Page 72 of Tear Me Down (Descent to Darkness Trilogy #2)

Chapter thirty

Damien

‘A Grave Mistake’ – Ice Nine Kills

A blinding light and steady beeping awaken me, as well as hushed voices that seem to grow louder with every word.

It’s difficult to open my eyes with how forcefully they pull themselves down, but I pry them open, needing to see the commotion surrounding me.

The ceiling tiles bleed together, and the light stretches out in little beams that slowly come together as the seconds pass.

Memories of the warehouse come flying back in, invading my mind like a storm threatening to evolve.

My sinuses still smell the smoke, and it could be that my mouth is dry from whatever drugs or life saving measures the hospital provided, but I swear I can still taste the soot in the back of my throat.

I can’t quite make out the voices yet, but as I strain to look around, I can distinguish three of the figures.

Carter, Zeke, and Alex all stand at the end of the hospital bed, looking serious and on high alert.

Zeke looks furious. His face is red and his jaw is clenched, and while the other two also look disheveled, they don’t seem quite as unhinged as he does.

The pain in my body suddenly registers, and I bite back a groan, hoping to hear some of their, what looks to be intense, conversation.

I look over this God forsaken hospital room, searching for my little wolf, and as I hear a small sniffle, I look to my right, hoping to see my goddess sitting next to me.

Though, I'm mistaken. It’s Serena. She’s staring at the men as they continue to debate, crying silently but profusely.

Why the fuck is she here? Where the hell is Ashia?

“He is in no condition to hear that!” Zeke shouts and throws his hand in my direction. It seems that they haven’t noticed that I’ve woken up yet.

“It’s been hours, and we’ve found nothing! Do you really think when he wakes up and doesn’t see her here, that he’s not going to ask questions?” Carter asks angrily, almost as loudly as Zeke.

Wait, she’s actually not here? She isn’t just in the bathroom or down the hall?

“He’s going to need some kind of sign that she is alive when he wakes up or he’s going to burn this entire fucking city to the ground! Especially after what you found at the house!”

“He may be the only one who can find a sign, Zeke! The longer she’s gone the harder she’ll be to find!” Alex yells back.

Gone? WHAT THE FUCK DOES HE MEAN BY GONE?!

“Don’t you think I know that! My sister is missing, and you don’t think I understand how desperate the situation is?”

Missing …

He said she’s missing…

I draw a deep breath, and while it burns like hell, it might just be pain I need to kick my ass into gear.

“Where the fuck is she?” I ask in a deep, hellish voice.

Forcefully, I grasp onto the bed rail and pull myself to sit up as they look at me in terror.

Serena stands and helps me up, and the stains of her tears streaking her cheeks become more apparent.

She’s been crying for a while now, and the question of how long makes my stomach turn.

“You need to be careful, Damien. You’re really hurt,” she says with a surprising softness.

“Why have you been crying?” I ask her sternly, not leaving any room for argument, but she just shakes her head—confirming my worst fear. “She can’t be missing! Where is she?!”

“Damien,” Carter steps up and says, catching my attention. He never calls me that... “I need you stay calm and know that we’re already on it.”

“Where the fuck is she, Carter!?” Thankfully, the volume of my voice grows, and with less pain and effort than before, almost as if my body is already preparing for the impending carnage I’m going to cause.

“Damien.” I look over to Serena and she holds my arm in her hands. “There’s a few things we need to tell you, so I need you not to rage out and kill me, okay?”

I can see the fear in her eyes and how they portray themselves. She’s actually terrified of me right now, and while I don’t want to scare her, I can’t help the anguish building up.

“Ser.” Carter gives her a warning look, as if she’s approaching a rabid animal and he’s telling her to steer clear.

“I don’t give a damn, Carter. He needs to know.” She turns her attention back toward me and takes a shallow breath. “They took her, Damien. They have her.”

The world stops spinning and everything around me comes crashing down, barreling into me with an agonizing weight and tearing me apart, starting with my heart. This isn’t happening. This isn’t real…

They have her…

They have her…

She’s gone…

No, no, no, she can’t be…

The voices in my head chant over and over again, repeating the words in my mind like a mantra.

No, a war cry. My chest is void, and regardless of the increasing heart monitor beside me, I know there’s no heart left in me.

It’s been taken. Stolen. Torn away from me at my most vulnerable, and the darkness inside me demands her return.

That part of me that’s only dormant when she’s near can feel her absence, and I can hear it’s call for retribution.

Something inside of me snaps, and the physical pain is gone.

The emptiness has returned, and this time, it’s here to stay.

I jerk my arm away from Serena and start pulling out the IVs attached to my limbs, but surprisingly, she reaches out to stop me. I look back at her and desperation is in her gaze where there used to be reluctance. Pleading instead of disgust.

“I need you to pull whatever patience you can out of whatever circle of hell you have to. She needs you in your right mind…” She begs softly as another tear runs down her cheek. “We need to get her back, Damien. She’s...”

“Serena!” Zeke yells as he takes a step in our direction, causing her to shudder and stop. Her hand trembles as it grips my arm, and that only churns my stomach even more.

“She's what?” I ask, looking at the men since they obviously know what she’s talking about, but they remain silent and stare at me like whatever is about to come out of their mouths would trigger the apocalypse.

“What, Serena?!” I turn to grip her arm and stare into her teary eyes, not meaning to hurt her, but I can’t control myself anymore, and that might be even more terrifying.

Though I’m unsure of what scares me more, her answer or my reaction to it.

She reaches into her purse with her free hand and pulls out the only thing that might mean as much to me as Ashia does. My whole world, everything we both wanted, and right now my worst nightmare.

“We found this on your bathroom counter… She’s pregnant, Damien.

” I reach out with a quaking hand and take the small white stick from her grasp, taking in a short, silent gasp at the tiny word on the display.

She was waiting for me… To tell me… She’s probably so scared…

To think of what they could be doing to her…

To them… “You need to stay cool, because we can’t waste time sedating you,” Serena demands.

I look at her and my face must be horrifying, because she yanks her arm away from me and jumps up, like I’m something unholy.

My grip on the test tightens, certain to never let go of it, and I draw a strained breath, determined not to lash out just yet.

“How long ago was she taken…” I say not realizing how shaky my voice is.

“About five hours ago,” Carter interjects.

“We went to get her the moment the warehouse blew, knowing you’d need her here, but she was gone when we got there.

All the men at the house are dead, and there were signs of a struggle in your bedroom.

We have the one dead body from where she fought back.

” That’s five hours I should’ve been with her…

Rubbing her stomach… Telling her how much I love her…

“What do we have?...”

“Video surveillance. They took out the guards first then made their way inside, and then they took her in an unmarked, black van. We’ve tried the plates, but it’s registered to a small car across the state. ”

“Show me the video...” I demand as I force my legs over the side of the bed.

“D…”

“SHOW ME!” I shakily scream as I stand, and the force pulling on every tube and wire only furthers my resolve… If I wasn’t so enraged… So fucking terrified… I’d probably feel how much pain I'm in, but I don’t… The only pain I'm concerned with is hers…

Carter pulls his laptop out of his bag and immediately starts typing, glancing over at me every couple of seconds to see if I’ve lost it.

I can’t, not yet. I need every ounce of information I can gather before I start to tear this city apart.

He sets the computer on the counter, and only after he looks at me one last time does he press play.

“This is when they got in,” he says, almost in a grieving way.

I see as five men, obviously highly trained, make their way through the guards.

They were silent, and quick—concealed by the darkness of the night.

By the time they realized what was happening, it was too late.

After the first three of my men drop dead from bullets to their brains, they start to scramble.

After two more are ambushed and taken out silently, I see the last guard running inside to get to her, only to be taken out at the bottom of the stairs.

I hear grunts and groans the whole time, but I’m not sure if they were loud enough for Ashia to hear through our thick walls.

“This is the view of the bedroom.” Carter strains to speak as he clicks the keyboard to switch cameras, showing me the inside of our sanctuary.

She’s pacing the room looking at the stick, and then her phone, probably to see if I sent her something…

That sweet woman does that about three times in thirty seconds…

The gesture both warms and shatters my soul.

Please God, Satan, Zeus, whoever… I'll never keep her waiting again… Just let me get to her… Give me something to go off of…