Chapter 28
Ashia
‘Madness’ – Tribal Blood
The moment Damien smirks, I shut the laptop and pick it up, running back to Viking and Grease with it in a death grip.
I know I promised to get to Carter’s office as soon as I could, but when I opened Satori’s laptop, I couldn’t resist. The guys would’ve had a hard time believing us without proof, and when Kade talked about going through their old base’s system, I knew they kept the records.
That just also happened to include all of the old security footage.
“We don’t have a lot of time. We have to get to the Batcave,” I tell them and run out beside them.
“Just lead the way, Mama.” Grease stays close to my right side, pistol drawn, and Viking stays to my left, continuously looking behind us as we move.
Every hallway we turn down, there’s more chaos.
The men that were up here are running to get downstairs, and I’m just thankful that so far, there’s no shooting up here.
I can faintly hear the parade of bullets from the training area, but it gets quieter the further we move.
As we come up to the office door, the hallway gets brighter. Carter’s den means safety, and while I hate that Damien isn’t with me, I knew he would be fine the moment he smirked. My God of War is back in all of his glory, and now I need to do my part.
We bust through the Batcave door, and I immediately run over to the desk.
The first thing I do is navigate our employee maintenance and delete Satori’s profile.
Carter said that it should automatically take him out of everything, but knowing Satori, he’s thought of that.
So, I’m making a mental note to watch everything closely until the code uploads and I can restart everything.
I pull out the USB drive with shaky hands and shove it into the tower, immediately going where Carter told me to.
Thankfully, I somewhat know how to download something, and it’s mostly easy to navigate.
When it prompts me to scan my hand, I do, and a shaky breath flees my lungs the moment it accepts my clearance.
The file starts to download, and now, we just have to wait about two minutes before I can restart the system.
It’s almost over…
“I had no idea you were so computer savvy, Ashia,” Grease teases, still facing the door with his gun drawn.
“Oh, I’m not. You can thank Carter for this.
” I chuckle and look to the top row of screens, instantly losing any humor that was trying to churn in my chest. The entire training area is madness, just a tumbleweed of fights and gunshots.
My eyes are glued to the screen as I watch the cameras, terrified that any moment, I’ll see Damien keel over.
“They’re going to be okay. Try not to watch.” Grease’s tone is sincere.
“It’ll be worse for you if you do,” Viking points out. I think he’s trying to be genuine, but his tone is sharp and gruff.
My eyes bounce back and forth between the countdown and the live footage, but I wish I had heeded Grease’s warning.
Tears prick my eyes as I watch Darnell hit the floor, motionless.
Dread overtakes me and I realize just how helpless I am.
There are a few other bodies, almost all of them Sahara, but as more of them drop, I can’t help but get emotional, wondering how many of our friends will join them.
Gunshots ring out, much closer than before, and it startles me. I snap around and look at Grease. The alarm on his face is worrisome.
“It’s alright, Ashia. Just stay calm,” he tries to reassure me.
Surprisingly, Viking steps in front of me, keeping a barrier between me and the door as he keeps his pistol pointed.
I look back at the cameras, catching a movement from down the hall.
Kade and Alex are running away from the stairs while pain and fear coat both of their faces.
Alex is clearly hurt, maybe even shot, and it’s clear that Kade is helping him move by how lazily his left leg is stepping.
He’s limping horribly, and his entire limb is covered in blood.
Worry bubbles up in my stomach and I instantly feel sick.
“Alex… Oh, my God. Let them in!” I turn around and yell. Grease and Viking open the door and rush out, coming back only moments later with the guys. Alex is grunting and holding his side as they drag him in, blood pouring from his hand.
“They’re coming up the stairs…” Alex spits through gritted teeth. I wrap my arm around his middle and help him to the floor, cringing the moment he yells out in pain. I shove my hand on his wound, and his warm blood immediately soaks my palms.
“It’s okay. It’s going to be alright. Grease?” I look over to him, but he and Viking are already stepping out of the door with their guns drawn, waiting for whoever is trying to make their way here.
I glance at the computers again, trying to catch a glimpse of who’s heading this way, but I see something else entirely.
Satori makes his way backward, towards the back of the training area, and leaves his men on the front lines.
His gaze darts back and forth between Damien and the side door, clearly thinking about how he can escape.
“Kade! Call Damien! Satori’s going to—” I turn around and freeze.
Fear explodes and charges through my limbs, making them prick like pins and needles.
It’s not Kade’s eyes that I find—it’s the barrel of his pistol, pointed right at my face.
He slams the door closed and locks it, leaving us trapped with Grease and Viking stuck on the other side. “Kade…”
“Shut up…” Kade hisses, starting to get shaky.
“Ash…” Alex tries to move, but then groans and falls back, unable to inch forward.
“Alex, just keep pressure on it…” I move his hand to where mine was, and slowly stand, holding my bloody hands up by my head. “Kade, please…”
“I said, shut up, Ash…” he chokes out.
“You don’t have to do this…” I plead.
“Do you think I want to do this?! Do you think I—” He scratches his head with the pistol and paces the room, just to turn back to me a few steps later. “Fuck, I don’t want to do this…” he whimpers.
“Ashia?! Mama, talk to me!” Grease yells and bangs on the door. There is a cadence of bangs and hits from them trying to get back inside.
“You don’t have to, okay?” I keep my focus on Kade, even though I’m silently praying that they burst through the door.
My head starts to throb, and the baby starts kicking whatever organ is closest to her, scaring me even further.
I trusted Kade. I gave him the benefit of the doubt, even when Damien didn’t want to, and now I could’ve ruined everything.
If he kills us, our baby girl, it’ll be all my fault.
“Whatever the problem is, we can work it out…”
“You don’t understand!” he yells, and the guys try even harder to get in. I don’t know what they’re using to try to break the door down, but it sounds like something metal. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this!”
“How was it supposed to be, then?” I cut my eyes back to Alex, noticing how pale he looks. My chest tightens. He’s going to die here, and that’s going to be my fault, too. More tears threaten to fall when I look back to Kade.
“I knew about the deal Satori made with them…but only afterward. He lied and said that we were just going to join up with D. We were just supposed to distract him enough to let Avery’s plan go unnoticed.
But then I heard about your poisoning… That it was really meant for D, and then when they tried to kill him again.
Then you. God, it all went so wrong!” He starts to pace again, clearly getting antsy.
“Now everything is fucked! I tried to make it right! I swear, I did! I really tried to help you guys find him. I didn’t want anything to happen to him…
” He sobs, momentarily lowering the gun, but then instantly righting himself again.
“I’m sure you did…” My voice is soft, trying to keep him from getting overwhelmed, but the shakiness there only seems to aggravate him. There’s so much pain and fear on his face—so much desperation. Desperate people do desperate things…
“He used my fucking code!” he screams again, pushing the gun further in my direction with every word.
“My fucking code!” He lifts his hands to his head, squeezing the sides so tightly that I’m afraid he’ll either yank out his hair or bash his own face in.
“D’s going to kill me… He’s never going to let me live after he finds out that I knew…
” His voice twists in an agonizing crack.
“Kade… Listen to me, okay? We can talk to Damien…” I try to plead again. “We’ll tell him everything that happened. He’ll understand. I’ll help you…”
“Understand? You’ll think he’ll understand?
! I tried to tell him and look what he did!
Look at me!” He points to his neck with his free hand, pointing out the bruises that Damien left on him last time.
“He tried to kill me, and he doesn’t even know yet!
What do you think he’ll do to me when he does know?
!” His eyes widen as he imagines what my husband will have in store for him.
“I’m holding his wife at gunpoint… Holy fuck, I’m holding a gun to his pregnant wife…
” He runs his free hand over his head. “He won’t make this quick, will he?
” His face contorts in pain just at the thought.
I take a deep breath of my own, attempting to keep my heart rate down, but to no avail.
My head continues to pound, and I can feel my chest weighing heavy with panic.
Alex continues to groan behind me, but he’s getting quieter by the minute, and I know that if we don’t get him out of here soon, he’ll die.
“Kade, just breathe. Okay? I’ll talk to him, and we can come up with a way—”
“He’ll kill all of us…” he interrupts, starting to lose it. “I’ve seen what D does to people. I couldn’t let that happen to our guys. I didn’t want to do this…”