Chapter 45: Chapter 45 In the middle of the night.
As the buzzer blared inside the cabin, outside of it, a car pulled up, headlights shining against the front walls of the wooden structure.
Inside, silence reigned, heavy and unsettling. Jake stepped out first, as usual, opening the car door for Adrian to emerge. Once that was done, he circled back to the boot to retrieve something.
Adrian lingered, his sharp gaze fixed on the glowing light coming from the cabin’s windows. He turned slightly toward Jake.
"I just remembered—during our assessment of the people killed back at the headquarters—I didn’t see my father or brother’s corpse." His tone was calm but heavy, the thought pressing deep.
Jake froze with his hand on the boot.
Surviving that building collapse had been impossible. Yet Daniel had lived through it. At the very least, Adrian should have seen their bodies.
"I don’t know, boss. Where should I carry the prisoner?" Jake finally asked.
Adrian’s lips curved into his usual foreboding smile.
"He still needs to learn an important lesson—about tracking someone down, and about how rude it is." His voice was sharp, cold.
Then, with measured steps, Adrian began to walk.
"I’ll arrange a questioning session with everyone present," he declared. "We must identify the perpetrator before we completely fall apart."
Adrian trusted no one—no one but Jake. The man himself might not know it, but he was the only one Adrian considered genuinely concerned about him. Even if Adrian never showed it, even if he was always an ass, Jake was the one soul he could rely on.
The front door slid open automatically—the only working machine in the building. Everything else had broken down from unforeseen circumstances. Adrian entered, leaving Jake outside. Jake finally pulled the prisoner out of the car.
The man was bulky but already disfigured from Adrian’s earlier torment. His face bore the jagged marks of a pressing iron. Jake never knew how Adrian had gotten his hands on one in a hospital, but he had used it without hesitation.
The man had screamed, writhed, and cried in agony—but to Adrian, that was music. Pleading did nothing to soften his stone heart.
"I could’ve said sorry," Jake muttered, dragging the man like a sack of rice. "But that’s what you get for stalking the boss."
The unconscious figure scraped across the dirt-stained ground, his feet punctured by sharp objects along the way. Jake didn’t care. His duty was to deliver the man to the cabin—and he did. Except inside, another storm had already broken loose.
The crew, gathered in the sitting room, were sprawled out, snoring like beasts in deep slumber. Not even Jake’s dragging noises stirred them.
Adrian’s expression soured. His eyes darted to the table, where glasses of drink stood in neat rows. He knew instantly. They’d been drugged. Someone had slipped something into their drinks and carried out a plan while they were unconscious.
"Useless entities!" Adrian hissed.
Without hesitation, he rushed to the basement—the prison cells. Daniel should have been there, awaiting punishment. But as Adrian expected, the cell was empty. The light was still on, yet the prisoner was gone.
"Jake! Wake them all up—anyhow! They will answer for this!" Adrian thundered, his voice echoing through the dead forest.
Jake dumped the unconscious man on the floor and rushed to fetch a bucket filled with icy water. Returning, he emptied it on their faces.
The shock of the freezing water worked instantly. They gasped, sputtered, and screamed.
"Who the fuck dared to pour that—" Cassian’s voice rose, then froze when he spotted Adrian and Jake standing there.
He nearly turned blue. The others scrambled to their feet, quickly bowing in shame. Greta and Gregor flushed, caught in such an undignified state. They would’ve wished for anything but Adrian’s dark frown.
No warmth existed in his face. His venomous gaze lingered on each of them, and Titania felt her stomach twist.
"Are we in trouble?" she whispered to Cecilia beside her.
The girl only shrugged, still half-dazed, her sleepy expression betraying her confusion.
Adrian’s eyes swept the group, counting heads. One was missing. The raven-haired one. The feminine one. What was his name again?
"Alexander," Adrian muttered.
His gaze hardened.
"So—you all allowed yourselves to get drugged, and now the prisoner escaped. Is that how I trained you?" His voice was slow, each word striking like a blade.
The crew shivered. Daniel Morreti was gone. Their boss’s fury was inevitable.
Gregor spoke up, voice trembling. "We—we weren’t supposed to sleep off. Forgive us, boss. We’ll track him down."
Adrian studied him, then gave a single nod.
"Do it. Find him. And if you fail to bring him back, I promise you—the torture I’ll give will make you beg for death."
That evil smile of his returned, sharp as ever.
They all bolted upright. Their fate now depended on Daniel’s capture. Cassian unleashed two hounds, trained for tracking thieves and prey, and the crew surged into hunting mode. But Alexander’s absence gnawed at Adrian.
"Could he be the traitor?" Adrian thought darkly. "Or... did something else happen to him?"
Back in the room, Adrian turned to the unconscious man. Jake had already boiled water earlier, and now it was ready. Without hesitation, Adrian poured the scalding liquid over him.
The man’s deafening scream rattled the room. He thrashed, groaning, tears streaming freely.
"What? Crying over hot water and an iron burn?" Adrian scoffed. "What a weak fool."
He had expected more resilience. Instead, he found another broken coward.
Jake cracked his knuckles. "Will you start talking, or should I fetch the acid?"
Adrian chuckled.
"Who sent you? Tell me the name of the man funding your organization—or I’ll cut off your cock, piece by piece, and force-feed it to you."
The man trembled violently. The nightmare before him was far worse than death. He knew betrayal meant dying either way. Still, the words spilled from him between sobs.
"It—it’s a billionaire. He said he’d help us if we destroyed you. He wanted your crew dead, your family ruined, your legacy gone."
Adrian’s face twisted with impatience.
"Of course he’s a billionaire! No poor man could make bombs! But who is he? Name. Company. Location."
The man suddenly convulsed. Blood spilled from his mouth. His body shook violently.
"What’s happening?!" Jake panicked, patting his face.
"Answer me now!" Adrian slapped him hard, trying to drag him back.
But the man only bled harder. His body swelled—and in the next instant, he exploded. Flesh and blood splattered across the room, staining even their clothes.
Jake gulped, horrified.
Adrian crouched at the mess, pulling out a bloodied wire, connected to a small detonator. A timer had been planted in the man’s stomach to prevent betrayal.
"We fucked up," Adrian muttered darkly. "Should’ve questioned him in the hospital."
Now their last clue was gone. His expression hardened even further.
"Alexander. The missing one. He’s the traitor. He holds the secret we need."
Jake immediately moved. Together with Adrian, they set the hounds on Alexander’s trail. The hunt began.
********
Daniel had been running endlessly, legs burning, lungs screaming. He staggered, almost collapsing—but the fear of being caught kept him moving.
A bark tore through the silence behind him.
"No—they didn’t catch up, no way," Daniel panted in horror.
But the sound grew closer. He pushed harder, stumbling until he burst out onto a road. Just then, a Ferrari screeched to a stop in front of him.
Before he could even catch his breath, a gunshot rang from behind.
"Get in—or you die," a bodyguard barked, stepping out of the car.
Daniel didn’t hesitate. He threw himself inside, slamming the door just as the Ferrari sped off.
Moments later, Cassian and Gregor emerged from the woods, reaching the roadside.
But Daniel was gone.
"Shit—he vanished," Cassian muttered, face pale.
Cecilia’s voice trembled. "We’re going to be skinned alive, aren’t we?"