ten -Brynn-
ten
-Brynn-
I make it through dinner without an interrogation regarding who really helped me infiltrate the game.
I’m set on making sure I also make it through the night. I’ve mentioned at least a couple of times how bad my leg’s been hurting over the past hour. So much so, that it actually made Ares go down to the basement and bring me some painkillers from my room.
It wasn’t entirely a lie, maybe more of an exaggeration. My leg is killing me, but not half as badly as my conscience would if he found out about 404.
The painkiller does the job, but also knocks me out way earlier than usual. Not that I’m complaining. That was the goal after all—escape him for a night, even if escaping him actually means sharing a bed.
Ares wakes me up in the morning, his attitude completely different, like we went back to forty-eight hours ago, and I’m the enemy again.
What the fuck!?
“Get dressed, I’m in a hurry,” he commands rather than asks, pointing to a pair of oversized leather pants, white sneakers, a matching shirt, and a warm jacket.
He doesn’t give me time to ask where we’re going. Just walks through the door while I’m still standing, staring at the neatly arranged clothes. I guess no breakfast in bed…
I knew this was coming, that I won’t be getting the princess treatment anytime soon—if ever. Still, I didn’t expect such a big shift in his attitude. If what happened last night only made his decent guy attitude last till the morning, then I’ve got a lot more work ahead of me.
I get dressed and limp out of the bedroom, then into the kitchen, where he’s waiting for me, coffee in hand, looking like he’s ready to go.
Wait—there’s no coffee for me?
In fact, I haven’t had a coffee in weeks. The doctor said caffeine interfered with one of the medications, but I finished that one a couple of days ago.
Yet still… it feels rude that Ares didn’t even think of me. Or maybe that’s the point. Maybe it’s just another kind of punishment.
Either way, I’m not playing into his game. He’s probably just trying to piss me off so I’ll show my true colors again. The truth is, I don’t even know who I am anymore.
Still, I’m trying to play it cool without actually letting him win. I just walk over like nothing is wrong, smile, and grab the coffee straight from his hand. Then I take a slow sip, like it’s something we’re supposed to share.
I keep the smile on, despite the flare of his nostrils, then wait for instructions since he seems keen on getting somewhere today.
He doesn’t wait to deliver, just orders me to his car, and of course walks ahead of me without waiting for my sorry, limping ass. Yeah, I have to admit—I deserve that.
He doesn’t tell me where we’re going or answer any of my questions about it. Just drives, hands locked on the wheel, his eyes on the road like he’s got a target ahead of him.
I have a bad feeling about this. We’re not heading toward the Breach, more like toward the industrial part of town.
My suspicions are confirmed as we pass through a rusty metal gate that seems far too guarded for what the place is really supposed to be.
Without an explanation, he parks in front of what looks like an abandoned warehouse, broken windows and mismatched sheets of metal covering the building like something out of a horror movie.
Though, there’s no camera now, and chills run down my spine like I’m having a premonition of what’s coming next.
This looks like trouble, I just don’t realize how much.
Ares gets out of the car without bothering to open my door. Just starts walking ahead of me again, not before ordering me to follow. At least he walks slower this time—not slow enough so that I can keep up and walk beside him, but enough that I can follow close behind.
We enter the hall, and my body instantly shudders because of the chill.
It’s cold as hell in here, and despite the warm jacket I have on, I can’t stop trembling.
The place is filled to the ceiling in some areas.
Containers, crates, and boxes, all of them much newer than the the building, which makes me think this is one of his stash houses.
We make our way between the containers until we reach a much more open part of the warehouse. That’s when my heart stops.
Four men and a woman kneel on the concrete floor, hoods over their heads, hands bound tightly behind their backs. A few of them sob, their voices cracking as they plead for mercy between tears.
Ricky stands waiting behind them, gun steady in his hand like he’s standing by, waiting for new orders. I know him from Elysium. He’s one of Ares’ trusted men, an enforcer with a reputation for ruthlessness. Just like his boss.
We stand right in front of them now, and even if shit like this doesn’t scare me anymore, the chill running down my spine tells me this one might.
What am I doing here? How is this related to me? Do I know any of these guys?
There’s no need to even ask any of those questions because Ares nods toward Ricky, and the man starts removing the hoods shrouding their faces, one by one.
At first, I don’t recognize any of the people kneeling. Which seems strange.
I’m starting to think this might be some kind of lesson. Maybe Ares wants to teach me something about how his business works. But then the fourth hood falls off, and a familiar face comes into view—404.
I’m doing my best to keep my expression neutral, not to give anything away. I’m fully aware that Ares’ gaze is on me, but I can’t shake the feeling that I’m failing to hide what’s churning inside.
The last hood falls off, revealing a woman whose face I don’t recognize. Yet as I take in her frightened expression, along with the way they are dressed—like a collection of tech geeks—I’m starting to get an idea of what’s happening here.
Ares walks in front of me, knowing I’m not gonna ask questions. That’s his role. “Which one was it?” he barks, moving his gaze from me to the hostages. “Which one let you in?”
I don’t answer. I’m not planning to answer because I’m not a snitch. I would never betray someone who helped me.
Though I know he won’t let this slide.
“Which one of you betrayed me?” he asks, and the woman, along with one of the men, start crying again, begging and pleading for their lives, swearing it wasn’t them.
“Which one of them betrayed me, Brynn?” he snaps again, his voice rough.
I can feel the weight of his gaze, and I don’t see a way of walking out of here without an answer.
Yet I refuse to give him one. That only serves to fuel his rage, “Fucking answer me,” he snaps, a menacing warning, like this is my ultimatum. Before I can answer, he walks toward the man who has been sobbing and presses a gun to his head.
“Well, since no one is talking, I’m gonna kill all of you, one by one, just to be sure,” he says, cocking his gun, the sound filling the space like an ultimatum.
Problem is—I don’t think he’s bluffing. The woman starts crying louder, and so does the man at the end of his gun.
Shit, shit, shit, shit, what do I do now?
I can’t give away 404. Ares will kill him. But I can’t be responsible for these people’s deaths either.
“Ares, stop,” I plead without having anything to offer in return, any kind of leverage I can use except more betrayal. And that, I won’t do.
“This is on you, Brynn. If you don’t talk, they all die,” he snaps again, his voice a lethal promise. He’s gonna kill him, and I can’t do anything to stop him.
404 glances at me, knowing I’m not gonna talk. Then his gaze turns to the people around him, knowing they’re gonna die because of us.
But I won’t betray him—it's just not who I am.
Ares’ jaw tightens, the muscles in his face taut with barely contained fury, and I know he’s gonna pull the trigger. He’s done it before. Taking a life is just a part of his world, a part of who he is.
My heart is beating rapidly, threatening to escape my chest. Yes, I’ve killed before, but not someone who’s probably innocent. I’ve definitely never let anyone innocent die on my behalf.
I need to fix this, but how?
“It wasn’t them—any of them,” I try to deflect, trying to think of something, anything I could say to take the heat off these men.
“Then who?” Ares asks, probably suspecting I’m bluffing. “Tell me who, Brynn, or I’ll start killing everyone here until I have a name. I swear, if I don’t, I’ll just go out in the street and find someone else to make pay. Don’t fucking test me.”
It’s not like I can come up with a random name without ending right in the same spot, maybe just to prolong the agony for a few more hours. I’m even tempted to say I did it myself, but then he would ask how, and I’d have no idea where to begin explaining.
Just before I run out of options, 404 takes a deep breath, his eyes darting between Ares and the other captives. “I…. I helped her,” he says, his voice broken, trembling, knowing he just signed his death sentence.
“Take the others away,” Ares orders Ricky, a dark veil falling over his gaze.
The man forcefully lifts the other three to their feet, dragging them along with him through the path we came from, like they weigh nothing.
They’re gone much faster than I would’ve liked, and a burdening silence falls down on my shoulders.
Like I’m waiting for the inevitable. And the clock just struck 12.
“Why?” Ares asks, pointing the loaded weapon toward 404. “Why did you betray me?” he snaps, the whole building echoing with his wrath.
“I told you, I can’t do this. I can’t be a part of this. I helped you with everything else you wanted. But I can’t have their deaths on my conscience,” 404 says, like he’s almost resigned to his fate. Like he knew he would end up here, but still chose to walk away.
“That explains you running, it doesn’t explain you betraying me,” Ares hisses, his voice spiked with venom. I can see it in his eyes that he’s ready to pull the trigger.
In a split-second decision, I leap in front of him, positioning myself between his gun and 404.
“No, you won’t kill him because he helped me,” I hold my ground, ready to take that bullet if it comes to that. I won’t break my word and betray the last drop of decency I have left. I won’t betray Elias like that. 404 helped him. I have to take responsibility for that.
“You’re pushing your luck, Brynn,” Ares threatens, but I don’t step away.
“Maybe I am, but you have to go through me to get to 404. Don’t you get it, Ares?
I can’t have him on my conscience, too.” I don’t want to, but a tear slips away, rolling down my cheek, hitting the ground.
It’s not my fault Elias died. But it is my fault I didn’t protect him.
I didn’t get more involved in what he was doing.
We were supposed to watch each other’s backs, and I failed him.
“Why did you do it?” Ares demands of 404 again, ignoring me and the tears spilling down my cheeks.
“Because of Elias,” 404 answers, and I instantly see the confusion on Ares’ face, his brows furrow as he processes the name.
“Your boyfriend?” Ares asks, his gaze moving between us, like I’m supposed to say something that makes everything connect.
“Elias wasn’t my boyfriend,” I whisper, still having difficulty saying his name out loud.
“Elias was… was with me in the asylum. He was the only one who helped me survive there… and after we escaped,” I trail off, so I won’t start crying.
I don’t want him to see me crying. Though I have a poor chance of stopping it. “Elias used to have a thing with…”
“Me,” 404 admits, the same trace of regret in his voice as in mine. “I only helped Brynn get in to find out what happened to him. ”
“Ares, please… you still need him. Let’s figure this out,” I try reasoning with him, and although I don’t like saying please, I’ve said it more around Ares lately than I have in my whole life.
Ares’ eyes slowly go dark, the gun barrel slowly lowers from my forehead down to my mouth, and he slowly pushes it inside.
I can see he can barely hold himself back, his muscles shifting, veins pulsing like they’re about to burst. “You know, I can’t decide how you look prettier; with my gun in your mouth or my cock? ”
My nostrils flare, and I want to kick him in the balls right now. But that might trigger his gun, and I wouldn’t even get to see him hurting.
“Fucking do it already,” I try to speak, but the cold steel is pressed on my tongue.
For a second, he even considers it, his ragged breath betraying the struggle within.
A loud groan escapes him as he slowly withdraws the gun.
“Do it, Ares,” I challenge. “Because I won’t stop. I’ll never stop searching for Elias’ killer, and I won’t forgive you if you kill 404.”
Ares’s eyes go completely dark, his face gaining dangerous edges, his breath uneven, like he’s about to tear the world apart. He takes a quick step toward me and pushes me to the ground before I get to react. Then, in the blink of an eye, pulls the trigger on 404.