“Chances are he knocked one of them unconscious, or maybe one of them was still unconscious after the explosion,” Voodoo said. “If this guy is one of the mercenaries out to collect for delivering Cassandra, then we have to acknowledge the possibility that there’s a contract out on Rose as well, and we just didn't know about it.”
Beside him, Steel stiffened at Voodoo’s words, but there was nothing the man could say to refute them. It made sense, especially with both women missing.
“At least we know they’re both alive,” Lion said confidently as he pushed to his feet. “If one of them hadn't survived the explosion or had been killed in the struggle, they would have been left behind.”
That at least was true, and it did offer the tiniest amount of reassurance.
For now, the fact that both Cassandra and Rose weren't in the room meant that they were both alive, both savable.
“It hasn’t been that long since the explosion went off, maybe thirty minutes or so, the merc had to have been injured as well, he was in the building. If he heard something in here that’s likely what drew his attention, and he figured he’d check it out. He couldn’t have known at first who it was, so he had to have gotten in here, fought with the girls, then taken them. There’s only one way out since we know he didn't use the main door, and he can't be that far ahead of us,” Thunder said, already heading for the secret door. “Want me to run on ahead? See if I can catch up to them?”
“Can you?” Dragon asked, remembering how he’d found the man, with chunks of concrete pinning his legs. If there had been damage caused to Thunder’s legs, it could either temporarily or permanently affect his ability to use his enhanced speed.
Maybe it was time they all learned to stop relying so heavily on their skills. They’d spent a decade hating that Dr. Gardner’s experiments had messed with their abilities to feel emotions normally, and yet they had no trouble using the skills they’d gained with the experiments, wanting to have their cake and eat it too.
But the more time he spent with Cassandra, the more he realized he was more than a man who had been born into a violent crime family, who had joined the military to escape, and walked into an experimental program because he was cocky enough to ignore anything that could go wrong. He was more than his anger, he was more than his fears that his DNA would lead to only one possible outcome, more than a man who had to hide from everyone because he believed he was a danger to anyone who got too close.
Cassandra saw a different side of him, a man she trusted with her secrets and her body, who she was willing to be honest and open with, even when it contradicted what she knew he wanted to hear.
If she wasn't afraid of him, then maybe it was time he stopped being afraid of himself.
And that started with accepting that with or without special skills, he was a human being doing the best he could with what he had, and that made him worthy of love and affection.
Worthy of a future.
“Go,” Steel ordered, and Thunder took off without a second glance.
The rest of them followed, moving fast, but not as fast. They tore through rubble, watched each other’s backs, and wouldn'tgive up until this ended the only way it could. With Cassandra and Rose safe, and one step closer to the man who saw himself as a god.
January 9th
9:41 P.M.
Everything felt fuzzy.
Weird.
Like she was clouded in darkness, not just actual darkness, but like it had seeped inside her head, making everything hazy, hard to hold onto, and just out of grasp no matter how much she tried to reach for it.
Despite that, Cassandra knew she needed to focus.
Important.
That word kept shoving its way through her sluggish mind, and it was about the only thing she was able to cling to.
Close to her, something grunted.
Not something.
Someone.
The someone stumbled slightly, and all of a sudden, a flash of bright light flooded her vision, and she could make out around her piles of what looked to be rubble.
From the explosion.
A little unsure what explosion her own mind was referring to, she figured it didn't really matter. If she knew there had been an explosion, she’d just run with that.
Details could be filled in later.
