He readjusted himself and looked up just as the door swung open. “Phil asked me to grab you. It’s time. We head out in two minutes and gear up on the way.”
“That’s cutting it a bit tight.”
“Yeah, well, we don’t want them to know we’re coming, right? So hustle.”
“Right, right.” Sean stood up. His nervousness was gone now. The message he had been waiting for had been delivered. His hands were steady. The wait was always the worst part. Now that it was time for action, things would be easy for him. He grabbed a bag sitting next to him on the floor. “I’m ready. Let’s go.”
Chapter Fifteen
The battle was going badly for his people. Cage looked around the room, seeing many of his family were wounded, or dead. There were more of them down than still fighting. His enemies had started to move in now, causing Cage and his people to fall back. There were groups of people fighting hand to hand everywhere as guns fired and explosions filled the air.
Cage reached down and grabbed his sword, pulling it free. The Fayngin were being reckless, to move in so quickly. There was something else going on here. Some reason they were pushing so hard. Even as he mulled over the puzzle, Cage’s blade licked out and severed the head of a nearby enemy. They should have known better than to get so close to him.
He passed through the room like a whisper, entering a hallway as his archaic sword gently caressed his enemies to death. Reinforcements came charging in from nearly every direction, and fell to him one by one. No one was safe from him.
Finally, as Cage made his way down the hallway and into a larger room, there was a lot of shouting. Cage’s attention turned to a figure that appeared within the room a few seconds after him. On the opposite side of the room Cage watched as this figure looked across the room. When the figures' eyes met Cage’s, they scowled.
Cage glared right back, though he was surprised to see the face of Gashen Fayngin so soon. He wasn’t displeased though. He’d been waiting for this moment for months now. The moment when they would finally be face to face. It didn’t matter how tired Cage was now. He could sleep when he was dead. He knew this was his chance, his opportunity, and he was going to take it. He beckoned towards Gashen, motioning him inwards.
Gashen started walking towards him. He’d personally wanted to be the one to take Cage out. He was happy Cage had lived long enough for him to do so. It just wouldn’t have been as satisfying to stand over Cage’s cold dead body knowing someone else had taken his last breath. He wanted Cage to suffer. He needed Cage to know who had killed him, and why.
Gashen’s hand darted into his jacket, reaching for his gun. He wanted to shoot Cage. He didn’t want to kill him just yet, but to wound him. When the bastard was down on his knees looking up at Gashen, then he’d kill him in front of everyone. He’d put every last bullet from his gun into that smug face.
Cage, however, had other plans. When he saw Gashen reaching into his pocket, he was ready. Cage reached into his pants pocket as he shouted into his radio loud enough to be heard across the entire room. “Eyes!”
A heartbeat later he tossed a small, round device to the ground. It slid across the floor, stopping just a few feet short of Gashen and his bodyguards. The survivors of the Zisgani immediately covered their eyes with their hands. The Fayngin, including Gashen, saw this and immediately covered their eyes as well. They expected some flash of blinding light or other hindrance that would blind them. By the time they realized something was wrong, Cage had already covered half the distance between them. And then, the lights shut off, shrouding the room momentarily in darkness…
Cage didn’t hesitate. All around him he could hear guns firing, blows being struck, as his organization successfully executed their orders. Sightlessly, with a snapshot image of the room in his mind, Cage charged past Gashen’s bodyguards. He jumped over corpses, and overcame all obstacles until at the last moment his arms snapped downward and outwards.
His weapon met with flesh, and drew a gurgling cry. The lights flashed back on as Cage stared into the eyes of Gashen Fayngin. Slowly, Gashen slid back off Cage’s blade. Without a word he collapsed bonelessly to the floor. With one final strike, Cage separated Gashen’s head from his body.
Gashen’s bodyguards turned around in time to see it all, but unable to do anything. Before they could react Cage turned on them, slicing them up one at a time until they were with their leader. Around him the fighting continued, but Cage knew it would end soon enough. The room was nearly clear as he looked around for Fredric.
He spotted Fredric on the floor in another hallway. He was leaning up against a wall. It was clear he’d been injured, but obviously he was still alive as he took out two men that attempted to rush past him.
Cage let out a low chuckle before he smiled to himself. He killed the remaining enemies in the room as he slowly made his way to Fredric. Cage's men quickly moved onto another room as the Fayngin fell back. Soon they would realize they'd lost, and this war would be over.
**********
Somehow Autumn made it to the first floor of the tower. When the elevator stopped and the doors opened she didn’t know what to expect. She knew there would be death. It was all she’d seen since the rooftop. With her mind nearly gone, and having already seen so many deaths already, Autumn thought nothing could phase her. But she was wrong.
When she stepped out of the elevator, there were so many dead bodies. The floor seemed to be coated in blood. Autumn felt like she was going mad as she cried out. Her body shook as she tripped and stumbled forward. Her eyes searched for any clear spots to step while gruesome images forever seared themselves into her mind.
She could hear gunfire in the distance, but it was almost quiet. There were only a few stray shots. Things seemed to be winding down. Autumn shivered as her temperature changed rapidly. Her adrenaline was slowly fading and it wouldn’t be much longer before even her rage couldn’t keep her going.
Autumn saw several corpses that were dressed in normal clothes. There were men, and even some women. Autumn wondered if they were plainclothes guards, or if they were victims of circumstance, in the wrong place at the wrong time. Autumn began to feel like she was in some end of the world catastrophe, and that she was the only one left to witness the carnage.
Her heart sunk as she passed over every dead body she saw. She felt more responsible than ever now. She couldn’t help but feel she had some part in this. It was true that Cage had made the decision to go after her like he did. It was true that he’d pulled the trigger and started this whole thing. But she had been there. She was always going to be the cause of the effect. She was guilty by association.
Autumn froze as she saw the front doors to the tower. They were lit up, as it was night now. The sun had gone down. She wanted to go to them and through them. They were open and clear. They were also clean for the most part. There was some shattered glass and blood, but there were no bodies. Autumn could clearly see through them. She could see past the death. And most of all, she could see life.
Beyond the lights that came on at night there were people, living, breathing people, who just so happened to be police. Autumn could see their uniforms, and the colors of their flashing lights. Autumn assumed they’d been called because of the gunfire, but why were they still outside? Why hadn’t they rushed in yet? She thought it was odd.
She stumbled forward, thinking she would go to them and escape this awful place. She’d ask them what they were doing. She wanted to collapse before them and ask them for help. Autumn’s feet began to carry her, but she stopped herself. A thought occurred to her and she found herself wondering... Where was Cage?
She still hadn’t found him…to…to…what was she going to do? There was something she wanted to do. Yell at him…or maybe…tell him something. She couldn’t remember. Her mind was slowly becoming dull. She felt like a zombie as she stared down at all the dead bodies. Her voice caught in her throat as she thought to call out his name.
For a second she tho
ught maybe she shouldn’t. Maybe she should go to the police, or maybe she should just get out of here and disappear. Surely Cage would see the wreckage of the helicopter and think she was dead. She could get away from him once and for all. She could get away from all this death and destruction. She could end this curse she’d brought upon herself, Curtis and Cage. If she left now she could find some help. Maybe she would wander for a bit so they wouldn’t connect her to the tower.
Perhaps she could use a false name. Just long enough to buy herself some time, so she could contact her family. Her mind began to light up as she thought of her mother and father. She thought of going to their house, opening the gate, and walking down the stone path to the porch. She could picture herself knocking on the door. They’d open it, rushing to her. Autumn stood there, imagining how it would feel to have her mother and father hugging her, holding her. And her sister and her brothers. She’d see them all again for the first time in two years. She’d see them again…
Autumn looked around, knowing there were several ways out of this building. If her feet had carried her this far, surely they could carry her farther. Yet she wasn’t moving, even as she knew what route to take. Even as she pictured herself walking, she wasn’t moving. She was still looking around. Why…why was she still looking around? Why was she still searching for him?
Her mind sparked as she remembered that she wasn’t really angry with him. Well, she was, but…that wasn’t really what kept her moving. No, it was what she wanted to say to him. When she had been dying, when she had thought this was it, she had wanted to yell at him for messing up her life. For screwing up all her plans. But she wanted to yell at him for how he made her feel. How he had no right to make her…
Autumn turned away from the front door, stumbling back the way she came. She looked about for any sign of Cage. Surely he wouldn’t be among the dead. Surely he couldn’t die. He was too good. She knew he was death itself. He would never let her get away. He would never allow anyone to come between them. He would burn the world first. And in order to do that, he had to live. He had to fucking survive. So he could keep her, and make her his forever, right?
He couldn’t just stop. No…not now…not ever. Autumn wandered down a hallway in search of him. She saw something in the distance. A man. No, two men. One was bent over the other, helping him up. Autumn’s heart skipped a beat when she saw it was Cage. He was helping Fredric to his feet. Autumn would have run to them if she could. Instead she called out his name. “Cage!”
**********
It was slow going for Cage. After the excitement and adrenaline of battle, Cage was slowly wearing down now. He felt himself growing tired as he finished checking out Fredric. Fredric was hurt, but he’d live if they could get him out of here. If they could just make it a bit farther they could take the elevators. From there they could get to the garage and Cage could drive them out of here.
Cage had his gun out, ready and loaded just in case there was any trouble along the way. As he got Fredric to his feet he heard something behind him. He was ready to turn and take it out, but before he could he heard Autumn’s voice calling out his name. Cage paused. He thought his ears were deceiving him. He wondered if it wasn’t some repercussion from all the gunfire. Or maybe he’d been injured and was hallucinating, because Autumn couldn’t be there. She was in his helicopter, halfway to the safe house by now. Cage almost didn’t want to turn around but he did, pulling Fredric with him.
Cage turned to see her standing there. At least, it appeared to be her. She looked like shit. Her hair was messed up. She was covered in dirt and blood. There was dried blood coming from her ears and mouth. Some of it had gone down her neck and was on her chest. She had cuts and bruises all over her. And something appeared to be wrong with her arm. Cage’s eyes widened as he thought he saw bone. He didn’t see any gunshot wounds, but they could have been hidden.
His mind raced as he realized she could have been ambushed on the roof. This whole battle Cage had been level headed and confident. He'd believed he could overcome anything. But as he looked at Autumn his heart sped up and his mind raced. He looked at her in shock, his mouth quivering. He looked around for her bodyguards but there were none. “WHAT HAPPENED!”
Cage let go of Fredric, forgetting about him as he stepped up to Autumn. Fredric nearly fell, catching himself on the wall at the last moment. He leaned against it, letting out a painful groan as Cage moved to stand in front of Autumn. “Why are you here!? You should be away from here by now!”
Cage’s face creased with concern as he placed himself between Autumn and the limited fighting that was still going on. He wanted to pick her up and shield her. He wanted to rush her out of here and get her someplace safe. But he didn’t know where he could touch her that wouldn’t hurt her more.
Autumn was just so glad to see Cage that it took her a moment to answer. She just stared at him as his eyes ran over her body, assessing her injuries as best he could. When Autumn finally answered him she said, “The helicopter…crashed.”
“WHAT!” said Cage. In his mind he’d pictured her being ambushed on the roof, or her demanding to see Cage. He could imagine her being stubborn enough to want to finish their earlier conversation. It was why he'd given his men orders to tranquilize her if she gave them any trouble.
“It blew up.” said Autumn before adding, “Someone shot us.”
“Someone shot,” mumbled Cage. His mind spun as he realized how close he’d come to losing Autumn. He nearly took her in his arms but again held himself back, knowing he had to be careful with her. He took her good hand in his before he slowly started to guide her through the hallway.
His mind raced with numbers of the best doctors, the closest, best doctors. “We need to get you out of here and get you to a doctor. Fredric, get the car and call Byron to meet us at the Winston Location.”
Fredric groaned out in pain as he slid himself along the wall. “Yes sir.”
Cage paused for a second, looking back at his friend. He’d forgotten that Fredric had been shot. He watched as Fredric pulled his phone from his pocket and attempted to fulfill Cage’s orders. Cage realized there was little Fredric could do in his current situation. He attempted to assess another plan, but he couldn’t think with Autumn being hurt.
Maybe if Cage rushed Autumn to the car he could come back for Fredric…but he didn’t want to leave Autumn alone with her injuries. She appeared to be worse off than Fredric. The fact that she had blood coming from her mouth made it clear she had some internal bleeding. Cage realized his best bet might be to leave her with Fredric. Then he could go find others. Someone had to be still alive.
Fredric could still shoot so he could watch her, but Cage needed to make sure Autumn could wait for him to get back with help. Cage turned to her. Ripping his shirt, he began to bandage her arm to stop the bleeding. He had no idea how she was still walking after she’d lost this much blood. He wondered if all of it was hers.
Autumn cried out as Cage did his best to bandage her arm, wrapping it and the loose bone up tightly. In all her pain and excitement, Autumn had nearly forgotten what she came for. Cage looked to see what else he could fix. Her arm seemed to be the only visible place he could tend. Cage realized it would have to do. He started to pull away from Autumn. Yet she held him with her good hand. “Wait! I need to tell you something! But I need to know something first!”
“It can wait!” shouted Cage, “I’ll be right back!”
“No! It can’t!” said Autumn as Cage attempted to pull free of her grasp. She refused to let go. She didn’t care how much pain she was in. She held onto him tightly.
Cage realized she was probably disoriented, maybe even in shock. “Damn it, Autumn, it's dangerous! You need to listen to me! Wait here with Fredric and-”
“YOU NEED to listen to me for once!” said Autumn angrily. “What am I to you?! YOUR PRISONER? YOUR WHORE? YOUR GIRLFRIEND? SOMETHING ELSE? I NEED TO KNOW!”
Cage looked at Autumn like she was insane. Pe
rhaps she was, but still she needed to know. Before she said anything else, she needed to know. Cage looked around and pulled back from her. She let him go and he took a step back.
He knew he didn’t have time for this, but still he looked her in the eyes and said, “You know I love you. I’ve told you at least a dozen times by now. You should know you are the love of my life. As stupid and as irresponsible as you are, from the first moment I saw you, I knew you were the love of my life. The one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.”
Autumn was speechless. Her heart fluttered in her chest. It could have been the pain she was in, but she felt it was something more. Cage turned his back on her and started to walk away as he said, “Are you satisfied now? Because, if you don’t mind, I’d like to get out of here and get us some help so you can continue to be a pain in my ass.”
Autumn laughed. She wanted to hug him but he was too far away. He called out to Fredric, “Watch her. I won't be long.”
Autumn stumbled forward as her heart raced. She didn't want him to go again before she told him what she had to say. She moved toward Cage and called out to him. “CAGE!”
Cage paused, turning to her.“What now?!”
“I love you!” said Autumn.
Cage felt like his chest was imploding. He felt chills up his spine as he took in Autumn’s words. He’d heard the phrase more than a million time before, from other women in other places, but never from Autumn’s lips. Never in such a way. He stepped forward, and then again and again. He found himself walking back to her. Autumn smiled at him, and he wanted to kiss her. Surely one kiss wouldn’t hurt. One kiss from the woman who loved him.
Cage smiled in a way Autumn had never seen before. He looked like he wanted to kiss her and, more than anything, she wanted him to. It was a hard long road getting to this point. Two years ago Autumn wouldn’t have believed it was possible that she could love the man she hated. That he could make her feel this way. There were so many things she wanted to say to him now.
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