Page 77 of Tear Me Down (Descent to Darkness Trilogy #2)

Chapter thirty-three

Damien

Tony got a hit on the tattoo, a man named Vladimir Linx.

A month ago, he was arrested for assault and public intoxication right in downtown, but his rap sheet is much worse.

Rape mostly, and that almost sent me spiraling again.

My dad's contact knew the symbol and confirmed it’s one they’ve seen before—said it’s part of some secret assassin society they’ve been trying to infiltrate for a while now.

We convinced them to send over any information they had on them, and as it turns out, they’ve been investigating possible training locations in North Carolina, and with Carter and Zander’s hacking skills, we were able to gather satellite images of the three possible locations.

Only one as of seven hours ago was buzzing, and the same black van from our home security system is parked in the back.

I sway back and forth on the bench as the HMTT soars down the highway, on our way to save my woman.

I can feel her more and more the closer we get, and the anxiety is building.

They caged my little wolf in that warehouse, and now they're about to experience what the Alpha does when his mate is threatened.

The moment we heard about North Carolina, we started gathering supplies and got the images of the warehouses on the way.

Zeke, Alex, my dad and I, and about twenty-four ex-military special operatives are on our way.

Our third vehicle is an old ambulance we purchased not too long ago and started remodeling to meet our needs.

Danielle, Serena, Carter, Zander, and a bunch of medical equipment are aboard that oversized van, and it pains me to think that we may need any of the gear on it, but until I can see her with my own eyes, I’m expecting the worst. A part of me was shocked when Serena demanded to come, but with her education in trauma medical practices, she’ll be useful when we pull Ashia out of there.

Who knows what they’ve done to her…

The thought almost paralyzes me, and memories of the images from her previous attacks come to the forefront of my mind—latching on like a demonic spirit, but I hold on.

We’re almost there. This is going to be the worst moment of my life, but I have to hang on.

If I slip into the pain and agony now, I won’t be what she needs me to be.

I won’t evolve into the God of War she sees me as.

“D! You're going to want to see this! It’s being broadcasted through the connection feed at the Basement,” I hear Carter say through my earpiece, and I pull out my phone.

“Cast it to me.” In only a matter of seconds, a live stream pops onto the screen, and my heart stops, the rest of the world shrinking to fit on this screen. Zeke leans in to watch, and I hear the small, breathless ‘fuck’ he mutters under his breath .

It's her… the love of my life… Strung up like bait and half naked. There’s dried blood covering her forehead and a bruise forming around an angry looking gash.

The ringing in my ears comes back, and I swear I can hear her shaky breaths.

She’s obviously trying to hold it in and conceal how afraid she is, but I can see it.

Every minuscule movement from her is extreme to me, and I don’t miss a single shake of her trembling form.

Tunnel vision sets in, and I’m staring so harshly at the screen that I’m not sure I’m blinking or breathing.

After what feels like an eternity, Hugo steps in from the right side of the screen, looking as smug and revolting as ever.

“Damien Hartley,” he calls me in a teasing, self-satisfied tone.

“You've caused many problems for me, and I would like to offer you the chance to make things right. I have a dealer who’s waiting for you just outside of your small city, and he has a copious amount of my product that you will take with grace. You will retrieve the drugs from him and begin distributing them throughout the city. You’re resourceful and will know how to get to him.

It will be your job, and your job alone, to get it out in the next forty-eight hours.

Until you cooperate, your lovely fiancé will be in my care.

” He steps up to her and holds his hand out like he’s showing her for auction.

“Don’t do it, Damien!” she yells and I can’t help but flinch as he thrusts his hand backward, slapping her across the face.

She tries to act unfazed, but I can see the way her eyes widen just before she blinks repeatedly, trying to focus her now swirling vision.

He doesn’t even allow her a moment before he presents a large knife and holds it against her collarbone.

“I will cut her up for an hour.” He warns just before he begins slicing into the skin on her chest, dragging the blade down between her breasts. The blood immediately starts to trickle down her body and run over her stomach—showing just how shallow, but intensely, he’s cutting her.

She doesn’t scream or wince, but she looks up towards the ceiling, careful not to show her emotions to the camera.

.. To me… But I know my little wolf, how her slight tremors show her fear, and how the strain in her muscles display her past trauma rising to the surface.

This man did his homework, and knew what would affect us…

“After that hour…” He trails off as he takes the knife and drives it into the top of her left shoulder.

She grits her teeth, clearly biting her tongue, and shakes through the hold of the ropes.

I grip the edge of the bench, feeling the metal creak in my hold as my rage intensifies.

It's as if I can feel her pain. Hell, I wish I could take the blows for her.

I'd endure everything she’s feeling tenfold if it meant she didn't have to bear this.

She doesn’t scream, regardless of how badly she wants to, and even as the tears threaten to spill over her beautiful lashes, she doesn't let them fall.

He yanks it back out, and I'm forced to watch as blood drips out of the wound.

It races down the side of her body and only stops once the fabric of her shorts absorbs it.

“I'll move on to other things,” he continues, and my limbs begin to quake under the pressure of her torture.

“So, either you can cooperate, or watch as she slowly bleeds out. The longer you wait, the worse her pain will be, and I…” He begins to take his free hand and runs it down her body to in between her legs, sending a bolt of fear through my body.

“Can get very creative.” She begins thrashing against his touch, but he raises the knife to her throat, scraping her just enough to draw more blood. “Your choice, Damien.”

I finally snap, clutching the phone so harshly I'm afraid it will break.

“HOW FUCKING FAR OUT ARE WE?!” I scream at Crewe, the man driving.

“Two hours, boss!”

“MAKE IT LESS!”

“D, we need a distraction, so he thinks you’re still in the city. If you do nothing, he’ll be expecting us.” Carter says through the coms.

“It’s not like we can send someone else, Carter! They'll know in an instant it's not Damien,” Alex argues.

“That's not the distraction I mean. I think we should send a team to take out another warehouse,” Carter suggests and my head starts to swim.

“No! What if he hurts her worse?!” Zeke argues.

“FUCK!” I stand up and kick the side of the van, denting the interior wall. Zeke gets up, puts his hands on my shoulders, and holds me back from doing any more damage.

“Save it, D. You need all the strength you have to get to her. There’s no going in quiet here.”

I try to calm my shaky breaths, but to no avail. The desperation is seeping in, and it’s getting hard to breathe again. The only reprieve in this moment is Carter’s voice coming through the static.

“We need to think about what he would expect you to do. Not what he wants you to do,” he says reluctantly, and he’s right.

Hugo knows how we operate. How I tend to fly off the handle, especially when it involves Ashia.

I try to draw in a deep breath, almost hunching over in pain at the attempt, and I look at my father, begging for guidance for the first time in years, wondering what he would do at this moment if the roles were reversed.

I can’t make a mistake here. My entire world is on the line, and I’ll do anything to ensure their safety—even if that means giving everything else up, including my control.

Dad looks back at me like my pain is breaking him apart, and as he takes a deep breath, I know that while what he’s about to say is eating him alive, he’s right.

“She’s strong, and you two will recover from this, but there’ll be nothing to recover from if he kills her before we get there,” he says harshly, but truthfully.

I shake Zeke off of me and look back down at the phone, watching as she continues to look to the ceiling in silent prayer, I’m sure calling for me.

Hugo continues his brutality, slowly and methodically cutting her in the right places so she feels the pain but doesn’t bleed too much .

“He won’t expect me to cooperate right away… He’ll expect me to look for her first. He’s probably betting on it…”

“Exactly,” Carter says.

I cannot believe I'm about to do this… He could hurt her… We could lose our baby…But the element of surprise is the only thing we have going for us right now. That’s the only way we’re going to get to her…

“Wait as close to the end of the hour we can… Then send Chris to take out a warehouse. Tell him to act like it’s a recon mission,” I choke out, my throat constricting to a painful level as my lip quivers. I’m struggling to hold it together, but I can’t break yet.

“You got it,” Carter confirms, his voice cracking as he cuts the line, but not before I hear Serena’s yell in the background.

“You sure about this, D?” Zeke asks solemnly, and I just shake my head. Deep down I know I know there’s no other option, but I feel like I just signed her death warrant.

“Fuck no…”