Chaos. That might've been the only word that could describe the air around me when I told James, through the tiny device that could send signals perfectly fine even in the underground dungeon that I was in, to activate and fire the explosives.

The loud, shattering booms followed next, which sounded far away but I knew they'd be nearing us soon. I had minutes--seconds--before this whole place collapsed on me and everyone else who was stuck in here. Trapped, I reminded myself, on purpose.

Moving hurriedly past the darkened hallway and swearing under my breath, I wasn't much surprised when I found most of the cells empty. Iron bars encased them, yet all were empty. None of them held the only person I was here for in the first place--one of my men who'd been foolish enough to get captured, despite me telling him what he should not have done. And now precious seconds were ticking by fast and I couldn't fucking find him.

"Fuck," I whispered under my breath, eyes scanning the darkness that lay ahead that I knew held nothing. It might, I thought a little belatedly while wiping the trickling warm blood from my forehead, or it might not. I would've started retreating if I hadn't heard the sound.

A soft, pained whisper from somewhere behind me.

I stopped dead in my tracks but only for a moment, and then I picked up my pace once again and followed it. The voice led me to one of the darkest of cells, strong metal bars stopping me from going in. I could've sworn there wasn't anyone in there, but then something--someone--shifted and I saw her.

"Boss, we've checked the cells ahead. No one's in there." James came up behind me, tense and alert for any threat that showed up. "Did you find Lucius? I think we're in the wrong place."

We were in the wrong place and I heard him just fine, but I didn't reply, not soon enough. Not when my gaze was stuck on her--on the girl inside the cell right in front of me, hidden from sight within the stale darkness. I stepped towards the bars and felt around for the padlock or any kind of lock that must've held the bars shut. Surprisingly enough, the bars pulled open without any fight.

"Boss--"

"Fucking hell," I whispered under my breath and stepped inside the cell when I blinked and saw her--the girl--tied up with thick, heavy ropes. "There's someone in here." I threw the words over my shoulder.

James didn't follow me inside and I didn't much cared in that moment. Not when I kneeled down on the rough concrete and felt around for the ropes in the dark, jostling the mostly unconscious girl without meaning to, and swearing some more under my breath. I was confused and maybe just a little taken aback. Who was she?

She wasn't fully unconscious and I found it the hard way when she jerked upright all of a sudden, knocking her head just below my jaw in the process.

"Jesus." I hissed and my hand shot out to grab her by the arm. The battered sleeve of her sweater until I was holding her frail wrist. Don't hold too tight, I reminded myself even when I still spoke a little too harshly, "Can you hold still and let me undo your fucking ropes?"

She whimpered again, that soft pained sound leaving me restless more than I was a few seconds ago, and I loosened my grip a little more as I simultaneously looked around for the knots.

"There's...there's..." She groaned and her head rolled forward again, limp and onto my shoulder. "Ropes?"

"Yeah." I tried not to stare at her or think too much of the steady weight on my shoulder as I frowned and tossed the rope away before moving to her ankles. Looking over my shoulder, I yelled at James, "Go search around the cells again! There must be someone else in there. Get them out!"

The girl in front of me groaned again and I felt, more than saw, her hands reaching out for me. I stiffened when her fingers grazed my forearm. "Fraser?"

"Not Fraser." I grunted and felt the ropes coming loose from where they were stuck to the wall before throwing them aside. "Can you stand up? Hey." I could barely see her but I knew she was near unconsciousness.

"H-Hey?" She whispered back.

I blinked. "You know where the rest of them are, don't you?"

She shifted a little, pressing a little more against me, and it took me a while--a lot longer than it should've--to notice her big doe eyes in the dark. They were on me but seemed a little glassy. Dazed, as if she was drugged.

When she didn't say anything, I asked reluctantly, "What's your name?"

Just a harmless question and she tensed like I'd asked her to do something drastic, backing away from me frantically even though she couldn't put much distance between us when there was still that wall behind her. Another pained, helpless sound left her lips and I tensed.

"N-No." Her eyes were even wider now, alarmed and looking less influenced by whatever haze she was under. "I'm not...I will not...Please."

"Please what?" I snapped, agitated, and she flinched. Fuck, I thought almost immediately, fuckfuckfuck. She had been in here for God knows how long and me losing my temper probably wasn't helping. "Look, I'm here to get you out, all right? We've got seconds left before this place blows up. You hear me?"

She shook her head, long strands of dark hair whipping and sticking to her pale cheeks. "No. No."

I didn't have time for this. I didn't even know who she was. Clearly, Lucius--the one whose ass I came here to save--could be dying anywhere out there and I was stuck here trying to save this girl who I hadn't once in my entire life seen before. Why in the absolute hell wasn't I moving?

Because of those eyes, a voice in my head supplied pathetically.

The heavy, irregular pants broke me out of my thoughts and it took me a moment to realize she wasn't breathing properly. Too fast and too...hurriedly.

"Fucking hell," I muttered under my breath and scrubbed my hands over my face, pulling them away and gesturing almost placatingly towards her. I also tried not to crowd her any more than I was already doing in this godforsaken cell. "Ryder. My name is Ryder and...see? I've told you my name without freaking out. How about you do the same?"

I didn't even understand why I wanted to know her name so badly. Why the fuck wasn't moving and wasting the only time left?

She stopped breathing altogether and I swore out loud once again.

"Jesus Christ, all right, you don't have to give me a name, for fuck's sake." At least her eyes were on me, even if she looked so fucking terrified of me. I couldn't understand why just that was making me want to punch my own self. Haven't done anything to hurt her, my brain voiced. Then why was she looking at me like that?

As much as I didn't give two fucks how others looked at me at times, the looks I sometimes got from my men--my father's men--I still didn't want her to be looking at me like that. It made me tense up and how absurd was that?

There was a beat of silence before a slow, terrifying tremor went through her.

"We have to go," I repeated slowly, eyes on her as I started to get up. "Think you can do that? Follow me out?"

I was a bit too busy admonishing myself for stopping--stopping to help someone I didn't even know instead of going out to find the person I was here for--when she spoke,

"R-Ryder."

I came to a rather abrupt halt and didn't bother taking another step out of there, not when once again my gaze was on her, stuck on her and her small, scared frame. Those big, dark eyes that seemed to hold me incredibly still.

"I don't want to leave." The whisper was quiet and meek when it left her lips. Soft enough to make my ears ring with adrenaline.

A loud boom erupted from somewhere behind me and I winced when the girl in front of me startled.

"I...I don't want to leave." A sound much like a strangled sob left her lips.

I don't want to leave. Inhaling slowly and with as much patience as I could've mustered in that moment, I neared her once again and heard something crunch beneath my boots. Grabbing her by the arms, I carefully hauled her up despite the sound of surprise that left those downturned lips. "I don't have time for this. So you better come with me or I'm leaving you here."

"No. No." She tugged on her arm and made me stop. "I don't want to leave. You have to--"

"Why do you want to stay here?" I nearly yelled, realizing belatedly that it was a mistake when she almost nearly turned to stone beneath my touch. "Do you...Do you not know what these bastards could do to you? This place is going to collapse in mere fucking seconds! On all of us if we don't move now."

She flinched and looked around, wide eyes darting around us before snapping back to me. I was a little stunned when she only stepped closer. "I'm sorry. I'm...I'm sorry. I didn't think--"

"Yes, you didn't fucking think because you aren't thinking right now," I growled out, more disturbed by the fact that I wasn't pushing her away, before dragging her halfway outside. I wasn't much of a fan of closed spaces that smelled like stale air and chemicals.

I heard her wince and I told myself that I didn't care--couldn't possibly when several lives were at stake here--not even when there was suddenly this awful twist in the pit of my stomach.

Once we were out and away from those iron bars, I could finally look at her, my eyes raking down her form even before I could've given it a second thought. Her clothes and her entire state. The sweater she wore, the one beneath my fingertips, was muddied and torn and I tried not to think why the hell it was torn. I couldn't possibly think of it right now when there was so much else to run my brain about. And her neck, the stark paleness of her throat was marred with bruises and fingerprints, and I didn't realize I was tracing my fingers over them until she made another one of those noises.

"R-Ryder." She gripped my wrist and my gaze flew up to hers. And...and I could've felt my brain fuzzing, swearing as my heart raced. Those eyes. Those honey-colored eyes. I froze. "I...I know where they are. The rest of them. I wasn't...I can't think straight...I'm sorry, I was--" Her gaze flickered to the iron bars and my heart fucking skipped a beat when she drifted closer towards me. "--I didn't mean it. There was..."

"Hey." I frowned and grabbed her elbow, steering her to the other side until I had my back facing the bars and she wasn't looking at them like they'd come alive and stab her any second now.

She shook her head frantically, eyes filling with tears. "I-I didn't mean to--"

I sighed. "Querida, please don't start freaking out on me again." She sniffled, though it was surprising that she didn't try pushing me away. She could, couldn't she? "You can't form proper sentences when you can't even breathe properly, okay?"

She stared at me with those eyes and my mind blanked. I tried to force myself into thinking of those distant explosions and the grimy place we were in and the fact that most of my men were still here, unsafe. I tried to think of reasonable things, but I couldn't. I couldn't fucking think.

"Ryder." She repeated my name and I almost nearly asked her to stop saying it. Not like that and not in that soft, scared voice and from between those soft, beautiful lips. It was driving me insane and I couldn't understand why.

"That's me." I gritted out, but I didn't let go of her.

Loud footsteps neared us and she tensed once again, eyes going wide with fear. Without really thinking, I pushed her behind me. Safe and secure. She made a terrified sound of protest and I felt her gripping the back of my jacket.

"Boss!" James appeared along with Ian, carrying two visible firearms.

"What?" I snapped.

James seemed to stare at the cowering girl behind me and only looked away when I glared.

"We found him," Ian said. "We found Lucius."

I scowled. "Well, thank fuck. Show me where."

They both turned towards the direction where they'd just appeared from and started leading me toward the cell in question. I'd only just thought of dragging the girl with me because I wasn't going to leave her here, when warm fingers enveloped my hand and I froze. Again.

"Are those... They weren't wearing white coats." She whispered behind me and I had to stop staring at her hand, her fingers wrapped around my own, cold and unsure. I was sure they'd be leaving a mark behind. How could they not? I wanted to pull away, snap at her, glare even until she cowered away. But I didn't. I couldn't.

"Come on, querida," I whispered to her and gave her hand the softest of squeezes. "Let's get you out of here."

I'd get her out of here, I told myself. I will get her out and I will leave then and I probably might never see her again. That has be fine.

And wasn't it just awful, how absurdly my heart constricted when she squeezed back?

------

some of you may or may not recognize the names of the main characters and that's only because they've been introduced in my other book that night. There will be a few instances in this book that might make more sense if you've read that night, but it's not necessary. This book can also be read as a standalone!! Xx