by G. Bailey
“You’re making a mistake, kid,” he spits out. “A bad one that you will pay for.”
“I’m not a kid,” I say, emotionlessly chuckling. “As we speak, my spies are letting the police into every one of your business around the world, giving them the codes for the vaults and arresting everyone that helped you. It’s over.”
“You betrayed me,” he gasps, shaking his head. “You Kings are all the same! Betraying little bastards.”
“Yeah, we are, but you know what the difference between me and my father is?” I ask.
“What?” he asks as I fire the gun, shooting him in the leg. He falls to the ground, screaming in pain and I quite enjoy seeing him this way. I want to kill him so fucking badly, but it won’t do anything. I’m a better person than he has ever been, and it’s all over.
“I could pull the trigger and actually kill you,” I say as he stops screaming. “My father attempted it, but I don’t think he ever really meant to kill you. It was all a sick game like he loved to play.”
“I’m not dead,” he coughs out.
“No. The police are on their way, and you’ll wish you were. That’s enough for me,” I say, dropping the gun and walking out. I get to the vault door when I hear him laugh, a cackling laugh that makes me look back.
“I’d rather die.” The words come out from his mouth in almost slow motion as he grabs the gun he crawled to and instead of aiming it at me, he aims at the bombs. I turn and run, knowing there is no way I’ll get out of here before that bomb explodes. The gun fires as I get to the stairs and a blast from behind me sends me flying, smacking my head on something as I pass out.
Smoke and fire are everywhere, suffocating me as much as it burns my skin, yet the pain is refreshing. It reminds me that I am alive. There is nothing but swirling smoke above me as the burning parts of the ceiling fall, crashing near my head. The embers graze against my skin, though the pain is almost nothing compared to the rest of my body. It’s ironic to die in a place that looks like hell. I’ve lived in hell for so long, embracing the heavenly moments the last few months have given me, only to die in a place like hell in the end. Life is fucked up like that.
“LUKE!” I hear my brother scream, his voice panicked, though I can’t move. I can’t call for him. Tell him to get out of here. I did what I planned, and it is all over now. Harley should not be here. All my stubborn brothers should not have followed me. I know dying here is fitting for what I have done. I can feel my jacket on fire, my skin burning and the pain paralyzing me to the spot so I can do nothing but lie here. Suddenly arms are slowly lifting me, making the pain worse as I can’t see who it is that is trying to save me.
“I just got you back. Your girl is outside, and so is the rest of your family. Don’t you fucking give up on me now, Luke,” Harley voice growls, making me sure it’s him holding me even if I can’t reply.
“It’s o-over,” I manage to cough out.
“Yeah it is, but not for us. You are going to live, Luke. I mean it,” Harley says, his words are the last thing I hear as I look up, seeing the fire covered ceiling heading for us, a large chunk on fire falling down through the building. I don’t get time to warn Harley or do anything as it collapses on us, and everything goes black.
Emilia
The moment Harley runs into the building, it blows up. Literally in a matter of seconds, which almost happen in slow motion to my eyes. I fly back from the force, screaming as my back hits the car, and I hold my hands above my head. People scream, shout and cry out as the place explodes. As the dust settles, I crawl to my feet and hold back the cry as I see The Cage on fire. Dozens of people are running out of the door, collapsing onto the floor but none of them are Luke or Harley. Car alarms and the sounds of distant sirens fill my ears as I stare at the door until no more people flood out the door, and I start to panic. I cough on the heavy smoke filling the area and ignore the pain in my back as I realise I need to go in there. Meg is working tonight. Oh god.
"LUKE!" I scream, going to run to the door when Elliot stops me, grabbing my arms and picking me up off the ground when I try to fight him.
"We will go," Elliot says, pushing me back, and giving me a firm look. “Think of Parker. Both his parents can’t die and leave him alone tonight. Stay here.” Sebastian is already running into the building, a fireproof blanket covering his shoulders. I know Elliot is right, and I stop fighting. People move out of the way, making a little path straight to the entrance.
"Here," Allie throws a fireproof blanket at Elliot, who holds it above him as he runs into the fire warehouse. Allie is crying as she comes to my side, her eyes frantic as she stares at the doors.
"W-we should help them," I say, coughing as Allie holds my hand, both of us shaking in pure fear.
"There aren’t any more blankets in the car. We can't,” she says when I see Meg climbing out of the doors. I run to her with Allie following and drag her back, leaning her against the car.
“Pumpkin, you don’t look good,” Meg says before she passes out.
“Oh Meg,” I say, lying her down on the ground before standing back up and focusing on the doors again. Meg is out, so Luke and Harley must be out soon, too. They have to be.
“They will get out; what happened?" Allie says though I can hear she is scared just like me as her voice shakes.
"Luke planned this all. He’s worked for five years to take The Cage down," I tell her, keeping my eyes on the door. Wanting desperately to go in there.
"Did he plan to die in there too?" Allie asks, wiping her eyes.
"Harley is in there, too," I say, not being able to answer her question.
"Oh god," Allie says. We both stare at the entrance. I feel like I can't breathe as the fire takes the building and no one comes out. It could be half an hour or hours or minutes until figures climb out of the building, carrying people in their arms. I cry out when I see Seb carrying Luke, covered in dust, blood, and burns. I see Harley being carried out by Elliot in a similar condition as we hear sirens in the background. I run to Seb and Luke as he lays Luke on the ground. His clothes are burnt, so are his arms and his legs but I place a shaky finger on his neck, feeling his pulse.
"He’s alive," I shout at his brothers, who collapsed onto the floor, coughing out the smoke. I gently pick Luke's head up onto my legs, seeing my tears falling onto his ash-covered face.
"You can't leave me and Parker. No way." I know he can't reply to me as I stroke his face softly, knowing he will survive this. I can't lose him.
“Harley is, too, but we need to get them to a hospital,” Allie shouts, covering Harley with the blanket as Seb does the same to Luke.
"It's over," Elliot coughs out, holding Allie close to his chest. I glance up at Seb last as he holds Luke's hand as he coughs from the smoke.
"The Cage is gone, and we have everything we could need." We sit in the ash and dust as police and ambulances flood into the area, but we have smiles on lips. The Cage and Arthur are gone.
Emilia
"The family of Harley King?" a doctor shouts into the hospital waiting room, and Tilly runs over, as I get up, flinching from the pain in my chest. Everyone flooded to the hospital, leaving the children with Blake's mum who was more than happy to help out for a little bit.
"Are you okay, miss?" the doctor asks me. "Were you in the building? Have you been seen?"
"I'm not going anywhere until we know if Harley and Luke are okay," I tell him, waving a hand which hurts my chest to do. I've been hiding the pain since the shock of everything wore off, and I realised I might have gotten injured when the building exploded.
"I have news on Harley, though Luke is still in surgery," the doctor says, and Allie wraps an arm around my waist as Izzy takes my other hand in hers. Meg was lucky and got out The Cage with just bruises and nothing broken, but they are keeping her on oxygen for a bit.
"Out with it, please," Tilly says, wiping her tears away. Seb and Elliot are in the ward, being treated for minor burns, and they’ll likely b
e kept in for a bit. Maisy and Blake are with them, keeping them as calm as possible while we wait.
"I'm sorry for your long wait, we have had a lot of emergencies come in, as I’m sure you understand. Harley is out of surgery and recovering. A few of the burns are quite bad on his back and stomach, but we’ll know more in time. He broke his arm and shoulder, which we have plated back together. The rest of the scans show no head injuries or internal bleeding, which is a miracle," he says, and everyone lets out a sigh of relief. Thank god.
"Thank you so much. Can I see him?" Tilly asks.
"One at a time, but yes," the doctor replies.
"Wait, Luke? Luke King? Is he out?" I ask him, needing to know.
"Still in surgery, I'm afraid. I’m coming back with a nurse to have you checked over in a moment. Luke will want his girlfriend alive when he comes out of surgery, right?" he says. "We can't have people collapsing on the floor when we can help them."
"Right," I mutter. The doctor takes Tilly to see Harley before coming back for me as he promised, and Allie comes with me. They admit me as a patient and send me off for X-rays before explaining I have two broken ribs. The nurse wraps my ribs before demanding I stay in bed, and Allie becomes my guard dog who watches me.
"Can you go and ask? I need to know he is okay," I beg her. I know she wants to check in on Elliot and the others anyway.
"Promise you will keep your pretty butt in bed?" she asks.
"Yes," I say, and she squeezes my hand before getting out of her chair and sliding out of the closed curtain. I rest back, staring at the ceiling for a long time until I hear the curtain being moved and I sharply sit up, flinching in pain as I see Izzy coming in, with Allie right behind her.
"Oh, don't move!" Izzy protests, running to my side and taking my hand.
"Luke?" I ask.
"He’s out of surgery, and they have managed to save him. Luke lost a kidney and broke his leg. Oh, and broke his wrist, too, and some ribs to go along with the bad burns," Allie starts listing everything. Oh god, he’s alive. That's all I hear. Everything else can heal, but my Luke isn't gone.
"But he is alive," I say, bursting into tears. Izzy gently hugs me, and I feel Allie's hand on my shoulder, squeezing gently.
"They have him in a medically induced coma for the next few days because of swelling on his brain. They say not to worry, he’s a fighter, and he’ll wake up," Allie tells me as Izzy pulls away, sitting on the end of the bed and holding my hand.
"Thank you for telling me. Now, I need to see him," I say, knowing nothing is going to keep me in this bed.
"Not yet. No one is being let in yet, but soon," Izzy explains, and I nod, resting back.
"How long have you been spying on us then?" Allie asks after a long silence.
"Harley told you then," I mutter.
"Well, he told Tilly, who told everyone, as she does," Allie fills in.
"I moved into Blake's flat because Arthur wanted me close to you, Allie," I say. "So since then, really. It got worse after you all walked away from The Cage."
"That’s a long time," Allie says, clearly shocked.
"I know. I'm so sorry," I whisper.
"Don't be. My dad was an asshole who no doubt had some kind of control over you," she replies.
"He has my mum, but I haven't seen her in years. I think she’s dead. Then he had my brothers, but only one of them is alive now. My father sold me and my brothers to him a long time ago," I explain. I know I need to come to terms with the fact that that my mum is gone. I've always known it, deep down.
"Thanks to Luke, it is all over. I forgive you; you know that," Allie says. "Don't feel guilty or anything over what that asshole made you do."
"Me too. We all do," Izzy says, squeezing my hand. "You are family. End of."
"I-I don't know what to say,” I admit, wiping at my tears. "I thought you'd all hate me and never want to see me again."
"Don't be silly. You're a King, and we stick together. Now rest, we’re here. Everyone is safe," Izzy says. I cry for a long time, my emotions mixed between happiness, relief, and pain. It's over.
Luke
I slowly wake up to the sounds of beeping, an air con machine humming and someone snoring in the distance. As I open my eyes, the bright light of the room makes me blink a few times as I adjust to the brightness. There are white ceilings above me, and I can now figure out the beeping is my heartbeat on some machine. I groan from the pain in my most of my body as I turn. my head to the side, seeing Emilia smiling at me.
"Luke?" she whispers before getting up slowly, holding her ribs and coming to me.
"Are you okay?" I ask her, concerned because she is pale, clearly in pain, and I want to hold her.
"Me?" she laughs. "I'm okay Luke, but you have a long recovery ahead."
"I don’t care, I was worried about you," I say, lifting my arm to touch her cheek and seeing that it is plastered up. I have to put my arm down instead when it really starts to hurt.
"Let me sit you up," she says, looking worried. "Then I’ll wake Harley up to get the doctor." Emilia helps me sit with the bed lifted, and I see my leg in the cast when she does. I use my cast-free arm to feel the pain on my head, but it’s covered with bandages.
"I feel like shit," I admit to her. I don’t know how I survived and am lying here today, but it doesn’t feel good right at this moment.
"Wait until the pain meds wear off," Emilia says, placing her hand on my cheek and leaning forward to kiss me. She only kisses me gently, but it feels like everything and more.
"How did I survive that place? I remember Arthur shooting the bomb, and not much else," I ask her.
"I pulled you to the door, and then the twins got us out," Harley says from behind Emilia. He stands up slowly, with his shoulder wrapped and his arm looks broken. There are bandages around his neck, disappearing into his hospital gown.
"Thank you," I say, knowing words can't make up for what he did.
"John came and saw me, giving us all paperwork that means we won't be held accountable for anything we did in The Cage. He explained everything in great detail over the last five days that we’ve been waiting for you to wake up," he tells me. Shit, five days? And clearly, they know everything now. I’m guessing Emilia went for my family’s help and they must have all been near The Cage when it blew up.
"Is John still here? Alive?" I ask.
"Yes, he’s waiting outside with the rest of our family," he explains to me.
"Good," I say, meaning it.
"We owe you, Luke. I don't even know how to thank you for everything," he says, his voice cracking. “I should have been the one to do what you did. All those years at his side? Pretending and lying? You are my baby brother, and it shouldn’t have been you.”
"You don't have to thank me. I don't want that," I tell him.
"Well, I am thankful. The Cage and Arthur are gone because of you. It's all over the news, everything about all his business. So many lives have been saved because of you," he tells me just what I want to hear. The plan worked.
"I was born into this life," I say. "I had to be the one to end it. To end The Cage. Now, I want to get better, get out of here and live my life with the woman I’m in love with. And our son."
"Parker," Emilia says, and I turn my head to see Parker coming in the room, holding Eric's hand.
"I thought I'd bring him in to see you both," Eric says. "I will be outside." I’m glad to see him here and bringing Parker in. It makes me think we have a future where we all will get along for Parker’s sake at least.
"What happened to you?" Parker asks me, coming up to the bed and looking at my cast.
"You know I said I was good at climbing? Turns out I'm not as good as I thought," I tell him because I don’t think he could really understand the truth. I will tell him our past one day when he is a lot older. Maybe not all of it, but enough.
"Bad luck," he says, shaking his head. "Can I draw on your cast? A friend at school had her cast drawn on."
"I'll take him to get some pens from the shop then and find the doctor on the way," Emilia says, leaning over and kissing my cheek before walking around the bed and out of the room.
"We are the lucky ones, brother," Harley says, placing his hand on my shoulder.
"Yes, we are," I say, resting back. Five years, my entire life of The Cage hold over me and my family is gone. It's time we enjoy the future.
Epilogue-Harley
10 years later…
I wrap my arms around my wife’s waist, pressing my head on top of hers as I look over at what she’s seeing. Hope is sitting with Isabelle. Both of them laughing at something on the iPad Hope’s holding. Hope is the image of her mum, her long red hair is up in a messy bun, and she has her mum’s slender figure. I’ve already had one boyfriend to scare away and no doubt others are going to turn up. Having a daughter is hard work when they are pretty.
“Seventeen. When did she turn seventeen?” Tilly mumbles.
“Two weeks ago,” I answer, and Tilly laughs, turning around in my arms and wrapping her arms around my neck. Her big blue eyes stare up at me, and I’m amazed at how she doesn’t look like she has aged an entire day since the day we met. I will always remember walking into the entrance hall, seeing this beautiful red haired beauty looking lost as she stared up at me. I was entranced from the moment we met.
“I know, it just doesn’t seem real. Hope is going to university next year. Jake is already there, and ah, it just feels like the children are all grown up,” Tilly comments.
“Empty nest something or other,” I reply, before gently leaning down and brushing my lips against hers, tasting the strawberry lip balm she has on. “When the nest is empty, I’m sure we can find lots of things to do.” I tease, loving how she blushes even after us being married for so long.