The Castle Under The Moon

Chapter Twenty

Barrett groans, making the pain in his head intensify a tenfold.

"What the hell?" He grumbles as he stands and looks around in the dark, trying to figure out where he was and why his head felt like someone decided to allow dwarves to go mining in his brain.

It took him a little longer than usual to adjust to the lack of light, making him grow impatient.

When his nose caught the scent of mold, death and rotting bodies he immediately gags, almost throwing up in the process.

"Oh, Goddess." He whimpers, finally realizing where he was.

Asher's scent was strong, letting Barrett know that this was the place that he was living.

Barrett broke down, letting the tears roll down his face as he drops to the ground.

He knew that once he was done blabbering about everything he knew, he was either going to be killed here or worse, sent back to the vampire kingdom.

He was hoping that it wasn't the latter, even though he didn't really want to die, he would rather that then seeing Mehdi again. Anything would be better than that.

Since no one was telling him to shut up, Barrett continued to sob like a small child that wasn't getting their way, hoping that this would all be over soon.

Barrett cried until he fell asleep, completely unaware of what was in store for him the next day.

Asher was told to be in the stone room right before lunch. He didn't really want to see the elf get beaten but knew that he had no choice, when the Alpha gave you a command you obeyed.

By the time Asher had made it to the long hallway that led to the room, everyone was already there, loitering around the door, waiting on him.

"Come on." Gheorgie grounds out as he sees Asher slowly walk down the hallway, hands in his pockets, a tired look on his face. He hadn't slept that well the night before, his dreams a mixture of finding Luna dead and the elf touching him inappropriately.

Gheorgie disappears into the stone room eager to get started.

Asher hated that room.

Everything was made out of stone, if you couldn't tell by the name, and metal. There was a large drain in the middle of the floor, used for easy cleaning if need be, and more often than not there needed to be.

"Please." Asher heard Barrett whine, and instead of an answer, Asher heard skin on skin contact, someone had slapped Barrett, and Asher was angry about it, though he didn't really understand why.

"This isn't really necessary. I will tell you everything that you want to know!" Barrett cries out.

When Asher was able to see the other man his body instantly reacted, he wanted to go to the man and comfort him, protect him from everyone that surrounded him and wanted to cause him harm.

Barrett was chained to a metal chair, his silver hair was loose and hanging around his distressed face. His eyes were red and had dark circles underneath them, evidence that he had been crying and didn't sleep very well either.

When Asher's eyes see the red mark on Barrett's cheek anger fills him as he looks around the room, trying to figure out who did it.

As soon as Asher walks through the doorway, Barrett finds him, trying to portray how sorry he was with his eyes.

"Maybe we should send his head to Mehdi."  A young lycan laughs, causing Barrett to flinch.

"I will never be that merciful." Gheorgie states, his voice eerily calm as he stalks forwards, the man that Asher knew and loved seemed to take a vacation.

The fear in Barrett's violet eyes was clear for everyone to see.

"Please kill me." Barrett whispers, almost causing Asher to jump towards him, begging him to never say those words again.

"Never." Gheorgie smiles, only a few inches from the elf's face.

His answer causes Barrett to cry, knowing that he was going to suffer a fate worse than death.

"Why does Mehdi want Luna?" Gheorgie asks, ignoring the sobs that were just falling out of the elf as he walked around the chair.

"He wants you to suffer, he wants the humans as well." Barrett hurries, not wanting to anger the man even more.

"How did Shadow get involved?"

"We hunted him down and captured him. Mehdi starved him to the point that he would do anything, even sign a blood contract." The answer shocked Gheorgie, who thought the worst of the big monster, he had thought he was doing it willingly.

"When?" Gheorgie asked, standing in front of Barrett again, not allowing any emotion to shine through his eyes.

"Ten years ago."

The answer causes Gheorgie to lash out, thinking about how small Luna had been.

Gheorgie grabs one of the knives from the table beside him and cuts the elf's throat, not cutting him deep enough to kill him.

Asher's heart stopped and he lunges forwards, pushing Gheorgie away from Barrett and placing himself between the two of them.

The entire room was silent, caught off guard by Asher's actions.

Asher didn't really understand them either but he stood his ground, having to stop himself from hissing at the older man.

"There is no need to hurt him if he is answering you." Asher states, trying to cushion his actions.

With one look from Gheorgie the entire room clears out, only leaving the three men, causing nerves and fear to bloom in the pit of Asher's stomach.

"Where are they?" Gheorgie demands, deciding to focus on Luna, knowing that he would have to have a talk with Asher later.

"The cabin that Jaiyana gave him." Barrett whispers, hoping that the Lycan wouldn't hurt his kitten, knowing that he wouldn't be able to help him if he decided to.

With one last look at Asher, Gheorgie storms out of the room, forgetting to give orders on what to do with Barrett.

Neither Asher nor Barrett say anything as Asher moves to the door, closing it, giving them more privacy.

Barrett keeps his eyes on the ground, scared that he was going to make a wrong move as Asher moved around the room.

When Asher gets to his knees in front of Barrett and tilts his chin so that he was able to see the wound better, Barrett's heart flutters.

"When will I be sent back to Mehdi?" Barrett was clearly nervous but really wanted to know how long he had.

Without giving him an answer, Asher bandages him up and leaves the stone room, slamming the door behind him, causing Barrett to flinch for what felt like the hundredth time that day.