𝐋𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐎𝐟 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐲 | 𝟏𝟖+

ROYCE

040. BLOOD PAYMENT

She's gone.

"Artemis isn't answering his phone," Axel says. Chastity cried silently on the couch, watching the clip over and over again.

I stood behind her, watching as well. It was a short clip of Lily restrained in a chair in a dark room, her mother slapping her before walking out of camera shot. She was just here in my arms this morning and now she's gone and possibly hurt. I couldn't breathe. Axel and I gathered enough men to infiltrate the town to prepare for any casualties or enemies coming to sworm us. But when we came back from checking an outpost in the north, Chastity was tied up in a closet and Lily and Artemis were gone. Chastity said a group of men with guns barged in, faces all covered in masks. Artemis managed to kill one and when looking over the body, a familiar Russian Coven tattoo covered his wrist.

Axel had been trying to phone Artemis, but it was no use. The line was dead and the phone was most likey destroyed. I curse, launching a vase into a wall. Chastity flinches, slamming the computer shut. "They couldn't be that far away could they?" she desperately asks Axel.

He peers between us, before grabbing the computer. "Maybe an hour ahead. Give me a moment."

"I want every fucking camera checked. All of Austria, the train stations, underground pathways. I don't care. Find her."

I spent the next hour pacing impatiently, occasionally snapping at them. I wouldn't feel sorry until she was back in my arms again. Until I smelled the cocoa butter and vanilla products under my nose. Axel called my name and shifted the computer to me. I snatch it hazily, huffing. Besides encrypted words and random codes I didn't understand, a camera rewinded to an hour ago showed Lily and Artemis being dragged into separate vans, blindfolded and resisting. There was no sound, but I could see Lily's mouth moving rapidly, no doubt shouting in anger. "This is outside of Vienna, Austria train station."

"We leave. Now."

I didn't waste another millisecond and walked out the door. Axel told Chastity to stay to which she began to protest but was silence with a kiss. My chest cramped. Men flanked from a nearby out post with a wave of my finger and I slam the car door shut, my knuckles red on the steering wheel.

It takes 2 hours to get from here to Vienna, Austria, but I made sure we go there in an hour and a half. The train station became a mess. Civilians yelled in confusion and fear at the sight of men with guns and masks. Train secuirty tried to stop me from entering, but it only fueled my fire, causing me to knock them out simultaneously.

Lily.

Lily.

Lily.

Lily.

Lily.

My hands throbbed from excessive clenching, my heart rising to my throat. Everything around me drowned out as I watched my men linger throughout the train station, keeping people from entering and leaving the station. I bit my tongue to keep myself in check. I was slowly loosing it and the adrenaline was making me get brain fog.

"Hey! Gelo!"

I dart my eyes at the shout to see a black blur racing past. My lips curl as I shout, "Non lasciarli scappare!" I pull out my sig.

People scrambled to get away, caging their bambini away from my sight, their families. Their eyes filled with fear and judgment. Their eyes read mostro while mine read rage. My patience was thin, and I wasn't letting anyone get away. I aim my gun at the running figure and fire. The person slams on the ground and their attempts to get up are weak. Blood trailed behind them as they crawled towards the exit.