𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆: 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐈

~Help~

-"War doesn't determine who is right, it determines who is left."-

______________________________

"Page Salib," a doctor announced to a nurse who immediately did as asked when she caught sight of the dangerous-looking people who had deadly stares.

The doctor led them into a conference room with a rapid heart rate, where Dr. Salib would meet them.

They sat down with grim expressions as they keenly waited on the renowned medical expert.

Blade's leg jumped up and down, not liking being here. He wanted to believe that Raine had nothing to do with the traffickers. They had gotten unbelievably close during these past few months and he didn't want it to end.

He didn't want to have to kill her...

A few moments later, Dr. Salib walked into the conference room, seeing everyone's stoic faces. She slowly walked to a chair and sat down in it, hesitant and questioning what everyone was doing here.

Blade had informed her of all that was going on but she never thought that she would be involved and be someone they had their doubts about.

She knew it was best not to argue even though she was beyond angry inside. She understood how everyone else could be curious but Blade? They essentially lived together. How could he not trust her?

She hated to admit but a piece of her heart cracked when he saw his monotoned face like he knew it was her all along.

"I'll tell you all I know but I have nothing to do with the traitors and traffickers. I swear," Raine stated as she laced her hands together in front of her, showing her seriousness.

They all looked at her, listening to her explanation.

"I met Midnight eleven years ago when I was barely in med school. I went to study abroad in Sweden, and while I was walking in the woods I found a bloody figure laying on the grass. Like any logical person, I ran over to her and found her barely alive. She was unconscious, beaten, bruised, and cold," she started.

Luca looked at the ground, a mix of emotion boiling his blood. Anger, failure, desolation, and regret.

Anger from the people who hurt her. Failure for not seeing her pain. Desolation for hearing how hurt she was and how she suffered more than he thought. He regretted not knowing this before and not protecting her.

"I did my best to stabilize her and took her to my team of doctors. We didn't know who she was and we classified her as Jane Doe. We eventually realized that those woods we were in was a hotspot for sex trafficker drop-offs and that Midnight had managed to escape but eventually collapsed of exhaustion," Raine continued.

How did someone end up being sold into the black market but end up owning it?

"When she was still in the coma, a man with a hood came in the middle of the night and took her. A few years later, when I had finished med-school, Midnight reached out to me and recruited me," she explained.

"Did the man have a red scar on his neck with the tattoo over it? Were you sure it was a man?" Katrina asked, wondering if it was the King that everyone else had told them about.

"He was definitely a man but he had no tattoo or scar on his neck. All he had was 'momento mori' tattooed on his fist where it was supposed to be," she answered.

Katrina released a breath at the conclusion that the man she was wasn't the King.

Luca went over Raine's words again. A man came and took her but no scar on the neck.

That man had to have been Adrian.

~

"Well, that was a bust," Blade huffed as they entered the base. A mix of hums and nods in agreement sounded in the room.

Luca sat down in the leather chair, deep in thought. He would tell them all what he knew now. He had no choice and no right to keep this all from them. Thinking of a way to tell them, he prepared to tell them everything.

Matteo looked out the window, deep in thought just like Luca as he stared at the busy streets of New York.

His thoughts drifted off to a far-off place as dots started to connect unknowingly.

Matteo felt his heart stop.

But it thumped so loud...so loud that he could hear it.

His feet were rooted on the marble tile as a cold sweat broke out on his back.

A deep churning and twisted sensation occurred in his stomach, making his heart sink.

His hands began to shake as his eyelids seemed to be glued open.

His throat closed up as ragged breaths escaped him.

He figured it out...

Luca swallowed, turning around and facing everyone.

"I know who-" both Matteo and Luca said in unison. They looked at each other in shock before staring at each other.

Luca looked at him questioningly and Matteo did the same. Everyone else raised their brow and was very confused at the telepathic conversation that was going on between the two men.

Before they had time to do anything else, they were cut off by a loud blaring sound coming from everything electronic around them.

All of their phones and laptops began to beep audibly, piercing their ears.

The screens of the photoelectric devices turned a deep red and black as they glitched with capital gold K's blinking with each noise they released.

They all got up, on guard as they looked at their devices in astonishment.

As the sounds quieted down, the screens glitched with words and numbers.

"It's an address!" Starr gasped as she picked up her phone.

Finally, all the devices blinked with one word.

H e l p

- The King

The alarm had been sounded

~

(A/N):

BUCKLE UP HOES.

The finale will be the next chapter! I will have the epilogue and bonus chapters posted after! As always, let me know anything I can improve on, and comment, vote, and follow!