Chapter 49
Chapter
Forty-Nine
Sage
The noises of fighting die down once Alexei is taken. The silence that follows is far more terrifying. It means it's over. Or, worse, that it's only just beginning.
I crawl through the vent, reminding myself that I wanted this.
Drawing Chet out was my idea. Acting as bait…
all my idea. I'm not scared of what happens now.
It's what awaits on the other side that scares me.
I have to push forward regardless. So I take a deep breath and keep going, just the way that Alexei told me.
"That…was unpleasant."
I freeze at the sound of Chet's voice. Like a little girl transported back to a time that no longer exists, my memories paralyze me. Old trauma from childhood wounds clashes with the new ones I created for myself.
"There was no need for any of that, was there? And now look we've all ended up in the same position, anyway."
My heart skips a beat at the venom in his voice. It was always harsh like that. Like the very words in his mouth were carefully planted and filled with poison.
The tunnel ahead of me is clear and I know I should be moving forward towards Angie's office like Alexei has told me. But I can't just leave, so instead of doing what I was told and going right, I go left.
I go towards the bright light where the ceiling fell out and where I'm sure I'll be able to see what's happening. I crawl toward the opening, stopping where I can just peek down and make out their faces through the remaining grate.
It's a grim sight. On one side of the room Dad, Anton and Freddie are on their knees with their hands behind their backs.
Isla is in a similar position on the opposite side.
Between everyone is two chairs facing each other.
As I rightly guess, Alexei gets pushed down into one of them with his hands tied behind his back. I suppose the other was meant for me.
It seems nobody is coming out of this unscathed because Angie appears now, too. Held captive by more of Chet's men who march her out of the back rooms bound and gagged.
"She's not back there," one man announces.
Chet runs his tongue over his lip with a slight smirk as he sighs.
"Well," he says, his tone sharp and annoyed. "You have managed to conceal the single thing I came for."
Chet shakes his head as he paces around. Even with the men we did take out, we're still outnumbered. By a lot. I hide in the ceiling like a coward, but I wonder what else I could possibly do. I suspect the answer is nothing.
"As for you, nephew," Chet says, bending down until he is at Alexei's eye level. "I had high hopes for you and you betray me not once, but twice." Chet spins, pointing around the bar. "What was all this? Another trap for me?"
Alexei's jaw goes hard and I can see that he wants to fight against the restraints, but for whatever reason he keeps his famous temper in check.
Several more of Chet's men file in, standing at attention to report back to their leader. "The doors are still all barred. Nobody seen outside."
My view is clear enough that I see Chet's eyes narrow as he looks around at the wreckage left behind in the fighting. He smiles wide to himself. "She's still here. She's just hiding," he says.
My heart stops as I draw in a sharp breath.
There's glee in Chet's voice as he giddily saunters around the bar like we're only playing a game of hide and seek. He addresses Alexei, stepping into his face. "Did you hide her in here, nephew? Are you keeping her from me?"
Alexei says nothing, keeping his lips tightly sealed as he meets Chet's gaze with angry eyes. None of the others know where I am, but they don't make a move to look.
"Can she hear me?" Chet whispers to Alexei, looking around the room in playful surprise. I close my eyes in fear, because yes I can hear him and the way his tongue clicks with satisfaction.
Chet never shows himself unless he has the upper hand, which he obviously does here, but now he has so much of one that this is nothing but a bit of fun. All a game of the people I care about getting in his way as he plots his path to me.
Now would be the perfect time to actually run away. To not stick around for the ending. Choose to walk away and see what happens after.
But I could never do that.
"Oh, little Sage," Chet says on a singsong voice. "You are still here aren't you."
I hold my breath as Chet takes a pool cue and slams it against the furnishings. First the bar top, then under a table and behind a booth. He opens up cupboards, boxes and anything that looks even half my size.
I can tell he's enjoying this. I am a rat trapped in his cage.
"I can make you come out, you know," Chet says, still a smile in his eyes.
I know he can. It's what I expect him to do. So I'm not surprised at all when he takes a knife and goes to Freddie, pressing it up against his chin.
"The question is, who will it be?" Chet says, searching for me with his eyes. "Will Fallon here be enough to draw you out? Or do I need to kill someone else?"
I close my eyes so I don't see this. My resolve is already weak.
It has been weak for a year. I'm not afraid to die. In fact, I welcomed it. I'd always rather it be me. I didn't want anyone to die for me and there's no possibility that I'm going to let it happen again.
"How about dear old Dad?" Chet says as he holds the knife against Dad's neck. Dad's lips purse in displeasure and annoyance.
"You're such a spineless cunt," Dad says, shaking his head even as the knife presses up against his throat. I cringe at the same time as Anton throws Dad a look begging him to shut the fuck up.
"You should untie me and fight me like a man," Dad hisses.
Chet curls his upper lip and removes the knife, looking like Dad has robbed this moment of all its fun. "You'll get your turn Dimitri don't you worry."
He paces back around the bar and circles Alexei. "Is he the one, Sage?" He holds the knife to Alexei's throat, lifting his chin in the process and forcing Alexei to meet his eye. Still, Alexei says nothing.
"Will you watch as he dies?" He elevates the pressure, pressing the knife harder against Alexei's throat as he sneers. "Or will you give me what I want?"
"Don't do it, Sage!" Isla yells out, drawing everyone's surprised attention. The men holding her kick her down and subdue her, but Chet and Alexei don't take their eyes off each other.
"You will only get so many chances, little Sage," Chet says, slashing the knife over Alexei's cheek until it bleeds.
There are various other pleas from my family to run, hide, do whatever I can to get away. But we all know that's not what I'm going to do. I've always been a very good sacrificial lamb.
So I do what I was always going to, I climb down from the roof and drop behind the bar. I sacrifice myself, and I give Chet what he wants.