Chapter 125 Exhausted
Serena's POV
It was a question I had always longed to ask Valentina, but never had the time.
I even considered asking Nico when he looked kind, but he was never consistent in character.
But Marcus, he's been all but pressuring since I got here and if anybody knew Dante, it's him.
So I pushed on, especially when he didn't say a word.
"Marcus, has Dante ever... I don't know, talked about settling down? Leaving all these behind?" I asked carefully.
His face hardened just a fraction, then an easy smile played out across his lips.
"That's not in my place to say. Some questions are better left for the man himself,” he responded squarely.
I winced inwardly, realizing I'd crossed a line. So I nodded dramatically, leaning back in my chair as things felt awkward now.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to pry. It's just... everything's been so crazy lately,” I muttered after a while, staring at the top.
"I understand, no harm one bit. You're being curious, makes sense after what you've been through," he replied.
I lifted my head to stare at him. What I've been through? I thought he didn't know. But the look in his eyes confirmed it.
I leaned my head back, of course he knew.
We sat quietly for a long moment, then, to break the awkwardness, I steered us to safer ground.
"This bunker, it's impressive. Dante really thinks of everything, huh? Makes me feel a little safer, knowing he's got plans like this,” I muttered while looking around.
Marcus chuckled from the other end. "Yeah, he's always two steps ahead. A smart young man,” he replied.
I exhaled slowly, nodding even though I knew he couldn't see me.
My body finally relaxed enough that I could feel the exhaustion crashing over me from all the chaos.
The lights dimmed all of a sudden, just enough to see small details of the room.
I looked up sharply, raising a brow as Marcus settled back into his chair. "Get some rest," he said quietly. "I'll keep watch."
I nodded, getting up and curling up on the floor with my jacket as a makeshift pillow.
The concrete was hard and cold, but my eyelids grew heavy almost immediately.
But before I drifted off completely, a thought sparked up in me again.
My phone, I hadn't checked it since the chaos started. I turned around to find that Marcus had stepped away to the far corner, giving me a bit of space, maybe he could sense that I needed it.
People like them sense shit a lot.
I fished out my phone from my pocket, and lightened the screen. The battery was low, and I remembered that it had been forced off by whatever Luca used to stop our car.
I had a couple of notifications stacked up, missed calls, voicemails, texts, mostly from Valentina.
My heart skipped as I scrolled through, the latest message was from her.
“Where are you? Heard there was an attack, call me when you see this.”
It was followed by a couple of other missed calls, but no message from Dante.
I almost panicked, wondering if he had given up on me so easily.
Then I remembered that Dante wasn't really a texting type, he barely ever used his phone anyway.
I glanced back up at Marcus's back, then typed back to Valentina quickly. “I'm okay, I'll be home soon.”
Then to Dante. “Hey, I'm safe now. I’m in one of your underground hideouts with a friend of yours. I'll be back in the morning. Don't worry about me.”
I hit send, watching the little delivered icon appear before letting go of a breath I never knew I held.
There was no immediate reply from any of them, maybe he was still out there, searching.
I powered it down to save what battery was left and tucked it away as sleep finally claimed me.
A gentle tap on my shoulder pulled me from what had to be the strangest sleep I'd ever had.
I blinked as my eyes peeled open, completely unaware of my surroundings.
As I tried standing, my neck felt stiff from the floor. I spotted Marcus standing not too far off, looking alert as ever as his eyes met mine for a brief second.
"Rise and shine," he said with a hint of amusement in his voice. "Time to move."
I sat up too quickly and threw a hand to my hair, it was a mess and my cheeks grew flushed as I realized he'd been watching over me while I slept.
It felt oddly intimate, and in a weird way. I felt vulnerable as I ran a hand over my clothes, self-consciously avoiding his gaze.
“Uh, yeah. Morning. Or whatever time it is down here,” I joked, trying to shift the pressure.
He chuckled softly, offering a hand to help me up. I took it, and he pulled me up with a firm grip.
"You've got nothing to worry about. Let's get you out of here,” he exclaimed.
We gathered what little we had, mostly just ourselves and weapons. Then Marcus led the way to the entrance, pausing to listen carefully at the trapdoor.
He then pushed the shrubs aside, letting sunlight stream in like it had been waiting for us.
I blinked, squinting my eyes against the brightness as I stepped out into the cool morning air.
The woods looked different in daylight: less menacing, more like a tangled backyard than a bloody battlefield.
Birds chirped over our heads. Young creatures, completely oblivious to the drama that had unfolded hours before.
Marcus scanned the area with his gun in hand but relaxed shortly.
“Everywhere's clear, come on, stick close. We’ll be heading towards the safehouse, we'll use one of Dante's cars to get home," he explained.
I nodded, falling in step behind him as we made our way through the trees. My leg still ached from the fall last night, but considering everything I'd been through, I kept moving.
We moved quietly at first, with only the crunch of leaves under our feet serving as proof.
Then, after a long period of silent walking, we emerged from the woods onto a dirt road, the same one the attack had begun.
I stared over the numerous dead bodies and blood oozed everywhere.
I had a part to play in all these, people's fathers, brothers, uncles, husbands, killed because of me.
I just about managed to keep a straight face as Marcus picked one of the cars. I buckled in, and we peeled out seconds later, headed straight home.
Dante's POV
The night had passed by quickly with relentless searches.
After letting that lucky driver scamper off into the woods, Nico and I had pushed on, searching the area for any sign of Serena.
His words on a possible mole lingered in my head, someone close, feeding Luca intel.
It fueled the rage, kept me moving even as my legs grew weak.
We'd circled back to the van, then went further on foot, flashing out lights as hours ticked by with nothing worthwhile.
“We need to stop, Don,” Nico called after a while.
“And leave Serena out here? No, we keep going,” I commanded.
“Two of us ain't covering any ground, especially with the energy we both have left. I believe she's fine and will come back, we need to regroup all the same,” he explained.
I hesitated and he went on. “Besides, this is exactly what Luca would want. Throwing us off our game while he'll have everything else at his mercy,” he added.
I took a deep breath as he was right. So I nodded and we headed back to the car.
It wasn't till we were back in the car andI debated turning around for another sweep, that my phone vibrated in the car phone slot.