Chapter 99: The Devil's Ultimatum
A few hours later, the bleeding had finally stopped. They moved to the main living area of the bunker. Ren sat in a creaky wooden chair, his arm resting on the table, freshly bandaged with clean gauze Mina had found in an old medical kit.
Mina stood over him, watching him with eyes that were still red from crying. "How does it feel? Can you move your fingers?"
Ren looked down at his left hand. He tried to flex his fingers, but they felt heavy and unresponsive. He managed to twitch his index finger slightly, but a sharp, burning pain shot up his arm, making him wince.
"It's okay," Ren said, trying to offer a reassuring look. "Just a bit stiff. Don't worry so much, Mina. Everything will be fine."
"How can you say that?" Mina wiped a stray tear from her cheek. "I almost killed you! You escaped a high-security prison just for me to do the guards' job for them. I... I can't forgive myself."
Ren reached out with his good hand, gently patting her arm. "Please, don't cry. We don't have time for guilt. We need to stay focused on—"
RING. RING. RING.
The sound of the old-fashioned rotary telephone on the side table cut through the air like a gunshot. Both of them froze. No one was supposed to have this number. This bunker was off the grid, a secret known only to Mina's family.
Ren tried to stand up, but his legs were still weak.
"I'll get it," Mina said, her voice trembling. She walked over to the phone and picked up the receiver. "Hello?"
There was a moment of silence, and then a cold, distorted voice echoed from the other end. "Hello. Am I speaking to the accomplice? Put Ren Vority on the line. Now."
Mina's face went translucent. She handed the phone to Ren, her eyes filled with a new kind of fear. "Ren... someone wants to talk to you."
Ren took the receiver with his right hand. "Who is this?"
The Shadow's Bargain
"Who I am doesn't matter, Ren," the voice replied. It was Spero, though his tone was devoid of the usual mock-formality. It was ice-cold and focused. "What matters is what I have."
Ren's heart plummeted. "If you've touched a hair on Mina's family—"
"Not Mina's family, Ren. Think closer. Think... blood."
In the background of the call, Ren heard a muffled, high-pitched whimper. It was a sound he knew better than his own name.
"Hana?" Ren shouted into the phone, his Vane energy flickering dangerously in his eyes despite his injury. "Spero, if you hurt her, I will find you and burn everything you love!"
"Such fire," Spero chuckled darkly. "She's alive, Ren. For now. But she's quite uncomfortable."
The scene shifted momentarily to a dark, industrial warehouse. Hana was strapped into her high-tech wheelchair, but it had been modified with heavy steel chains. A thick cloth was tied around her mouth, and her eyes were wide with terror. Spero stood behind her, his hand resting casually on the back of her chair. Behind him stood his elite team, their weapons drawn and ready.
"Listen carefully," Spero continued. "You have three days. There is a wooden house to the left of the clearing near your current 'hideout.' You know the one. Bring the girl—Mina, the Master's daughter—and trade her for your sister."
Ren's grip on the phone was so tight the plastic began to crack. "You want Mina? Why?"
"Consider it a debt to the Kara Group," Spero said. "You bring me Mina, and Hana goes free. If you try to bring anyone else, or if you don't show up in seventy-two hours... well, 173 deaths is a large number, Ren. What's one more?"
CLICK.
The line went dead.
Ren slowly lowered the phone, his face a mask of pure agony. He looked at Mina, who was watching him with a confused and worried expression. How could he tell her? How could he tell the girl who had just saved his life that she was the ransom for his sister?
The martyr's bargain had just become a devil's choice.