Chapter 580: Queen's Resurgence (1)

Katherine's arms were numb as she had been tied up for hours. The thick nylon cuffs around her wrists were uncomfortable that her skin was sore from the friction. They would suspend her in the air for what seemed like forever, and her feet would barely touch the ground whenever they lowered her again. She prayed it would end, but at the same time, she did not want Parker to see her weak.

Everything hurt, and everything felt like an eternity. Although she was being tortured while kept in captivity, what hurt the most weren't the physical inflictions of pain given to her. It's that she knew Damien must be so worried about her right now. At one point, she wished that he would give up and move on without her. But she knew that would never happen. Even when she was facing adversity, all she could think about was how Damien must be suffering.

Katherine tried to get out of her restraints, but it was useless. There was no way Parker would leave even a tiny chance for her to escape.

After hearing Damien's voice through the phone call earlier, she felt weaker. Even if it was only brief, she felt a warmth growing in her heart—and then the warmth turned into pain. He must be so worried. A tear rolled out of the corner of her eye, frustrated that she was causing this to him.

"How touching. You've been tortured for hours, but you're only tearing up because you heard his voice?" Parker questioned. "I've always known you were this emotional, Queen. What a shame… You would have been a perfect agent." He clicked his tongue and shook his head.

He nodded at someone in the corner, then a couple of minutes later, a trolley with a monitor was placed in front of her. The screen was black, making her wonder what Parker was up to now. He came closer and pressed a button from a small device. Then the screen lit up, and images started to show one by one. They were photos of random dead people in the morgue, lying on a metal table.

Katherine's brows drew together in confusion. "Why the hell… are you showing… these pictures?" she asked, her voice was almost a whisper.

One by one, the images flashed on the screen. Parker faced her and probed, "Don't you remember these people, Queen?"

As soon as he asked, she realized that they weren't random people. All of them were her targets when she was in Shadow. However, while she acknowledged killing some of them, there were some whom she didn't kill at all. But there they were all in the morgue—pale and lifeless. She recognized most of them—especially those people she killed who were actually innocent.

Katherine gritted her teeth, feeling that her heart was being squeezed. She wanted to close her eyes, not wanting to see any more. But for some reason, she couldn't. It was as if her mind wanted her to remember every single one of their faces, and she allowed herself to be tormented by her past.

"This is why you couldn't be a perfect Shadow agent, Queen. My agents don't show remorse, but you do," said Parker.

When he left the room, the monitor was still running the pictures in a loop. This was what Parker wanted. A bullet to the head was too easy for her. He wanted her to experience a slow, tormenting death.

…

Sometime later, Parker came back to the dark room and woke her up.

"Looks like your knights are here… Good. Now all of you can die together," he said. "Is everything set?" he asked his men.

Katherine was too weak now, but hearing what he just said caused her heart to race. This was what he planned all along. He knew that they would come to rescue her, so he took his time with her, and when they would arrive, Parker would end all of them.

"You monster!!!" Katherine bit out. She already came to accept that she would die here, but not others. Not Damien.

"Sir… We have a situation in Castle," a man said anxiously from the corner of the room.

She met Parker's sharp gaze before he turned around and left the room.

A couple of minutes later, gunshots were heard from the ground above them. Katherine could barely keep her eyes open, but she tried so hard to shake her wrists in an attempt to loosen the thick cuffs on her.

She heard footsteps here and there, but the blinding light directed at her kept her from seeing what's in front of her.

"You stay here and keep an eye on her," one man said, and another acknowledged.

"What's happening?" Katherine asked, but whoever was left there with her did not answer.

While the sound of gunshots continued, she forcibly wriggled her hands off the cuff. It was painful, but she kept going.

"Katherine!"

She snapped her head to the front where the voice came from, knowing exactly who called her name. "Damien…" she breathlessly muttered. Although she couldn't see what's in front, she knew he was there. He had to be!

"Don't come any closer," warned the Shadow guard, who was now a foot away from Katherine, pointing a gun to the front.

Immediately grabbing her chance, she swayed forward and threw her legs up. She locked them around the guard's neck, kicking the gun off his hands and trapping him with her thighs. The guard struggled to get her off him as he was getting choked.

Using all the energy she had left, she squeezed her legs tightly and twisted her body until she heard his neck crack. The guard instantly went limp and dropped to the floor.

"Katherine!" Damien dashed towards her, holding her up and trying to give her support.

More footsteps were heard, and in the next second, she was lowered to the floor. She could barely keep her eyes open, but she saw him through the slits of her heavy lids.

"You came…" she muttered in a weak voice just before her eyes closed.

Damien cradled her in his arms while he uncuffed her carefully. She was severely hurt, and it broke his heart seeing her like this. "You're okay now," he reassured her amidst the gunshots that could be heard above them.

"Lay her on the floor," said Amelia.

He did as he was told, and he watched his mother check Katherine's pulse and breathing.

"We can't carry her all the way back up the ground in this situation. She needs to be on her feet." Amelia fished something out of her vest.

"But she's very weak."

"She won't be after this."

Holding a small syringe in her hand, Amelia removed the cap and pushed the plunger slightly, and then a tiny drop sat at the edge of the needle.

"What's that?" Damien worried.

"Liquid courage." And then she pierced the needle directly into Katherine's thigh, administering the drug inside.

In the next second, Katherine rapidly woke up gasping as if she had just resurfaced the water after being submerged under it for a long time.

"Adrifin," said Amelia as he showed the syringe to Katherine, and then explained to Damien that Shadow created that drug for their agents who are gravely injured on the battlefield. It would give them more time to seek shelter and stay alive longer before proper medical help arrives.

Every agent had one, and Gus gave his to Amelia a few minutes ago. He knew that Katherine would need it.

Damien remembered seeing Gus giving something to Amelia earlier. He only realized what it was now.

"Thanks." Katherine nodded, pushing herself up the ground. "I hate that drug."

"We need to leave," reminded Amelia.

Turning to Katherine, he helped her to her feet and probed, "Are you sure you can move?"

"Yes. I just need a knife—my knife," Katherine answered. Her gaze shifted towards the table where her knife was kept in a tray.

Seeing that she was able to stand on her own, Damien was relieved. Then he gave her her other knife—the one she left in the hospital. "Make that two."