When We Met

CH 30 Rosaline

My heart thundered a frantic staccato against my ribcage as Logan led us through the labyrinthine corridors. Dread coiled like a serpent in the pit of my stomach with every echoing footfall, whispering that we were being led into even deeper realms of torment.

Alejandro matched my stride, the taut lines of his body radiating a ferocious tension - like a panther ready to strike at the first sign of betrayal. I could practically taste the metallic undercurrent of rage simmering beneath his impassive exterior.

When at last we reached a nondescript door flanked by two more guards, bile rose in my throat. Logan paused, one hand resting on the rusted iron handle as he turned to face us.

"I should warn you..." His chiseled features remained unreadable, those obsidian eyes betraying nothing. "What you're about to see won't be...easy."

Alejandro bristled, squaring his broad shoulders. "Just open the damn door, Walsh."

Logan's jaw tensed infinitesimally, but then he twisted the handle and pushed inward with one harsh shove.

A sickly, coppery stench washed over me as the door swung wide...followed by an anguished cry ripping free of my throat.

There, in the center of the cramped space, hung the bruised, broken form of Mateo - arms lashed at obscene angles above his head, legs dangling limply. A swell of heated nausea roiled up from my core as my mind struggled to make sense of the grizzly sight.

"Mateo!" Alejandro's hoarse bellow lanced through me like a rapier.

He was across the room in three bounding strides, skidding to a halt beneath our friend's mutilated body. Alejandro's calloused hands gripped Mateo's lax face, fingertips trembling as they brushed over the mottled flesh and swollen, sealed eye sockets.

"¡Ay dios mio...!" The anguished whisper tore from him in tandem with my own strangled sob. "¡Oh, pobrecito, que te han hecho!"

Scorching tears blurred my vision as I followed, limbs wooden and resistant to carry me to that epicenter of savagery. Up close, my stomach recoiled at the gruesome lacerations scoring Mateo's bared torso and limbs - poorly treated wounds already seeping crimson.

"Who...?" I choked out, swinging my swimming gaze to Logan and the other guards lurking stoically in the background. "Who did this?"

Logan regarded me with flat, unblinking eyes. "You know who. My father's men...following his orders to extract information from your friend here. About his aunt Yelena's operations and the heir."

White hot fury detonated in my veins, scalding away the numbness as I whirled on our tormentor. "You...you sadistic bastards!" I screeched, untamed hair whipping wildly. "We're just pawns to you, aren't we? Pieces to be sacrificed in your twisted game!"

His expression didn't so much as flicker, that intractable calm only stoking my blinding rage higher. A breathless snarl rattled from my dry throat as I clawed for the barest restraint to keep from launching myself at him.

Alejandro's murmuring voice pulled my focus back to the pitiful sight of Mateo hanging between us like a sideshow exhibit of brutality. He cradled the battered face in both trembling hands, rocking slowly and whispering a fervent string of desperate prayers and hushed reassurances.

"Lo siento, lo siento mucho..." The words warbled between hitching breaths as Alejandro pressed his brow to Mateo's swollen cheek. "F-Forgive me, hermano...if only I could have—"

But his voice finally broke, overcome by the merciless reality before us. Unchecked, the tears spilled from my own eyes in dual rivers of abject grief.