| Chapter 53 Devon walked down the hall, making his way out of the palace. He'd spent a few hours with Marie, leaving her in her room. He sighed, hating what the whole situation was doing to her. He laughed inwardly, never thinking of himself as a soft hearted person, but somehow it was turning out that way. He had let his personal feelings get the best of him, and now he was paying for it. Feeling the guilt every time he saw his sister. Never in a million years had he expected to get as close to Marie as he had. And Brian, well he was a whole different story. He'd started out hating the man, but after he got to know him, he found he couldn't do that anymore. Now his sister was carrying Brian's child, and morning his disappearance. Devon shook his head, pondering a new feeling�regret. He knew he had no choice in the matter. Once the plan was started, there was no stopping it. Not if he valued his livelihood and life. He was slowly coming to realize just what a peon he really was. He was ordered to do certain things, and he did them, without question. Well now he was questioning it, and it sucked. Never had he felt this way about anything he'd been asked to do, and he never wanted to feel like this again. He turned the corner and saw a guard standing next to the door. As he approached the man stepped in his way. "Mr. Lapool, the king requests your presence, please follow me," the man said, leading him down the hall to Nick's office. Devon followed, wondering what Nick wanted to talk to him about. He figured Nick would ask what he remembered of the men that took Brian since no one had asked him yet. The guard stopped at the door, motioning for Devon to walk in. He did, stopping in his tracks. Nick was sitting at his desk, Kevin standing next to him. Ana was standing near the door with Rowland, and there were two more guards in the room. Nick looked up as Devon walked in, anger in his eyes. Devon kneeled, "You asked to see me your highness." "Yes I did, take a seat," Nick said, pointing to the chair in front of the desk. Devon sat down, seeing Kevin glaring at him. He was starting to get nervous as the door closed and Rowland positioned himself in front of it. Nick looked down at the papers in front of him and sighed, "Where is he?" "Who?" Devon asked, confused. Nick closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to stay calm, "Brian, where is he?" "I don't know," Devon said quietly. "Bullshit!" Kevin boomed, making him jump. Nick glared at him, "Devon, I'm giving you a chance to come clean here. We know you work for Interstellar Distributions, and we know that they want the mines. Just tell me where Brian is and I promise your punishment won't be as strict." Devon glanced around. There was no leaving the room. He sighed, looking down at his hands, "I-I honesty don't know." "You fucking liar!" Kevin yelled, making it to Devon's seat in two steps and backhanding him across the face. "Kevin!" Nick yelled, standing up. Devon held his hand to his cheek, looking up at the two, "I really don't know where they took him. I was just the bait to get him ... I-I'm so sorry," he said, looking back down at his lap. "You can't honestly thing we're gonna buy that load of shit do you?!" Kevin spat. Devon said nothing. Nick walked around the desk and stood in front of Devon, "Look at me." Slowly Devon looked up, locking eyes with Nick. "Tell me what part you played in this. I wanna know everything," Nick demanded. "My superiors wanted a way to influence you. I told them I had a connection and so they appointed me the bait. I was suppose to buddy up with Brian until the time came that they needed him. I did that, but......." Devon trailed off. "But what?!" Kevin asked, making him jump again. "I-I got to know him, and I .... um...I realized that he wasn't such a bad person. I hated him at first, because of what he is and where he was from, but then I got to know him. I didn't want to do this ..... please you have to believe me! I'd give anything to take it all back now," Devon pleaded. Nick stared down at him, a tired expression on his face, "And you don't know where they took him?" "No," Devon said shaking his head. "And who are your superiors?" Nick asked. Devon looked down at his feet. Kevin grabbed him by the arm and shook him, "Tell him you asshole!" Nick reached over and took Kevin's hand from Devon, "Don't man." Kevin stared at his younger brother for a moment, "Nick, he knows. He has to." Nick shook his head, "No Kev, he doesn't." "And just how do you know?" Kevin demanded. "I know, now drop it," Nick said, agitated, looking back down at Devon, "You refuse to name your superiors?" "I can't, I'm sorry," Devon said softly. Nick sighed, looking over at Rowland, "Take him to his cell. Maybe after he thinks about it, he'll tell us what we want to know." Rowland walked over and placed Devon in cuffs, taking him by the arm and leading him to the door. Devon stopped, turning back around, "Please look after Marie." Nick nodded, "It's being done." Devon nodded, turning back around and letting Rowland escort him out of the room. "Well, that went well," Ana said, plopping down in the chair Devon had vacated. "Yeah," Nick said, "Just great." "Now what?" Kevin asked, "We've gotta find Bri." "I know," Nick said, looking at the two, "Go back and see if the tech has found anything else. And get the routes they run, I wanna see where they go." Kevin sighed, frustrated, "Alright, let me know if the traitor decides to talk." "I will," Nick said as he left the room. Ana got up to follow him but stopped, looking back, "You Ok?" Nick shrugged, "Got a lot on my mind." "I'm here ya know," she said, giving him a reassuring smile. He nodded, "I know." She turned to leave when he called her name. "Yes?" she asked. Nick started to say something, but then stopped, shaking his head, "Never mind. We'll talk later Ok?" "Ok," she said, staring at him for a moment before turning and leaving the room. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ LaDonna stood on one of the many balconies, looking towards the mountains. She sighed as the suns went down. Still there was no word about Brian, and she was worried. Nick was taking his friends disappearance hard, blaming himself for the whole thing. As much as she tried, she couldn't convince him otherwise. Seeing Nick so hurt, pained her. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, letting the gentle breeze tousle her hair. "Your meetings over with so soon?" she asked, not bothering to open her eyes. "Yes, Anthony dismissed the Ambassadors after they got into a fight," he answered. She looked over, raising an eyebrow, "A fight, as in a fist fight?" He nodded, standing next to her, looking at the mountains. "So things aren't going very well," she noted. "No I'm afraid not," he said softly. "And do you have any words for your son? Are you helping him at all?" she asked. Mason looked at her, "I don't know what to say. There's no solution to this problem other than to give Hatch what he wants." "You know we cannot do that," she said. He nodded, looking down at his hands on the railing next to hers. LaDonna studied him for a moment, then moved her hand to cover his, "What has you so bothered?" Mason looked up for a moment, then back down, "I'm fine." LaDonna smiled, "No, something is bothering you. What is it?" He sighed, "I'm just tired and stressed. The talks aren't going anywhere, and Nickolas's friend is still missing." "And you care about that?" she asked, surprised. He looked at her, "I'm not completely without a heart. I see how much Nick hurts ... and you." The queen sighed, "And what can we do? Give in and turn over the mine? Then what? It opens the doors for to much Mason. We can not let them influence us, no matter how much it hurts." "I know, but I'm afraid your son will lose his friend if he doesn't," he said. She bit her lip, "Then he must lose him." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brian lay on the cold stone slab, staring at the ceiling. The men had come in earlier and given him another shot, but it didn't seem to be helping. In fact, Brian thought he felt worse. Every breath was a struggle, the air burning his lungs. His cough hadn't subsided at all, and each time he coughed, he gasped for air, which only made him cough. His hands were shaking and he knew if they didn't bring him some Krystal soon he'd go insane. The craving was so strong, it was maddening. He heard the lock to his door clank. Sitting up he watched as the two men entered his room. One carrying a food tray, the other a new vile. "You look like hell," the man with the vile said. Brian reached for it, but he jerked it away. "Please," Brian begged, the craving hitting him hard, "I don't ...think I can take... this any longer," he panted. The men glanced at each other, knowing the poison was in full force. The man handed Brian the vile and Brian quickly took a sip. Some of the pain left him, but not all, and it did nothing to ease his breathing. The man with the food tray sat it down and walked over, feeling of Brian's forehead. Brian moved away from his hand, reaching for the glass of water. He couldn't quite grab it, his vision blurring and wave upon wave of dizziness hitting him. He moaned, cradling his stomach. "Maybe we should move him?" one of the men said. The other nodded. "No, please," Brian begged, not knowing what they wanted as they approached him. "Come on, we'll take you down, let the doc look at you," one of the men said. Brian looked at him as he grabbed him by the arm and hoisted him up. "You have ...a doc? Why do... you ...care?" he asked as the men drug him down the hall. "Because if you die, it's our ass'," the other man said. "Good," Brian said, laughing. His laughter turned into a heavy round of coughing, followed by gasps for air. The two men hurried their pace as Brian passed out. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nick stood in front of Brian's door, debating on wether to knock or not. It was late, well past dark, and he didn't want to disturb Marie if she was sleeping. Finally he got the courage and lightly rapped on the door. After a second, he passed his mark across the sensor and stepped inside. Howie was sitting on the bed, watching the vid. "Hey Nick," he said, looking over. "Hey, is Marie around?" he asked. "Yeah," Howie said, pointing towards the balcony, "Out there." Nick walked through the room and out onto the balcony. He stood back, watching. Marie seemed to be lost in her own thoughts, the slight wind playing with her hair. After a moment she sighed, "Still no word?" she asked, her gaze never leaving the mountains. Nick walked up, standing next to her, "No I'm sorry." She nodded, trying to will the tears from coming. Nick reached over and wrapped his arm around her, "We will find him Marie, I promise you that." "I know," she said, looking up at him. Nick could see the tears in her eyes, but she wasn't allowing them to fall. He smiled at her, trying to reassure her. After a moment he cleared his throat, "How's the baby?" Marie instantly put her hand to her stomach, "She's fine, growing just like she should." "It's a she?" Nick asked. Marie shrugged, "I don't know yet. I just call it a her, cause .. um, Brian wanted a little girl." Nick tightened his arm around her, "Well, then I'm sure it's a girl, cause Bri always gets what he wants." They both laughed for a moment, then became quiet again. "He should be here Nick. This isn't right, he should be here for her," Marie said as a tear slipped down her cheek. Nick gently wiped it away, "I know, and he will, I promise." Chapter 54 |