Thorns And Roses

Chapter Forty-four

Demi wanted, no needed to find Theo. Like last week. He knew who fucking took him. Demi was foaming at the mouth to sink his teeth into the man's throat and rip his heart out of his fucking chest cavity.

Joseph Anderson was a dead man if Demi had any say in it.

"Demitri. I think he's had enough." Demi snarled at Quinn who came to stand beside him. Demi unclenched his fist and shook out the blood-covered hand. His knuckles stung and he knew they were bruised but he didn't care. He needed this information to save his mate, his dragon. His Omega.

"I'll say when he's had enough when I'm fucking done Quinn. Now back the fuck down." He growled. His tone took on thick gravel, raw and deep. Like an Alpha's.

"Of course." Quinn took a step away from Demi's ragged state and he turned his eyes back on the man that sat tied up in a chair bloodied and broken. Just the way Demi liked them.

"Now where were we?" The man, Demi forgot his name sometime during the interrogation, started to sob as the snow leopard sneered at him.

"Where is Joseph Anderson?" Demi asked him. The man sniffled and shook out a wobbly 'I don't know.' Why Demi didn't believe him, he didn't know. It was like a feeling in his gut, telling him that the man was lying straight to his face. And Demi trusted his gut.

Demi reached out with clawed-tipped fingers, dripping in blood, and grabbed the man's face in a hard grip. Digging said claws in his cheeks until they sliced at his flesh. Another weak sob was all that Demi got. He rolled his eyes at the pathetic display.

"I don't fucking believe you. Now, where is he?" Demi let him go, drew the knife that sat strapped to his thigh, and drove the tip into the man's leg. He screamed before it tapered off into a wail, and Demi drew the blade out, just to stab him in the other leg.

"Okay, okay. I'll tell you. Please don't hurt me." Demi gave him a murderous smirk before ripping the knife out of his leg. He wiped the disgusting red liquid on his pants then seethed the blade back on his thigh.

"Now talk. If you tell me the truth, I'll have my men fix you up and send you home to your family. Just know, if you tell anyone about this, I'll be the one to track you down and end your worthless pathetic little life." He threatened and knew he got his words across when the man whimpered.

"H-He's in Boford city. I swear." Now that, Demi believed. Without taking his eyes off of the man he snapped his fingers and Quinn was instantly at his side.

"How far is Boford city?" Demi heard Quinn pull his phone out and type in the city name on Google Maps.

"About four hours away, sir." He finally took his eyes off the man to regard Victor and Vincent. They stood up a little straighter when his glacier blues landed on them.

"Patch him up and send him home. Make sure he doesn't squeal like a pig afterward." With a nod from both of them, they started towards the man as Demi made his way out of the space that was hosted as their interrogation room for the past two weeks. Quinn followed him out.

The green dragon handed Demi a piece of cloth to wipe the blood off of his hands and face. Since it was just them two, Demi let some of his hard shell chip away. Feeling weak in the knees and sick to his stomach he leaned heavily against the wall beside them. Quinn laid a hand on his shoulder in a pat of sympathy.

"Are you okay, Demitri?" No, he wasn't but he wasn't telling Quinn that.

"Yup. I'm all good. Let's get some men and go to Boford. I'm ready to find Theo." Quinn didn't say anything after that, allowing Demi to head to Theo's office in the main building. Once he was inside, his shell cracked right down the middle, splitting in half and raining down shards of class. They slit and cut at the broken pieces of his heart.

Unwanted tears streaked down Demi's cheeks and he quickly wiped at them. Grimacing when he felt the warm wet path of blood he left behind. Fuck, he needed to get himself together. It was the only way to find Theo.

Unlike when Demi was taken, Joseph didn't ask for ransom as Jones did. No, the thing, whatever the fuck he was went completely off the radar. Demi was lucky he's gotten as far as he has. The only way Demi knew Theo was still alive was because of the mating bond they shared. If Theo was actually gone he would be able to tell and that was what was keeping him from falling apart at the seams.

Demi pushed away from the door and headed to the bathroom connected to Theo's office. There was a shower and already clean clothes in there. He knew this time was going to be bloody. In the beginning, Demi didn't want to hurt anyone. But when he saw it was the only way to get the information he needed, he resorted to violence.

He kept a 9mm at his back always loaded with eight hollow points and a serrated blade strapped to his thigh. He's used both in the last week and a half. Demi twisted the knob on the hot all the way and left the cold alone. Laying his weapons on the sink he started to get undressed. By the time he was done, steam fogged up the mirror and his water was hot enough to melt his skin off. He didn't like it any other way. Reminded him of Theo's body heat, which he missed terribly.

Demi stepped into the scalding stream of water and started to scrub at his skin with a bar of soap. He needed to get the blood off before it stained his flesh. He couldn't be ruined for Theo when he got him back. And he would get him back. He had to.

Demi didn't know how much longer he would survive without the other man. Without his mate.

He rinsed himself, turned the water off, and stepped out of the shower. Grabbing a black towel from the shelf he dried his body before getting dressed in the clothes that belonged to Theo. His leather and vanilla scent covered him. Demi breathed it in as deep as he possibly could.

Walking back into the office, he sat down in Theo's chair and pulled his socks and boots on his feet then called out to whoever was knocking on the door to come in. Victor poked his head in and gave Demi a small smile.

"Mr. Issac is taken care of sir and the men are ready to set out when you are." Demi righted himself up in the chair after he laced his boots then stood up. He already knew that he had a bag packed with necessities thanks to one of the maids.

"Alright, I'm ready. Let's go, Victor." Victor followed after him once they left the office. But Demi stopped when a fleeting hint of sickness hit him. Hard. Demi ran back to the office's bathroom and threw up what little contents he had in his stomach. It wasn't much to begin with, every little thing made him sick.

Quinn was in there seconds later rubbing his back and soothing him. He wished it was Theo instead. His heart ached for his dragon. It throbbed in pain. Being mated sucked when your mate wasn't there.

"Are you okay, Demitri?" God, when are they going to stop asking him that? Demi shook his head yes at Quinn before he sat up and wiped his mouth with the back of a shaky hand. He shifted his weight, pushing Quinn off of him, and stood up.

Demi brushed his teeth, praying that the mint wouldn't make him sick again. He didn't have fucking time for this. His health wasn't as important as finding Theo.

Demi really needed to get himself together.