Chapter 34 Worst is happening
Another text came through, this one with a photo attached showing Kai bound to a chair with blood on his face and Mandivus standing behind him smiling at the camera.
The message read;
"Tick tock, Elara. Your mate for your son. Choose wisely."
Elara stared at the photo feeling everything inside her crack and splinter because she couldn't save both of them.
She had to choose between the man who'd destroyed her life and the son who was her entire world.
Her phone rang and she answered without thinking.
"Hello Elara," Mandivus's voice purred. "I'm glad to see you got my message."
"Let him go," Elara demanded.
"Why would I do that?" Mandivus asked. "He's leverage, and you're going to give me exactly what I want in exchange for his life."
"I'll give you nothing," Elara said.
"Then I'll start removing pieces of him and sending them to you," Mandivus said casually. "How attached are you to his fingers? What about his eyes? His..."
"Stop," Elara said. "What do you want?"
"You know what I want," Mandivus said. "Adrian, he should be brought to my compound, hand him over willingly, and in exchange I'll release Kai and we'll call it even."
"You'll kill us both," Elara said.
"Maybe," Mandivus agreed. "But at least Kai has a chance this way, but if you refuse, he dies slowly while you listen."
"How do I know he's even alive?" Elara asked.
There was a rustling sound and then Kai's voice came through. "Don't do it Elara, don't bring Adrian..."
The sound of something hitting him cut him off and Mandivus came back on the line.
"As you can hear, he's very much alive, for now, you have twenty-four hours."
The call ended and Elara sat there staring at her phone while the world tilted sideways.
A nurse appeared. "Ms. Your son is asking for you."
Elara followed her to a hospital room where Adrian lay in a bed with IV tubes and monitors attached, his fever broken and his color returning to normal.
"Mama," he said weakly when he saw her.
"I'm here baby," Elara said and took his small hand. "How do you feel?"
"I feel tired," Adrian said. "Where's dada?"
Elara felt tears burn her eyes because she didn't know how to explain that his father was being tortured by a monster who wanted to own Adrian.
"Dada had to go do something important," she lied. "But he'll be back soon."
"Promise?" Adrian asked.
"I promise," Elara said even though she had no idea if she could keep it.
She sat with Adrian until he fell asleep and then stepped into the hallway to think.
She had twenty-four hours to decide—hand over Adrian to a borderlands Alpha who would raise him as a weapon, or let Kai die for crimes he'd committed against her.
Two years ago the choice would have been easy, let Kai suffer the way he'd made her suffer.
But now she'd seen him with Adrian, seen genuine remorse in his eyes, seen him risk everything to protect them.
And despite everything he'd done, despite all the pain he'd caused, some part of her still felt the mate bond pulling toward him.
Her phone buzzed with another message, this one from a number she recognized—Maya.
"I heard what happened. Liam and I are coming to help. Don't do anything stupid until we get there."
Elara typed back: "Where are you?"
"Four hours away. Stay at the hospital and keep Adrian safe. We have a plan."
Elara looked through the hospital room window at Adrian sleeping peacefully, then down at her phone showing Kai beaten and bound.
Twenty-four hours to save them both or lose everything, and she still didn't have a plan that didn't end in disaster.
A hospital security guard approached her. "Ma'am, there's a man here claiming to be Adrian's grandfather, says his name is Darius Silvercrest."
Elara's heart stopped. "Don't let him near my son."
"He has legal documentation showing parental rights," the guard said. "I can stall him for maybe ten minutes but after that..."
"Lock down the room," Elara interrupted. "No visitors without my explicit permission."
"I'll do what I can," the guard said and walked away.
Elara rushed back into Adrian's room and locked the door, pushing a chair against it for good measure.
Through the small window she saw Darius appear in the hallway with two men in suits, clearly lawyers, arguing with hospital staff.
She had minutes before they found a way in, and once Darius had Adrian there would be no getting him back.
Her phone buzzed again: "22 hours left. I'm getting impatient."
Elara looked at Adrian sleeping peacefully and made a decision that terrified her.
She was going to fight, not run, not hide, not surrender.
She was going to get Kai back and protect Adrian and destroy everyone who'd tried to take them from her.
But first she needed to get out of this hospital before Darius broke through that door.