Chapter 179

Hannah

“Dr. Davis. What has happened to you?” I asked, grabbing onto the bars of the cell. “What have they done…?”

“You shouldn’t be here,” he groaned, lifting his head off the cold concrete ground. I could tell it pained him to speak; it looks like he’s been tortured for months. My heart ached for him; Nancy was going to lose her mind once she found out what was happening to her husband this entire time. “You need to leave before he catches you here.”

“Let me worry about that,” I said, shaking my head with dismay. “We need to get you out of here. Where can I find the keys?”

I went to search the front desk for the keys to his cell, but his voice stopped me.

“Wait; if we are caught, we will all die. I can’t risk your life to save mine.”

“I can’t let you rot in here,” I said, narrowing my eyes at him. “You don’t deserve that. You didn’t do anything wrong besides keep the hospital running.”

He gave me a faint and pained laugh.

“I see you’ve spoken to Nancy,” he said; I could see the sadness lingering in his eyes. He was almost unrecognizable. “How is she?”

“She’s worried about you,” I said, stepping toward his cell again. “She wants you home.”

“I’m sorry I can’t be there with her…”

“It’s not your fault,” I told him firmly. “You were doing your job. It’s Jack’s fault for wanting to shut down the hospital.”

“Your brother…” he said, meeting my eyes. “I wanted to keep him protected but…”

“It’s okay. Liam is safe,” I told him gently. “I got him out of the underworld, and he returned to his body. They left him in the hospital. They were going to use him as a test subject…”

“I guess you came back right on time.”

“It seems that way,” I said in return. “But now we need to get you out of here too. You can’t stay here. I won’t allow it.”

“If you get me out of here, you’ll have to get everyone else out too.”

I glanced around at all the other occupied cells. Most everybody was in the same condition, if not worse conditions than Dr. Davis. I shuddered at the thought of how much pain they must be in. There is no way for them to heal in here; Jack was literally just leaving them here till death. This made me hate him and Xander that much more.

“We will never be able to leave here discreetly. Most will die before they make it up the stairs. You can’t save us. But you can save yourself before it’s too late,” Dr. Davis breathed.

“You must know that we are doing everything we can to take back the throne. As soon as we get the throne back, you will be released,” I told him, grabbing onto the bars of his cell. “I won’t allow you to die in here.”

He gave me a distorted laugh.

“You always were stubborn,” he said softly.

“I plan to continue being stubborn until everything is back to normal. I promise we aren’t going to stop until you are out of here.”

He gave me a look that told me he had already given up, but I wasn’t going to allow him to give up. Not while Sebastian and I were still alive.

“You have my word, Leonard.”

“Can you tell Nancy that I love her so much? And that I’m so sorry?” He asked in a faint whisper.

I fought back the tears that threatened my eyes.

“Of course,” I answered. “Stay strong. Soon, you’ll be able to tell her this yourself too.”

I backed away from his cell and glanced around at everyone around me. They were all looking up at me from the ground and I could feel their worry and anxieties.

“You can all rest easy; I will personally make sure that justice is served. As your queen, you can trust me,” I told them all.

I could see a bit of hopefulness in their eyes once I spoke those words. It didn’t matter if Jack and Amy were in charge; I was still their queen and Sebastian will forever be their king.

…

Sebastian

“You should turn back,” Adira said, narrowing her eyes at Sebastian. “The king will be upset if he finds you up here.”

“Is there a reason you’re guarding my stepmother’s bedroom?” Sebastian asked, raising his brows.

Adira swallowed the lump that formed in her throat as she glanced at the guards before her. They all gave her the same way identical looks in return before fixating their eyes back on Sebastian.

“Lady Magnolia said it’s important we keep watch over this wing. You never know who is lurking in these halls,” Adira finally answered after a short pause.

Sebastian wanted to laugh at that; of course, Magnolia would never reveal to them the real reason why she wanted them to keep watch over her room. Now Sebastian knew for sure that the emblem was inside the room. There was no other reason for the security.

“Oddly enough, she asked for me to fetch something from her chambers,” Sebastian said stepping toward them.

They all stared at him with wary looks, causing Sebastian to pause to look them over briefly.

“I’m sorry, sir. But we can’t let you enter. We have strict orders to keep everyone away from these rooms. You understand, don’t you?” Adira asked, batting her long lashes at him.

“And I have orders to get an item for my stepmother. You understand, don’t you Adira?” Sebastian asked in return.

“It’s just that…” she tried to explain but Sebastian cut her words off.

“I think it’s best if we keep the chatting to a minimum. You know how Lady Magnolia doesn’t like to be kept waiting. I can always send her this way if that makes you feel better. However, we both know that it might turn into a bloodbath if she’s disturbed during this important ball.”

The color on their faces seemed to have drained. Adira looked at the guards behind her once more before turning back to Sebastian and stepping aside for him to enter.

“Please, make it fast,” she pleaded to him.

He nodded and entered Magnolia’s room, sealing the door behind him. Her room was exactly how he remembered it and her jewelry box was kept on her vanity as it always was. It was the same box that his father had given her for one of her birthdays. Inside the box held their wedding rings and a few other pieces of jewelry that she rarely ever wore. On the top drawer of her jewelry box, was a red crescent moon. It felt warm to the touch and glowed almost instantly when Sebastian touched it.

“Sebastian?” Hannah’s voice came through on a mindlink. “We need to go. I found Dr. Davis, but I’m unable to get him out. It was awful down there. There are so many of them. They are being tortured and left to die…” she was choking back tears.

It didn’t surprise Sebastian that they were torturing people in the dungeon and leaving them to die. It would surprise him if they weren’t. But he was determined to help everybody once he gets his throne back. He had what he needed; they no longer needed to stay at the ball. It wouldn’t be long before midnight, which means they were running short on time.

He shoved the emblem into his coat pocket before leaving the room. The gammas looked relieved to see him resurface.

“Thank you, gammas,” he said to them over his shoulder. “You’ve been very helpful. I’ll make sure to put a good word in for you to my stepmother and stepbrother.”

“Thank you, sir,” they all said at once with bows.

Hannah was waiting at the bottom of the stairs when Sebastian returned. She looked bothered; he knew that the sight of the dungeon was probably unsettling for her. She gave him a look like she was quietly asking if he got what they came there for.

He gave her a playful smirk and tapped his pocket, making her grin.

“Can we get out of here?” She asked as she took his arm into hers.

“Yes,” he said. They began walking toward the door when he heard a voice coming from behind him.

“Leaving so soon?”

They both paused at the doorway and turned to see Jack standing before them with Amy by his side.