Blows

SHAWN

“Where is the patient that stayed in this room last night, even till this morning?”

I asked one of the nurses I saw walking down the hallway, after I had checked Room B17 and saw the bed empty.

At first, fear had eroded my senses, swamping me so much I couldn’t breathe the first few seconds, thinking that Elara was dead. The squeeze on my heart only lessened when I remembered that if that was the case, it would have been on the news.

“Oh, Miss Elara Viking...?” the nurse asked.

No longer Elara Lindays. I kept my face carefully blank, not to mirror the anger that threatened to surface at such disrespect.

“Who are you?”

I swallowed hard. “Her husband.”

The nurse furrowed her brows, watching me closely. She didn’t look like she believed me, but she directed me to the private ward on the last floor of the hospital, meant for the prominent people of society.

Of course. Nothing less for the daughter of Silas Viking.

Heart thumping, I started toward the elevator. When I got to the floor, another nurse directed me to the particular private ward where my wife was kept. There, I saw two guards guarding outside the ward.

I steeled myself, my shoulders squared, as I covered the remaining distance between them. I was still Elara’s husband; I hadn't signed the documents, after all.

Before I could get to the door, one of the guards stretched out his hand. “Who are you? And where do you think you are going?”

“I’m going to see my wife, Elara Lindays... I was told by the nurse this was her room...”

The guards looked at each other, but they made no move to leave the space so I could pass.

“What is the matter? Why can’t I see my wife? Do you want me to involve the police?” I threatened, snarling as I looked at both of them, but they didn’t look bothered. If anything, they looked bored.

“No one enters the room, except of the Viking family.”

I threw up my hands, my frustration boiling over. “Can’t you hear me?! I said I’m her husband! So, I have more right to see her, more than anyone else!”

“Is that so now?”

A voice spoke from behind me, causing me to retract my claws, to back away from the guards who I had gotten closer to while shouting, and to turn aside.

I swallowed. It was the third son and the fifth son of the Vikings, Connor and Julian Viking.

Where Julian was the playful playboy, the most popular music artist in the country at the moment and heir to Viking Music Records, Connor was the head of the most powerful construction companies linked to the Viking empire.

Both loved women and laughed more than their other brothers, but now they weren’t laughing. They were blank-faced, hands folded across their chests, and somehow I knew that Elara had talked—that Cassius’s words hadn’t been unfounded.

Yet, Elara was my wife.

“Yes. I’m her husband. I shouldn't be banned from seeing her...”

Julian looked at Connor, and both laughed, but that laugh sent chills down my spine.

“Come along then...” Connor bit out, a smile slithering across his lips.

I exhaled in relief and moved aside so they could walk past and take the lead.

But just as they walked past me, Julian turned around and struck a hard blow at my face. It was so fast that before I could recover, before I could understand what was happening, I was on the floor with a bleeding mouth.

“You have so much audacity, don’t you?” Julian asked, baring his teeth, looking nothing like the playful personality he was known for. “After hurting my baby sister, you dared show your face here...”

He moved to strike me again, but Connor held him back. “Don’t bother with the twat. There are better ways to deal with him, sweeter ways...”

The chills ran down my spine again at that phrase—sweeter ways. My grandfather was going to kill me.

Remembering what was at stake had me getting to my feet, wiping the blood that leaked through my lips.

“I don’t know what you are talking about, Julian. I’m only here to see my wife...”

Julian laughed and looked at Connor. “Do you think he is high?”

Connor shook his head. “Just stupid.” He turned to the guards. “If he moves an inch from where he stands, shoot him, and dispose of the body carefully...”

I staggered back, watching as the duo moved past the guards, opened the door, and entered the ward where my wife was. I tried to move after them, but the guards brought out pistols from their waist holsters.

“We take orders seriously, Mr. Husband...” one of them teased, making me ball my fists in anger.

“She is my wife!”

“Well, that won't be the case for much longer. Leave, Mr. Husband, or your blood will stain the neatness of this place...”

I gritted my teeth, eyes darting here and there in anger, but I knew they would shoot if I moved. Cursing loudly, I stamped my foot on the floor and stalked out of the corridor.

Anger warred with frustration, and another emotion I didn't understand, as the guards’ laughter followed me out of the floor.