Fiery Revenge⎪✓

90

☀︎

My adventure is short-lived when a group of men steps out of a room, none of them are masked and my fingers work on intuition. Killing three of them instantly, the fourth and last one barely manages to elevate his gun before I shoot him as well. He drops to the floor and I find myself lost on where to look. 

Something about the light in the back of the warehouse has me running out the hallway, into the large and open space again. The light is still flicked on and I edge closer to the source, lingering near to the freezing wall and gazing behind myself occasionally, not wanting to repeat what just happened. 

My wrist is throbbing, the pain worse than I imagined it would be. I might've done it too deeply, but I needed them to believe my words. I needed them to come inside the room, and it worked, they confirmed that they need me alive for some reason. 

Voices reach my ears and I recognize it as Joseph, his voice is cold and slices at my gut. I've never heard him this angry before, "He will die if you keep it up, and then Eloisa won't come."

"She'll come for you as well, Brakido," An unknown person responds to Joseph, the slimy voice hits my gut and I cringe soundlessly. 

"Eloisa is coming here to help Xavier, not me," I know this tactic, he's making Xavier valuable in their eyes to guarantee they won't harm him anymore. 

Grabbing my phone, I send a quick text to Marc and inform him that I'm in the back of the warehouse. He needs to know where to go, otherwise, this won't make any sense. This is the last thing I had to do, which is why I step forth from the shadows. Shooting two men in the back, who raise their guns at me. 

What meets my eyes next has my heart running cold. Clutching my stomach in unbearable pain, my organs are pinched to a point where breathing is fucking unmanageable. Hammering pounds through my aching skull, leaving no room for logic or rationality. This sight right here will torment me for the rest of my life. A single gruff sound leaves my lips and the gun is lifted again.

Aiming straight towards the emerald eyes I've loved so profoundly and missed fucking terribly. 

"Eloi," He speaks in his familiar voice, my heart constricts painstakingly. 

He cannot be here, it's impossible. 

He died...?

I witnessed his body.

Didn't I?

"What?" I manage to speak. 

He steps closer and I squeeze my grip around the gun, he notices my actions and places his hands in the air. "You've grown up," He grins, a choke escapes my lips at the sight.

My own father. 

The dad I lost that day.

Or, apparently, I didn't.

Did I?

Is my mom alive?

Giovanni?

"Eloisa," A new voice speaks from next to me, Joseph. 

He is destroyed, his left eye swollen shut, and the split in his lip leaking with blood. His eyes are pleading with mine and he begs for me to look to the left, once I do that horrible sight has bile rising in my throat immediately. Xavier is lying on the floor in a bloodied jumble, his face entirely covered in red, his clothes shredded and uncountable injuries are spread across his delicate skin. 

"I'm so sorry," I whisper to him, ensuring he's the only one who catches my words. 

Even through all of this, his fatigued eyes are still studying me, the apology is heavy in his gaze, and my gut pains. He doesn't want me here, he doesn't want me here because he can't protect me. I should be the one protecting him, from my own fucking blood. 

"What did you do to him?" I speak, regulating my emotions because I need the hold over myself. My father steps closer and I aim the gun at him again, placing myself in front of Joseph and Xavier. "Stay the fuck away from us."

"You're with them now?" My father spits at me, practicing the voice he did whenever he was dissatisfied. 

"Where's mom and Gio?" I ask him. 

"Dead," The insignificance in his voice is revolting. 

"I need to get them out of here," I tell him, attempting to pull the daughter card, my father must be in there somewhere. "Xavier needs help and Joseph has nothing to do with this. Let them leave and I'll stay here."

This isn't about me placing myself in danger, but Joseph and Xavier have nothing to do with my family tragedy. They shouldn't hurt because of my mess. On top of that, there is nothing for me out there anymore. Xavier is the only person who I could admit is significant to me, but he's dying on the floor because of my father's actions. 

"I can't do that," He tilts his head to the side. 

It fucks with my mind how he should be dead. I've been grieving his loss for so many years. And yet, here I am, staring into those identical emerald eyes to mine. It's wrong and fucking sickening, he isn't the same father anymore.

"Let them go," I demand. 

He shakes his head again, my hatred and fury rise to the surface. With a pounding heart, the bile builds in my throat again and I glance towards Xavier on the ground. His eyebrow is split open, his right eye is dripping with blood. There's a profound gash reaching across his abdomen, the display of raw flesh terrifies me. 

He's dying.

My eyes meet his and he's assuring me it's okay with his stare, but I can't live with the thought of being the reason behind him dying. 

My mouth runs dry when his eyes gradually flutter shut, Joseph stares at me in alarm. The untarnished terror of losing Xavier fucks with my mind, the disturbing knowledge of seeing my deceased father in front of me, the weariness from being tough all the time, everything comes shattering down all at once.

My eyes sting with the promise of tears and I shoot my gun, the bullet flying right past my father's head on purpose. "Let them go!" I yell at him. 

"No, Eloi," He shakes his head in fake exasperation. 

Shooting my gun immediately, I hit his leg and he cries in pain while clutching the wound. "I'll fucking kill you! Let them go. You don't know me anymore, Maxon, I'll kill you before anything happens to them."

After a couple of beats of silence, he grudgingly nods his head and I rush towards Joseph and Xavier. Joseph is already on his feet, hoisting the motionless Xavier up from the ground and placing him across his shoulders. 

"Are you okay to get him out?" I mutter, seeking to restrain the tears that want to escape. 

Joseph nods his head, "They only got a few hits in on me, their focus was on him."

Discreetly, I grab a gun and the keys to the car from my jacket and hand them to Joseph, he accepts them with a nod and leaves me. Xavier is unconscious on his shoulders, not capable of attempting a glance in my direction. The probability of him dying disturbs me, but I need them out of here before they can do anything about it. 

Joseph opens the door in the distance of the warehouse, never once casting a glance over his shoulder for which I'm glad. I don't want him to witness the thick tears flowing down my raw cheeks, my anxiety reaches new heights and I turn towards the man that should've been my father. 

"Dracona, I suppose," I tell him darkly, allowing the tears the fall freely. 

"You would be correct," He nods his head with a humored smile, launching himself onto the chair that Joseph sat in a couple of minutes ago. 

"You owe me a fucking explanation."

"Of course, Eloi," He smiles, the menacing gleam behind his eyes has me nauseated. "Where do I begin?"