Ch.54: The Escape

A shadow fills the doorway.

The guard spins, leveling his weapon.

"Drop it!"

Thorne is standing there.

He is bleeding heavily from a chest wound. His face is pale, slick with sweat. But he is holding the assault rifle he took from Aris.

He doesn't hesitate. He doesn't offer a warning.

*BANG-BANG.*

Two shots. Double tap.

The guard's head snaps back. He drops to the floor, dead before he hits the carpet.

Thorne sags against the doorframe, lowering the rifle. He looks at me. He looks at Lily.

"You okay?" he wheezes.

I nod, clutching Lily to my chest. "We're alive."

Thorne looks at Petrova, who is moaning on the floor, clutching her arm.

"The house is surrounded," he says. "My team finally broke through the gate. They're cutting the shutters."

He offers me his hand.

"We have to go. Now. Before the rest of the security team gets here."

I stand up. My legs are trembling, but I force them to hold my weight. I pick up Lily. She wraps her arms around my neck, burying her face in my shoulder so she doesn't have to look at the carnage.

We move into the hallway.

It’s quiet. Eerily quiet.

"Where's Aris?" I ask.

"Don't know," Thorne says, scanning the shadows. "He vanished when the shooting started. Probably in the panic room."

We reach the stairs. The smoke from the basement is drifting up, a thin grey haze.

"This way," Thorne says, leading us toward the front door.

We reach the foyer. The heavy steel shutters are still down, sealing the exit. But I can hear the sound of a plasma cutter chewing through the metal from the outside.

*ZZZZZT.*

Sparks shower onto the marble floor.

"Almost there," Thorne says.

He leans against the wall, his strength fading. The chest wound is bad. He’s losing too much blood.

"Take her," I say.

I try to hand Lily to him.

Thorne looks at me, confused. "What?"

"Take Lily," I repeat. "Get her out. Get her to the ambulance."

"Elena, we're all going," he says.

"No," I say. I look back up the stairs. Toward the lab. Toward the panic room.

"He's still here."

"The police will get him," Thorne argues. "Let them handle it."

"He'll talk his way out of it," I say. "He has lawyers. He has money. He has leverage on half the city council. If he walks out of here in handcuffs, he'll be out on bail by morning. And then he'll disappear."

I touch my face. The raw, exposed muscle.

"He took everything from me, Lucas. My face. My life. My humanity."

I look at him.

"I can't let him leave this house alive."

Thorne stares at me. He sees the resolve in my one good eye. He sees the monster Aris created.

He nods slowly.

He takes Lily from my arms. She clings to me for a second, then lets go.

"Be careful," he whispers.

He hands me the assault rifle.

"It has half a mag left. Make it count."

The cutter breaks through the shutter. The metal groans and bends. A hole appears.

Thorne pushes Lily through the gap. Hands reach in from the outside—police, paramedics—pulling her to safety.

Thorne looks back at me one last time. Then he climbs through.

I am alone in the foyer.

I check the rifle. Safety off.

I turn back to the stairs.

I am not running away. I am going hunting.

I sent Lily with Thorne. I stayed behind.