Following Chris' advice, Ethan got into contact with the Duke. The man sounded as jolly as ever on the phone. Seemed like the humble merchant was already informed of the blonde man's tough situation, likely by Chris himself. Before Ethan could get into any details, the Duke assured him that he will have a trusted man escort Ethan and Rose to safety and comfort and that telecommunications were to be avoided nowadays. They will continue their conversation in person.
As he packed his bags, Ethan looked out of the window. It was a calm night, at least, no rain clouds on the horizon for once. The full moon was shining down brightly. The blonde man let out a sigh of frustration at his current predicament.
Am I really doing it? Running away with Rose to seek shelter with the Duke of all people? He did help me a lot two years ago, and Chris seems to be trusting him now. But still… maybe I should just stay here, pretend nothing happened, live my life with Rose…
The man was taken out of his reverie by a soft knock on the door to his apartment. Taking out his 9mm pistol, Ethan clicked the safety off and hid it in the back of his jeans, before approaching the door. Seeing a single lean brunette man standing casually outside, Ethan opened the door warily.
The man outside wasted no time in extending a hand in greeting, smiling warmly on the blonde man.
"Name's Tom! I work for the Duke."
Briefly shaking the offered hand, Ethan let the man in, though he was still cautious. Tom looked perfectly average, if a bit tall, someone who would never draw eyes in a crowd. He was dressed in a simple two-piece grey suit.
"The Duke promised he will help me and Rose disappear?" asked Ethan, even as he scrutinized the tall brunette man now inside his apartment.
Tom smiled happily and nodded, before answering: "That's right, Mister Winters. The Duke instructed me to see you both safe and sound to his own floating fortress, where you can meet in person. You're up against some dangerous people now, so you made the right choice in contacting our benefactor. The sooner we are gone from here, the better I'll feel, myself!"
Ethan clenched his fists as he thought about that.
If I follow this stranger into the night now, there will not be coming back. Is this really what I want for Rose? No… but what else can I do? I will never feel safe here again and I am not just abandoning Mia. Duke and Chris will help me fix this, I trust them to do at least that.
Now set in his course, Ethan quickly went to Rose's room and gently woken the small girl up.
"Hello, love. You and daddy are going on an adventure together! Get dressed, sunshine."
His daughter's green-grey eyes opened slowly, before she spoke, sounding sleepy: "Adventurr, daddy?"
Ethan just nodded, before kissing her forehead with as much love as he could muster. His baby girl. He would do anything to keep her safe. Giving her a moment to wake up fully, the man started pacing around the room, collecting things he knew his daughter loved, before packing them into a bag.
As he was done, he noted that Rosemary was now dressed and at his side, wide awake now. Gently taking a hold of her tiny hand, the father walked back into the living room where Tom still stood, seemingly unmoved from the last time Ethan saw him.
Rose took one look at the weird stranger before squealing lightly and hiding behind Ethan's legs.
"It's alright, Rose. Tom is a friend."
"Where is mommy?"
Ethan grit his teeth at the question. How do you tell your three-year old that her mother decided to leave, possibly forever, to keep them from harm?
"Mommy is gone on her own adventure, sweetie, by herself."
"Without...us?" Rose sounded close to tears. The precious angel could read the mood so well already.
"Without us, sweetie. But she told us to have a lot of fun on our own adventure! You're going to do what mommy asked like a good girl, won't you?"
The tiny girl just sniffed and nodded.
Tom observed the conversation with respectable silence, yet he kept throwing glances at his watch. Seeing the man's hurried expression, Ethan made sure to check his bags for the necessities before nodding to him and walking out of the apartment, still clutching Rose's hand, not letting go.
Bela took her bloodied knife out, playing with it as she spoke:
"So, Darius. What made you think it's a good idea to betray us? I refuse to believe that Duke would do that to us, so I'll just assume this was your own poor initiative."
The female official shot glances from the blonde with a knife in her face, to the armed redhead standing in the back over the subdued staff, to the brunette who was pulling her sickle out of their bodyguard's skull with a wet squelch.
Darius spoke, calmly: "You're right, Miss Bela. This was my own initiative. Duke has no idea about this."
The male official, clutching his bloodied nose, interrupted the larger man and roared out a challenge:
"You dumb bitches! You have no idea who you are dealing with here! We are protected by the Nightcrawler! You can't touch us!"
At that, he was slammed hard into the wall by a dark shadow; a nearby hanging framed picture of a sunset falling down and breaking in pieces at the violent impact. Cassandra held the small man by the throat with one hand and slowly began, using the wall as leverage, lifting him up. The female official screamed at the sight of sudden violence and cried out: "Shut the hell up Vicente! Nightcrawler isn't here! They can do whatever the fuck they want with us!"
Bela hummed in satisfaction at that before noting: "Smart girl." She nodded at Darius to continue.
The rough man did so: "It was nothing personal, girls. You know I liked working for you. But they have been searching for you for a long time. And they found me instead. They made me an offer I couldn't refuse."
Bela raised a brow at how calm the man was. He had to realize he wasn't coming out of this alive, did he not? She had so many more questions, though.
"They have been searching for us for a long time? Why?"
"I wouldn't know that, perhaps my friends here would like to share what they know?"
The female official sobbed at that, before crying out: "We don't know anything, I swear to you! All we had to do was to procure specified equipment, as ordered by the Nightcrawler. Then we gave it to the Dire Wolf mercenary company, as well as your location and instructions that were passed to us. Then we passed payment to them on delivery of the subject. That's it!" Bela's eyes hardened at the word 'subject'. "Please, spare us, I beg you, I have a young daughter myself! She is just six years old!"
Cassandra scoffed at that, before asking, viciously: "Surely we don't need this wretched meatsack? Can I have him, sister?"
Bela nodded, uncaring of that man's fate: "You may do with him as you please, sister."
Whatever defiance the male official still had in his eyes evaporated at that and was replaced by pure, unadulterated fear as he cried out for mercy that would never come from the brunette: "No, wait! I've got lots of money! I'll give you anything you want!"
Cassandra just hung her head back at that and laughed loudly, evilly, before calming down and focusing her gaze on the man in her grasp.
"You're right! You'll give me what I want, right now." Before the man could respond, she opened her mouth wide and savagely bit into where his neck met his shoulder. She then began feasting on his flesh, even as he screamed in agony. The female official whimpered at her colleague's grisly fate, but kept quiet.
Bela hummed as she kept playing with her knife, a neutral, almost bored expression on her face. She asked her next question:
"Who is this 'nightcrawler' you refer to? I am sure Cassandra will love to meet him next."
The female official answered, even as she shook from every cry of pain that came from Vicente.
"We… don't know his or her true identity or location. They are the one who organize everything like what happened to your family. They offered the contract to the mercs. They instructed us to support them. They are a… problem solver."
Darius nodded at that, adding his own experience with that person: "He, or she, got into contact with me as well. They told me that they knew exactly where my own family was and then described to me in great detail what would happen to them if I don't provide your location as well as everything I knew about your biology and capabilities. You have to understand, I couldn't refuse that. They said I would be free to go once you were brought under control. They wanted you alive. Your unique fungal-based DNA intrigued them greatly."
In between taking vicious bites of her still-living and suffering prey, Cassandra mouthed off: "Maybe we should go visit your little family ourselves next. Show them what happens to the traitors."
That finally broke Darius' calm facade: "No! Just kill me, but don't you freaks touch my family!"
"We won't." reassured him Bela, calmly. She then asked the most important of all questions.
"Where did they take mother?"
The female clerk answered that: "There is an island in the Atlantic which they use as a resupply and logistics base. I don't know where the final destination of that jet is, but it's very likely they would've stopped to refuel there. I know the coordinates of that island, here!"
"That's all you know?"
"I swear, that's it! I told you everything I knew! They kept us all in the dark as much as they could, I wasn't even supposed to know about the island if not for the error on their part! You have to believe me! Please, just let me go, I'll quit! I will never bother you ever again!"
She is quick to plead for mercy now, yet it was her choice to work for these people in the first place. It was her choice to sign up on the attack on my family. I cannot forgive it. I won't forgive it.
Bela sighed and said, slowly: "I believe you." In a single, smooth and fast motion, she impaled her knife right into the woman's forehead, dead-center, likely killing her instantly. The female clerk tumbled to the floor and didn't move.
The elder daughter focused her amber gaze on the tanned man who looked like he had made his peace with his own fate. She took more than a moment to scrutinize his features. Finally she spoke, her voice soft.
"Call Duke right now. Inform him of your betrayal and pass me the phone."
As the man did what he was told without complaint, Bela looked at Cassandra, still greedily devouring the man she held against the wall. He was still alive, if his waning cries of pain were any indication. Daniela stood still over the staff, her own features hard, though her eyes betrayed her hunger. Bela felt her own lust for blood spike, the long day of physical exertion finally catching up to her. Before she could consider taking a bite herself, a phone was offered to her. Quickly taking it without glancing at the man, she spoke calmly.
"Duke. We are in some trouble, as you now know. We'd appreciate some assistance."
The man spoke back, though not in his usual jolly tone. He sounded somber for once: "Miss Dimitrescu, I cannot begin to express my grief at these horrible events that you and your sisters had to live through. Anything I can do for you, you just have to name it."
"We will need your help to get our mother back. We will also need your contacts to help us learn the identity of the person who took her."
"Of course, my dear. I will send my quickest ship to pick you up so that we can meet in person. I'll spare no resources to recover Lady Alcina and to find the men who did this."
"Very good, Duke, I knew we could trust you. The Dimitrescu family will repay your kindness."
"I only have to ask for one thing from you, my lady."
"What is it?"
"Would you consider showing leniency to my man, Darius? I had known him for a long time, and his loyalty was always beyond question. He only committed this despicable act out of his desire to protect his own family, a sentiment I know you share. Do this as a personal favor to me, for old time's sake."
Bela clicked her tongue at that, as she considered the request, before replying:
"Cassandra won't be happy with that… But alright, as a favor to you."
Ending the call, Bela returned the phone to the resigned man, before addressing him, in a harsh tone.
"You may go. If I ever see your face again, know that I will show no mercy."
The man looked at her as if slapped: "You'd let me go? After I betrayed your family?"
"Consider it your reward from the Duke, for years of loyal service. Now get lost before I change my mind."
Accepting the miracle that just happened, Darius quickly left the bar, though not before saying one last line to the blonde: "Thank you, Miss Bela. I will forever remember this act of mercy…"
Cassandra finally dropped the body she was consuming at that, before turning her horrible and bloodied expression at the elder sister.
"The fuck? How could you just let that treacherous rat leave here alive?"
Bela drummed her fingers loudly on the bar counter she approached, as she responded to the vicious brunette: "You already ended eight people today, Cass. Not satisfied yet?"
"Of course not! I won't be satisfied until I am through with Every. Single. One. of these fuckers. All of them must bleed for their crime. And you just let one of them off the hook, just like that." Cassandra snapped her fingers to articulate her point.
Bela, not stopping her drumming, looked at the middle child then and said, in her strong, elder sister voice.
"We will get mother back. And we will kill anyone who gets in our way. This, I promise to you."
Looking at the assembled faces, Chris was proud to call many of them his friends. Bonds, forged in fire and blood, were stronger than steel, and that is what it will take now. After today, there would be no going back. They will all put a mark on their own backs.
"It's not too late to back down. Nobody will look down on you."
Nobody said a word. Everyone here knew the score. There would be no backing down for they were not the ones who struck the first blow.
"Let's go kick their asses then."