60. Ash
Chapter 60
Ash
“Let her go,” I snarled, staring at Ryan’s pained face.
Maximus chuckled and looked at me. “Where is Gabriel?”
I didn’t say a word. The King signaled to Barrett, and he pulled a gun, putting it to Ryan’s head. I didn’t panic—on the outside, at least. My heart felt like it might beat out of my chest in mere seconds. I raised my finger and pointed in the direction I’d left him.
“Go,” Maximus said to a few guards, and they raced off into the night to collect their fallen Prince.
“You should be pleased, Asha. You may have killed my wife and my advisor, but you succeeded in finding our spy.”
What? The only spy around here was Kane. Until me, Ryan had nothing to do with this.
“She’s no spy. ”
“Oh, quite the contrary. She was feeding information to the rebels. You see, I had my suspicions from the beginning about how much she despised me for what happened to her poor brother. Though, his actions were his own, and you cannot blame me for upholding the law. So, I specifically changed my plans in front of her about when I would visit the cemetery, and you will never guess who showed up.”
“Get to the point,” I grunted through clenched teeth. One of the King’s four guards that I had often overlooked was easing around behind me. Ryan’s eyes locked with mine, wide with fear.
Maximus chuckled. “Well, it was my long-lost son. After all these years. Imagine my surprise when he showed up at the cemetery begging for me to take him instead of you. I assumed someone would show up when I was all alone if the maid squealed, but I was shocked to see Liam. I had my doubts about your little display for Gabriel the other day, and my suspicions were correct. I just had to wait this evening out to see who else revealed themselves.”
My chest tightened like I’d been kicked right in the sternum. No. Why would Liam do that? Why would he risk everything?
“Where is my father?”
“Hidden safely away. I even agreed to his terms, but…that was before you went and killed the love of my life.” He sounded real broken up about it.
“Drop your weapons, granddaughter.”
“If I do, you swear you won’t kill her?” I moved my left hand and aimed it at the guard, who inched closer to me by the second.
“I can promise you if you fight, she will be the first to die, and you will lose. Even you can tell when you’re severely outnumbered. Even with the blonde ability I’m sure you’re hiding, you are no match for this many soldiers. ”
He was right. There were maybe thirty soldiers surrounding us now. My only hope was dropping my weapons and praying he kept his word. I squeezed the handles of the guns, before my hands went slack and they clattered to the ground. The guard came up behind me and grasped my wrists, pinning them behind my back. I dropped my head in defeat.
“Good decision,” the King murmured. “But I do wonder… Where is the man that was supposed to pry this information from you? Have you infected his mind as well?” He appeared angry at his own wandering thoughts, and I didn’t give him an answer to protect Kane.
Shuffling footsteps approached, and I could see two soldiers helping Gabe toward the mansion, his arms slung over their shoulders for support. He stared at the ground as they came closer, never meeting my eyes. The knife was still firmly stuck in his side, and blood leaked down his shirt and stained his pants.
“Gabriel!” Maximus said, concern lacing his tone. Gabe didn’t say anything or even lift his head, just shuffled on, his feet barely leaving the ground. The two soldiers basically dragged him by the arms.
“Get him to Jones, quickly!” Maximus shouted, and his evil eyes turned to me. As soon as they were out of sight, I spoke.
“Good luck with that,” I scoffed, feeling a small win among so many losses. “Jones is gone.”
His face registered shock, and he ordered more guards away. “Go,” he roared.
We waited, the moments ticking by only making the smirk on my face grow bigger. He didn’t know everything, after all. Soon, a soldier sprinted back toward us .
“Gone, sir! His office burned—all the paperwork was destroyed.” That was where the smoke was coming from earlier, but who had done it?
“His apartment?”
“Cleared out, sir. His wife and daughter are gone.”
Maximus charged toward me until he was a breath away, staring down at me, his chest rising and falling rapidly. “Where did he go?”
I shrugged. “Seems you don’t know everything .”
His hand shot out and slammed into my face, his knuckles cracking across my cheek. My face stung with pain, but nothing could erase my smirk from beating him at something.
“It doesn’t matter. I will find him. Your father will tell me everything I want to know, with time. But you will not live to see another day.” He smiled then. “And the best part is you went along with my plan perfectly, and you didn’t even know it.”
My smirk fell slightly, and he leaned in closer. “I told you I had been playing this game far longer than you. You don’t think I sent Gabriel to Cedar Hill for a reason? You don’t think that I knew he would fall in love with you and try to convince me to save you? I have been molding him since he was a child, it’s laughable that you ever thought he was yours.”
I lunged toward him without a second thought. I didn’t have a weapon but I’d gouge out his eyeballs with my fingers if I had to. The hot river of anger and despair that flowed through me pushed me onward until the hands wrapped around my arms pulled me back before I could reach him. The soldier held me back as I threw profanities directed at my grandfather.
The King chuckled and kept running his wretched mouth. “I have to admit, you kept your ability hidden well, but in the end, it worked out better, didn’t it? Gabriel knows now. He knows that you betrayed him. He knows that blondes are liars and killers. He will never trust another again, and he will become the King I always wanted him to be and rule the way I want him to. Plus, the people were becoming sympathetic to blondes again, and now…“ he chuckled next to my ear, “they will want retribution; they will encourage me to lock your people up once more. They will see blondes as the enemy they are. We will live in peace again, just like in the years after I killed Beth and blamed it on the blondes.”
My mouth fell open, and my breath lodged in my throat. He let the blondes out; he was the cause of the raid the day Pop took me. He killed Beth. He essentially killed Gabe’s mother, and Gabe had no idea. I realized how unmatched the fight had been. My grandfather had been playing a game for years that I had only learned recently.
“You may have won a battle, but I won this war.” He pulled something out of his pocket and smiled. I watched in horror as Pop’s book flipped between his fingers. “Your presence has been a thorn in my side when I have more important matters to deal with now.” He turned to re-enter the mansion, his final words lingering between us. “Kill them,” he said, inclining his chin toward Ryan and I as the door shut behind him.
“No!” I cried, but the guard held strong as I tried to wrench my hands away.
Barrett shoved Ryan forward, and our eyes met once more. “Ash,” she cried, her eyes full of tears. The agony that ripped through my body at her pleas was worse than any wound I’d suffered before. Her cry would haunt me forever if I couldn’t save her. I had to save her.
The tiny thread that connected me with my ability felt like it blew in the wind. Grasping it took a moment, but once I found it, I held strong. Kane’s words came to mind about using an ability too much, but I didn’t care. The fiery rage within me quieted the small voice that said I shouldn’t use it any longer.
More soldiers circled around us, and I struck, kicking out the knee of the guard who held me. He grunted in pain, and his hands loosened around my wrists. I bent forward, throwing my hips back like I’d done before, breaking his hold, but none of the soldiers moved forward. They only watched.
I turned to the guard at my back, and he…smiled at me? I attacked again, using all my power to take him out, to take his gun, to get to Ryan. He matched me blow for blow, even the ones I anticipated perfectly. Nausea burned in my stomach, and the world swayed. It was too much. I stumbled backward, and that’s when I saw it. The guard I had paid so little mind to had eyes that appeared as if they glowed in the dark. My jaw dropped. He was like me—he could see and he was…toying with me. His hair was dark. A real dark, not dyed. I pitched backward once more and looked for Ryan, but Barrett had taken her around the corner of the building.
I glanced between the guard with the glowing eyes and the other soldiers surrounding us, then I bolted toward Ryan. My body slammed into the nearest soldier, pulling the knife from his belt as he fell. The world dimmed and my eyes swam with stars, but I felt too reckless, too out of control to care. I held the knife above my head and plunged it down toward the soldier’s heart, but his forearm connected with mine. I was losing my gift.
Our eyes connected over our straining arms, and that’s when I recognized him as one of Davis’s soldiers that had been with him earlier. He reached up and grabbed the knife with his other hand, and I couldn’t do anything to stop it. I was too weak. His eyes glinted with the pleasure of beating me.
I sprung up off of him, breaking free of his hold on my arm. I’d never conquer all of these soldiers, not with the black that crept into the edges of my vision and my ability all but gone. I bolted away but was quickly stopped by another wall of soldiers. They circled around, caging me in with Davis’s soldier. He flipped the knife over in his hand, a deadly glint in his smile.
That’s when the crack of a single gunshot echoed through the air from around the corner of the building. My heart stuttered and my knees felt weak. Not Ryan. Tears burned my eyes, and my hands shook uselessly at my sides. There was no winning. I’d die here with Ryan. I blindly charged Davis’s soldier with no regard for my safety or life. There was no life ahead of me anyway, not anymore. Kane and Will flashed through my mind. They’d move on—they had to.
My chest heaved and ached when I rammed into the soldier, and his knife slid along the base of my ribs, slicing me from one side to another and scraping the bones as it went across. I fell to my knees. The pain burned, and blood slipped from the wound. I gazed up at the stars in the sky, which was hazy from the smoke of the still-burning buildings.
“I’m sorry Pop,” I whispered. “I didn’t change the world like you wanted.”
I gripped my wound with one arm and closed my eyes as the soldier stepped up behind me. My head swam, and the dizziness threatened to topple me. This was it—I’d meet all the ones who had gone before me. Nan, Pop, Ryan, Caleb, and so many more that I’d never even learned names of. I waited for the slice of the knife in the back, but it never came .
The soldier kicked my aching ribs, sending me flying into the dirt as I rolled to my back. My breath left my lungs, and I coughed to try to get it back. I stared up at the stars once more, feeling…peace. The world faded around me, and silence echoed in my ears. The blackness at the edges of my vision had grown, and I could only see through a small tunnel toward the sky. A blessing, possibly. I wouldn’t see the killing blow when it surely came.
My life flashed through my mind. The early days with Jackson, Will, and Izzie. The brief visits from Liam. My life with Nan and Pop. Falling in love with Diesel. In my last moments, I felt…pity for him, not hatred. He was just a pawn in the King’s wicked game, and he didn’t even know it. Kane’s gray eyes were the last thing to enter my mind. I can promise you that I will try. No matter what, I will try to find my way back to you. Always.
“I’m sorry,” I mouthed, the sound not even making it past my lips. A twinkling star in the sky caught my attention as I lay prone on the ground. I thought about the light in the darkness, how such a seemingly small star in the sky could shine enough light through the blackness that anyone who looked could see it.
The twinkling light suddenly vanished. My eyes must’ve finally given out on me, or I was so numb, I didn’t feel it when the soldier had made the killing blow, and I was on my way to the afterlife. But no…there was something there. I blinked and saw gray eyes and a blood speckled face.
“Ash, please.”
Large, warm hands caressed the sides of my face, and it was like time warped back, bringing the light and noise with it. Kane knelt over me, holding my face in his hands while gunshots echoed around us. He winced and ducked his head further.
“Kane,” I croaked .
“Yes. Yes. It’s me. I’ve got you.” His lip twitched downward, like he was trying to hold back a sob.
More gunshots ricocheted over us through the falling snow mixed with dirt.
“We’ve got to go. Can you stand?”
I nodded, feeling stronger with him next to me. He felt like home—like with him by my side, I could do anything. My tunnel vision hadn’t subsided, but I could see well enough. He pulled me to my feet, and I stumbled, but his arm caught me in a vice grip around the waist. It’d never felt so right to have my body melded to someone else’s.
The bodies of fallen soldiers lay peppered throughout the snow, crimson staining the ground around them. It looked like someone had unleashed a bloody whirlwind that plowed down the soldiers with little effort. We moved toward the wall. Kane’s fingers dug into my side, and I yelped at the white-hot pain that surged through my abdomen.
Shots rang out over our heads, and Kane’s knees hit the ground in front of me. I braced myself on the wall to avoid collapsing.
“Ash, what’s wrong? Where does it hurt?” His eyes were frantic, and his fingers tentatively ran down my sides. My coat disguised the wound and the darkness covered the sight of the blood. There was more gunfire, and a bullet embedded itself into the wall to our right. Kane pulled up his gun, knocking down the soldier closest to us that had been the culprit. We hid in the shadows, and I doubted we were very easy to spot unless they got close enough. More shots flew overhead, and more soldiers fell to the ground. Someone fired from atop the wall, protecting us. I watched as the last two of Davis’s soldiers fell to the ground. The last people that knew I wasn’t Davis’s and the Queen’s true killer besides the King’s guards. The last people that knew of Sam’s betrayal to the King.
I felt too tired to speak and instead grabbed Kane’s hand, pressing it against me to get enough contact to show him what had happened. His hands stilled as he recalled the memory with me, and then his eyes darkened, a muscle working in his jaw.
More shots rang out, far too close, hitting the wall near us.
Kane was up in an instant, gripping me under the knees and behind the back as we made our way to the hole underneath the wall. Branches from the bush brushed past my face, and then he set me down next to the hole.
“Can you get through?” he asked. His face had a look on it I’d never seen before. Was that…fear? Was Kane afraid?
I steeled myself and nodded, sluggishly moving to wiggle through the small gap under the fence. My abdomen screamed at me to stop, but I shoved down the pain so deep, to where I hid everything else. My fingers clawed at the frozen ground, and I kicked my feet until I emerged on the other side. Kane was quickly behind me, pulling me to my feet once more.
“Let’s go,” he said in a hushed whisper. He grasped my side again, closer to my hip, this time careful not to disturb my wound. “Sam will be behind us.”
It was Sam who was on top of the wall. Relief flooded into my body. He wasn’t dead—Davis hadn’t killed him. We ran for the cover of the nearby trees, Kane pulling me along with him. When we reached the trees, he gently pushed me up against a trunk and knelt before me again.
“I need to look at your wound.” He searched my face for permission before he touched me .
I nodded, reaching for the buttons of my coat with too-shaky fingers. I fumbled with the buttons, and then his warm hands were covering mine.
“Let me,” he breathed. He lifted my shirt, revealing the skin that was fileted open across the expanse of my lower ribs. Blood soaked my shirt and blotched over my stomach. I could see my rib bones shining back at me, and I looked away, my stomach churning with nausea.
He cursed loudly. “Don’t worry Blondie, we’ll get you fixed up good as new.”
He slipped a mask of positivity over his face, but his eyes betrayed him. The wound was worse than I thought, and his shaking hands holding my shirt confirmed my suspicion.
“How bad is it?” The first words I’d spoken since he rescued me.
“It’s going to be okay, Ash.” He looked away when he said it. I wished I could read his thoughts right now.
I leaned my head back against the tree and closed my eyes to try to stop the spinning. His fingers grazed my skin. He cursed again, and his hands were suddenly on either side of my head, forcing me to look at him.
“You are not going to die, do you understand me?” he said. I bit my lip, keeping the wobble at bay. “You are too stubborn and strong to die. We’ll get you help.”
I stared into his steely eyes, and I believed him. He must’ve liked the emotions he felt, because he landed on his knees again, tearing his coat off and then his shirt, leaving him bare chested in the frigid air.
“I don’t think this is really the time for that.” My voice sounded hollow in my throat at my terrible attempt at a joke .
He shook his head and pulled his coat back over his naked chest. “However much I would like that, now is certainly not the time.” He pulled out a knife and sliced his shirt up the middle. He would like that? Why was I even thinking of such things at a moment like this?
He wrapped the shirt around my abdomen, pushing the skin back into place, cinching the shirt tight enough around me that I felt like my breathing was restricted.
As soon as he finished, he pulled my shirt back down and buttoned up my coat. Then something made its way down my pants. I thought we agreed this wasn’t the time for that.
“A knife,” he said, and then he tucked a gun into my hand. “Shoot to kill.”
Footsteps crunched through the snow as someone quickly approached, and more shots rang out from the estate. Sam appeared through the thick night, holding a gun that was so large it went over the top of his head and reached his knees from where it hung on his shoulder.
“Sam,” I whimpered when he got close enough.
“Ash.” He reached out, and I tucked my hand into his.
“You’re okay,” I breathed.
“I’m okay. Just a good knock to the head.” That’s when I saw the bloody wound on his forehead partially obstructed by his warm hat. We all glanced at each other, and I knew we’d be okay.
There were moments in time when you wished you could go back mere seconds and change the course of history. Or in my case, see the future enough to alter the events. If only I hadn’t been so burnt out. If only I hadn’t given up and I had still held on to the small thread of my ability. I would’ve seen it coming. I could have protected him. I could have altered the future. But some things happen, and they can never be changed, no matter what abilities you possess.
A single, stray gunshot echoed through the night. The bullet careened through the air until it exploded into Kane’s upper thigh. There were times in life when one moment you were filled with so much hope for the future and the next the world fell apart at your fingertips. The smiling gray eyes that peered at me with more soul-deep longing than I had ever seen shattered with pain as he fell to the ground.
“No!” I screamed and threw myself on the ground next to him, more bullets tearing into the surrounding ground. Sam turned and knelt, firing back toward the wall.
Kane’s leg gushed with far too much blood. I felt like I was being ripped apart from the inside out.
“Kane!” I wailed, pressing my hands over the wound. So much blood. His head strained back against the ground, and the veins in his neck protruded from the pain.
“Sam!” Kane yelled.
More footsteps got closer to us. Sam fell back until he knelt beside Kane.
“Get her out of here.”
Tears burned paths down my face. “Kane, no!” My hands dripped with his warm blood, and I pressed harder.
“Sam,” his voice was quieter, and the men shared a look, Sam nodding with understanding.
“I’m not leaving you!” I screeched at Kane. He sat up, his face contorting in pain. His hand covered mine, and he pulled my hands away from his wound, the blood gushing harder.
“Go, Ash. ”
“Kane, I’m not leaving you. If you die, I die.” Ugly tears streamed down my face, and I pulled his face to mine. I didn’t want a life without him in it. There was no life out all without him. He had been the only person that made me feel alive again and now he was dying right before my eyes.
“Please,” he whispered.
“No, dammit. You never gave up on me. I will not give up on you.” I pressed my forehead into his, and my body shook with sobs.
“Go north. Get to Croydon. Will is there. He’ll know what to do.” Gone was the rich timbre of his voice.
“No,” I bawled.
“Please, Ash. Please do this for me.”
“No, I can’t.”
“Blondie—“ His voice broke. “I love you. I cannot watch you die. Go—for me.”
“I love you, too,” I whispered into his lips, that were only a breath away. They slammed into mine in a soul-melting kiss that tasted too much like goodbye. He pulled away too soon, and his strength faltered. He fell back against the ground, and I was there in an instant, pulling his head into my lap.
“Sam,” he murmured, and his eyes fluttered closed. Gut-wrenching agony filled my chest as Sam wrapped his hand around my upper arm. It felt like the fiery inferno that burned in my heart split open my insides, laying them bare for the the world to see.
“No,” I cried. “Kane!” His eyes opened ever so slightly, and the last thing I saw before Sam pulled me away and into the night were steel-gray eyes that were bleeding dry of life. I struggled against Sam’s hold, but my frail body betrayed me. “I’ll always find my way back to you,” I wept, sure he didn’t hear my words before he vanished between the trees and soldiers surrounded him.