Chapter 178 Useful To Me

How the hell had this happened?

He had made it very clear to Granger that he needed to lay low, stay out of the spotlight and wait for his orders.

All he was meant to do was train the rogues, not lead them on a suicide mission to Summer!

The only good thing that had come out of this mess was learning that Caleb was not crippled.

Holden was rather angry to realize he had been fooled. Caleb was good. He’d give him that.

“Do not do anything else!” Holden shouted on the phone.

“Fine,” Granger sighed. “Why bother telling me he was vulnerable if you didn’t expect me to do something about it.”

“I didn’t expect you to act like an idiot!” Holden growled.

Granger laughed.

“What’s the big deal,” he said. “It’s not like you actually care about these rogues.”

Holden sighed.

“It’s not about affection. It’s about understanding your place and not overstepping!”

Granger growled in response.

“I have done everything you asked, everything you told me to do,” he snarled. “When do I get Ashleigh!”

“Be patient!” Holden growled back..

“They announced their wedding!” Granger growled, “he was presenting her to his pack!”

“Until he has marked her, it means nothing!” Holden shouted back. “Now do as I say!”

Granger growled once more before he hung up the phone.

Holden clenched his fist angrily.

“Holden…” came a meek voice behind him.

“What?!” he shouted.

Holden looked back at the small man in the lab coat.

“What is it?” he asked.

“The light,” the man said quietly.

Holden looked up. There was a bright yellow light shining above a stone door. It was a signal; he was being summoned. Holden took a deep breath.

***

“What excuse do you bring me now?” the rasping voice asked.

Holden clenched his jaw.

“I’m sorry, I have no excuse,” he said, lowering his head. “I didn’t expect him to lead an assault on the Summer pack.”

“He is proving to be less valuable than you promised.”

“I can get rid of him,” Holden offered.

“For now, let him be,” the voice rasped. “But do not let him interfere with anything further.”

Holden nodded in understanding.

“What about the girl?”

Holden swallowed down the rising bile in his stomach. He felt a cold dread settling over him.

“She has had a treatment,” Holden answered with a smile. “She’s recuperating.”

“She has had a lot of treatments lately,” the voice said. “Are you losing control over her, Holden?”

“No, no, of course not,” Holden smiled. “I just wanted her to be at her best.”

“And is she?” the voice asked. “At her best?”

Holden nodded.

“Of course.”

The voice made a grunting sound.

“A broken doll can only be repaired so many times before there is nothing left of it.”

The withered sound of his rasps scratched along Holden’s ears. He took a shaky breath, straining to hold back his thoughts.

“You should prepare yourself,” the voice said. “It’s better to throw away the things that don’t work anymore.”

Holden shook his head angrily.

“She’ll be fine after some rest,” Holden said through gritted teeth.

“Your attachment seems to be causing you to lose focus,” the raspy voice said. “Perhaps it is too much of a distraction.”

“You promised!” Holden shouted. “You promised I could keep her! As long as I did what you said! You promised!”

He howled out in pain, and a burning electrical shock spread from his shoulder into his chest and back. Holden’s eyes moved down to the source of the ache.

A large razor-sharp root punctured his shoulder.

Holden pushed out a strained breath and gritted his teeth as the root slowly slid out of his body, making a sickening slurp and pop as it left the wound. He fell forward to his knees once it was out. Holden gripped his shoulder tightly, the pain shooting through him once more.

“It’s important to remember your place, Holden,” the withered, raspy voice growled.

“I’m sorry,” Holden whispered.

“I promised you could keep her,” the voice continued. “As long as she was useful to me.”

Holden nodded.

The root that had stabbed his shoulder slithered in front of him. It was covered in his blood, dark and wet. It slithered up his leg and over his torso. Holden hissed as it passed over the open wound.

The root continued over his shoulder and slowly wrapped around his throat. The tip of the root forced Holden’s chin up, looking into the shadow at the source of the raspy voice.

Holden licked his lips and swallowed down his fear.

“If your toy becomes a problem,” the voice said. “I will make you watch as I disassemble her piece by piece.”

Holden clenched his jaw.

“She won’t be a problem,” he stated through gritted teeth. “Alice is perfect. She will keep being perfect.”

“Good.”

The root pulled away quickly, cutting into Holden’s flesh as it did so.

“Now, prepare yourself,” the voice rasped. “It’s time to fetch the boy.”

“What?” Holden asked, looking up into the shadows. “Didn’t you tell Tomas you didn’t want him here during this time?”

“We don’t have a choice,” the voice growled. “Something has the boy anxious. I think Tomas has been keeping secrets from us.”

Holden got himself up from the ground, still holding his shoulder.

“You will need to find him his own toys,” the voice whispered. “I assume you still won’t share yours?”

Holden clenched his jaw at the memory of a small, and fragile Alice lying in the dirt. Her body mangled and covered in blood. Even after all these years, he still felt angry about it. All because of that stupid little Winter wolf.

“I will get him what he needs.”

***

Alice was strapped to her bed. The IV gave her all her fluids, and she was connected to a ventilator to breathe.

Her body had gone into seizures not long after he had left her.

The doctor said that it was a miracle she had survived. Her mind was fracturing and shutting down in different places. Necessary and unnecessary functions were being turned on and off like light switches.

He recommended that they let her go now, while it could still be a peaceful transition for her.

The new doctor was more willing to try to save her.

Holden wiped the small blade clean of the red liquid and placed it back on the inside of his coat pocket where he kept it.

He sat down in the chair beside Alice’s bed.

“Clean this mess,” he said nonchalantly, pointing to the body on the ground.

“Right away!” the new doctor shouted as he ran to fetch a gurney and a mop.

Holden sighed as he looked down at Alice.

“It’ll be alright,” he whispered. “You’re having a hard time right now. But you’ll come back.”

Alice didn’t move, didn’t react.

“I have to go away for a little while,” Holden continued. “I’ll be gone a few weeks, which gives you plenty of time to get better.”

Holden reached out and fluffed her pillow. He smiled as he reached his hand out and moved back a brown curl that had fallen over her eye.

“Don’t get lost down the rabbit hole,” he said softly. “Come back home, Alice.”