Ella

A chill runs up and down my spine the moment he says those words.

His father … is here?

No, that can’t be.

He has to be dead.

I stabbed him; I remember it. Twice, even. The memory still makes knots form in my stomach. I never felt like I could completely rinse off his blood. As if a part of him stayed with me even after I’d fled.

And now that turns out to be true. But how?

How is it possible?

I shake my head. “But I killed him,” I say, not wanting to believe it.

I’m desperate. Anything but him … I can’t take it. Not again. If he’s really here, then he’s after us, and we’ll never be safe.

“I saw him,” Cage admits.

“Are you sure?” I ask.

He nods.

I keep shaking my head, my entire body trembling as I come face to face with my own prediction. Something would ruin us … but it wasn’t me.

It was him.

His father was dying when I left him.

But for some reason, he’s still alive, and that can only mean one thing.

Cage … he helped Cage get out …

“You … let him live?” I ask as I take a step back, horrified. Cage tries to grab me, but I jerk my arm free. “No. Answer me!”

He licks his lips, looking defeated. “Yes.”

The admission alone makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand.

I can’t believe this.

The man who caused my sister’s death … who took me and put me in a tiny cell … who made both of us his puppets and used us for his own sick, twisted games … is still alive. And Cage set him free.

“Why?” I mumble. “Why would you do that? I thought he was dead.”

“He helped me out,” Cage says. “Without him, I’d never—”

“No! We could’ve saved you!” I shout, unable to keep my emotions at bay even though we’re standing on the street. I don’t care anymore. “Do you know how far I went to search for you? We drove for hours on end to get back to the compound. I spent days trying to find you, and the officers did too, and when we finally found the compound, you weren’t even there.” I sniff. “Do you have any idea how that made me feel? How lost I felt? If you were there, we could’ve saved you.”

He just nods and listens, and it makes me only want to lash out more.

“He could’ve just died! But you let him help you, and now he’s still alive!” I say, pushing Cage, but he won’t budge.

No matter how much I try to get him to move, to do anything, to yell back, he refuses.

“Why?”

“He brought me to a hospital,” Cage explains. “Without him, I’d be nowhere.”

“Don’t you say that!” I make a face. “He never did anything good for you. Ever. The man is evil, and you know it.”

It feels like my blood is boiling; that’s how mad I am. Why would he keep this from me? All this time, he knew; he knew his father was alive because Cage drove them to the hospital. And he didn’t even tell me. Not how he escaped or got his wounds fixed. Not any of it. And now I understand why … because his shoulders are slumped, and he can’t even look at me.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbles.

It breaks my heart in two.

“I thought … I thought we trusted each other,” I reply, choking up.

“I do,” he says. “We do.”

“But you didn’t tell me. You kept the worst man on earth alive … and for what?”

“I didn’t,” he rasps, grimacing. “I wanted him dead.”

“Then why did you let him live?” I ask.

“He was gone,” he answers. “Disappeared.”

My eyes widen. “From the hospital?”

He nods. “I was too late.”

It’s silent for a few seconds as I think about what just happened, and everything I just learned. I can’t believe he’s still alive. The mere idea makes me want to puke. But if it’s really true, we can’t stay here and wait until he comes.

Because if I know one thing, it’s that Graham will do whatever it takes to get to us.

Whether it’s for revenge doesn’t matter.

He’s coming for us. For Cage, for me … for my baby.

I immediately clutch my belly, wanting to protect it at all cost. “He’ll come for my baby,” I mumble.

Cage immediately places his hand on top of mine on my belly. “No. I will protect you and the baby,” he growls.

“But what about the cell? What if he takes us back?” Just the thought of going back there makes me cold and shivery.

“I won’t allow it,” he replies sternly, gazing straight at me. “Ever.”

I nod, worried that Graham might appear at any moment and take us again.

I’m still mad, but I understand Cage is only trying to look out for our best interests. Now is not the time to fight.

Cage did what he had to do to survive. I get it even though I’m upset he never told me. What’s done is done. We have to focus on not getting caught now because Graham could be anywhere.

But what do we do?

“Let’s go home,” Cage says, grabbing my hand.

“But your gear. Your clothes. The fight,” I stammer.

“Don’t care,” he growls, dragging me along with him back to my car.

I don’t fight his grip. I let him take me because I know that right now it’s my safest option.

Only one thing’s on my mind, and that’s keeping the baby safe. Whatever the cost.

If Graham’s back, then so be it.

But I’d rather die than let him get his hands on me or my baby.

I won’t go back into that cell.

Never again.

We hop into the car, and I immediately drive off, not even caring about the fact that I’m being reckless. I just want to go home, lock the doors, and hide in the attic. Is that crazy? Yes. But Graham is much, much crazier than any of that.

I’m sure he’d kill us before he’d ever let us be free.

I can’t let it happen.

We must prepare for his vile schemes. Must be one step ahead of him.

However, the moment I arrive at my home, I already feel my own courage sink into my shoes.

This is the place where I first met the man of my nightmares.

Where he swept me off my bed and took me.

The place where it all started.

A pit forms in my stomach as I gaze at Cage, biting my lip. I don’t know what to do. I wonder if we should keep driving, to the end of the world if I have to, just to stay safe.

But Cage places his hand on top of mine and promises, “I will protect you.”

I nod and open the door, slowly creeping outside.

I wonder if Graham’s in my house at this very moment, snooping around and waiting to ambush us.

He knows how to enter my house without a key. He’s done it before, so he could do it again.

With fear, I wait until Cage has jumped out too and walked over to my side. With his strong arm around my waist, I feel safer than on my own. But it still doesn’t feel right. It’s too quiet, too suspicious, and I wonder if that’s just me. If my own terror is setting me off.

I wonder if it’ll ever go away while I know the man is still alive.

I shiver.

What will we have to do to finally be rid of him?

To be able to live in peace?

He won’t stop coming after us. Not unless we put an end to it.

I grasp his hand and squeeze tight as we go to the door and I push the key into the lock. As I open the door, I stare for a while, looking for something, anything that’ll tell me he’s here.

But I find nothing. No scratches, no footprints, no knocked over tables. Nothing.

With a calmer mind, I place the car keys on the cabinet in the hall and tread forward. Cage pushes ahead and says, “I’ll go first.”

I nod and follow him into the living room, circling as we check each room. But nothing seems off. Everything is still in place as if he was never here.

“Upstairs,” he says, and I nod.

“I’ll go.”

“Together,” he says.

“No, you check the yard. Otherwise, he’ll catch us off guard.” I point at the glass door while opening a drawer in the kitchen to grab a knife. “This will help.”

“Yell if you see something,” Cage instructs.

“You too,” I reply, making my way to the hallway.

I carefully walk up the stairs, trying not to make a sound. I don’t want to alert him to my presence if he’s there. One creak makes my heart jump, but it’s my own feet causing the noise. Once I’m upstairs, I search every room, pointing the knife forward to attack anyone who I might come across.

However, the more doors I open, the less my heart pounds. Nothing’s out of place, and no one’s there. I checked every room, under the beds, behind the curtains, and even the shower. Nothing.

Then I hear a roar.

It’s outside.

Shit.

It’s Cage.

I rush down stairs as fast as I can, still holding the knife. When I jump down the last step, I see him … right there … next to my car.

Graham.

He wasn’t in the garden.

He was right outside … waiting for us to come.

And he’s pointing a gun at Cage.

My hand shakes as I approach him, still holding the knife.

“Don’t do anything stupid, Ella.” His voice alone causes the bile to rise in my throat.

“C-Cage …” I say, still walking toward him, unafraid. “Give h-im b-back.”

Graham’s eyebrows twitch, and a vicious smile appears on his face. He begins to laugh uncontrollably. Then he switches off the safety on the gun and points it directly at Cage’s head. “Don’t. Move,” he hisses, adding under his breath, “fucking bitch.”

I stop in my tracks, still holding the knife despite my hands shaking. I won’t let him do this to us. I can’t let him hurt Cage. Not again.

He spits on the ground. “You fucking did this to me.” He points at the scars on his neck. “It took weeks for me to recover. You almost fucking killed me, you know that?” he growls.

I don’t answer, but I secretly wish I had the balls to tell him straight to his face that I hoped he died.

“What do you want?” Cage seethes at his father.

“You know what I want,” Graham hisses. “You two, where you belong.”

“I belong with Ella,” Cage says.

I shake my head at him. I don’t want him to say anything to set his father off and make him do something bad.

“Fuck, no. You’re mine. My fucking fighter,” Graham growls in his ears. “My boy. And you owe me your fucking life.”

“I owe you nothing,” Cage spits. “You lied to me.”

“Lied?” Graham snorts. “I gave you everything you needed, and then you go around and betray me like that?”

“I have a brother,” Cage shouts.

This momentarily shuts Graham up, but it doesn’t last long. “Lock is none of your fucking business.”

Cage’s eyes widen the moment he hears his brother’s name. “Lock?”

Graham wraps his arm around Cage’s throat. “You think you could escape, did you?” he growls. “That you could do this to me and get away with it?”

I shake my head, mumbling, “P-please …”

“No! You RUINED me!” he screams, his face red and bulging.

I fear for Cage … His life is on the line, and Graham’s sick in the head.

He could pull the trigger just like that.

And then he’d be gone.

I can’t allow it.

“You took everything from me!” he spits. “My job, my money, my fucking house. Even my best fighter …” He grinds his teeth, pushing the gun into Cage’s head. “And even the goddamn baby.”

“P-please don’t d-do this,” I mutter, desperately trying to get him to see how bad this is for all of us. “You n-need us.”

I don’t ever want to say those words, but if it means it’ll stop him from killing Cage, then I don’t care what I have to say. I know that’s why he’s here. We were his sole income. The fighter and the girl who could carry his baby. And he wants them back.

“You … It’s all your fault,” he hisses at me.

I know it is, but I don’t regret it. Not even for a second.

“Leave her,” Cage growls all of a sudden, his body rigid like a rock. “Take me.”

“No!” I scream. “Don’t you dare!”

I don’t care if he wants to protect me; if it means I’ll lose him, then it’s not worth it.

Graham starts to laugh again. “You think I want you?”

My eyes widen, and I suck in a breath, realizing what he means.

He stares at me, completely ignoring Cage’s pleas. “Get in the car.”

I shake my head. “No.”

“Do it!” Graham snaps. “Or I’ll blow his head off.”

“You n-need us both,” I reply, trying to remain calm even though I’m screaming on the inside.

“I need a fighter, but he’s already wasted. This world has tainted him, so I need a new one. A better one.” The intense look he gives me and my belly makes me grab myself with my free hand.

“No!” Cage growls. “Stay away from her.”

Suddenly, Graham knocks Cage on the back of the head with the gun so hard he falls to the ground.

“NO!” I scream.

“Get in the fucking car!” Graham hisses, pointing the gun at me now. “Or I’ll fucking kill him.”

I believe his threat now. He already smacked him down, knocking him out. I know he’ll do anything to get his hands on this baby. Even kill his most prized warrior.

“Drop the fucking knife,” Graham instructs.

I nod, and my lips tremble as I drop the knife on the ground.

Cage is still unmoving as I move past him, wishing he’d get up and do something. But he doesn’t. Not as I approach the car. Not as I get inside and wait for my fate. Not as I hear my own keys jingle in Graham’s hand.

Not even when he gets in behind the wheel … and starts the engine.

And as he puts the gear into reverse, I turn around in my seat and scream as loud as I can, as hard as my lungs will let me. “CAGE!”