Lxi. BOMBS & EXPLOSIVES

Torrents of vibration knock me off my feet, causing me to crash into into the table. Thirteen swiftly raises his hands and snaps his handcuffs. I stare at him with wide eyes as he stands. He stands to stretch his arms, emphasizing his domineering frame over mine. I back up until I hit the one-way mirror.

"What did you do?" I spit, using anger to mask my horror.

Thirteen stares at me objectively. His arms box me in against the wall. "Put two and two together—I just bombed your agency."

"How? How could you possibly communicate with anyone outside? We just brought you in..."

He smirks. "I let you capture me, Darling, so that I could get to my Queen."

"You're twisted," I scorn. I stare straight past him. Unsatisfied with the lack of attention, he tilts my chin up to meet his eyes. The vibrant green was lifelessly misleading.

Despite my best efforts, he was always one step ahead. This was a fucking game to him, a game that he kept winning. My elbow digs into his chest while my knee comes up. Thirteen anticipates this, grabbing me and shoving me hard against the table while pinning my hands behind my back.

"Stop fighting me," he seethes.

"Why don't you go eat a bag of—"

I'm pushed into the table before I could say anything else. The stinging metallic tang of blood rises in my throat as I'm paralyzed. The smooth, lacquered wood of the table sends chills through my cheek.

"Well isn't this fun," Thirteen smiles sickening amusement. He then roughly pulls me into him, once I've momentarily stopped struggling, and his grip on my waist tightened. It feels like a snake vice strangling his prey. I couldn't help but grimace in response which only provokes him even more.

"Go to hell," I spit.

"I said stop fighting—"

I slap him. My nails leave determined white marks over his cheek. He scowls in response, his hands forming fists, but he restrains himself. Thirteen releases me with an determined glare.

I furiously slam against the door in an attempt to escape. Since this was an interrogation room, I couldn't open the door unless someone from the other side let me out. No one opened the door. So either they were preoccupied, being attacked, or... died.

Thirteen laughs at my futile endeavor. The laugh, although empty and hollow, manages to reverberate in the room; it was unlike anything human.

Suddenly, a woman opens the door. It was Katrina, which meant I was officially more screwed than a mama duck and her ducklings on the highway.

"She's in the building," Katrina says.

Shitshitshitshitshit. Emma? Who the hell even authorized her to come here?

Cold metal wrapped around one of my wrists as I was forced out the door. The roaring of a helicopter met my ears, progressively getting louder until it was the only thing audible. Barely thinking, I knee Thirteen and start running down the hallway, turning down the first corner I saw.

The entire agency was devastated. Concrete was ripped out from the walls of the sky rise building, falling like hail down on the streets below. Small, sporadic fires released a hazy smoke down every hallway. I counted at least eight agents, unresponsive or dead.

Police sirens whirl softly in the distance. But at such a high floor and such a large building, it would be impossible to evacuate everyone in time. At any moment the building could collapse. Countless people would die.

"Everyone out!" I yell. "The building could implode. Grab someone who needs help and make it down to the ground floor."

I too, start running down the confusing hallways of the agency in order to get as far away from Thirteen as possible. A hand suddenly yanks me into a storage closet.

Two golden eyes that have always given me comfort stare back at me. It was in this moment that I realized this could be the last time we'd see each other. Without a word, we throw ourselves onto each other, embracing one another. Ace slams me roughly against the wall of the storage room as he kisses me, never getting enough.

His hands coil tightly around my waist as if he was promising to never let me go. He starts to leave bites down my neck, instigating small gasps. He then breaks away from me. Both of our chests are heavy and heaving from pent up tension and adrenaline.

"Let's start greeting one another like that," he gasps.

"I'd be down. What the hell happened to you?"

Ace grimaces. "People ambushed us right after the explosion went off... People pretending to be part of the agency."

A shiver runs up my spine. "So the CIA has been compromised."

"We need to leave, now, with Emma and a small team of people we trust. Ian's people can find us at any moment."

I stare at him, wide-eyed. My hand trails to the bruises forming on his forehead. "Where is she? I didn't even know she was allowed to be in this building."

"Wherever she is, there has to be either CIA agents or Thorned Kings agents around her. I don't even know if Ian knows what she looks like."

"He has to know. He somehow knows everything. If it comes to it, I'm going with Emma."

Ace becomes silent. "What are you saying, Octavia?"

My gaze flickers away from his. "I need to go with Thirteen if he gets to Emma first. I can look after her, and your brother wouldn't kill me. I'm the only one who is useful and won't pose a threat."

Banana Bread's golden eyes narrow. "I'm not letting my girlfriend be kidnapped by a lunatic."

My girlfriend.

The words sent red blooming on my face. I give him a bittersweet smile; Ace and I both knew it had to be done. His shoulders fall. He takes me hands in his, kissing them knuckle by knuckle.

"Alright," he concedes, "I knew you were going prone to making bad decisions. Make sure Ian doesn't find out about the tracker in your neck. I'll be watching over you."

His finger traces the small bump on my neck where the electric shock tracker is.

"It's like we just found each other and now the universe is tearing us apart," I softly say.

"You're worth waiting for," he whispers, placing one last kiss on my lips.

~

I creak the storage door open. Dust seems to have slightly settled, but people were still shuffling out. Others all around me were covered in ash. Many were just administrators, scientists, and personnel. Most of these employees were not trained field agents.

We turn down the narrow corridor to see a blond head facedown on the floor. Chase.

Oh my god oh my god oh my god. We run to him, and Ace checks his pulse, immediately starting CPR. Ace then tilts his head from left to right—Chase's blue eyes react asymmetrically.

"Is he alive?" I stammer.

"Not for long. He's in a coma," Ace affirms. "I think I saw Daniel in the other room."

Daniel is underneath the rubble of the other room. I run to him, pulling off office desks, shelves, and concrete. I yank at it, now tears streaming, as I try to pull off the debris without causing him to bleed anymore. Xavier then dashes into the room.

Almost frantically, the dark-haired man digs with impressive force at the debris.

"求求你, 上帝," he whispers. His tears cause streaks of water to fall onto the dust of the floors.

Finally, we're able to pull Daniel out. Xavier slings the unconscious agent over his shoulder and hobbles out. "I think Emma is in the lower deck, East wing," Xavier says. "I saw a lot of people searching the area."

"Good luck and get him to safety," I nod.

"Best of luck Rookie... And kick his ass."

Ace and I rush over to the East wing of the falling building. Gunshots are fired as we near a torn corridor. He pushes me back as I almost run into the storm of bullets. From the turn of the hallway, I can see three men swinging a battering ram against a steel door. Ace and I look to each other; that must have been where Emma is.

A gun quickly appears from Ace's waistband. He shoots two of them in a narrow hallway, then quickly reloads to shoot the third man. Backup would be arriving soon. Ace slams into the loosened bolts of the door.

A frightened Emma Watts looks between us with two terrified blue eyes. Skye is right beside her, holding a pistol, and lowers it slowly at the sight of us. Her hijab is tainted with sprayed blood. I take off my sweater and wrap it over Emma's hair.

"We need to leave. Now," I state.

The door suddenly slams open. "Put down the guns," Katrina smirks, aiming at me. "Emma's coming with me."

Sophie: "Hey guys, I've been pretty stressed with applying to college recently which is why I haven't been updating. But it'll be over soon! Merry Christmas guys!"