Page 112 of Hellebore

He keeps holding my face. I open my heavy eyes and focus on him, the corner of my lip curling up despite the fire spreading through me. “For—” I breathe, the word ragged, “letting me know… where she is.” The whisper scrapes out of me.

He drops his hand from my chin and chuckles. “Why? So your spirit can find her? Or some other pathetic shit?”

I drop my head down and shake it slowly, the motion sending fresh waves of dizziness through me. Sweat stings my eyes. The chains rattle faintly with every shallow breath.

“You are pathetic, son.” He paces in front of me, his shoes scraping against the dirt floor. “This fucking flower is taking too long.”

There’s a thump sound upstairs.

“What the fuck was that?” Lawrence turns to look at the door. “Go check it.” He orders the two guards.

They leave quickly, another sound of something crashing.

Bang.

Lawrence pauses. He doesn’t move, but I can hear his fast breaths.

Bang.

The door flies open and two massive masked men walk in, guns up, pointing directly at Lawrence.

He tries to move but they are faster. One hard hit to the knee and he drops.

“Don’t—” The words scrape out of me. I am out of breath and every syllable hurts. “Kill him.”

One of the guys runs toward me and pulls off his mask. I smirk weakly.

He checks my eyes. “Fuck…” Enzo pulls another vial from his pocket. “For God’s sake, open your mouth.”

I part my lips slowly, my head growing heavier by the second.

“Shit,” he grunts as he pours the liquid in. It still burns like hell, fire racing down my throat.

“What?” I breathe after swallowing, voice raw.

Enzo’s eyes stay fixed on my chest and throat. He doesn’t say a word at first. “Another five minutes…”

He shakes his head. “…don’t ever do that again.”

He turns and grabs the keys to the chains from the table. The moment the heavy manacles fall away, I look at Lawrence and try to stand. My legs buckle instantly. Enzo catches me before I crash to the floor.

“Fucking antidote—” I grunt, pain lancing through every limb.

“Well, if it wasn’t for that first dose you would be dead already.” Enzo holds me steady as I stare at Lawrence. My vision slowly clears, though my heart still hammers like a war drum and my legs and hands remain numb and tingling.

I smile at the panic flooding his eyes. “Wanna know something poetic?” I lean closer, voice low and venomous. “Enzo found the two cameras you left at Hellebore, but we didn’t remove them. We let you see us argue. We let you see me leaving alone.”

His mouth drops open. “No, that’s impossible…”

Now I’m the one smiling. “I knew you would use the hellebore serum on me, but the thing is… this wasn’t hellebore. It was henbane. Not as deadly. And my friends here have an antidote. I took enough to stay alive while you bragged about how smart you are.” I smirk, the taste of blood still thick in my mouth. “But I was one step ahead this time, Father.” The word drips like poison.

“I’ll take him,” Easton says. I nod as he yanks Lawrence up, pressing a gun to his temple. “I won’t have any issue killing you if you try anything,” he warns.

Enzo helps me up the stairs, slow and careful. My body aches everywhere. Blood drips steadily from my shoulder and side, leaving dark trails on the steps. “We need to close the wounds,” he mutters while helping me into the SUV.

“Give me the first aid kit. I’ll do it while you drive.” I lean my head back against the seat, feeling like I have been hit by a truck—every breath shallow, every muscle screaming.

Two hours to the old garden. Two hours⁠—