Chapter 28 #2
Disappointment falls upon me, but only because my heart knows why he’s doing this before my head.
“What do you mean?”
“Satori’s getting them out… He swore he’d get them out if I did this! They have to be okay… They’ve been through too much. I couldn’t let them pay for what Satori did…”
“Kade…” I cradle my belly with one hand and risk taking a step towards him. As she kicks and flips against my palm, I tighten my grip, wishing that my hold alone could protect her. “He lied…”
“What? No. No. No. He swore he’d get our guys out!”
“Look.” I slowly step to the side and point to the screen with my free arm.
The system starts to beep erratically, alerting me that the file has completely downloaded.
I need to restart it, but I can’t. I can’t move too quickly, because I don’t want to startle him.
“He put all of them at the front lines, and where is he? He’s running away… ”
Kade averts his gaze to the screen, and then his features fall with the same betrayal as we feel.
“No… No, that—that can’t be right. He said if I did this that D would drop everything to get to you… That was our only chance to get them all out…”
I take the risk of looking as well and immediately find Damien. He takes a step in Satori’s direction, then halts like some unseen force keeps him back. His head snaps behind him, undoubtedly looking at Carter and Zeke, and then he bolts towards the entry door.
Satori was right about one thing. Damien would drop everything to protect me, and that’s exactly what he’s doing right now. He’s on his way here…and Satori used Kade for bait.
“Satori is a piece of shit, Kade… None of this is your fault…” I try to level with him, but he just shakes his head. Tears stream down his face, and there’s emptiness there now. It’s paired with defeat. Any hope that charged his heart is fading, and the realization dawns on him.
“I was never going to hurt you… I swear, I just… I had to get D away… I really like you, Ash. I’m sorry…” His stance melts into something languid, even though the gun remains in my direction.
“I know. I like you, too. It’s going to be okay. You’re Damien’s friend. He’ll see that. Just…just put the gun down and we’ll talk to him together. Okay?”
“There’s no hope for me, Ash…” he sobs, then looks up at me with trembling lips and flushed eyes. “There never was…was there?”
“Ashia!” Damien screams from the other side of the door, making Kade flinch. My heart drops to the floor, afraid that he’ll pull the trigger unwillingly. Harsher bangs pound against the metal door, and I start to shake. Kade looks into my eyes then down at his hands before coming back to me.
“Tell Damien I’m sorry…”
My stomach churns.
“Kade, don’t. Please…”
Before I can reach out for him, he yanks the gun to the side of his head and pulls the trigger, causing a loud bang to echo in the small space. I scream unwillingly and cover my mouth, flinching when hot liquid sprays me.
“Ashia?!” I faintly hear Damien yell again past the screeching in my ears.
“I’m okay…” I don’t know if I’m loud or not. It feels like I’m whispering, but I can still hear myself. “I’m fine.” I try again, unable to tear my eyes away from Kade’s body that’s now contorted on the floor in front of me. “I’m fucking fine…”
“Open the door, baby! Let me in!” Damien yells again, but I can’t move. I’m stuck.
A faint pull on my leggings snaps me out of my daze, and I look down at the feeling. Alex’s eyes are half closed, and he’s breathing shallowly as he looks up at me. That reaches something deep inside of me, and I shuffle over to the door with heavy, dragging steps.
I unlock it, barely having enough time to take a step back before Damien and the guys come barreling through the door. Damien pulls me into his chest, wrapping his arms around me so tightly that it takes my breath away. The room starts to sway as he pulls me to the side of the room.
“Alex needs help…” I whisper out, still fighting through the throbbing daze.
“There’s an ambulance out front.” Carter’s voice fights through the fog.
Damien lifts my chin up, and he frantically looks me over, but I’m focused on the scene beside us.
Red. There’s so much red. I didn’t know a body could bend like that.
Out of all of the dead bodies I’ve seen, his is the most twisted.
He dropped like the world was already through with him, as if it was just waiting for his strength to give out.
Grease and Viking lift Alex off the floor and run him out, leaving nothing but my pulse in my ears—that, and beeping.
Damien lowers his forehead to my shoulder, trying to catch his own breaths while I turn to look at the computer.
The same ‘initiate restart’ command flashes on the screen, despite our turmoil.
It’s funny, isn’t it? How even when the world seems to stop, it doesn’t truly.
Everything around us keeps revolving, regardless of what happens.
“Baby, look at me, please?” Damien pleads, and I do as he asks. I turn my head back just as he picks his up and rests against my forehead. “Don’t look. Just breathe.”
I am breathing, I think. That incessant beeping continues to roar through the rest of the noise, so I do what I was supposed to do from the beginning. I press the enter key, keeping the world on its axis. It continues to rotate, not caring about anything that happened today.
When I turn my head to meet him another time, his icy blue eyes drown out everything else around us, swallowing me whole.
“Kade said he was sorry…” I whisper before I can forget. I think I’m floating now. I’m moving without moving my legs, and all I can feel is Damien’s arms around me. I sink into his hold, trying to fight off the chill in my bones with his heat and scent. “He said he was sorry…”