Max's Faith & Fury [COMPLETE]

Chapter 20

Asahel couldn't rely on Francis' word. Max could be dying, and Francis would still say she was fine. He'd have to see her to know how she was doing. When he pulled into the underground garage beneath the mansion, he kept trying to find other excuses for driving so fast. There weren't any.

There was only one excuse for his impatient ticking in the elevator. One reason for why he was through the sliding doors as soon as they opened. A quick scan of the empty kitchen before making his way to the large sitting room.

"She's in..." Francis was cleaning one of Crow's new wounds when he saw Asahel walk in. He pointed to the nearest guest room before Asahel headed straight there.

Crow blinked at Francis, "that was fast." He commented about Asahel's arrival.

"Maybe he was already close." Francis shrugged before focusing on the knife wound in Crow's ribs.

***

Max was sleeping and looked relatively normal. She had a bandage on the left side of her neck and around her left hand.

What happened? Asahel swallowed, looking for more wounds. There didn't appear to be any. She was breathing normally and calm, not like how he was breathing when he first walked in. He leaned over to feel her pulse on her right wrist and watched the vein on her neck.

She was fine, but Francis said she was fine. He was expecting things to be way worse. He could sigh now, with relief if he'd only let himself. He looked at her again, just now realizing how worried he was. As quickly as he could blink, he wanted to deny what he felt.

He wasn't just worried. There was an emptiness that threatened to sink in if she were dying. Dying, as if he cared.

Asahel's heart clenched painfully, filled with confusion and relief. Especially when her eyes fluttered open, and she looked up at him.

A flame raged in those broken blue eyes. Though Max's face remained blank, her eyes told him everything she was feeling. A mix of different emotions. She'd already accepted that seeing him wasn't the worst thing. At least she was alive.

"Are you okay?" Asahel grunted.

Max blinked, trying to move her head before bringing her left hand up to her neck. She felt both bandages, and he watched her closely as the flood of memories rushed in. There wasn't as much trauma as he expected, but there were other thoughts and feelings that he wanted to understand.

Max took in a cleansing breath. "I killed someone." She said coldly, "but I had to." She didn't finish her thought out loud. Then she looked him dead in the eye, "where did you go? I thought you would be there." She sounded upset.

Asahel held back the urge to roll his eyes. She'd likely think he was rolling them at her when in reality, the whole lunch thing was what bothered him. The timing of it was completely off, but he had to get it over with. He didn't expect to be left alone with Lisa though. He didn't expect things to go the way they did.

"I planned on staying. I wasn't lying when I said I needed a driver like you." He swallowed before confessing, "if I had told you I needed a shooter like you, then you wouldn't have wanted to go."

"I'm not really sure if I wanted to go in the first place anyway."

"You didn't complain about getting in the car with me." He reminded.

Max sighed, grimacing from pain. "I hope they found the girls," she made to sit up, so Asahel grabbed her arm to help her. She scowled at him, likely from the pain, "thanks." She leaned back on the headboard of the bed. "I didn't see any."

Asahel didn't even think to ask. He was so distracted by one thing that he forgot why Max was there in the first place. "I'll have to ask Francis." He muttered before noticing a tear leaving her lashes. "Whoa, what's wrong? Is it the pain?" He almost stepped closer, but kept his feet firmly planted.