Chapter 133 Rooftops and Promises
Third Person POV - Kane
The jump was at least fifteen feet high but Kane didn't hesitate. He ran across the rooftop, his feet were sure despite the clay tiles that shifted beneath his weight, and launched himself into the air.
For a moment, he was suspended in nothing but darkness and the empty space below.
Then his hands caught the edge of the next roof. His shoulders screamed with the impact. He pulled himself up smoothly, rolling onto the tiles and immediately moving into a crouch.
Behind him, the gap between the buildings looked impossible. Anyone watching would have called it suicide.
But Kane had been doing impossible things his entire life.
He moved across the rooftop silently, his eyes scanning the compound below. For guards, checkpoints and Security cameras on rotating schedules.
Zeus's estate was a fortress. Getting in was very difficult. Getting out with Gavin and Melissa would be damn near impossible. But that's what Kane did. Impossible things.
He'd been mapping the compound for three hours now. Moving from rooftop to rooftop like a shadow. Memorizing patrol patterns. Noting weak points in the perimeter.
There were cameras everywhere, but he'd already identified their blind spots. Guards were disciplined but predictable. Walls were high but not insurmountable.
They could do this.
They had to.
Kane crouched at the edge of another roof, looking down at the east wing. He suspected that was where Melissa was being held, according to the intel Marcus had intercepted.
He could see it from here. And also see the faint light behind the curtains.
She was there.
Kane pulled out a small camera from his shirt and took photos.
Then he moved again and leaped to another rooftop. This one was closer to the main building. The tiles here were older and much more stable. One shifted beneath his foot and he had to throw his weight sideways to avoid sliding.
His hand shot out, catching the edge of a decorative cornice. He hung there for a moment, suspended over a three-story drop. Then he pulled himself up and kept moving. He was trying to slip back to his room when his phone vibrated in his pocket.
He stopped and bent behind a chimney stack and then pulled it out.
Aria.
His chest tightened.
He shouldn't answer. He was in the middle of a very dangerous place. One wrong sound could alert the guards below.
But it was Aria. He answered and pressed the phone to his ear, he said nothing.
And heard her crying.
The sound hit him like a blow.
"Kane?" Her voice was broken and devastated. "Kane, please tell me you're there. Please."
"I'm here," he said quietly.
"How dare you." The words came out between sobs. "How dare you do this to me. All of you. How dare you leave me in the dark."
"Aria..."
"You guys are the family I have left!" Her voice rose. "And something is wrong. I know something is wrong. All of you suddenly disappeared and you left me, Kane. You left me."
Each word was like a knife to his chest. His free hand came up, rubbing his heart like he could somehow ease the pain there.
"I'm sorry," he said. His voice was rough. "Please forgive me, mia dea. I just wanted you to be safe."
"Safe from what?" She was still crying. "What's happening? Where are you?"
Kane closed his eyes. Leaned his head back against the chimney.
He wanted to tell her everything. Wanted to explain about Melissa's kidnapping, about Zeus, about Colombia.
But he couldn't.
Because if Zeus found out Aria mattered to him...if Zeus learned that Kane Rivers had something to lose...she'd become a target.
Just like Melissa had become a target because Gavin loved her.
"We can't guarantee our survival," Kane said quietly. "I can't bear to put you in harm's way, my love. So please stay there. Stay safe."
"Tell me where you are."
"I can't."
"Kane..."
"If Zeus knows you matter to me, he'll take you too." The words came out harder than he intended. "Do you understand? He'll use you the same way he's using Melissa. And I can't...I won't let that happen."
Aria was quiet for a moment. He could still hear her ragged breathing. Her sniffles.
"Melissa," she said finally. "This is about Melissa. Someone took her."
She was too smart. Had always been too smart.
"Yes."
"Where is she?"
"Somewhere dangerous. Somewhere I can't tell you about."
"And Gavin went after her."
"Yes."
"And you went with him."
"Yes."
There was another pause this time.
"Are you guys going to die?" Aria's voice was small and terrified.
Kane's chest ached.
"No," he said firmly. "I'm coming back to you. I promise."
"Don't make promises you can't keep."
"I never do." He shifted position, still watching the compound below. "Aria, I need you to trust me. Can you do that?"
"I trust you." Her voice broke on the words. "But I'm scared."
"I know. I'm scared too."
"You're never scared."
"I am when it comes to you." He rubbed his chest again. "The thought of something happening to you...of Zeus finding out about you...it terrifies me."
"Then come home."
"I can't. Not yet. Not without them."
"Why?" The word was almost a wail. "Why do you have to be the one to risk everything alone?"
"Because Gavin is my brother in everything but blood. And Melissa doesn't deserve what's happening to her." Kane's voice hardened. "And because men like Zeus...men who take and destroy and think people are just pieces to be moved around...they need to be stopped."
"Let someone else stop them. Just bring Malissa and leave, Zeus is too powerful I know about him."
"There is no one else, mia dea. Just us."
Aria was crying again. Kane closed his eyes against the sound.
"I need you to do something for me," he said.
"What?"
"Stay at the apartment. Lock the doors. Don't let anyone in except Marcus. If anyone else comes...anyone...you call the police. You understand?"
"Kane..."
"Promise me, Aria. Promise me you'll stay safe."
"Only if you promise to come back."
"I promise." The words came out without hesitation. "I will come back to you. I will bring Melissa home. And then I'm never leaving your side again."
"You better not." Her voice was still shaking but there was steel underneath now. "Because if you die in Colombia, I'm going to learn necromancy just so I can kill you again myself."
Despite everything, Kane smiled. "That's my girl."
"I love you," Aria said. "Come home to me."
"I love you too. More than you know."
He heard her take a shuddering breath. "How long?"
"Two days. Maybe three."
"That's too long."
"I know. But it's how long this is going to take." He glanced down at the compound again. "Aria, I have to go. But I need you to know something."
"What?"
"You're not alone. You have Marcus. You have the resources I left for you. And you have me...even from here, you have me." His voice softened. "And when this is over, when I come back, I'm going to make sure you never feel left behind again."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
"Okay." She sniffled. "Be careful."
"Always am."
"Liar."
He smiled again. "I'll call you when I can. Stay safe, mia dea."
"You too. Come home, Kane."
The line went dead.
Kane sat there for a moment, staring at his phone.
Then he tucked it away and stood.
His chest still ached. The sound of Aria crying still echoed in his ears.
But he had a job to do.
He moved across the rooftop, mapping out the final sections of the compound's defenses.
Two more jumps...both dangerous, both necessary.
He made them without thinking. Muscle memory and training taking over.
By the time he'd circled back to his entry point, he had everything he needed. A complete map of the compound's security.
He dropped down from the wall, landing in the vegetation outside the compound with barely a sound.
Then he disappeared into the darkness, heading back to the room he shared with Gavin.