The Last Hero (Villains & Monsters #2)

Prologue

His head was hurting.

He felt his body being dragged, and every part of him screamed at him to open his eyes. When he finally did, he realized that two people were dragging him by his arms down a dimly-lit corridor lined with open-bar cells. It was too dark to see anything else.

Panic shot through his entire being, and when he struggled, the two bulky men only held him tighter.

What the fuck is happening? He thought to himself.

Did he die?

"Boss says right in here," one of the men said, and they turned a corner to go down a corridor with rooms sealed with solid doors. When the other one opened the door, he saw that there were two men in the room, plus a woman, staring at him with pure rage in their eyes.

"Restrain him," the woman said sharply, and the two men holding him practically tossed him in the chair and started locking him down.

Soon, he wasn't able to move his legs and his arms. He looked up at the woman with average height, and she stared down at him. It seemed like she was thinking of multiple ways to kill him. She had olive skin, light brown eyes, brunette hair that was carefully styled and makeup that could leave someone breathless.

"Breathing hard, are you?" The man beside her asked him, and he averted his attention to him. "Are you scared?"

He was tall, muscular, and he looked dressed in formal wear, except his suit jacket was gone and his shirt was covered in quite a bit of blood. He had tan skin, brown hair, and eyes so green they could either resemble emeralds or vipers.

He didn't even realize he was breathing hard. He was still sleepy and disoriented, and he faced the ground so he could focus on calming himself.

The last man stepped forward and stopped until he was standing right before him. "Tell me you didn't do it," he said.

His expression flickered. He knew that voice.

He looked back up to face him. Tall, dark skin, brown eyes that were almost black and short, black coily hair. It took him a while, but he found his voice. "...Tony?" he asked.

The man with green eyes raised a brow. "You know this guy?"

"We go back," Tony answered, and he crossed his arms and glared down at him as he repeated himself, "Tell me you didn't fucking do it."

"Do what-"

The memories hit him like a damn train.

He gasped, then turned to the man with green eyes -- who was covered in blood.

Her blood.

Before he could ask any questions, footsteps approached the dungeon-like cell, and he stared at the hallway where someone's figure approached, also glaring at him like he wanted to rip into him. This man had brown skin on the lighter side, brown eyes and short, curly hair -- similar to Tony's but a little longer.

"You," he angrily said through his teeth, and without skipping a beat, he charged towards him.

He gasped and he tried to move, but the bonds holding his limbs to the chair wouldn't budge. In seconds, the man with green eyes rushed forward and stopped him from reaching him, moving quickly and shoving him against the wall, holding him there with impressive strength.

"Luca, that's enough!" He shouted, and the man -- Luca -- struggled in his grip.

"Let me go, Austin! Now!"

"And let you do something you'll regret later? I don't think so."

Luca turned towards him, and his glare alone had him nauseated from fear. "Drugging an innocent woman and setting your best friend up to get killed. And you have the audacity to call yourself a hero?! You're just as twisted and fucked up as the rest of them!"

His heart pounded, and he felt like he would pass out again, but his next question came out without him thinking about it. "Is she okay?" he whispered.

The entire room went still, and everyone turned their heads to stare at him.

"Please," he begged quietly, "Please tell me she's okay." He needed to know. Death by blue fire is a death no one should experience.

"You son of a fucking-" The woman rushed towards him and punched him hard. His head snapped back from the impact, and before he could react, two more punches came, equally as hard.

He groaned, then gasped when she quickly reached towards a sheath on her thigh and pulled out a knife, sharp and deadly. He shut his eyes and waited for it. Waited for death.

"Adrienne, no!" Tony shouted, and in a flash, he pulled her back from him by her waist.

"No, Tony, let her go and let her kill him! He fucking deserves it!" Luca shouted, and he tried to escape Austin again, who restrained him as best as he could.

The woman -- Adrienne -- thrashed in Tony's grip. "Get the fuck off of me! He hurt my friends! I'll skin him alive!" The last part came out as an irritated and frustrated scream.

Now he really felt like he was going to vomit. His face hurt, and he could tell it would leave bruises, but that was the least of his problems. The room was engulfed with arguing and angry screaming, and his head was spinning too much to figure something out for himself.

"All of you, enough!" A fifth voice rang out -- lethal and commanding -- and all of the commotion stopped instantly, the room falling deathly silent.

His blood ran cold. He also knew that voice.

Towards the front of the room stood another tall and muscular figure, dressed in black from head to toe. Golden-brown skin, black hair with a very loose curly pattern, and hazel eyes, sharp and piercing.

He gulped as he walked towards him, and he cried out in pain as his hair was gripped tightly and pulled back so he was looking up at him.

"If she dies," Simon warned, his voice low, deep and threatening, "It will be never-ending and extremely painful for you. Do you fucking understand me?"

Breathless and petrified, all he could do was nod.

He released his hair, then spoke to the others in the room as he started walking out. "Clear out and leave the door open. He can listen to his brother burn."

When the room cleared out, he finally noticed just how badly he was shaking. He felt like his mind was racing, but blank all at the same time.

His plan had failed, and all he could think about was how brutal his death would be.