I refuse to let my mind wander into darker territories, though I know those thoughts tempt me. I cling to hope, denial, whatever I can muster, refusing to let myself think he may have been silenced forever. Maybe this is how I lose everyone I care about. If Cole’s gone, I’ve lost my brother, my anchor. The thought that he might be gone feels like a massive hole ripping through my chest, threatening to swallow me whole.
My injuries have dulled into a constant ache, my ribs are broken, and the bruises spread across my body like wildfire. Sleep remains an unreachable, impossible fantasy. So instead, I stay awake, mind racing and spiraling, plotting my revenge. My thoughts twist and turn, each plan more vengeful, more ruthless than the last. I think of all the ways I’ll make Zeke and the Iron Vultures pay. When I get out of here, I swear, I will. First, somehow, I’ll get my daughter and my brothers free, I’ll rescue them from this hellhole. Then, I’ll make damn sure Zeke knows that Mia is mine. I’ll take great pleasure in telling him before I end his miserable existence. I’ll tear down his kingdom, burn his corrupt empire to the ground. He’ll regret the day he crossed the Soaring Eagles and took what’s ours.
Amid these dark thoughts, more complicated emotions lie. My feelings swirl like a storm as I think of Lena. I can’t evict her from my mind. Every ounce of my being yearns for herdespite what she’s done. Despite the resentment and pain I feel, I don’t hate her. I still love her.
If I’m being honest with myself, I’ve loved her since the first moment I laid eyes on her. I loved her before I even knew her name, before I knew the depths of her soul, laid bare for me. She’s haunted me ever since, her image etched into my mind like a tattoo I can’t remove. Now, the love I feel is tangled with pain, betrayal, and confusion. I don’t know what to believe anymore, what’s real, what’s just an act, what’s a lie. All I know is that my heart refuses to let her go. I still want to protect her, with a fierce instinctual need.
Of course, all of these plans of revenge are an exercise in futility. Zeke’s already won. I don’t see how I’m going to escape. I’m going to die here, I realize with numb detachment.
The sound of a key in the door snaps me to attention. I steel myself for the fresh horrors today will bring. I don’t know how much more I can take. I just want it to be over, for him to hurry up and kill me. I wonder if Lena will be the one to twist the knife, if she’ll look me in the eye as the life drains from me. I wonder if she’ll tell our daughter about me. The thought that Mia might grow up never knowing of me, that I won’t be there to see the woman she grows into, hurts more than any beating.
When the door opens, two figures silhouetted in the light appear. For a moment, I’m so surprised to see Judge and Doc’s faces that I’m rendered speechless. I vaguely consider if they’re really here or if my dehydrated mind has conjured them up.
Doc breaks into a grin. “Well, aren’t you gonna say hi and thank us for saving your sorry ass?” I’m reminded of how he kept all our spirits high in the military with his sense of humor.
I laugh, coughing as the action hurts my broken ribs. “Took you long enough,” I reply, my voice hoarse and filled with relief.
Judge comes over and unshackles me. “It’s good to see you, friend. Can you walk?”
I nod, gritting my teeth against the pain as I rise with Judge’s help.
“Do you know where Cole is?” Doc asks. “We were held in the same room.”
“He’s in the room next door. They beat him pretty badly last night. I haven’t heard him since,” I explain, my mouth drawing into a tight line.
They nod with understanding. We all know what we might find next door. Without needing to say anything, we leave my prison, Doc leading the way with the gun he presumably took from one of Zeke’s men. There will be time later for them to tell me how they escaped. Right now, we need to get out of here.
Judge unlocks the door with trepidation. None of us wants to find Cole dead. Our leader. Our brother. The door creaks open, through the sliver of light let into the dark room, we can see Cole slumped in a corner. He’s not moving. His face is swollen and bruised beyond recognition. Doc thrusts the gun at me, leaving me to stand guard as he goes to check Cole’s pulse.
“He’s breathing, but he’s in bad shape.”
I let out a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding. He’s alive. That’s all that matters. But now we have the task of getting Mia and getting him out of here while he’s unconscious. Cole’s a big bloke. It’s not going to be easy.
“You guys get him out of here. I’ll go find Mia and come to meet you,” I say.
They turn to look at me with baffled expressions.
“What about Lena?” Doc asks.
I narrow my eyes, spitting out the words with more venom than intended. “What about her? You saw her yesterday and heard what Zeke said.”
“And you believed him?” Doc says incredulously. “She was clearly acting the part for Zeke, who knows what he’d do to her or Mia if she didn’t; heck, he might have killed us all there and then if he knew the truth.”
“We’re not leaving Lena behind,” Judge growls.
I glare back at him, too stubborn to back down. “You don’t think she’d leave us behind in a heartbeat to save her own skin?”
Judge rounds on me, squaring up in my face, ready to fight. “No. I don’t. You should be ashamed of yourself for even suggesting it. You don’t deserve her love.”
Doc, ever the peacekeeper, comes and breaks us up, standing between us with a hand on each of our chests. “We aren’t leaving Lena. But Judge is wrong, you deserve Lena, if only you’d let yourself believe it. You need to stop being so stubborn and afraid and accept that you love her and that it’s possible for her to love you back just as much.”
My shoulders sag in defeat. “You’re right. We won’t leave Lena,” I promise. Even if I’m right and she doesn’t love me, the consequences of leaving behind if I’m wrong are far greater. Despite everything, she’s the mother of my child, and she deserves my trust. If the others can trust her after everything, I have to try to do the same. “But what about Cole? He’s too big for one of us to carry, and we can’t leave him behind or take him with us now.”
They consider this for a moment. “We’ll hide him somewhere. The guard we took out had a phone on him. We’ve already called in backup, those who weren’t too badly injured in the blast, we can tell them where to get him,” Doc explains.
I don’t like the thought of leaving Cole, but we’ve got no other options. “Alright, Judge, help me carry him. Doc, you lead the way,” I say, thrusting the gun back in his hands.
If I die here, I’ll die a happy man if I’m able to rescue my daughter first. We plan to get her to safety before finding Lena. Cole is gonna be pissed when he wakes up —if he wakes up. He’d want the pleasure of being the one to end Zeke once and for all. As it is, I’ll happily be the one to wield the knife.
