2026-08-07 17:59:07Two guards stepped forward from behind the pillars. One grabbed Ethan's wrists and yanked them above his head, chaining them to an iron hook that hung from the ceiling.
The cold metal dug into his skin as his body stretched upward, feet barely touching the ground, back exposed.
The first lash came down like a tongue of fire dragged across his spine.
Ethan's entire body seized. His teeth clamped together so hard his jaw ached. He swallowed the scream and kept it locked behind his ribs where nobody could hear it.
He had learned that long ago. Crying made it worse. Screaming made it longer. Silence was the only shield he had left.
The second lash split the skin. Warm blood trickled down the curve of his lower back in a slow, thin line that felt like a finger tracing his spine.
By the fifth lash, his vision blurred. Tears gathered at the edges of his eyes, but he blinked them away because he knew, he knew with everything in him, that if he cried, his father would call him weak and add ten more.
By the tenth, his shirt was shredded.
The fabric hung from his shoulders in ribbons, soaked through with blood that smelled like rust and salt.
Every breath felt like swallowing broken glass. His mind drifted somewhere far away, back to a memory of him at twelve years old, wrapping a bandage around Derek's scraped knee while their mother watched from across the room and said, "Be more careful with him, Ethan. You're always too rough."
Derek had fallen on his own. Ethan wasn't even near him. But it was still his fault. It was always his fault.
By the fifteenth, his knees buckled.
The chains caught his full weight, and his wrists screamed as the metal bit deeper. His head dropped forward.
His lips moved, but no sound came out.
He thought about every time he had stayed quiet when Derek got the praise he earned, every time he had smiled when his parents forgot his achievements, every time he had told himself it would get better. It never got better.
By the twentieth, he couldn't feel his back anymore. Just a wide, burning numbness that spread from his shoulders to his waist like someone had pressed a hot iron flat against his entire body.
The guards unhooked the chains. Ethan crumpled to the floor like a puppet with its strings cut.
He lay on the cold marble, cheek pressed against the stone, breathing in shallow, ragged gasps. Blood pooled slowly beneath him, dark and warm.
Neither of his parents moved from their chairs.
The side door opened softly, and Derek walked in.
He moved slowly, hesitantly, wringing his hands together with his head slightly lowered. His eyes swept across the room and landed on Ethan's broken body on the floor.
His lower lip trembled. His brow creased. He looked up at his parents with the most pitiful, wounded expression a face could make.
"Please don't blame Brother." Derek's voice cracked perfectly, like a china cup tapped just hard enough. He sniffled and wiped his eye with the heel of his palm. "It's my fault. I wasn't strong enough to awaken my bloodline. Brother shouldn't have to suffer because of me."
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CHAPTER 246
Outside the operating room, Brett Calloway’s face was the color of old paper. His hands were shaking at his sides, and his eyes were fixed on the flat green line glowing through the glass window.Captain Webb was dying again. And it was because of HIS doctor and HIS decision to interfere. I brought that idiot here. I put the needles in his hands.Lawrence Griffin crossed the hallway in three long strides and grabbed Brett by the collar. His silver hair was messy and his eyes burned like hot coals.“Call Ethan back. NOW.” His voice shook the hallway.“I won’t beg that...” Brett’s lip twitched, and his stubborn pride rose one last time like a dying flame.Bear kicked Brett’s legs out from under him without a word. Brett hit the floor knees first, and the crack echoed down the corridor. Bear grabbed the back of his head and slammed his forehead against the linoleum.“BEG.” The giant’s voice trembled with rage, and his huge fingers pressed Brett’s face into the cold floor.“I...” Brett’s
CHAPTER 245
Brett’s face went from red to pale. His throat bobbed once, and he backed away half a step, forcing a stiff little smile to hide it.Ha, the Spirit snorted. The big bad government agent just got stared down by a librarian with biceps. Frame this memory.But while everyone was busy glaring at each other, Dr. Preston Hale had slipped past them and pushed through the operating room doors.“Dr. Hale, wait,” Dr. Kimura called out in alarm, rushing after him with his handkerchief fluttering. “You can’t just walk in there.”Dr. Hale did not even turn around. He marched straight to the bed where Captain Webb lay resting, and his sharp eyes traveled over the silver needles still glowing faintly in the captain’s chest. His mouth curled into a smirk of total contempt.“Amateur work.” He waved one hand through the air as if brushing away smoke. “These needles are placed completely wrong. The angles are off and the depth is sloppy. They need to be removed immediately so I can apply my own treatmen
CHAPTER 244
Ethan stepped out of the operating room and found Bear waiting in the corridor. The giant stood with his shoulders rounded and his red eyes soft, like a man who had just watched his commander walk back out of the grave.“I owe you more than I can ever pay.” Bear held out a hand the size of a dinner plate. His voice was low and rough, and his grip shook slightly. Ethan took it and held it firmly.“He’s alive. That’s payment enough.” Ethan let go and rolled his tired shoulders. “But he needs a few rare herbs to fully recover. I’ll write them down for you.”Bear listened carefully as Ethan named each herb, and Lawrence Griffin, still standing by the wall with his bandages gone, nodded after every one. Both men promised to track them down within the week.Look at that, the Spirit said. A billionaire and a mountain, taking orders from a live in son in law. I love this city.Ethan almost smiled. Then the elevator doors at the end of the hall slid open with a soft chime.Brett Calloway strod
CHAPTER 243
Ethan began placing the needles with surgical precision. One into the crown of the head. Two at the temples. Three along the collarbone. Each needle slid into its acupoint with a soft whisper, never wavering, never hesitating. Across the torso, down the arms, over the heart, he worked with the calm speed of a man who had done this a thousand times and had never once made a mistake.When the eighteenth needle sank into place, Ethan placed both hands over the array and closed his eyes.Then he channeled true fire through the needles.The room temperature rose ten degrees in seconds. Sweat broke out on every forehead. The needles began to vibrate, humming at a frequency that made the surgical instruments rattle on their trays like teeth chattering in the cold. A thin shimmer of golden light spread across Webb’s body from needle to needle, forming a glowing web over his skin.Inside Webb’s body, the true energy traveled along the needle paths, a river of warmth flowing through broken chan
CHAPTER 242
Ethan pushed through the doors of the operating theater and the smell of antiseptic and blood hit him like a wall. The room was bright and cold, filled with the steady, mocking beep of machines that were counting down a life.Captain Marcus Webb lay on the table with a breathing tube down his throat and wires crossing his chest like a spider web. His skin was the color of old candle wax. The monitors showed vital signs so low they were practically flatlines decorated with occasional blips of hope.His heart meridian is shattered, the Spirit said, and the joking tone was completely gone. Organs bleeding from the inside. Whoever hit him used a palm technique meant to destroy from within. That was not a Dark List assassin’s style, kid. That was something worse.“Later.” Ethan stepped closer to the table. “First I save him.”The surgical team was already gathered around the bed in green gowns and masks, their hands raised and sterile, their eyes tense above the cloth. A tray of gleaming i
CHAPTER 241
Lawrence rose from his chair slowly. Even with bandages on his head, his presence filled the room like a wall.“This young man is more capable than your entire department combined.” His voice was calm and cold. “He saved my life twice. I would trust him over every doctor in this building.”Dr. Smith scoffed, his face reddening with wounded pride. His chin lifted and his shoulders squared, the posture of a man who had never once been told he was wrong and had no idea how to handle it.“Fine. I’ll make a bet.” He folded his arms across his chest. “If this boy can heal Captain Webb’s injuries without surgery, without sutures, and without leaving a single scar, I will get on my knees and call him Dad.”The room went quiet. Even the heart monitors seemed to beep softer.Oh, I love this man, the Spirit said with sparkling delight. A fool who puts his dignity on the table before the game even starts. Take the bet. Take it right now.Ethan looked at Dr. Smith for a long moment, his face as ca
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