Bloodline

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Two

"Then why are we all standing around here," I managed in disbelief, "Why aren't we doing something?" Everyone shared wary looks at that, but no one answered me right away. Not until Akin decided to do it.

"Sweetheart, we don't know where they took him. They didn't leave any trace behind. Nothing was left behind, except you and a destroyed bedroom," Akin explained gently. I looked at him, confused.

"But... Why? Why did they leave me and take Keros?" I asked.

"Simple," Hades said, making me look up, "They want to do a trade. They clearly had some trouble taking you and took Keros instead, in order to do a trade, so it'd be easier for you to come to them."

"Then do it," I said, "Why just stand around? Offer me."

"First of all, no," Akin said firmly, making me look at him incredulously, "We are not making deals with terrorists. And second of all, they didn't leave behind any way to contact them. Clearly they want us to wait for them to contact us."

"But why wouldn't you trade me for him," I asked, stunned by that logic, "You don't need me here. Keros is your nephew, isn't he? Surely--"

"And you're my son," Akin said angrily, making me stiffen, "We're not trading. I love Keros to death, and we are getting him back one way or another, but we are not trading you for him. That's absolutely ridiculous. We'll find a way to get Keros back without sacrificing you." I glared at him.

"I am not your son," I threw back, making him tighten up, "I'm just some random kid that showed up on your doorstep one day, and the nephew you've known since he was born was kidnapped. How could you possibly see me as anything other than dispensable?"

"I'm not arguing about this," Akin said after a moment, like he was struggling to compose himself, "You're staying here at the hospital until we can figure out what the hell they did to you. I'm going to go back home to check on Thirteen. Hannibal, stay with him. Hades, you too. I'm just. I'm leaving." Without another word, Akin vanished on the spot, making me slam my fist into the bed, only for the room to spin after a second from the energy I expended in doing so.

I cursed and slumped back down on the bed as the King turned to look at Hades, who looked back at him, then shrugged before looking down at his tablet.

"Leave him alone," Hades said at the King's concerned stare, "You go after him, you'll just piss him off. And don't get me wrong; I want Keros back right here, right now, but panicking isn't going to bring him back. All we can do right now is wait for their call. All the lines here at the hospital have been tapped, and so have the ones back at your place. If they call, we'll know and we'll be able to run a trace on it."

"I hate waiting," the King muttered.

"Ditto," I agreed, reaching up to rake my hands through my hair before dropping them down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling as guilt swirled like a tornado in my gut, making me sick to my stomach.

Keros was gone.

They'd taken him.

Son of a bitch. I'd been so focused on them taking me, that the thought of doing a trade hadn't occurred to me. Of course the Mother would realize this was the best way to get me to come home, and fuck... She knew about the Beast now. She didn't care about Thirteen now, though. She cared about getting me back, to use me.

Granted, the idea sounded fucking horrible. I was bound to be threatened if I didn't comply with what they did, and something told me they would use Keros as that threat. If I didn't comply, they would hurt him. They would hurt Akin, the King, Thirteen, probably Hades too. Unless I returned without argument and did what they said.