Savage, page 6
part #1 of The Healer Series
Grabbing a black leather bag I swiped from the compound and filled with all kinds of interesting things—shiny metal medical instruments, needles, and vials of who knows what—I walk through the front door and find Whitlow hog tied on the floor.
“Doctor.” I smile brightly. “So kind of you to have us over.”
“This place is a shithole,” Eileen remarks from her seat at his kitchen table, thrumming her fingers against the surface. Typical of a floor plan, the kitchen, dining area, and living room are in full view. “He doesn’t even have a television,” she whines.
“Well, no worries. I brought tonight’s entertainment, my friends. Tonight’s show is called, ‘the mother fucker that’s going to kill Bruce Whitlow,’ directed by your very own, Daniel O’Sullivan.”
“Ooh, ooh!” Flynn claps his hands excitedly. “I’ve been dying to see this one.”
“Just get it over with,” Whitlow gasps from the ground, the side of his face is mashed into the carpet.
“Where are Cassia and Nick?” I ask as I pass by Whitlow, kicking him in the gut as I do.
“You know Cassia isn’t in to the torturing shit,” Eileen rolls her eyes. Cassia is the mother hen of our group. She feeds us, mother’s us, and runs the more simple parts of our missions, like being the getaway driver or spying for us, but she draws a hard line with torturing. And I’m okay with that. After all, Eileen, Flynn, and I foam at the mouth for it. Nick does too, sometimes; although, I think he holds back for Mama’s sake. “They went back to check on Thomas.”
“That’s too bad. Well, what do you say we get started?” I fling the bag on the table, and it clinks as all the objects inside bang together. Eileen grabs the bag and rips it open, her eyes wide with wonder and lust. She pulls out a hand held battery-operated drill with a sharp, and jagged disc attached to it. her smile brightening even more as she fingers the trigger on it.
“Oh, Daniel,” she whispers in awe as she turns it off. “You shouldn’t have.”
“Well, I forgot Christmas this year,” I shrug. “Thought you kids deserved something real nice. Oh, and sorry, Doc,” I turn back to Whitlow with a shrug, “I didn’t bring you anything, but lucky for you,” I point to him, “Eileen likes to share.”
“Oh the things I can cut with this!” Eileen feigns excitement obnoxiously, in part, to fuck with Whitlow. Torture him with the idea of what’s to come. “I could cut his skull, his bones, oh, oh,” she jumps excitedly in her seat. “His fangs!”
“Babe,” Flynn interrupts. “You know it turns me on when you talk about mutilation like that.”
“What doesn’t turn you on?” I snort just as I notice the food on the stove. “And where the hell did you get food from? He’s a blood healer. He doesn’t eat.”
“He has donors . . . mainly bums who trade him blood for a warm meal. Pantry and fridge are stocked.” Flynn says as he pulls plates from a cabinet.
“Well isn’t that thoughtful,” I grumble as I cut my eyes at Whitlow. He remains still as stone, his eyes squeezed closed, but I can tell he hears every word we’re saying. His mouth is a hard, flat line as he’s breathes heavily through his nose.
“Okay, you two. Get your medical instruments and torture devices off the table,” Flynn warns. “I just made a badass Alfredo. I can’t properly torture on an empty stomach. Let’s eat first.” With that, he takes the bag from Eileen, who pouts until he places a plate of pasta in front of her.
“Love you,” she mouths, and he winks back. I run a wide palm over my face, swallowing the groan of annoyance I want to let out. I’ve watched these two eye-fuck each other for decades, but seeing it now stirs an urge to punch something. I guess some might describe this feeling as jealousy. Okay, so what? I’m jealous. I want Kitten back, and seeing these two eye-fucking each other all the time reminds me of just how badly I want her back.
“All right,” I mumble as I take a seat at the end of the table, leaving the chair next to Eileen available for Flynn. “We’ll eat quickly. Food and then we teach this asshole a lesson.” There’s an urgency in me to get going, to torture Whitlow and rush to find her, but I have to keep myself fueled as does my team. We all need to bring our A game for this.
After we eat, Flynn goes about preparing Whitlow for his torture session. My body hums in anticipation, knowing I’ll be releasing some of the tension pent up inside me. I’ve spent weeks needing to punish someone for taking her and here he is. His head lulls as Flynn secures him to a chair, and I smack his face to rouse him. “Open your eyes, Doc,” I order. “I want you awake for this.”
“I don’t know where she is,” Whitlow manages in a husky voice. “Torturing me won’t help you.”
“Ah, you see . . . I know where she is,” I begin.
“You do?” Flynn’s head pops up from behind the chair. “Why don’t we just off this fucker and go get her?”
“Because she’s safe . . . for now,” I begin, even though I’m not entirely sure what Fierce would want with her. My hope is he saved her out of the kindness of his heart, but we’ll see. I know he won’t torture her. “I need to release some tension before we go get her. Otherwise I’ll kill every fucker in sight when we get there.”
“Okay,” Flynn huffs and moves to stand beside me. A moment of silence looms as we stare at the doctor, letting the anticipation build. Just as I take a step toward the table where all the instruments are laid out, Eileen sniffles from where she sits at the table.
“What’s wrong?” Flynn is on her in a second.
Her eyes brim with tears as she holds Whitlow’s phone to her chest. Her gaze meets Whitlow’s, her pain morphing to unbridled rage. “Did you enjoy doing this to her?” she hisses as she stands.
“What is it? Give me the phone,” I demand, reaching her in two long strides, but she shrinks back, clutching the phone to her.
“You don’t want to see this shit, Daniel. Trust me. Please,” she pleads as she pushes against my chest.
“Eileen. Give me that fucking phone!” I growl. Flynn plucks the phone from her and hands it to me. She immediately turns to him, burrowing her head into his chest as he holds her tightly.
My hands are quaking I’m so fucking angry. Whatever is on here, must be pretty fucking awful. My blood boils the moment I look at the screen. It’s a photo of Kitten, naked and strapped to a table, unconscious and starved. Her pale skin stretches across her body exposing every bone. I slide my finger across the screen and another photo comes in view. In it, all of her fingers are cut off, her face twisted in pain. The next one, her skin is marred and burned.
The surge of anger hits me so fast I don’t realize I’ve beaten the doctor’s face in until Flynn and Eileen are pulling me off him. My face, shirt, and arms are covered in his blood. He’s still tied to the chair, now lying on the floor, half his head caved in. “Fuucckkkk!!!!” I roar as I yank the chair upright. “Get me blood, now!” I order, and Eileen whizzes to the kitchen, quickly returning with a bag. Jerking the bag from her hand, I tear the corner with my teeth and shove the opening in the doctor’s mouth. Blood dribbles down his face and body, but he slowly swallows. I think I broke his jaw.
I want to ruin him. Then I want to renew him, and ruin him all over again. Just like he did to her. God, I can’t even process the emotions raging through me. Guilt, fear, anger, regret, hope—the emotions wage war inside me, but only one burrows deep, strong enough to take the reins and drive me. Vengeance. I need vengeance. Tossing the bag aside, I move away from him, grabbing a chair from the table and straddling it in front of him. Flynn and Eileen fall in behind me, one on each side of me. Pulling my anger back—at least holding it at bay—I force myself to regain control. If I kill him now, I won’t get the information I need.
But the doctor is an enigma; an emotionless man, yet completely fascinated by inciting a reaction from others by inflicting pain. He reminds me of one of those geeky ass kids torching ants with the sun using a magnifying glass. Clearly, his humanity is long gone, if it was ever there to begin with, and I’m not sure he will fall victim to my violent methods of persuasion.
Picking up the phone, I bring up the picture of her with her fingers cut off, turning the screen toward him. I want to see if I can reach him, appeal to him in any way. “You were paid quite a bit of money to impregnate female healers back in the day,” I begin.
“No one touched her, if that’s what you’re getting at,” he wheezes. Relief floods me with his words. At least she was spared that. I close my eyes and bow my head, thanking whatever higher power there is. Flynn gives my shoulder an understanding pat. He knows what the thought of someone touching her does to me; it would do the same to him if Eileen were in this situation.
“Your last payday was for a set of triplets. Two boys and a girl, no?” He eyes me suspiciously. “You heard they were taken immediately after they were born, I’m sure.” He doesn’t respond, only continues to wheeze. His head is starting to heal from the blood I gave him.
“This is the girl,” I growl as I hold the screen to his face. “You tortured your own daughter.”
His breathing slows as he stares at the screen. “That’s not possible. She’s a hybrid. I would have heard if one of my children’s mother had been bitten.”
“Her mother was bitten right before she was born. No one knew.”
“That’s impossible,” he shakes his head.
“She looks just like you asshole,” Eileen barks.
“Now, Doctor, I have only one use for you. You tell me what I want to know, I’ll make your death quick. Otherwise, you will suffer immensely. I want Bridge. Where is he?” Whitlow lets his head drop and doesn’t answer.
I hand the phone to Flynn and stand, moving the chair back to the table. I crack my neck, then my knuckles before turning back to Eileen. “Eileen, why don’t we share your toys with the doctor like we promised,” I growl. My blood is pumping fire-hot through my veins. This monster tortured my woman. Starved her and drugged her. He will die a slow and horrible death, and I will enjoy every fucking minute of it.
Eileen grabs the drill she had before and powers it on. The shrill sound fills the room as she moves toward Whitlow, her bright green eyes wild and hungry for his pain. The blade is centimeters from his thigh when he shouts, “I don’t know where he is, but I’ll tell you what I did to her!” Eileen steps back and turns the drill off, disappointment plaguing her face. The girl loves to inflict pain on assholes.
I close my eyes. I know the gist of what he did. He tortured her. Starved her. Did horrible things to her.
“If you spare me, I’ll tell you something you need to know. If you find her, she will never be the same.”
Flynn and I glance at each other. “What?” he asks. “Tell us, and we will promise to end your life quickly and without torture.”
The doctor raises his gaze to mine, his chest rising and falling as he struggles to breathe. “She’s in more danger now than ever.”
“What the fuck does that mean?” I growl.
“She’s with child,” he says simply. Suddenly the air in the room ratchets up to a thousand degrees as his words sucker punch me, and I stumble back. His words were poised to knock me on my ass, and they almost did if not for the table catching me as my legs go limp.
“That’s impossible,” I manage to say through the shock. Hybrid females can’t get pregnant.” I stand, my spine solidifying again. He’s lying. He has to be.
“It is not. I assure you. She is with child.” The doctor nods.
I’m still processing when Eileen lunges at him, crushing her fist to his jaw. “They fucking raped her?” she yells as Flynn drags her back. “You impregnated her? Who was it? Bridge?”
My shock shifts to rage. They raped her. They did to her what they did to her mother. He said no one touched her. He fucking lied. Her biggest fear has come true. And it’s my fault for trusting Bridge. She hated him for what he did to her in the club the first night she was in Myrtle Beach with us. I’m a fucking asshole. This is all my fault, and now the love of my life—my everything, my fucking world—is carrying another man’s baby. I will destroy the world if I have to, to find and kill every mother fucking vampire there is.
The doctor’s head sags, his breaths heavy as he tries to collect himself after Eileen’s assault. “No. She wasn’t raped,” he mumbles. An audible sigh of relief sounds out from Eileen, Flynn and me, but that leaves the question of how she is pregnant?
“They inseminated her?” Eileen asks. “But wait. Male hybrids can’t impregnate human females so how could a human male impregnate her?” Her brows are drawn up in confusion.
“No,” he gasps as he struggles to breathe.
“Then what, Doc? Fucking clarify now, or I’ll let my lady here get drill happy with your ass,” Flynn shouts as he continues to hold Eileen, crushing her to his chest.
“It means my daughter,” he snorts, “is pregnant with the first authentic hybrid baby.” His gaze meets mine as he struggles to lift his head. “She’s pregnant with your baby, Mr. O’Sullivan.”
She’s pregnant.
With my child.
The room falls silent, all eyes on me as I try to swallow this information. My gaze moves to Flynn and Eileen, whose eyebrows are almost to their hairline.
“You guys weren’t safe?” Flynn asks delicately.
“I had no idea she could conceive. We’re only part human!” I shout. “I can’t get regular human females pregnant.”
“It never occurred to you she might be able to? Since you’re both hybrids?” Eileen bites her lip, a nervous habit of hers.
“Obviously not,” I bark. “You mean to tell me you two have been using condoms for the last eighty years? Are you fucking serious?”
“Nah, boss,” Flynn smirks. “Withdrawal method. It’s actually kind of hot because I get to—”
“Flynn!” Eileen warns. It’s literally the only time since they’ve been together she has stopped Flynn from referencing sex in any way, and I greatly appreciate it as I’ve just discovered I’m going to be a father. Shit! My chest heaves under the weight of that thought. My woman is carrying my child.
“Sorry,” Flynn says quietly. The room falls silent again as we all absorb.
“How far along is she?” Eileen asks Whitlow, breaking the impenetrable silence.
“About six weeks.” Whitlow says before hacking a wet and nasty cough.
“You knew she was pregnant and you tortured her anyway?” Flynn asks almost monotone, his face blank of any emotion giving indication of his thoughts. This is an atomic bomb of information, and we’re all having trouble digesting it.
“I only discovered it early this week when some of her blood work came back. I just did the ultrasound two days ago, and confirmed it. With the tests we were running on her, and the drugs we were giving her, the symptoms of pregnancy were easy to miss.”
“Daniel,” Eileen says softly. “Are you okay?”
That’s a great fucking question. I just found Kitten—had just really tasted what our happiness would be like—when she was taken. I’ve spent the last month going through the mind-fuck of my life trying to find her, only to miss her by minutes. Now, I discover I’m going to be a father. I won’t lie, on some level I’m thinking, holy shit! I am in no way ready to be a father. I feel like an asshole for even allowing the thought to wisp through my mind. But that thought is quickly drowned out as I realize my woman was tortured while pregnant with my child. My flesh and blood.
I ignore Eileen’s question and move toward the doctor. The more details I discover about where Kitten has been—what they’ve been doing to her—and how she is, the angrier I get, if that’s even possible. But now . . . there’s my child and the thought of her, or our baby, being hurt or tortured shreds me. “What did Xavier plan to do with her and the baby?”
The doctor’s gaze meets mine, and my fists clench as I fight the urge to beat his skull in. “Obviously, your child is poised to be a mecca of power. A purebred Hybrid. A mother hybrid with immensely strong healing powers, and the most powerful healer and hybrid in all existence as the father. My guess is Xavier planned to take the child and use it as a weapon. Make the child his own. He planned to use Aldo as bait in an attempt to capture you, and if it didn’t work, she would be disposed of after the child was born.”
I clench my eyes closed as the flimsy band inside me twists and bends, willing it not to snap. It’s all that keeps me level, stops me from letting the savage free.
“How could the baby have survived after everything you did to her?” Eileen asks.
“As I said, it’s the most powerful being in existence, and it hasn’t even been born yet,” he laughs, but starts coughing immediately. “She might have fared better under her treatment had it not been for the baby taking its own nourishment from her body.”
I’ve had enough. I’m done. I just need to get to her. Find her. Hide her somewhere until I figure out what to do. She’ll hate it, but what choice do I have at this point? She was always in danger, and always will be. It’s what we are. My protective instinct has always been strong for her, but I’ve managed to hold it back despite myself. She needed to experience things, learn things only making foolish mistakes can teach you. But now, there’s my child. Our child. And the protective instinct fills me, driven by fear and rage. Just the thought of someone hurting her, or our baby, makes the hair on my arms and neck rise.
“Are you ready to die, Doctor,” I grumble, my heart pounding in my ears, the rage building as I imaging the horrible things that could happen to either of them. His gaze meets the floor as I move in front of him.
“Wait!” Eileen shouts as she tries to push me aside and fails. “Why is she in more danger than ever? Because Xavier will come after her?”
“He was killed at the compound,” I call over my shoulder.
