𝙱𝚎𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚃𝚘 𝚆𝚊𝚛

Chapter 27: The Rescue

I hadn't eaten a thing since coming here. Calder tried every day to get me to do things, even attempted to threaten me with the Death Remote. But I knew he'd never do it, so I never complied. I didn't seem to have the energy to do anything anymore. Sometimes I hardly ever left the window except to go to the bathroom. It seemed there was no will left in me to even cry anymore, almost like I'd wrung myself dry. My stomach growled angrily at me but I ignored it. If I couldn't live with the love of my life, why live at all? I cursed at myself for being this way; for acting so vulnerable and weak. I kept thinking to myself 'Beckham would want you to fight back', but how could I? My thoughts turned back to him. How sweet he was to me, how much I'd loved him. My lips twitched. Building up the courage, I rose myself up from the couch and over to the bathroom. I didn't bother to look in the mirror; I already knew I looked like a pile of shit. After doing my business I trudged my way back through the room over to my usual spot. I paused when I kicked something on the floor. I looked down to see what it was. My body froze and my eyes darkened.

The Death Remote.

Athena's P.O.V.

Asia and I worked frantically around each other as we gathered supplies to fix up Beck. We'd been able to get help to bring him back to the castle and he was now in his normal bed. When we found him on the riverbank he was in extremely rough shape. He had scrapes, bruises, abrasions, and a bullet wound. I cut his shirt up the front and opened the flaps of it to the side to exam the damage to his abdomen. He was still unconscious. His midsection had multiple bruises and scratches. Nothing too hard to fix, I thought. But my breath hitched when I saw where his bullet wound was. It was right where his heart was. I pressed my fingers to his neck to check his pulse. Normal. But how? Asia and I rubbed oil solutions over his wounds straight away and wrapped it as quickly as possible. Running into Asia was a blessing for me considering she was a nurse along with me. After what felt like hours, Beckham suddenly jerked up from the bed, startling Asia and I.

"Where is she?!" He asked frantically. He winced and clutched his side. His eyes landed on me and Asia. He looked miserable and desperate. "Where's Bliss?!" I walked to his side and tried laying him back down.

"I was hoping to ask you the same thing. Where is she?" He was panting rapidly, both from fear and pain.

"He has her. Calder has her. I have to get her back!"

"Who's Calder?"

"It's a long story. He's the leader of the Corrupted in the Land of Ashes." Asia gasped. I shook my head. Not good.

"She's been there for days," I said. "We need to get her, now." I turned to Asia. "Can you fix him immediately?" She pursed her lips nervously.

"I've never done it on someone that's this badly injured."

"Please," Beckham pleaded. "He's going to kill her. And if he doesn't, she'll surely find a way to make it happen because she thinks I'm dead. I need to get to her." Asia approached hesitantly and placed her hands on his stomach, a small luminescent glow radiating from her hands. Beckham grimaced as the healing took place, but it happened in no time. As soon as she was finished, Beckham tore himself off from the bed and headed straight for the door. We followed behind him. He wasted no time setting things in place.

"Get my men ready and contact the other kingdoms for backup," He instructed. Asia scurried down the hallway to do as he'd commanded.

"Are you sure you'll need the other kingdoms?" I asked.

"There are hundreds, if not thousands of Corrupted in that shithole of a land. If anything I'm afraid we might not have enough even with the other kingdoms to help." I bit the inside of my cheek.