Nothing Without You | Eric Coulter [2]

twenty-eight

    I took in the vials hanging from the wall in awe, wondering how such seemingly harmless-looking things could hold so much power over someone that it could manipulate them to do whatever it is they're made for them to.

My eyes stall over a row of vials that hold a pitch-black liquid and the sight unsettles me for some reason.

"What's this one?" I ask Eric, curiosity getting the better of me.

He stops beside me, eyeing it contemplatively. "It's the death serum," He tells me.

Eric reaches out as if he wants to pocket one but then thinks better of it and drops his hand.

That's the one thing I've noticed has changed about Eric- one thing that felt like he hadn't had before; mercy.

It's in the way he tries to think of ways to minimise the hurt he causes, and it was a change I welcomed.

Seeing him so cold and unfeeling was a reminder of the impact his family's death has made on his soul. But now, I think he's slowly starting to heal from it.

I take his hand and thread my fingers through his. Eric's hand immediately closes around mine at the contact and he presses a quick kiss over my knuckles.

"There's an exit here," He says, jerking his chin towards the other end of the room. "It should lead us back to the holding cells."

I nod, looking over at Uriah who's still looking around the room in awe and chuckle at the childish wonder written on his face.

"Did you hear a word I just said?" Eric's voice demands attention and makes Uriah jump.

For all the softness that Eric has learned to embrace, he's still a little rough around the edges, but I also wouldn't change that for the world.

"Erm..." Uriah reaches up to scratch at his head, looking over to me with wide eyes as if pleading for me to help him.

I shake my head at the two, "Come on." I pat Uriah on the shoulder as I pass him, "We find our way back to the holding cells through here."

Uriah gulps as Eric approaches, I guess his ruthless reputation still precedes him.

"Right, I knew that," Uriah mumbles nervously as he scrambles to follow us.

I let Eric take the lead and I fall into step beside Uriah. "He's not that scary," I whisper, elbowing my friend in his side playfully.

Uriah gawks at me, "Are you kidding?" He almost sputters, "Listen, I like Eric, but I almost shit my pants just now."

I can't help but laugh at his dramatics. Thank god for Uriah and Eric's company, or I would've been driving myself crazy with worry.

Eric cracks the old-fashioned door open at the end of the hallway and peers through the opening to check if the coast is clear. Once he's sure it is, he swings the door open all the way and ushers Uriah and I out first before closing it behind him.

While the door looked like any other ordinary door from the inside, from the outside, it was disguised as just another panel on the wall. And even though we've just come through it, I'm struggling to make out where the door was located.

Eric signals for us to follow him as he leads us down a long winding hallway, and the more time we spend in the walls of Erudite, the more uneasy it makes me because it almost feels like it's one of those rooms meant to deprive its inhabitants of their senses and slowly drive them insane.

Much like Eric had claimed, the hallway leads us straight to the row of holding cells that were devoid of any guards standing by.

My eyes immediately land on a familiar head of brown hair.

Eric's arm reaches out to stop me before I can go any further, "Hold up. Something doesn't feel right," He observes, "Why would they leave the place unguarded, especially when they're aware they have intruders?"

"Guys." Uriah turns our attention to Tobias, "I think he's telling us to go."

Sure enough, when I turned back to look at Tobias, he was pounding his fist against the clear barrier and yelling something that I couldn't make out through the glass.

That had been warning enough for Eric, who immediately grabbed my hand, "Let's go."

He begins to drag me down the hallway. I know he's right and it's dangerous to stay, but it's also hard for me to just leave my brother behind when I've finally found him.

Uriah comes to stand on my other side, closing a hand around my elbow and helping Eric to urge me forward. "Come on, Nessie. We'll come back for him."

I spare my brother one last look, forcing myself to not let my thoughts linger on him. Because if I do, I would be rushing back there to break him out.

Tearing my gaze from Tobias, I grip Eric's hand tightly as he leads us back down the same we had come from.

"Head back to the vault," Eric instructs, "We'll regroup there."

He pushes me in front of him as we rush through the hallway with his gun held in his hand at the ready, and peering over his shoulder ever so often to make sure there wasn't anyone following us.

I trail my fingertips over the wall as soon as we reach the end of the hallway, feeling for where the seam of the door may be.

It takes me a minute, but finally, my finger sinks into a button that has the door popping open for us.

I step through the door open door, making sure that Eric and Uriah are close behind me.

Relief fills my chest now that we've made it back to safety...that is until I find myself staring straight down the barrel of a gun.

"Move and I'll shoot her," The familiar voice sings the words in a cheery tune.

"What? Erudite's no more, so you join whoever's left that's willing to take you?" Eric grits out, "Did no one else want you, Spencer?"

"Insulting me might not be wise right now, Eric." Spencer tuts, "That is unless you want to see your little girlfriend's brain splattered all over the floor."

His eyes narrowed on my left hand, and I knew in an instant exactly what he was looking at.

"Holy shit," Spencer lets out a laugh in disbelief, "Is that your mother's ring?" His eye twitches in anger, "You've got a lot of nerve. She wouldn't even let me have it when I was proposing to Elise and now you're using it for your little bitch after you've caused her death?"

"I'll watch your mouth if I were you," Eric warns low and dangerous.

"Well, the last time I checked," Spencer steps towards me until I can feel the cold ring of his gun's nozzle pressed up against my forehead as if to prove his point. "You're not the one in control here."

Footfalls approach as more guards swarm into the room, placing us in a position of being severely outnumbered.

"Take them away," Spencer orders, but stops the guard when one tries to cuff me. "I'll take care of this one."

Eric glares at Spencer, his murderous gaze never once wavering even when a guard roughly jerks his arms behind his back and slaps a pair of cuffs on him.

"Remember what I told you the last time, Spencer?" Eric grits out, his voice low and dangerous, "You hurt her and I'll fucking rip you apart. I gave you a chance the last time, but you're all out of fucking chances this time."