Lion's Den(On Hold)

Chapter-39 Misplaced Affections

Asher made a mechanical pause and dropped an unconscious Leia back to the ground. Both Damian and him swiveled around while squatting towards the creep in the cell. The prisoner had squeezed his face against the iron bars examining Diana with a predatory curiosity.
"I thought I had seen wrong but it is actually real...the devils have found a little fairy. Who would have thought the Terranova had a side like this?" he said amidst his maniacal laughter.

Diana bent backwards to look beyond Damian's shoulder to see the prisoner. His eyes sparkled with sick excitement that she recoiled back in. Someone had seen her face, her tired eyes met Damian who was now surveying her bloody, bruised up face.
"Don't worry. He's not a threat."
Diana remained skeptical but nodded nonetheless. Asher exchanged a glance with Damian, both of them expressing the same intentions.

Asher walked away a bit and spoke briefly with someone on the phone while Damian waited. He returned back and passed by the two while giving a short nod. Then, he was gone. Damian carried Diana into his arms and walked to the cell where the creep was still jeering in delight.
"Ohh what an excellent weakness. The news will be out somehow."
"Maybe, but not through you."

The creep scoffed in ridicule, he knew that the information he held was really valuable to the Terranova.
"You couldn't possibly kill every single one who saw her. We hold too much infor-"
His words were cut short by a sharp bang from a gunshot that made both the creep and Diana shudder in surprise. The man fled back into the cell as soon as gunshot followed gunshot. Asher soon returned after a series of gun murders but did not shoot the man.

Damian was relaxed while the same could not be said for Diana. She was so done with the all the lunatics around her.
"What do you think Derek would do if he saw this creep?"
"Punch him."
"What do you think I would do?"
Diana looked up to her brother who was still smiling but had a dangerous glint in his eyes.

"Put a bullet through his head probably" Diana mumbled. Even Asher couldn't help but smirk at the reply. Damian wobbled trying to hold his laughter and Asher cleared his throat watching his prey tremble in the cell.

"Let's go" Damian stated with a sigh.
Diana peeked through the gap beside Damian's hand and saw Asher walk into the cell. She couldn't see what happened but there was no sound of gunshot. Meanwhile, Asher was in the cell as he casually played with his gun while leaning on the gate. The creep watched him and trembled like a leaf in dread.

“I have too much information. Are you throwing all of that for that bitch?” he bawled.
Asher was annoyed while rubbing off the blood from his gloves, he paid no attention and simply intimidated the man to give him the fear of death and despair.

It was Asher’s signature move, intimidation and slow torture to his special prisoners. He inched closer and crouched beside the man, not smiling. If he was not smiling, it meant worse than usual and the man knew it.
“No matter how my dagger dances, you will not let out even a whimper.”
“You will never be able to save her. The other gangs will eat her alive.”
Asher did not wait anymore and dug the dagger into the man’s chest.

The moment his lips opened to scream, Asher subdued any sounds by squeezing his blood stained gloves into his mouth. Diana cocked her head hearing the muffled screams.
“Did you hear that?” she whispered.
“You are hallucinating.”
She scoffed at Damian’s reply but did not say anything further. The pain was pressing her to sleep but the alertness wouldn’t decrease.

They soon reached the east wing corridor where Eric was waiting for them while speaking through his phone. He cut the call almost instantly on seeing Damian walk into the abandoned corridor with Diana. The walls were filled with bullet holes and blood sprayed indicating the carnage. Damian stopped a few meters away and just ignored him but did not attempt to walk past.

His eyes met with Diana’s tear stained ones and he noticed the blood. His hand extended towards her but she was quick to turn away and bury her face into Damian’s jacket. Eric’s paused, withdrawing his hand and took a deep breath.
“Go. Freya is waiting for you.”

Damian took it as a cue to walk past him but then, Asher appeared on the scene as well. He was holding Leia in his arms probably unsure of what to do. He had almost killed her in his rage but unfortunately as Diana had said earlier, she was his sister.

Eric gave her unconscious figure a cold glare in disappointment, he gave his orders to Asher.
“Place her in house arrest, hospitalize her and cuff her if you have to.”
Diana grabbed Damian’s jacket to stop him. He looked at her questioningly.
“Let me down.”
He did not refuse and simply did what she said. She limped slightly to face Eric’s back.

“None of this would have happened if you had just been together and properly communicated like actual siblings.”
Eric’s glare disappeared and his usual stoic expression returned when he too turned around to face Diana. He neither argued nor justified anything and simply listened to her stinging words quietly.
“That’s how siblings are meant to be. This is the precise reason why Derek and I never felt your absence. He gave me the love and guidance that it blurred the need for my lost family.”

‘Liar’
A voice deep within Diana whispered as though a sound dispersed by the wind. She did feel the absence of her real family a lot, Derek did give her the support but for her, it was never enough. The nightmares constantly reappeared whenever chances occurred. Eric’s eyebrow raised at her last statement but still did not answer back at her. It was as though he saw right through her.

Diana grew wary of his drilling stare that words got stuck in her throat. She was rather taken aback when he simply turned away and left. She realized that she had done something absolutely unnecessary. Everything was a mess, nobody could be blamed for it. Yet, here she was arguing with Eric while flaunting herself like it was her right as a sister to throw in advices.

“Strange...” Damian remarked.
Diana was glowering in anger at her own idiocy.

“There’s nothing strange.” she said trying to avoid the topic.
“You say you don’t need your lost family but never denied any of our affectionate behavior.”
“That’s absolute bul-“ Diana trailed away.
Damian raised his hand intertwined with her own with a smug smile. Diana instantly released her hand but Damian was already laughing and held it back.

“Diana!”
Freya approached from the inner side of the corridor and was shocked to see Diana’s condition, she hurried to support her.

“How is Derek?”
“Don’t worry, he is sleeping like a baby. The fight did not wake him.”
“I don’t want to go to the room he is in.”
“I have the adjacent room ready.”

Diana looked at Freya with admiration. As a doctor, she really knew what she needed at the moment.
“Don’t get your hopes up. Derek is healing really fast so he won’t stay asleep until you recover. Be ready to face him with all of this.”

Diana took a quick glance at Damian who chuckled lightly.
“I can already feel the punch on my face."