Chapter 223 Trusting the enemy
Chapter 223: trusting the enemy
Damon pov
"I know where Milo is." Aldrich said, the words bursting out even before I finished.
"Good." I stepped back, every muscle still coiled for violence, ready to strike at the first sign of betrayal. "Then you have a minute to prove you are on our side. Starting now."
Aldrich pushed himself up slowly, one hand pressed to his ribs where I had landed a solid hit. For someone enhanced by the Queen's twisted science, he was moving carefully, deliberately. Either I'd done more damage than I thought, or he was being cautious not to provoke another attack.
Smart man.
Daphne gave me a grateful look, before moving toward him immediately, before we could stop her. Her healer's instincts overriding whatever caution she should have maintained. Her hands reached for the cut on his throat, the blood still trickling down to stain his collar.
"Don't," Aldrich said quietly, catching her wrist before she could touch him. "Not yet."
She froze, her eyes searching his face with desperate intensity. "You're hurt. Let me…"
"I am fine." His fingers lingered on her wrist for a moment longer than necessary, and I saw it…the spark, the recognition, the dormant bond flickering to life between them after years of separation.
"Touching," Selene's emotionless voice cut through the moment like a knife. She moved to stand beside me, her expression carefully blank but her hand never leaving her weapon. "But we don't have time for reunions. If what you say is true, Aldrich, we have less than ninety minutes before the Queen returns. So I suggest you start talking, now."
Aldrich released Daphne's wrist and straightened, his commander's mask sliding back into place. "I didn't exactly say I know where he is. But at least, I know where he might have been taken to, after the doctors died. There's an old supply network in the lower fortress, rooms that aren't on any official maps. Someone's hiding him there."
“How do you know all this?” I asked, my blade still raised towards him.
“Because something happened," Aldrich continued, his tone shifting to something more serious. "Someone interfered. Killed the doctors before they could complete the procedure. Freed him."
"Someone?" Selene stepped forward. "Who?"
"If I knew that, Commander, I would not be standing here making pleasant conversation with your infiltration team." His eyes moved to Selene, and something flickered in his expression. Recognition? Respect? "Though I have to admit, your distraction was masterfully executed. The Queen is probably halfway to the northern ridge by now, absolutely livid that she fell for such an obvious trap."
"You did not go with her," I said, forcing my mind to work through the rage that was building up inside me. "Why?"
"Because someone had to stay behind and clean up the mess." Aldrich's smile turned cold. "And because I had a feeling someone might try exactly this. A desperate rescue attempt while the fortress was undermanned. Very romantic and Very stupid also"
"He is stalling," one of the Silent Dancers signed to Selene. "Waiting for reinforcements."
"No reinforcements are coming," Aldrich said calmly, apparently able to read their hand signals. I raised an eyebrow, but chose not to say anything. "I sent the remaining garrison to seal the outer walls. If your mate is still in this fortress, he is trapped. And so are you."
Daphne made a small sound of distress. Selene's expression hardened into something dangerous.
But I was focused on what Aldrich had said before. Someone freed Milo. Someone had also killed the doctors. That means someone was helping him, moving him through the fortress.
But who??
"And why would you help us do that?" I asked, still suspicious of the whole thing.
"Because I am tired." The words were quiet, heavy with something that might have been true. "Tired of pretending. Tired of serving a monster. Tired of being broken." His gaze shifted to Daphne. "And because maybe, just maybe, I can still be the man my mate deserves."
The room was silent except for the drip of blood on stone. Selene watched me, waiting for my decision. The Silent Dancers had their weapons ready, prepared to follow whatever call I made. Daphne looked at me with pleading eyes.
And somewhere in this fortress, Milo was hiding. Afraid. Alone. Possibly injured.
Every instinct screamed that this was a trap. That trusting the Queen's commander was suicide. That nothing good could come from this alliance.
But I felt Milo now. Even not through the broken bond, but I could sense his presence. It's something I could explain. This was the closest we have ever been in weeks.
I pulled the blade back slowly, but kept it ready. "Betray us," I said, my voice deadly quiet, "and mate bond or not, I will rip your throat out. I'll make you watch as I burn this entire fortress to ash. And then, when you are begging for death, I'll make sure it takes a very, long time."
Aldrich's hand moved to his throat, touching the blood there. "Understood."
"Good." I stepped back, every muscle still coiled for violence. "Then you have ninety minutes to prove you're on our side. Starting now."
"This way," he whispered, pointing at a closed door. "The old fortress lies beneath the new. Most people have forgotten it exists."
"Convenient place to hide someone," Selene observed, her tone neutral but her eyes sharp.
"Or to lead enemies into a trap," I added, watching Aldrich's face for any reaction.
He met my gaze steadily. "If I wanted you dead, you would already be dead. The Queen's enhanced soldiers are faster than you think, and I know this fortress better than anyone alive." He paused, then added quietly, "But I don't want you dead. I want you gone. You and the omega and that child, as far from this cursed place as possible."
"But why?" The question came from Daphne, her voice small but steady. "Why now, after all these years? Why not escape before? Why not send word that you were alive?"
Pain flickered across Aldrich's face, quick as lightning but unmistakable. "Because I wasn't alive. Not really. The Queen's charms... it breaks something inside you. Makes you forget who you were, what you cared about. I have been fighting my way back for years, clawing through the fog in my mind." He looked at her, and the rawness in his expression made my chest tighten. "Every day I remembered a little more. Your laugh. Your smile. The way you used to braid flowers into your hair in spring. And every day I hated myself more for what I had become."
Tears spilled down Daphne's cheeks. "Aldrich…"
"Later." His voice was rough as he turned away. "We can talk about this later, if we survive. Right now, your friend's mate is hiding in the dark, terrified and alone. And we have less than an hour before the queen discovers that she has been played."
"Save the declarations for when we're not standing in a room full of corpses," I growled impatiently, gesturing toward the door. "Move."
Aldrich nodded and slipped into the corridor. Selene followed immediately, her Silent Dancers fanning out in practiced formation. I let Daphne go next, then brought up the rear, my senses on high alert for any sign of ambush.
I met Aldrich's eyes from behind. "And pray you are telling the truth…" I trailed off, but the meaning was as clear as daylight.
Because if he wasn't, no Jupiter would save him from my wrath.