The Return

The Return
Ivy’s POV

“Cassian, stop!” My voice thundered in the rain as I screamed his name again, kicking and twisting but Cassian only pulled harder. Before I knew it he lifted me off the ground as if I weighed nothing, my fists hit his shoulders, useless against his strength. 

He carried me toward his car parked across the road, the heavy rain that thundered swallowing every sound except my screams. “Let me go!” I thrashed harder. “Cassian, I said—” 

“Stop fighting me,” he growled as he opened the door, shoving me toward it. I struggled with his grip, my nails slipping against the wet metal.“You’re coming with me whether you like it or not, Ivy.”

“No—”

Before I could complete my words a vehicle light cut through the rain and Cassian froze midway into slipping me into his car, his hand shielding his face. “What the hell—”

The headlights burned across his eyes as the car screeched to a stop just inches away from him. “Who the fuck—” Cassian cursed, but the words died in his throat when the door swung open.

And to both of our shocks—Adrian stepped out. Rain poured off him, his hair plastered to his forehead while his eyes were wild and full of something I hadn’t seen since that night.

“Adrian…” I whispered, my heart slamming against my ribs.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!!” Cassian’s shock twisted into rage. Adrian didn’t answer either of us; he took one step forward, his boots splashing through the concrete pavement. 

His voice came out low, rough. “Get your hands off her.”

Cassian’s jaw flexed. “You just don’t know when to stay locked in jail, do you?”

But Adrian paid his words no attention and moved closer. “I said….let her go.”

Cassian yanked me against him and before I knew it his hand was around my throat now,  his breath hot at my ear. “You really want to do this again, lover boy. Huh?” You’ve already lost once.”

“Trust me, Cassian. I’m not going to lose this time.” Adrian shot back, his expression didn’t flicker for even a bit. For one second, everything went silent between us— just the sound of the heavy rain.

Then I yanked Cassian‘s arm off me with every bit of strength I had left and ran towards Adrain. Adrian caught me, pulling me behind him without hesitation. “You’re safe now, Ivy,” he said, never looking away from Cassian.

Cassian smirked. “Awwww ... .so touching. The stray dog crawls back for his master’s scraps.” He took a step forward, his shoes splashing through muddy water. “You think you can protect her from what’s coming? From me? You should really be dreaming.”

Adrian didn’t even wait for him to finish and lunged towards him. The sound of impact was brutal — the crack of bone against flesh tangled with the wet slap of rain against their skin as Cassian’s head snapped sideways from the merciless punch that Adrain landed on his face, blood spraying from his lip.

Cassian swung back and his fist caught Adrian’s jaw, sending him staggering backward in pain. But Adrain recovered as quickly and docked, driving his elbow into Cassian’s ribs. 

Cassian grunted, then shoved Adrian against one of the car doors. The whole site echoed with their struggle — fists throwing one merciless punch after another. 

“Stop!” I screamed. “You’ll kill each other!”

Neither of them heard what I said as usual. Without wasting time Cassian slammed Adrian onto the floor and pinned him down. “You should’ve stayed in your cell,” he hissed, grabbing the gun from his belt and pressing it under Adrian’s chin.

“No!” I moved towards them, my leg screaming from the pain, and my vision blurring through the rain as my fingers brushed the cold metal of the gun off Cassian’s grip. I grabbed it and aimed at him with trembling hands.

“Cassian!” I shouted for him to look up,  just enough to let go of Adrian. Before I could think I fired the gun, the bullet ripped past his shoulder and jerked back from the sheer force of it.

“Fuckin…bitch!” He cursed, flinging the gun out of my hands. Adrian took advantage of the opportunity, rolling himself free, kicking Cassian hard in the ribs as he hit the ground coughing blood.

Adrian stood over him, chest rising and falling heavily as rain dripped down his face. He picked up Cassian’s gun from the ground and for a heartbeat, no one moved.

“Adrian,” I whispered. “Don’t shoot him…. let's just go.” He didn’t even look at me, just held the gun inches from Cassian’s forehead.

“Do it,” Cassian spat, blood pooling in his mouth. “End it. Go ahead. That’s what you want. To kill me so you can fuck your step-sister.”

Adrian’s hands were shaking and I could see it—the battle behind his eyes as though he was fighting between the urge to kill Cassian or spare him. “Adrian,” I called out his name again, stepping closer this time.  “If you pull that trigger, they both win. They’ll surely have their revenge on you and call it justice. Please. Don’t.”

For a while I thought he wouldn’t hear what I said, then he lowered the gun slowly. Then—

The air broke with the sound of sirens, distant but getting closer to the direction of where we were. “It’s too late for you now, Adrain.” Cassian smiled through bloodied teeth. “I called them,” Cassian continued with a sick grin on his face.

“Before you even got here…..they’ll find you standing over me with a gun. Perfect, isn’t it?”

I felt my stomach drop. “Adrian,” I whispered. “We have to leave before they reach here.” He looked at me, then back at Cassian, and tossed the gun aside. 

“I’m never losing you again,” he said as he grabbed my hand, pulling me hard towards him and we began running into the forest at the other side of the road.

The mud sucked at our shoes as we ran toward the tree line behind the site. Flashlights and sirens charging at us through the dark—blue and red flares lighting up the rain.

“Faster,” Adrian urged. “Come on, Ivy. Just a little more.”Branches whipped across my arms, my side burned where it was still bandaged and I could barely keep up. But his hand gripped me firmly and didn’t let go.

“Stop running! It’s the police!” Voices shouted behind us.