Thorns And Roses

Chapter Forty-six

It was supposed to be a quick in-and-out rescue mission. Demi had four men all prepared for it but that's not what happened. When they found the warehouse known as Boford city's most famous brothel, the mission became impossible to complete.

People were guarding the front and the back of the building. White vans without windows came in and out every other day. It was confirmed that Xavier King, the fucking snake was kidnapping and buying men, women, and children to sell in the sex trafficking ring. Drugs and Omega's were high in the price range. There were too many people to send in a rescue crew. Some innocent could get hurt.

So, they waited almost a fucking week before they came up with a solid plan. It wasn't that great of a plan. To many casualties to make it great. But they didn't have any other idea.

They were going to get a white van without windows, shove as many men as they could in the back and once they're inside, they ambush. See, not a great plan. It was impossible that everyone would come out of it safe and sound at the end. But what else could they do?

Calling the cops was out of the question since Xavier King has bought them. There's no way he hasn't dipped his hands in the police force if he has a ring this fucking big. Demi and his men would handle it. They had to.

"Are you guys ready?" He asked the dozen men in the back of the van. They gave him nods in confirmation and a handful of "Yes sir's." It was as good as Demi would get.

"Okay, let's do this." He shut the doors and ran to the passenger side and got in. Quinn was in the front seat, his hands gripping the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white.

"Don't worry, I've got your back." Demi drew the gun out of the back holster and brought it down to his side to hide it between the center console and his body. Quinn let out a soft wheeze of a laugh before he looked over at Demi and his gun.

"Better your ass than mine when you're handed over to River to be "taken care of." Quinn did the bunny ears around the words and it drew an eye roll from Demi and a gentle laugh.

"Right." It fell silent between them as Quinn started the van that they hid down the street behind another building and pulled out into the road. They passed the guards out front and rounded the warehouse to the back. They were stopped as one of King's men came to the driver's side window. Quinn and Demi locked eyes for a minute, silently communicating.

If the guard gave them trouble then Demi would draw out his silencer and shoot. Just like that. No questions asked. They were let in with barely even a glance. Some guards these were. They were led into what looked like a garage and the large door was pulled down behind them.

There was a smaller door that they would have to go through to get into the brothel. Demi looked at the ceiling and caught sight of four cameras. Demi stepped out of the van, raised his gun, and shot out all four of them. There was no doubt now that they knew they were there.

Demi ran to the back of the van, swung the doors opened, and had his men follow him. They stood off to the side and he had one of them open the door while he stood in front of it with his gun raised. No one was on the other side like he expected. With hand communication and earpieces, they fanned out in pairs in different directions. Demi and Quinn were together.

It was quiet for about a minute as they searched the halls that were shadowed by black and red lights. There was a scream then the sound of guns going off and Demi figured they had been found. Fuck it, he thought as he rushed to the first close door he saw and rammed it in with his shoulder. It was empty besides two beds. He went to the next one, kicked it in and another scream went up in the air. He left the couple since neither of them posed a threat.

Demi kept going down the hall, kicking and ramming into doors as he went. He could hear Quinn doing the same on the other side. Their search was cut short though as one of the men that they walked in on raised his gun and fired. The bullet skimmed Demi's shoulder. He winced but let off his own round. It was a head shot and the Omega that had been in bed with him screamed as the blood painted her. He kicked in the door beside it.

He told his men not to shoot unless they were either shot at or saw a gun being raised. They didn't want to hurt the ones that were brought there against their wills. The further down the hall he and Quinn went the fewer rooms there were. It seemed like they made it into the VIP area. They stopped in the middle of the hall and Demi had his men check-in. They were all okay. Some were wounded but none were serious.

Demi met Quinn's eyes again before they turned their backs on each other to kick the doors in on either side. Demi felt his breath catch as the scent of leather and vanilla hit his nose. His eyes went around the room before they landed on the bed that sat in the middle.

And there he fucking was.

He was chained to the bed like a sacrificial lamb, all four limbs spread out. He wore nothing but a pair of black boxers and a blindfold. He was caked in blood and grim with tape slapped across his lips in an X formation. His hair was lifeless and flat.

Demi carefully walked towards Theo. Once he was within reaching distance, he lifted a hand to softly graze the side of Theo's face. His dragon jerked away from the touch and let out a muffled whimper that sounded like it hurt.

"Shhh, sweetheart. It's me. It's Demi." Theo looked like he was searching for Demi even if he couldn't see past the blindfold. Demi slipped his fingers up Theo's face and pushed the blindfold up with the hand that wasn't holding his gun. Theo's golden foggy eyes met his before he let out another whine.

"I know baby. I'm sorry but this is going to hurt." He left the blindfold alone before he lifted one of the corners of the tape. He didn't want to rip it off because he knew it would most likely make Theo's lips bleed. But he didn't want to do it slowly either causing the pain to last. So he did a happy medium. He jerked the tap but didn't pull and rip. Theo let out a whimper even if he did it as softly as he possibly could. Just lifted it off to show something red stuffed into Theo's mouth.

Demi dropped the tape and pulled the gag from between Theo's swollen and cut-up lips. He cringed when the red material unfolded to display a pair of underwear. Fucking hell. Demi threw the underwear as far as he could and went back to looking at Theo. The dragon stared at him with glassy eyes and a soft almost unreadable expression on his face.

"Okay, Theo. I'm going to unchain you now." Demi left his line of sight and pulled at the chain that was wrapped around his raw and bleeding wrist. It was padlocked together. He looked at the others and saw that they too were locked.

"Fuck!" At his exasperated curse, he saw Theo flinch. Demi petted and shushed him as he tried to think of what to do. He could shoot the locks but he was scared of the scattered debris hitting Theo. His best bet would be to go look for the key.

"I'm just going to look around okay? I'm not leaving this room." He watched as Theo gave him a nod and he dropped his head back to the bed. Demi trailed his fingers down his dragon's side as he walked away. When he lifted his hand away, blood and dirt covered his fingertips.

Demi opened every drawer he could see but didn't find the key. He went into the bathroom connected to the room and looked in every nook and cranny for this fucking key that would save his mate's life.

"I see they already got to you." Demi froze at the voice in the other room. He drew out his gun and peeked out of the bathroom door. There standing at the foot of the bed staring down at Theo was Joseph Anderson himself.

"I also see that they didn't take you with them. I guess your mate doesn't love you if he left you here. What a shame." Demi waited for Theo to bite back but when all his dragon did was whine and turn his head away, Demi went off.

They had broken his Alpha, he could see it now. It was in the way his eyes went dark like they were dead. In the way, his lips parted a little as if he was waiting for something to be shoved into his mouth. It was in the way, silent tears dripped down his face and Theo was never a quiet crier.

It pissed Demi off to no end. To see his dragon like this. He stepped away from the door, making his presence known, and raised his gun to point at Anderson's head. The man's ugly brown eyes met his. Demi glared at him with so much hatred he felt it in his bones.

"Where's the fucking key?"