Chapter 55 Chapter 55
“Fuck you. I won’t tell you shit,” the demon swore, breathing narrowly from all the pain. Some blood ran down from the corner of his mouth, dripping down on the stony ground.
“Are you sure?” Maxwell drawled, and light struck him like knives, tearing and ripping at his skin, prompting him to scream.
Gareth pursed his lips and turned away, not liking the messy scene since he preferred to keep things clean—he had never been a fan of torture. Nicholas Clarke, on the other hand, watched them with steely eyes, not once looking somewhere else. Just like Maxwell, he was livid and ready to do anything to find out who this demon was working with. Vaughn and Esther needed to be safe, no matter the cost. The same applied to all of Nicholas Clarke’s friends, and so he didn’t have a problem with Maxwell’s violent approach.
However, when they didn’t get any results even after hours of doing this, the usually patient Nicholas Clarke was close to losing his nerves. He kept shifting his weight from one leg to the other, glowering at the demon who was more dead than alive at this point. It seemed to be a fruitless undertaking… they wouldn’t find out who the demon worked with even if they killed him, and Maxwell had realized this as well.
The white-haired demon suddenly paused and froze, not moving anymore as he stared into space. Gareth and Nicholas Clarke exchanged a confused glance, expecting him to say something, but he didn’t. They were starting to get worried, not paying attention to the unconscious demon on the ground any longer. A frown appeared on Maxwell’s face, and his brow furrowed.
“What is it?” Nicholas Clarke asked.
“Something is wrong,” Maxwell said. He hardly listened to his friend, concentrating on something else that Nicholas Clarke and Gareth couldn’t perceive.
“What do you mean?” Gareth asked, unable to understand what was going on.
“I think something… is happening to Valerie. I don’t know… I’m sensing danger,” he mumbled and touched his chest. “She’s in pain.”
His face darkened further as he concentrated on his connection with her, feeling an emotion that was like a stab to his heart. He had experienced her psychological pain often already, but never like this. It scared him. He was overcome by urgency, knowing he had to do something.
“I have to go back.”
Nicholas Clarke and Gareth stared at him with wide eyes, taking in the sinister look on his face. “I will accompany you,” Nicholas Clarke said, already opening a portal.
“Fine,” Maxwell replied impatiently.
“I’ll take care of the rest, don’t worry about the demon,” Gareth said seconds before they vanished.
\---
When Valerie regained consciousness, she lay on a soft mattress and stared up at a white ceiling. Blinking confusedly, she looked around but didn’t recognize her surroundings. Was she in a hospital? But why? She took a deep breath as the memories came back, and she recalled her unexpected encounter with her ex. Fear crept into her heart, but she tried her best to stay calm. She didn’t need another panic attack right now.
Someone in the building must have called an ambulance for her. How embarrassing – she must have fainted in the lift! Valerie couldn’t believe her bad luck. The day had started well, the interview had been a dream come true, and she had been happy, but then everything was destroyed within seconds. Valerie would have never guessed that Uriel worked for Regal Enterprises now.
She should have known that she wouldn’t be able to avoid the bastard forever, and she also should have known that he didn’t give a shit about that restraining order. Maybe she should call the police about that…
Suddenly, she heard a ruckus outside. There were muffled shouts and curses, but she didn’t understand the words until the people came closer to the door of her room.
“Calm down, you can’t be here. It’s not allowed,” a nurse yelled nervously, and Valerie wondered what was going on.
“Get out of my way before I kill you,” a familiar voice hollered.
“Stop.”
“How dare you, lowly human. Do you want to go to hell?”
“What are you even talking about?”
“This is your last warning, human. If you don’t let me through this instant, you are going to regret it.”
Valerie snorted at the tantrum the demon was throwing just outside her door. She rubbed her eyes and held in an exhausted yawn. At this point, she was only waiting for him to break down the door or something. It couldn’t take long.
And she was right, the nurse seemed to have given up now because the door opened and closed with a bang, and she saw Maxwell sighing deeply. His hair was tousled and looked like he had been in a hurry, while his heaving shoulders only added to it. He lifted his head, and their eyes met.
“There you are,” he yelled agitatedly and walked up to the bed. “What happened? You scared the shit out of me.”
Valerie hesitated and avoided looking at him. “I’m not sure… I guess I fainted?” she mumbled.
“You fainted?” he repeated in disbelief. “Are you humans so weak that you just fall over?”
“Not really,” she said, and hoped that he would give her some space. She wasn’t ready for an argument after the shock of seeing Uriel. When she looked at Maxwell, her eyes were instantly drawn to suspicious dark red stains on the ends of his grey sleeves. Those hadn’t been there when he had left this morning, she was sure of it. What had he done while they were separated? Did she even want to find out?
“Maxwell… why do you have blood on your clothes? And on your hair?” she whispered, horrified.
He looked at his sleeves and rolled his eyes, uttering, “Damn, I thought I washed it all off.”
“What did you do?” she asked hysterically, the pitch of her voice rising higher until it sounded like a screech.
“Nothing, this is just ketchup. I… got some food with Nicholas Clarke earlier.”
“Ketchup. Do you think I’m a child? I know what blood looks like,” she whispered nervously. Did he murder someone while she didn’t pay attention? She tended to forget this sometimes, but he was a demon, and it was in a demon’s nature to kill and destroy. They were unpredictable, and ending a life came as easily to them as it did to her to breathe air. She raked a hand through her messy black hair, gritting her teeth while she tried her best to stay calm. This wasn’t something she wanted to deal with right now. She had enough on her plate with Uriel already; she didn’t need an unruly demon to make it worse.