Chapter Forty Two

Brielle's POV

We headed out to the hospital to check on Angelina and also to do a thorough checkup on Zane.

“Are we safe here?” I asked as we stepped in through the front entrance.

“We are not really safe anywhere, kitten,” Zane responded instantaneously. My heart leapt when he spoke, majorly because of the word he said at the end.

“Kitten?” I muttered with a soft laugh as I folded my hair behind my ear.

“Sorry, old habit,” He smiled at me for the first time in a long time.

“Okayy,” Lucien sputtered as he laid Zane on the ward bed.

“A doctor will be here to examine you. I'm going ahead to Angelina’s. You too clear have to flames to fan,”

“Flames to fan?” I reacted with a confused look.

“Goodluck!” He shot back loudly as he exited the room, leaving me alone with Zane.

We stared at each other for a while, quietly reading the room and anticipating who was to go first.

“I …

“Jus…”

We both uttered at the same time. The confusion caused us to laugh lightly, reducing the tension in the air.

“I'm not going to be a gentleman, so I'm going to speak first,”

“By all means,” I replied with a bright smile.

“I miss that,” He muttered as he gently brushed my cheeks.

“I miss your smile and to be honest, I noticed that I haven't made you smile like that in months. I knew it was going to happen but I held on to hope,”

“I’m really sorry, Zane. It was never my intention to hurt you, I just didn't know how it all get messy,”

“Hey, no more faults and no more sorries,” He spoke with flickering eyes. My heart broke when I noticed the emotions stirring in them.

“I did love you, life is just unfair to some of us,” He added, chuckling softly to lighten the heaviness of his words.

“And I will forever adore you. To be honest, a life with you would have been far easier,” I scoffed with a smile.

“We are cool?”

“Yes, kitten. We are good,”

“Alright! Prince Zane, I'm to check up on you,” The doctor stepped in, putting a stop to our discussion.

******

“So you didn't see his face?”

We walked in to Lucien asking Angelina. She looked really beaten up with bruises and stitches all over her body.

“I was locked up in a warehouse, beaten for two nights. He always had a mask on whenever he came to brutalize me,” She responded softly, her voice breaking from the pain that shot through her body.

“I haven't seen you in a while, Angelina. I almost forgot you existed,” Zane muttered weakly as he took a seat opposite her.

“What did the doctor say?” Lucien asked.

“He said…”

“He said I'm fine,” Zane retorted before I could.

“Now, can I hear what Angelina has to say? Where have you been?”

“I was in North Eclipse, I have friends there I was visiting. I was on my way to the main city when I got nabbed from the road,”

“One guy? Just one guy took you?” Zane questioned with a concerned voice.

“No, he had… someone,” She stuttered with deep breaths.

“A woman, she injected me with a shot that made me pass out,”

“The doctor said her blood had traces of sedative and mild wolfsbane,” Lucien said.

“And it was luck because the silver poison had almost reached her heart,”

“How did you survive, Angelina? Everyone else died but for some reason, they left you to die,” Zane asked with a smirk.

“Are you accusing me of something, Zane?”

“Do you want me to accuse you?” He shot back. I stood at the edge of the room, avoiding eye contact with her.

“What do you think, mate? Do you think I'm something special to the killer?” Angelina asked. I looked around at first before confirming the question was directed at me.

“Lucien,” I muttered and he brought out the photograph.

“Recognize this?” He handed it to her.

“Yeah, that's our goodwill club. It was fun then,”

“Well, the members are the ones turning up dead. One by one, they are being picked out,” Zane said as she stared at it for a while.

“Can you remember what you guys could have done to deserve torture and death?”

“You think this isn't Chase?” She asked curiously.

“I heard what he did to Zane, this could have been him,”

“For once, I am agreeing with her brother. This screams Chase, it's his MO.” Zane chipped in.

“Something feels off, I don't know why but my instincts are just…”

“convinced otherwise?” I spoke softly.

“I understand. That means it had to be something from your past,”

“ Lucky for me, I spent my college days drinking and partying. Look at what your Samaritan attitude had brought,” Zane said with a sarcastic smile.

“There’s still four people alive from that group,” Lucien pointed out.

“Me, Angelina and two others. Those two have a target on their back, we need to find them,”

“Let me see,” Zane received the photo, groaning softly from the pain. The doctor had advised him to rest but he was too stubborn to heed.

“I know the girl here, Gracia Al-Ghul. Maria Al Ghul daughter, she's not in the city right now,”

“Where is she then?” Angelina asked.

Zane signed before he gave his response,“Ford Pack in the Northern continent, she is building a shelter there. I guess she continued your superhero club without you guys,”

“The last person is Romero, Elder Signal's eldest son. He was in rehab the past six years, addicted to dark herb,” Lucien said.

“Dark herb, that's nasty. That leaves you too now,” Zane replied.

“Excuse me,” I muttered as I turned around to exit.

“Where are you going?” Lucien asked.

“I need to get a soda,”

I walked out, my chest feeling heavier with every step I took. I needed to step out, the tension was killing me. I couldn't stand it anymore, the pressure was killing me.

I walked to the vending machine and slotted a coin in. I picked up the drink from the post and noticed a reflection behind me from the machine’s glass.

Fear gripped me the instant I noticed how close and vague the figure was. I summoned courage to walk away but his hand gripped me just before I took a step.

“Lu…”

“Say one word and I will slit your throat,” He threatened, his breath had the stench of alcohol that almost took me out.

“Do you know who I am?”

I turned around slowly to meet the face of someone I just

recently knew about. His eyes were full red and his face was very pale.

My chest stiffened as I voiced his name,

“Romero,”