Chapter 145 The Escape
Third Person POV
They ran.
Ethan’s hand gripped Melissa’s good arm, pulling her through corridors that all looked the same. White walls with marble floors and endless turns. This place was like a beautiful deadly maze, escaping it as a stranger here will be close to impossible.
Behind them, the sounds of chaos echoed. Gunfire and shooting. The crash of breaking glass.
The empire was eating itself alive.
Melissa’s legs felt like water. The drugs and exhaustion mixed with the pain radiating from her broken arm with every jarring step made everything worse.
Everything was spinning, she felt like she was dying.
“We are almost there,” Ethan said. His voice was urgent but trying to be reassuring. “Just a little further.”
Her foot caught on nothing. She stumbled and started to fall.
Ethan caught her before she hit the ground and he swept her up in his arms without breaking stride.
“I’ve got you,” he said and ran again, carrying her now. “Melissa, you must be strong. We’re almost there.”
She wanted to tell him to put her down. That she could walk. That she wasn’t helpless.
But her body wasn’t cooperating. The world kept tilting. Her vision kept blurring.
Ethan pressed a quick kiss to the top of her head.
“Just hold on,” he murmured. They burst through a door into a courtyard.
Moonlight hit them at once together with fresh air and the smell of flowers and gunpowder.
Ethan ran toward a gate at the far end. Twenty yards. Fifteen. Ten.
Almost there, they were almost free from hell when a figure stepped out from behind a column.
Blocking their path with a gun raised and pointed at their heads.
“Don’t fucking move.”
Melissa’s blood ran cold. She wasn’t seeing very clearly but she knew that voice. She knew it very clearly.
Ethan skidded to a stop. His arms tightened protectively around her.
The figure stepped into the moonlight, it was none other than Troy.
Troy Sterling. Her useless ex-boyfriend. He looked different, much thinner and harder, his face was twisted into a very ugly look. And he was holding a gun pointed straight at her.
“How are you here?” Melissa whispered. Her voice was shaking.
Troy’s laugh was bitter and harsh. “Oh, now you care? Now you want to know?”
He took a step closer still holding the gun up.
“When one of your man toys left me for dead in that rotten room…” his voice was rising now, becoming shrill “…bleeding from my broken nose, abandoned by everyone, I was saved. Given purpose here.”
He gestured wildly with his free hand. The gun in his other hand shook slightly but stayed trained on them.
“Zeus found me. Gave me a place. A reason. Promised me revenge on the bitch who ruined my life.”
“Troy, please…” Melissa started.
“SHUT UP!” He was screaming now. With spit flying from his mouth. “You don’t get to talk! You don’t get to beg me you cheating whore!”
He moved closer. Close enough that Melissa could see the madness in his eyes.
“So get your tiny little whoring ass back in there,” he snarled. “Back to whatever room they’re keeping you in. Back to being used by whatever rich bastard wants you next.”
Ethan shifted. Trying to shield Melissa more completely with his body.
“Put the gun down,” he said calmly. “You don’t want to do this.”
“Don’t I?” Troy’s laugh was manic. “I’ve been waiting for this moment for months. Oh her suffering has been delicious. I have been watching her on security feeds. Knowing she was here. Knowing she was finally getting what she deserved.”
The gun pressed forward. Inches from Ethan’s chest.
“Move aside,” Troy demanded. “Or I’ll shoot through you to get to her.”
Ethan didn’t move. Troy’s finger tightened on the trigger.
Then something crashed into him from behind.
The gun fired. The bullet went wide and buried itself in a stone column with a spray of dust.
Troy went down hard. The gun skittered across the courtyard and Kane stood over him.
He’d appeared like a ghost, his fist was already rising and it came down hard on Troy’s face once the twice.
Troy tried to fight back and tried to grab Kane’s arms. He tried to defend himself.
It was pathetic.
Kane wasn’t even breathing hard. He looked like he was playing with a toy.
A third hit and Troy’s head snapped back. His eyes rolled to the back of his head.
Kane grabbed him by the shirt and slammed his head against the stone pavement.
Once.
Twice and finally he went limp.
Kane didn’t check if he was just unconscious or dead, he didn't give a rat's ass. He stood and turned to Malissa.
His eyes, which were usually so controlled, went wild.
“Kane,” Melissa sobbed.
He crossed the courtyard in three strides and reached out. Ethan carefully transferred her from his arms to Kane’s.
Kane pulled her against his chest and held her tight. His arms trembling slightly with the force of his grip.
“I never thought I’d be so happy to see my bodyguard,” Melissa said through her tears. The words came out broken. Like she was gasping.
But she couldn’t stop crying.
Relief. Fear. Exhaustion. Everything poured out at once.
“I’m sorry we came late,” Kane said. His voice was rough. Raw with emotion he rarely showed. “I’m so sorry.”
He pulled back slightly. And looked at her face. Her broken arm. Checking for injuries.
“Did they…”
“Gavin,” Melissa whispered. That was all she could say. All she could think about. “Where’s Gavin?”
Kane’s jaw clenched. “He’s still fighting. He’s…” He stopped. “We’ll all get out alive. I promise.”
Melissa’s good hand clutched at his shirt. She looked up at him. Eyes wide. Desperate.
She opened her mouth then closed it and opened it again.
“He raped me,” she whispered.
The words were so quiet Kane almost didn’t hear them.
Then they registered and gis entire body went rigid.
“Who?” His voice was deadly calm. Too calm. “Who touched you?”
“Stephan.” She was shaking now. Trembling in his arms. “Stephan…”
She couldn’t finish. Just broke down sobbing again.
Kane held her for one more moment. His face had gone completely blank. Expressionless.
But his eyes.
His eyes promised murder.
He looked at Ethan. “Take her. Keep running toward the front gate. Our men will find you.”
“Kane…” Ethan started.
“Don’t fucking lose her,” Kane interrupted. His voice was ice. “Or Gavin will kill us both.”
He carefully transferred Melissa back to Ethan’s arms. She clung to Kane for a second longer.
“Please,” she whispered. “Please be careful.”
Kane touched her face. Gentle. “I will avenge you, padrona.”
Which meant Boss’s wife. In Italian.
Then he was gone.
Running back into the compound. Back toward where Stephan was.
Running toward vengeance.
Ethan adjusted his grip on Melissa. Started running again toward the gate.
“He’ll be okay,” he said. “Kane’s the best. He’ll…”
“He’s going to kill Stephan,” Melissa said. Her voice was hollow.
“Yes.”
“Because of what I told him.”
“Because of what Stephan did to you.” Ethan’s arms tightened. “Don’t you dare feel guilty for that monster getting what he deserves.”
They reached the gate. It was open. Damaged. Someone had blown it during the chaos.
Beyond it, vehicles. Armed men wearing tactical gear. Not Zeus’s men.
Gavin’s men.
One of them saw them. Raised his weapon. Then lowered it when he recognized Ethan.
“We have her!” Ethan shouted. “Melissa Hayes! We need medical!”
Men rushed forward.
A medic appeared. Checked her broken arm. Her pupils. Her vital signs.
Someone wrapped a blanket around her shoulders.
Ethan carefully set her down on the hood of a vehicle. Stayed close. Protective.
“Where’s Gavin?” one of the men asked. “Where’s Kane?”
“Still inside,” Ethan said. “Fighting.”
“Should we…”
“No. They’ll come out when they’re ready.” Ethan looked back at the compound.
Melissa followed his gaze.
The compound was lit up. Fires burning in some sections. Windows shattered. Smoke rising into the night sky.
It looked like a war zone.
And somewhere in there, Gavin was still fighting.
Wounded. Bleeding. Maybe dying.
For her.
Always for her.
“Please,” she whispered to no one. To everyone. To God if He was listening. “Please let them come back.”
The men stood watching the compound.
Waiting.
Hoping.
Praying.
That their king and his right hand would emerge from the burning empire. Alive.
Inside the compound, Kane ran. His face was a mask of cold fury.
Stephan had raped her, he had touched her.
Had violated her. Someone so precious. He had the mind of the gods to lay his hands on someone so precious, he hated with a passion a man who won’t listen to a simple no. No no she said no. And he.. oh he was so fucking dead.
And Kane was going to enjoy making him pay for every second of it.