Pirate City

Chapter 25 Misunderstanding

Angel's POV

"You called?" I walked through the steel double doors, keeping a steady pace as one of Stephano's men trailed beside me. I barely looked at him, keeping a stale expression as we quickly approached a locked door.

"Stephano ti avrebbe chiamato di persona, me lo ha chiesto, sembrava incazzato." Stephano would have called you himself, he asked me to, seemed pissed. The man typed a code into the digital lock pad as he spoke, covering the screen, force of habit, with his left hand. 

"Perché mi voleva?" Why'd he want me? The door opened. I hadn't spent much time at these headquarters, each building was designed like a maze. The man was a grateful guide. As the door clicked shut the hallway lights flickered on, there were a dozen doors on either side. I suspected less than half of them actually led somewhere. They were all the same black colour, coded with the same digital lock but different combinations. 

"Promozione?" Promotion? My escort joked, sealing the door with a steel bar. "Questo qui." This one here. He gestured to the fourth door on the left. "Dovrei entrare con te?" Should I go in with you? 

"Sicuro. Se ti chiede di andartene segui le sue istruzioni." Sure. If you asks you to leave follow his instructions. He nodded. I don't want to be left alone with him. The man knocked softly, the sound of the door's thick wood didn't travel far. They must have been new, the doors, it didn't sound like much air was in them. 

A muffled voice told us to come in. Before I could change my mind, the man I followed swung the door open. There stood Stephano, over a man who's head hung limp between his arms, which hung by chains to the ceiling. The man was on his knees, half dead, with blood streaming down the whole of his back. It wasn't unusual to see this kind of thing every once in a while, but the man wasn't making any noise. His dark hair stuck to his forehead, whole face dripping sweat. Ribbons of muscle and bone could be seen through his taught skin in his arms and torso.

"You needed me?" I asked. Stephano, as usual, had no blood on his white shirt, sleeves drawn to his elbows, nor on his navy dress pants. He was skilled with his craft, this time he weld a sword. This shining tip dug into the ground as he leaned against the leather-wrapped handle, cursing as blood from the blade sprayed onto his shoes. When Stephano finally found the balls to look back at me, I raised my brows and nodded towards the man.

"Ignore him, my eyes are still on my head." He spat on the floor just in front of the guy's knees. I felt a surge in my throat as Stephano lifted the mans' head with a fistful of his hair. Crimson rivulets streamed down his neck, both eyes had been gouged out. His mouth hung open loosely, his jaw had been broken. It was impossible for him to be alive, but his flesh still had pigment.

Stephano smiled, brown eyes and white teeth shimmering as he dropped the head again. Dusting off his hands he directed his attention back to me.

"Fucked around with Amber." He explained, leaning the sword on a catch in the wall. 

"She ok?" Steph had always been protective of her, I just hadn't seen anything like this in a while, at least not out of him.

"Will be." He grinned, rubbing his reddened knuckles. I nodded, trusting that he'd taken care of enough. "Leon, partire." Leave. The man nodded, left, and shut the door behind him. "How's Luna been?" I hated how casually he brought her up, no less after just killing some guy whose  blood still lay wet on his shoes.

"Fine." I lied, "You wanted to talk to me."  

"What's up with the bruises?" He looked right into me when he spoke, the bruises on her back, face, and neck had healed pretty well since the incident.