SUN #4
I push myself up unsteadily and crawl out of my cage. I slip into Summer’s cage and lean over him.
He blinks slowly, his eyelids fluttering open.
His eyes look a little dazed, a little distant, and I just hope he knows what’s happening.
Slowly, I turn my head toward Ragnar, who’s still standing there, glaring at Anzo with raw hatred written all over his face.
A low growl escapes him, his eyes focusing wildly on the capo’s body.
"Ragnar, please, let it be! We have to get out of here. I don’t want to be here when the FBI shows up, or to be dragged into court, testify, go through all that bullshit. I don’t want any of it!" I beg, trying to get him to move.
Ragnar flinches, struggling to tear his eyes from Anzo lying there, then reluctantly nods.
I can literally feel he's fuming with rage. It takes all of him not to pound Anzo into oblivion.
He walks over to Mauro and Eliano’s cages. They're both still kinda frozen, staring at us, and he rips the door clean off its hinges, tossing it across the room.
"I suggest you leave the fortress too, before the feds get here," he growls, voice hoarse. "This place isn’t safe for you anymore."
Eliano’s the first to snap out of it.
"Definitely! I’m out. I’m going wherever the hell my feet take me, and I’m not looking back, I promise you that."
Mauro nods and then repeats the gesture he made before, signaling the tunnel with his hand.
"We need to get there ASAP," Eliano agrees.
Ragnar looks at me.
"Can you walk on your own, Sun?"
I sigh heavily. "Well, I feel kinda weak, but I think I’ll manage. Adrenaline works wonders, and you’re gonna have to carry Summer."
The wound in my stomach is healed, but the rest of the bruises… my body obviously didn’t have the strength for those.
"What about your parents, Ragnar?"
"They’re safe. Already on a plane, I’ll explain later."
That’s strange news. I have no idea how Ragnar knows it, but I’m happy it had a good ending after all.
Ragnar’s gaze lands again on the unconscious capo.
"And this bastard—" he glares at Anzo with blatant hatred. His voice sounds very unsettling. And yet… there’s something weirdly sexy about it. Don’t ask me why.
"Let the feds decide what happens to him," I say, though I won’t lie, the temptation to make him pay is strong.
But I know better. There are also cameras in this room. If we beat him while he’s unconscious, we’d have to show up in court and answer for that, even if, I guess, most normal people would understand our rage.
He stole two months of my life and filled them with nightmares. Probably, I would be morally justified in hurting him, me and Summer both. But looking at his naked, mutilated, castrated body, I can’t even bring myself to think about continuing the violence.
Someone has to break this cycle, I suppose.
May as well start with me. The endless loop of brutality that traps everyone caught in it.
I don’t want to be one of those people who just continues the anger, the violence, no matter how right I would be in my revenge.
It’s just… I want to be free of it all, just leave it all behind.
"Let’s move," Eliano says, also turning his gaze away from his uncle’s broken body.
"I bet they’ve already taken out the guards at the front entrance. They could be here any minute," he adds, glancing at the ceiling and listening intently.
"Am I right in thinking the tunnel’s under the gazebo?" Ragnar looks at Mauro.
Mauro nods.
"I thought so. The floor in the gazebo made this weird dull sound underfoot," Ragnar says, though he doesn’t explain when exactly he had the chance to notice that. Probably for the best.
Suddenly, Mauro kneels by Anzo and checks something in Anzo’s temple implant. He leverages it and pulls something out of there, which looks like some small device that was attached just behind the tiny metal plate.
Eliano gapes, then makes a loud exhale.
"Here it is! Our freedom!" he whispers in disbelief.
"What’s that?" I ask.
"The central module that controls our locator devices. And…"
There is a brief pause as it becomes clear how much this means to both brothers.
Eliano approaches Mauro, his face strangely stirred.
"Did you dream about pulling it out of him?" I whisper, seeing how much emotion he radiates, as he kneels by Mauro and takes the device in his fingers, staring at it with wide eyes.
"You won’t believe what it means to me. Freedom!"
"Well, I kinda also understand how important it is now," I mutter. I had a rather painful sample of what losing it means. "Freedom is everything."
"Correct," Eliano whispers.
Then Ragnar also crouches down and picks up Anzo’s pants from the ground, pulling two phones out of the pockets. One’s mine. The other’s Ragnar’s.
His spikes have already pulled back under his skin, but the plates are still visible. His clothes are shredded, except for the pair of utility shorts he’s still got on.
Then he leans down and scoops Summer into his arms. The omega doesn't look like he can walk on his own, seems dazed and absent.
Ragnar glances upward.
"It’s really time. I can hear them upstairs. We should move quickly," he hurries us, and both brothers stand up, Eliano still very emotional, Mauro more low-key, but I can see it’s also an important moment for him.
But they know we can’t stay here. So just like that, our group heads toward the exit.
As we rush up the stairs, we hear gunfire in the distance and some weird thuds echoing through the estate.
We quickly make it to the garden. The sunlight hits me and makes me dizzy. I’m barely standing, my head’s spinning like crazy, and my body just refuses to cooperate. Ragnar keeps glancing at me, obviously worried, but I push through the weakness, knowing how critical it is to keep going.
At the gazebo, Mauro crouches next to a bench and hits some kind of button under it, or maybe a lever. The floor lowers, revealing a wide, dark opening underneath.
Moments later, the four of us slip inside, climbing down the narrow staircase.
Mauro leads the way. It’s pitch black, there’s no lighting anywhere, but he moves like he knows exactly where we’re going. The tunnel first slopes steeply downward like a mine shaft, then starts to rise gradually again. It’s long, definitely long enough to lead us off the property perimeter.
Eventually, it curves slightly and ends at a small room with a solid metal door.
Mauro pulls another lever and the door retracts. I notice rocks glued to the other side, most likely camouflage.
We step outside and I realize we’re coming out below a ridge. A rocky slope rises above us, dotted with trees.
I figure we’re maybe two hundred yards from the fortress, toward the coast. On our left, two high cliffs stretch upward. Below us, the rocky incline flattens into a stony beach, where the ocean hums in the distance.
There’s no real road here, just a narrow, barely visible path. Clearly, no one uses it often. But the ground is mostly rocks anyway, so it’s hard to track anything.
Still carrying Summer, Ragnar awkwardly pulls out his phone and makes a call before anyone says a word. He puts it on speaker, since he can’t exactly raise it to his ear with his brother in his arms.
"Hunter, I need your help! I’m sending you our location. Can you get here by car, or at least close?"
He’s trying to keep his voice calm, but it still sounds rough. He’s stuck in that half-shifted state, adrenaline keeping him on edge.
Hunter answers quickly, confirming he can.
"I’ve got Summer and Sun with me. We’re getting out," Ragnar adds.
"Good job, Sergeant!"
A second later, Hunter hangs up, adding before he does, "I’ll be there as fast as I can. Drop the pin."
When the call ends, Ragnar turns to me.
"Sun, send him the pin."
So I do it right away.
Then Mauro reaches out for Ragnar’s phone. I hesitate, then hand it over. He types a short message into the notes app:
"About a hundred yards to the left past the cliff, there’s a tourist road that leads to the beach. Let’s head for it."
"Lead the way."
We walk in silence. Ragnar still carries Summer, and I stay by his side, feeling weak as hell but forcing myself to stay upright. I can’t let myself pass out. Eliano trails behind us, quiet and pensive.
Thankfully, we reach the road quickly, just in time, because I’m about to collapse. It’s a regular public road, paved, with the occasional car rolling by.
I notice Ragnar’s plates finally receding completely. But his clothes are still torn to shreds. I figure trying to flag down a car isn’t our best bet. We look way too crazy.
Right then, we see a bus coming up the road from the direction of the beach. Just a regular city shuttle bringing tourists back and forth.
Unexpectedly, Eliano speaks up.
"Sorry, but this is where I leave you, guys. I need to get as far from this place as possible and forget everything about my old life. I’ll take that bus. Good luck to all of you."
I see Mauro hesitate like he wants to stop him, but he doesn’t. Maybe he understands?
Eliano puts a hand on his shoulder.
"Good luck, brother. Don’t ever go back to that cursed fortress. I’m sure Rocco’s gonna take over, and he’ll be even worse than Anzo."
Mauro just firmly nods and gives his hand a quick squeeze.
Eliano steps into the road and waves the bus down. When it stops, the youngest Ferro brother raises a hand one last time, gives us a quick wave too, and climbs aboard.
Mauro gestures for Ragnar’s phone again.
"I also need to go. I’d like to send a message to someone. I need to re-log into my account for a moment."
"You got someone who can come pick you up?" Ragnar asks.
"Yeah. I’ve been preparing for a long time. I have a plan for exactly this kind of situation."
Ragnar watches him for a second, then nods.
"Alright. Go ahead."
Mauro walks off to the side and starts typing something on the phone.
It’s only then that Ragnar and I finally really look at each other.