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Chapter 30

"Ian, it's time to play darts."

"No, don't! Son of a..."

A dart was thrown into Charlie's chest, if the pain drew only a brief moan from him, it was the black lines that drew themselves across the mottled skin that alarmed Steve.

"What are you doing to him? I don't know anything, I told you!"

Three more darts were thrown and planted in the dragon caretaker's hips and ribs.

"I believe you, but I think you need extra motivation to find my father."

"How do you expect me to..."

Steve felt sick, terrorized by the lines he saw drawn on his man's skin and the dread he read in his eyes.

"You're entitled to one phone call, pick someone who can find this information for you in less than three hours."

"What happens in three hours?"

"Your Charlie will have too much poison in his blood and the antidote will be useless."

"If I find the information, will you give him the antidote?"

"Yes, and I'll free another person very dear to you."

To say Steve was terrified was an understatement, Charlie had a clock over his head and Wo Fat implied he was holding Mary too. He pondered who to call, but he was certain his nemesis was lying to him, he wouldn't save Charlie, he needed to find help, not information.

"Okay, okay, I'll call Danny."

"Be careful what you say to him, Commander, don't mention your situation here, got it?"

Steve approved and Wo Fat released him. He didn't need to tell him not to try to run away again, the threat to Charlie was written in big letters. He dialed his friend's number on the secure phone handed to him as he considered what to say.

"You will call him back in an hour to find out what he's found, all right?"

Again, the prisoner nodded his understanding and listened anxiously to the tones.

"Danny, it's Steve," he announced when the inspector finally picked up.

"Hey Steve, can I call you back later, we're in the middle of something here."

"No, Danny, it's urgent."

"Go ahead."

"I need you to find out where Wo Fat's father is being held."

"How am I supposed to find that out?"

"Listen to me, I need that information in less than two and a half hours, okay?"

"Steve, what's going on?"

"Ask Harry Potter for help, Donovan can help you contact him."

"Steve!"

"I'll call you back in an hour," concluded the prisoner, urged on by Wo Fat, who was pretending to reach for his earbud to give Ian an instruction.

He knew Danny had figured out something was wrong and was going to get it along with the information, all he hoped was that he'd caught the call for help hidden in his instructions.

"I've done what you asked, let me go and see him," he asked without much expectation.

"No."

Wo Fat pulled a chair from a corner of the room, positioned it opposite the screen and motioned for Steve to sit down. He complied obediently; he could do no more for Charlie than spare him further suffering, and he was certain that if he took the slightest step to the side, the consequences would fall on his soulmate and not on him. His hands and feet were tied to the chair again and Wo Fat sat down opposite him, so as not to block his view of the screen.