29. Asch
ASCH
We misjudged.
The darkness, the sounds, the chaos. Hundreds of people gathered in one space, locked up, and it’s almost impossible to tell who is where.
“Blaze?” I shout, although my voice is lost in the clamor of all the panicked voices.
I’m supposed to stay at his side, to ensure that he’s safe in the midst of all of this, but once everything had started to happen, I’d lost him.
I look around, trying to see through the dim lights here and there, but it’s impossible to differentiate one person from another with the press of the crowd around me.
“I saw him heading for his father,” Mel answers. “Somewhere. I’m sorry, I can’t see anymore.”
“Fuck,” I mutter. “Blaze?”
He doesn’t answer on the mic.
My heart pounds. “Pandora?” I try. I need her to be safe, at least. If I can’t immediately guarantee Blaze’s safety, I need to make sure she is where she’s supposed to be: waiting for one of us to bring Allers to her so she can exact her revenge.
If she doesn’t answer, I don’t know what I’ll do.
“Yeah?” Pandora responds. “I’m waiting. It sounds so fun out there.”
“Make sure you stay put,” I tell her. “Please. I need to find Blaze.”
I start to shove my way through the crowd. I don’t know what direction Blaze’s dad had been in, but in the direction of the main doors seems like a good bet.
The problem is, there are so many other people with the same idea, and none of them want to step to the side to let me through.
My panic is starting to rise. George Bouchard is not a forgiving man, and he’s also not stupid. He’ll know that Blaze was at least partially responsible for all of this, and I have no idea what he’s going to do about it.
It’s very possible that Blaze is in danger from his own father.
I have to find him. Now.
As I shove my way through the room, it’s hard to hear anything other than frightened and angry chatter. The light of phone screens illuminates bits and pieces of the crowd, but it’s not much to see by.
The darkness had seemed like a good idea at the time, but it’s definitely working against us now.
I’m nearing a side door when a familiar voice sounds from a short distance away.
“Where do you think you’re going, Alvarado?” Ezio says. His voice is dark, wilder than I remember it. “You’re staying in here with all the other rats.”
I don’t have time for this.
“Get out of my way,” I demand through clenched teeth.
“No.” Ezio parks himself in front of me. “Did you think I wouldn’t notice you were up to something? Blaze thought he was so clever, tricking his frat brothers. They’re idiots, every one of them. It was trivial to figure out something was going to happen here.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I tell him flatly. “But you’re in my way, and I’m not in the mood to deal with you right now.”
I will be. I have every intention of dealing with him at some point, but it can’t be right now. River will take care of Pandora, but there’s no one to take care of Blaze except me.
My mind is screaming at me to make sure he’s safe, but Ezio won’t get out of my way even as I try to shoulder past him.
He grabs my shoulder and slams me into the nearby wall. I grunt from the impact.
This close, I can stare into Ezio’s eyes, and the complete and utter hatred in them is striking.
“You simply do whatever you’re told,” Ezio mocks. “You can’t even live for yourself. Forever somebody’s leashed dog.”
The words shouldn’t get to me, but they claw at old wounds, whispered comments about how I’m nothing more than Blaze’s bitch.
But Ezio is only trying to shake me up, and I can’t let him do that right now.
“What do you want, Romano?” I ask, pushing hard at his shoulders.
He doesn’t budge at all. “I want to see everybody burn.” Ezio raises his fist.
I manage to get my arms up in time to block him. He’s stronger than I expected, and I know my arms will be bruised tomorrow.
“By the way, where did you leave the fire starting equipment?” Ezio taunts.
“Don’t know what you’re talking about,” I repeat.
I don’t hear much chatter over the mics, or maybe it’s too loud to hear it—or we’re all too focused on our own individual problems.
Ezio Romano had not been one of the problems we’d anticipated, which is another mark against our plans. Fuck.
With my back against the wall, I can at least ensure that no one can come up from behind me. I go for a jab against Ezio’s gut, but he blocks me at the last second.
I don’t know what kind of training he has, so I can’t anticipate where his strengths and weaknesses might be.
“I can’t believe how lucky I got.” Ezio steps back just enough to wind up another punch. “All four Pavone children in one fucking building.”
It’s too hard to dodge with the crowd pressing in from all directions, though some of them start to step back when they see a fight breaking out. I block him again, grimacing at the force of his punch. “You’re not getting near them,” I growl, pressing forward.
“We can end the Pavone line right here.” Ezio leans back, and I use that opportunity to drive my elbow into his chest.
He stumbles, which is all I need to get away from the wall.
“We can end the Bouchards, too,” Ezio says with a laugh. “They already killed your father. Why keep fighting for them? They don’t care about you. You’re nothing but cannon fodder to them.”
Not to Blaze.
I might be expendable to George Bouchard, but never to Blaze.
Never to Pandora, either.
Both of them need me.
But there’s a trickle of doubt somewhere inside of me, and I can’t quite fight it completely back. It doesn’t matter. Right now isn’t the time to dwell on it. I have to get away from Ezio, find Blaze, take care of George Bouchard, then somehow get to Pandora and River.
It’s so much.
Reaper and Fenrir are out there, too, and I have to hope they fulfill their roles because I can’t be everywhere at once. I can’t even be where I’m supposed to be as it is, all because Ezio Romano is keeping me from it.
“Get. Out. Of. My. Way.” I grab him by both shoulders and step in close, then bring my knee up into his groin.
Ezio hunches over in pain, but then he grabs my knee and pushes me back. I stumble into a person standing behind me.
It’s almost impossible to fight like this, in the dark, with flickering from people’s phone flashlights and the large screens illuminating only the outlines of his form.
All the shouting and yelling mask any sounds Ezio might make.
Bodies crowd too close for me to make any sweeping moves.
“I’m going to kill them all,” Ezio growls at me. “Pavones, Bouchards, every single one of these fucking monsters who thinks they can destroy lives on a fucking whim.”
Not if I kill him first.
The thought should be enough to give me pause.
Oh, I’ve beaten someone up for Blaze before, and I’ve had murderous thoughts, but I’ve never had murderous intent.
Where Ezio is concerned, though? If he wants Pandora and Blaze dead, he’s going to have to go through me, and I have no intention of making myself an easy target.
There’s a sudden scream in my ear. I wince against the sound, even as my heartrate ratchets up.
Pandora?
“Mel!” Ares shouts. “Fuck, fuck, Kratos, we need to—”
Is it wrong that I’m relieved it’s not Pandora?
Mel needs help, but she isn’t important. Her brothers can take care of her.
I can’t let myself be distracted.
The screens suddenly go completely dark.
“There we go,” Ezio says. He laughs. “I wonder how long everybody has left.”
Those words make my heart drop into my stomach. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” I demand. I grab him by the collar of his shirt and twist, yanking him closer to me.
Ezio’s laughter fills my ears. “Everybody in one building. You were going to light fires to force everybody out through one exit, right? But what happens if the fires aren’t where you planned? What happens if you’re still in the building when they start?”
Ezio punches me in the gut.
I wheeze and release him, grabbing the wall to steady myself.
“What happens if your precious Pandora Pavone is sitting in the middle of far, far too much kindling?” he taunts.
No.
I’m not going to let that happen.
Even if it means losing Allers, even if it means losing George Bouchard, I’m not.
“Get the fucking doors open!” I yell. “Get Pandora out!”
But Ares and Kratos are going to be distracted helping Mel. River is going to be distracted by Allers. Bobbi is taking care of her own agenda. And Blaze… I don’t know where he is.
Are Reaper and Fenrir able to hear me?
Can Anastasia do anything from her control room?
There are so many unknowns, and I growl and shove at Ezio with all my might. I need to deal with him, but I can’t beat him to a bloody pulp right now. I have more important things to contend with, starting with making sure that Pandora isn’t in trouble.
Ezio grabs me before I can get more than two steps away. “No. We’ll watch it all go together. Do you think she’ll scream, the way my family did? Giulio Pavone will know what it’s like to have everything stolen from him in a single instance.”
It all comes down to vengeance.
He’s never going to stop until he gets justice for his family, the same justice Pandora wants for Rachel.
My earpiece crackles, and I wince against the high pitched sound.
Ezio takes the earpiece out of my ear and tosses it aside. “You won’t want to hear that. You’ll go deaf. Especially once the entire room turns into shrapnel.”
Shrapnel.
“What did you do?” I demand, driving my fist into his jaw. It connects, surprisingly solid, the metal of my brass knuckles ripping into his skin. I smell the copper of his blood. “What the fuck did you do?”
Ezio laughs. “I didn’t do anything. You did it. All of you. You wanted to cause chaos? Well, you’ve got it. What bigger chaos is there than an explosion, with all these generations of Kappa Alpha alumni caught in the blast? And Pandora Pavone, dead center.”
The rage that suffuses me is absolute, and that urge to kill slams into me.
I don’t think. I grab him by his shirt again and slam my fist back into his face.
I will beat him to a bloody fucking pulp.
I will destroy him.
He lets out a sound that’s half a yell, half a laugh, as if the pain is nothing to him.
He can laugh all he wants.
It doesn’t matter.
He’s done.
I crack his jaw. He tries to fight me off, but I elbow him hard and slam the brass knuckles into his throat.
The laughter is gone, his wheezing drowned out by the cacophony around us.
I keep punching.
My fist grows slick.
Not enough.
He deserves more than this.
Punch. Punch. Punch.
The brass knuckles split his skin apart, and even in the flickering lights of cell phone flashlights, I can tell that Ezio’s face isn’t a face anymore.
Can he still breathe?
Can he still see?
One more punch. One more scrape. One more—
The lights turn on.
“Everybody! The front doors are open. Evacuate now. Don’t stampede! But get the fuck out!” Anastasia announces through the speakers.
I stare down at Ezio’s body. I’m holding him up by his collar, but he isn’t moving.
Everything above his neck is a mess of dark red, oozing and dripping.
I should be nauseated by what I’ve done.
I should care that I’ve beaten this man to the point where he’s unrecognizable.
I drop Ezio’s motionless body and turn. Even as everyone else crowds toward the doors, I shove my way through the crowd in the opposite direction.
I will find Pandora.
I will get her out of here.
Nothing else matters.
Blaze will have to fend for himself.
I can almost hear the ticking of a clock in my head. How long do I have?
Long enough.
It has to be.
I can’t lose her.
I won’t.
Especially not before I tell her how much she means to me.