feet. He always acted as if the world was a puppet show, and he was wielding the strings. Noah hated that smug look on his face and the slow way he would blink when he was caught off guard.

His uncle glanced up from the papers he was reading at the chair pushed into the corner of the room. One leg was leisurely crossed, and a pair of thin glasses rested on the tip of his nose.

Kurt would have rolled his eyes and called him a pretentious prick.

His smile was casual. To an outsider, he would look like a distant relative happy to see his nephew after such a long time. They would be fooled by the twinkle in his eye and the way he set his work down to give Noah his undivided attention.

“Where are they?” Noah finally asked. His voice cut through the sumptuous hotel room. It sounded wrong. Rough and raw against all the elegance.

Luther feigned a look of shock. “What do you mean?”

“Don’t fuck with me. I’m not in the mood,” Noah snapped.

His uncle watched him for a moment before letting his face fall. He shed his mask like a snake shedding his skin. His true face was as ugly as it was vicious.

“That Beckett side of you is so unpleasant.”

Noah clenched his fists and refused to look away from his uncle’s cruel gaze. He wasn’t the same little kid he had been at White Sand Mesa. Back then, he was confused and lonely. There were strangers everywhere and death around the corner. People lied as easily as they breathed.

But he wasn’t ten years old anymore.

“I’ll go with you, all right? I’ll do what you want. Just let them go.”

Luther leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers in front of him. His lips quirked slightly.

“He would be so disappointed to hear that.”

He spoke with a certain sense of glee. Like he knew he was going to wound Noah with his next words, and he relished the pain.

“Kurt refused to tell me where you were. Even when I threatened to take Willow’s finger.”

Noah knew Luther was behind their abduction, but it was still alarming to hear it aloud. He tried not to react. His uncle wanted that.

“Just…don’t hurt them. Let them go. I’ll go to whatever school you want.” Noah’s voice cracked. He hated the words coming out of his mouth.

“I can’t.” Luther shrugged. His lips spread into a slow smile. “The Vega Cabal has them.”

Noah stumbled back as if he had been hit. His hands clenched the sleeves of his hoodie, and he had to look away from his uncle. He couldn’t maintain eye contact. Those endless pools of violence were sucking him in. Luther lacked the viciousness of the Vegas. He didn’t like to get his hands dirty. He much preferred to watch his subordinates do it as those dark pits of his took it all in.

Now he was contracting out to the Vega Cabal.

Kurt was back with the Vegas. Noah could only picture that dark bruise on his uncle’s torso. He heard him talk about a collapsed lung as if it was an old hat. The Vegas did that to him. They had been doing it to him for years, and Kurt had accepted it to protect Noah. Now he was with them again. And it was once again to protect Noah.

The weight of his guilt made him drop to his knees, fingers digging into the plush cream-colored carpet as he fought the urge to cry.