Only Gaia

Chapter 26:

Loud explosions rattled the air as Gaia fought to drag herself toward the sound of Rafe's voice. She heard Phillip yelling to Rafe that they needed to find an exit. The darkness seemed to swallow them as they fought for survival. Dust and smoke filled her lungs making her struggle for every labored breath. Reaching my out she prayed that she would feel his touch as he sounded so close to her now. When her hand bumped against flesh she gasped, "Rafe? Is it you?"
Two strong arms gathered her to a firm chest, "Gaia, oh Gaia baby! I'm so sorry baby."
Phillip cried out from across the darkness, "Fucking hurry you two! We don't have much time. I barely made it in here to you two!"
Gaia clung to Rafe, "Later Rafe, later. Everything will be okay."
Clinging to his arm they moved blindly through the sooty air, feeling along walls for an exit. Finally Rafe felt the cold metal of a door knob beneath his fingers, "I found a door!"
Phillip let out an excited Yelp and hurried towards the light of the now opened door, "Hurry, we have to get out."
Running through the door the trio found themselves in a hazy hall. Gunfire could be heard echoing through the building as they ran down the corridor. Phillip was in the lead as he lead them through the zig-zag type maze of passages until finally they burst through a door and sunlight blinded them. Phillip, Rafe, and Gaia dropped to the ground behind a crate that sat outside and surveyed the area. In front of them
A line of heavily armoured vehicles sat with snipers covering them and while Gaia's hearth thudded in her throat both Rafe and Phillip smiled. Phillip stood And made his way towards the vehicles, "Let's go, before they regroup."
Rafe grabbed Gaia and rushed her into a waiting truck before the trio sped off with the rest of the men on their heels. Gaia's eyes locked with Rafe's, "Are we safe?"
He shrugged and looked away, "Safe, mi piccola Rosa, is not a word I use. For now we are free of them. But I do not doubt they will return."
Phillip nodded in agreement, "The best we can hope for is that they will consider this a draw and find a new target. That is unless we have an all out war to end Nicola and his empire. Then we would be certain of our safety from him. Doesn't mean we are safe forever though."
"Something like that would be hard, right?" Gaia questioned as she glared down at her hands.
Rafe sighed, "Hard, not really. Time consuming though. It's not exactly easy to make friends when you end an empire either. His allies become your enemies more so than they already were."
Thoughts raced through Gaia's head as she took in all the men had said. She grinned softly before turning to look at Rafe, "I want him dead. If I have to I'll do it myself. I'll destroy his empire."