Chapter 1
Ashia
‘Blow Me Away – Soundtrack Version’ – Breaking Benjamin
There have only been a few moments in my life when I felt time actually stood still—a handful of flashes that shrunk down to focus on one finite thing.
All but one occurrence were pictures of evil.
They were all single pauses that plunged me into a state of sensory deprivation.
These times had no sound, no smell, and nothing moved.
It was like everything else died, and that split second was all that existed besides a glimpse into hell.
They left me with nothing but anticipation for the impending tragedies.
I was hoping it would never happen again—that nothing else so tragic could barrel its way into our lives yet another time.
But then Damien opened the door.
The moment the fresh air flooded the entryway, the breath fled from my lungs.
I’ve only ever experienced a presence like this once before, and it’s only come from my husband.
Though, unlike him, this man carries the aura of something malevolent.
A darkness, one that compliments Damien’s, but has turned sour—like at one point could’ve been kindred spirits to one another, but are sworn enemies now.
We all stand dumbfounded by the sight in front of us.
Damien is holding his gun so tightly that I'm afraid he might actually pull the trigger.
Carter is still standing in front of me, but I'm almost positive his jaw is hanging slack.
A man claiming to be Sahara looms in our open doorway, but his presence is anything but welcoming.
His hair is black, his skin is a dark tan, and his eyes are gloomier than night.
He stands tall and tense, like he’s prepared for anything.
The sight of a gun being pointed at him doesn’t seem to faze him at all, and as he takes a slow look around our open-floor home, he appears confident—as if my husband wouldn’t really shoot him in the face.
He obviously doesn’t know Damien that well.
“May I come in?” Sahara, or Satori Machor—his real name—asks as he looks back at Damien. He leans forward as if he’s already preparing to step inside, and that raises a big alarm in my mind. Obviously, it also does for Damien.
“Absolutely not,” Damien refuses, speaking through gritted teeth. He takes another step forward, forcing Satori to retreat to his prior position. A subtle flash of annoyance crosses Satori’s eyes, but he blinks it away quickly and readjusts his fake, friendly stance.
“I’m just here to talk,” Satori says, and shakes his head in a belittling manner.
“And we’re fucking busy,” my husband retorts. Satori’s face hardens, and his eyes narrow slightly, clearly discontent at how Damien shot him down.
“This can’t wait,” he replies in a clearly-aggravated and harsh tone. The tips of my fingers start to tingle. Something about the way he speaks to Damien so abrasively is rubbing me the wrong way. Does he really think he can show up to our home uninvited and push his way in?
“Well, it’s going to have to. The city is sort of in a crisis right now, and you’re about three months too late,” Damien says back, but he’s sure to make his attitude clear.
There’s a sharp edge to his words, and I don’t miss the minor bob to his head.
“We tried to work with you, and you didn’t give us shit. We don’t have time for it anymore.”
Carter keeps glancing down at his phone that’s clearly blowing up with notifications, and I can’t help but peek as well.
There are system reports, texts, alerts from Adrien’s podcast, and dozens of other pop-ups flashing across his screen.
I feel like we should be doing more than standing here and arguing with a stranger.
Everything around screams for us to pounce into action like firefighters, or sprint through our doors like the Terminator.
We should be doing anything other than this, and unfortunately, it doesn’t appear that Satori is going to back down.
Before this escalates any further, I pull my phone out and text the ‘family’ group chat with Ser, the Andersons, Emmett, and Linette—telling them to let me know if they're okay, and to head to the address I attached to the message. It’s the address to the Attic, but everyone—other than Ser and Emmett—doesn’t know that, yet.
This entire situation means it’s time to tell them about our secret life, but it’s better than leaving them to fend for themselves in this mess.
Once I put my phone away, I pat Carter on the shoulder and move to step past him. He does a double take and acts like he's going to reach for my arm, but I shake my head at him, silently telling him that it's okay.
“Just keep getting supplies and checking on the guys. We can handle this,” I tell him as I move around him. Damien snaps his head in my direction, then to Satori, and back again in quick succession—like he's afraid to peel his eyes away from either one of us for a second too long.
“Baby, stay over there with Carter,” Damien demands, and stands a little straighter as if he’s preparing to fire.
If Satori really meant to hurt us, he would’ve tried it already; he wouldn’t have just knocked on the door.
So, while his presence is nerve-wracking, I take those thoughts as a good sign.
I continue to walk up to Damien and lay my hand on his arm, offering him a comforting touch.
My grip is soft but firm, and I lightly kiss his shoulder to calm him down.
“Carter’s handling the relief efforts, and he’s obviously not going to leave.
” I nudge my head towards Satori, but keep my voice low.
“Instead of standing here and arguing, or potentially having to waste time hiding a body, maybe they could help us keep the city from drowning,” I point out, hoping that he’ll see reason.
This definitely isn’t the ideal situation, but it seems it’s going to have to be one of those ‘work with what we’ve got’ scenarios.
It’s been a month since we’ve had to deal with any chaos.
Well, outside of our normal, I should say, and while the time off has been nice, we don’t have time to ease back into things.
People are dying left and right, and if Sahara can help us get this under control, maybe we should listen.
I may not have been strong enough to stop what happened to us a few weeks ago, but I can act like it now while we deal with the current disaster.
Damien inhales deeply, seemingly giving my suggestion a once-over before he takes one hand off of the gun and reaches back—wrapping his arm around me and pushing me behind him.
He steps to the side and nudges his head towards the living room, signaling Satori to come in.
Relief floods my chest, but only for a moment before the unfamiliar face ruins it.
Satori sprouts a shit-eating grin, like it amuses him that my husband would listen to me, and nods once in a cocky motion before stepping inside.
“Lift your shirt and empty your fucking pockets.” Damien pushes his gun in Satori’s direction, gesturing his demand.
Satori raises his hands leisurely before overdramatically moving in slow motion.
He then pulls his pockets inside-out and turns so Damien can see that he’s empty-handed.
The theatrical show only irritates me further, but I know that unless I want to set Damien off, I can’t get overwhelmed by it.
“Kade warned me you’d be paranoid. He said if I so much as thought about bringing a knife in here, I’d be dead before I even got a word out.”
Damien tenses at his words, and his hold on me tightens.
He hasn’t had a full conversation with Kade since before I was poisoned, and he’s been really worried about him—the brief call at the Attic a few weeks ago showed me that.
They may not talk all the time, but after noticing Kade’s signal missing, and only a brief ‘I can’t talk now,’ it really concerned him.
“Kade’s okay?” There’s agitation in his tone, but I can hear the newfound softness in it, like the relief is settling in. That’s one of the things about Damien that I love the most. His love for those in his inner circle never fades—no matter what happens or how far apart they may grow.
“He’s fine. He’s getting our men settled while I speak with you.”
A part of me wants to ask where they’re getting ‘settled,’ how they got here, and what the hell he wants to talk about, but Damien’s right. We don’t really have time for those details now, and if they truly want some type of alliance, they’ll have to wait.
“I want to talk to him,” Damien retorts, and it kind of shocks me.
That’s just another way he’s showing who he really is, though.
He’s willingly putting everything else aside to check on his friend.
Plus, I know that it’s not only to make sure Kade is indeed alive, but so he can fact-check Satori’s claims.
“You’ll have to call him. I didn’t even bring my phone—didn’t feel like getting shot today.” Satori shrugs his shoulders like it's just a joke, but the rest of us know that Damien doesn't have a problem with putting a bullet between his eyes.
An intense stare-down starts as soon as he stops talking, and the tension between them is palpable.
Damien doesn’t trust him, and I can understand why.
Something about this is off. What are the odds that the same day this mass attack happens, he shows up?
Could it all be a coincidence? How desperate have they gotten to ask us for help?
I’m starting to think that asking questions sooner rather than later is the best option here.
Damien continues to glare at him, like even the thought of averting his gaze is a trap.
His paranoia the past few weeks has certainly escalated, and now that everything has blown up so quickly, he’s on high alert.
I’m shocked he hasn’t put the house on lockdown and chained me to the bed, but nonetheless, I’m grateful for it.