Sage's POVI knew that we were fucked up when I felt the knife on my throat piercing slightly. I consoled myself with the fact that we couldn't have known that there was someone here and therefore couldn't have anticipated this. But another thought came to my mind: there was no excuse. We had been careless. Just one more decision. One changing decision and this would have not happened.I looked at the people beside me and knew that they were feeling apprehensive too. At least that was for the men. Taking one look at Cassie, I knew that she was scared sick already of what was happening."Move faster," I heard, and knew that he wasn't joking when the knife started actually bringing out blood from my neck. I took a breath and gulped it down as I continued moving, wanting to satisfy him so that we wouldn't enter any unnecessary trouble. This was a little silly because he was only holding me hostage and the rest of them could probably take him down by themselves, but I knew that we had to
Ash's POVIt wasn't the time for me to lament over everything that was going wrong. Instead, it was the time for me to plan a way out for myself and my friends, and that was exactly what I was doing.Throughout the while that Sage spent talking with me, I tried to cut myself loose, knowing that once I was free, I would have a very great chance of turning the situation around. I assessed the room we were forced into with tactical precision the moment we came into it. The number one thing I was looking for personally was a way out for us so that we could escape easily the moment we got an opening.I found a couple of loopholes that I could exploit so that we could run away if need be, which meant that mission 1 was accomplished already. All I needed now was to cut myself loose, and that was progressing smoothly.Sage seemed to be intent on provoking the men on his own part. First of all, I thought that it was very foolish of him, but when I realized that there wasn't really anything els
Cassie's POV"You can't be serious," were the only words I could get out when I suddenly found myself outside of the warehouse we were in. I was in Sage's arms as he dropped me on the floor, carefully, like he was not the person who had picked me up just a moment ago. He gave me a smile, one that probably had more than one meaning to it, before turning around.I knew without having to be told that he was about to head back to the warehouse to meet up with Ash so that they could continue whatever they wanted to do from there without me."No!" I screamed. All the fear in my heart was gone all of a sudden and replaced by boldness which I didn't know where it came from. "Take me with you," I said, but he was already gone.It was surprising how a person could be as fast as lightning, disappearing from sight in just a moment like he hadn't been there at all in the first place. I blinked, looking at the cloud of dust his sudden speed had created, wondering what to do now.I looked around me
Ash POVThe fight started on a jolly note for us. We began by picking out the little opponents, leaving them and knocking them out so that they weren't able to interfere with the outcome anymore.Reducing their numbers to that extent was a very good thing and a great idea for us because it left us with the boost that we needed to continue going and gave us hope that we could actually win this.The hope kept us going for some time, enabling us to defeat the less-usual targets. We had to knock them out so that there wouldn't be a problem any time soon. But that was about it.I could easily divide the opponents against us into 2 or maybe 3 categories.The normal humans who, for some reason, didn't have guns with them, making them even more helpless against me and Sage.Then there were the lesser werewolves who were able to put up a fight, but not more than a couple of seconds, before either of us eventually took them out.It left me feeling like a superhero or something, but I didn't all
Sage's POVOn hearing the words he spoke, we halted for a moment, especially me. Simply put, he had just informed us that Cassie was in danger, and that was the reason why they were so relaxed, inciting us, knowing that the moment that they got her, we would stand down. I glanced at Ash, not knowing what we should do now. Who could have thought that he actually had an aim in his relentless questions? Ash also looked at me with uncertainty in his eyes, making it clear that he was just as confused as I was."That's it," the man told us with a look of satisfaction in his eyes. "This is exactly how it's supposed to be..." He probably still had a lot more to say, but I wasn't listening anymore. My eyes had gone behind him because there was someone there, someone that couldn't possibly be there."Cassie!" I called, taking a step forward in complete wonder.She rushed toward me after that, as fast as lightning, somehow passing through all the men surrounding us tightly—the men we couldn't pa
Ash's POVI still wanted to go towards him and squeeze his neck until all life in him was squeezed out along with it. But I held myself in place, not wanting to let myself cross that line. I was the good guy.They had to do one thing. They had to be fair, and we couldn't do violence for no just reason. I had to follow a code of conduct. If not, I wouldn't be any different from him—the man who actually killed my father and put me in this situation right now."What exactly do you want me to talk about?" he questioned, and I suddenly took another step towards him, almost losing it entirely. He still had the guts to talk to me like this after everything that had happened. I expected him to be a little smarter than that."I expect... I want you to just stop talking," I said. "If you are not smart enough to know what to talk about, and if you can't give me something that's relevant, then you are going to go through so much pain, you’ll wish you had died a long time ago. Or maybe fallen unco
Ash's POVIn the end, we tied the man up and rounded up all the others, locking them in some kind of dungeon. Since we didn't really have access to something like that yet, the main prisons were in the main parks, and it would take a while and a lot of effort for us to transport them there.So, we left them in the warehouse, with Sage promising to round off the situation sooner or later. "Leave it to me," he had said. "I'll finish it off and make sure they are seen through." I gave him a nod before turning to look at the assassin, anger in my eyes, wanting desperately to harm him. One glance at my friends, and I knew they didn't think it was right."You are lucky this time," I told him before leaving.Right now, I was back in my place, wanting to fill my mother in on all the details. He would need to know everything too because he would play a crucial role in this, whether he liked it or not. The difficult part was that he wasn't here anymore, and he wasn't picking up my phone calls,
Cassie's POVHe offered to take me to my house, or better still, back to Skylar's place, but he just chose not to. The excuses he gave were rather flimsy, but I allowed them, knowing that there was a very good chance that we could pull off a lot of things today. Only if I gave the green light—what more I was going to do. I wasn’t surprised at all when I walked into the large mansion and saw the bustling activity everywhere. Naturally, everybody there had something to do, though most of them were servants and weren’t going to disturb us.“I will settle you into a room,” he said with a smile on his face, making me blush and feel special. It was definitely not the expectation that he would bring me home to my room personally. He could just as easily have sent a butler or someone to show me a place where I could stay and spend the night.“I’ll be glad,” I said.I swear, I was ready to follow him anywhere. He stretched his hand and took mine, and when I came in the light, he kissed it and
Ash's POVI wasn't exactly sure what to say, so I glanced at my friends, but from the looks in Luke's eyes, I knew that he was completely baffled by the situation. His eyes were hard, contrary to Sage, who looked soft and ready to give in at any moment."I can't believe we are even doing this," he said, his voice expressive as he stepped forward, his eyes flashing. "We shouldn't be bargaining with you; you are in no position to say anything at all.""Am I now?" he asked, his knife pressed a little more to her neck. I could tell that he was about to make a rash decision that would definitely cost him his life, but I was afraid of it costing Cassie's life also."Please," I said to Luke, putting my hand on him. I knew how much he loved his sister and didn't want her to die, so why was he actually acting like this? Luke glanced at Cassie, his eyes rigid as if trying to tell her something. His eyes were fixed on her, but he didn't see anything else, staying in his position with hardly any
Ash POVWe all stayed rooted to the spot, except maybe for Sage behind me, who had taken a subconscious step back. Maybe it was a good idea for us to back away after all—maybe back away out of the room entirely so that I could give Sage a good pep talk and make him gather himself and understand what was actually at stake here.Weakness was the one thing that would actually cost Cassie her life, nothing more. If we played this right, from the position of strength that we actually were in, then we could get her back, though it wasn't certain if we could get Richard and bring him to book along with that; that would actually be asking for too much. One small mistake and our victory had turned into a break-even, or maybe a possible loss if we didn't play our cards right and made another small mistake to add to the former one.I looked at our opponent, the one that we had nearly defeated, for a couple of seconds and finally decided to at least talk with him. If he killed Cassie, then the en
Luke's POVEverything was closing in on me, and I knew that it was too late for me to run away by now. My chance was gone. Looking at my opponent, who was now getting into the attack once more and covering all spaces for me to run into, I knew that he wouldn't let me go. He knew just what I could be thinking at this time, and he also knew that most likely I would try to run away. He was doing everything to prevent that, not wanting his prey to go.I knew that when he won this, he was going to put me along with Cassie and torment us for a very long period of time before killing us eventually. Yes, he had given me my chance to join him, not that I would ever do that, but I hadn't agreed to him, and now he was going to make me pay the price. I was pretty sure of it.I felt a certain feeling of discomfort, knowing how things were about to end, but still staying here anyway. I should be doing my best to run away and break free from his grasp, but I didn't do that for some reason. I just st
Luke's POVIt was honestly very troubling how I was still struggling with Richard after such a long time, and how someone would have thought that by now I would be done with defeating him, especially after I had come to the brink of beating him so many times now. But for some reason, he was always bouncing back and staying up above water, to the point that I was actually pressured by him at times, and even now, I was still pressured. Honestly, I was starting to wonder whether there was something wrong with me, or whether we were just evenly matched. Every time I came to the brink, ready to defeat him, there was one small mistake, or one small thing that happened to make him come back again. And then we started the sequence all over again.It dawned on me now that I would not be able to defeat him, not today, not now. I wasn't strong enough. In fact, I would even be considered lucky to not be defeated by him myself. Remembering clearly how easily he had taken me on previously, I knew
Sage's povThe first thought that came to my mind after he said that was that this was simply too good to be true. I couldn't believe it even now. However, that was a fact. But if he was actually the one keeping Sage from coming here, then he was a true hero. He was the one doing much more work than us and our soldiers who brought the army to the gate and the fight from the outside, because he is definitely the one that brings the fight from the inside, which is the real fight.I looked at Ash, wanting to see how convinced he was. And from the looks of it, he seemed completely convinced by it. When I thought about it, I didn't see any other reason why this could be happening. For one thing, I hadn't heard from Luke at all, indicating that there was a good chance that he was busy. And the fact that, at the same time, Richard was nowhere to be found, made it a little too much to be a coincidence. Most likely, the two of them couldn't be here because they were busy with each other, fight
Sage's POVI didn't really know whether I was safe when I started easily winning the entire fight. It was not much of a battle anymore. If anything, it was starting to become something of a slaughter. I didn't see any reason why I would have it so easy fighting against the man that I was up against—the man who had been rumored to be far stronger than a lot of people and would be a very formidable enemy.I had heard that he was planning some tricks for me, and I also knew that he was skewed and poisoned because that's what I heard from the assassin the time we asked him about Richard. That was enough information to be wary of him, knowing that he could actually be planning something else entirely while we were busy here. But as it happened, maybe he was just all talk after all, and there was nothing to actually be fearful of. He seemed pretty tame to me right now, not at all a threat, no matter how I looked at it.In my planning, I decided to draw back a little and let my men do some o
Ash's POV I join in and things get easy The progress was slow but steady. I knew that it wouldn't be long before we finally reached my territory. Then, I would have the opportunity to take back what was rightfully mine.I could almost see it happening already. As my soldiers marched forward, each with a certain determination in their eyes, I was sure we stood a huge chance of winning this. The moment I got to Richard, I would make sure to rip his eyes out and kill him for everything he had done, especially for killing my father. Until then, I had to make do with what I had and bide my time until everything was set.I had the patience to wait because I had been waiting for this moment all my life. So, even if it was just a couple more hours, I could wait again. It would end in my victory.Setting my eyes on the bigger prize, I kept moving, knowing it would be worth it. I was starting to get tired after marching for what seemed like forever. The soldiers, for their part, seemed much s
Sage's POVMy men started marching forward after I gave the order, each of them moving valiantly. These were pretty much all my forces because the ones I left to defend my home weren't too many anymore and wouldn't really account for much. In other words, if an attack actually started on my home while I was gone, then it would be pretty much defenseless against this attacker, and they would be able to do some large amount of damage to it.It was very precarious, but I knew that if I didn't take as many people as I could with me, then it was highly unlikely that we would win. I had no idea how many people Richard had with him, but I knew that he definitely had a lot of people with him, and that if I took only half of my army, it might not be enough, even when added to what Ash was bringing.I didn't want to take any chances on this because it was pretty much my only chance. If I was going to help, then I was going to help him completely and make sure that we won this. If we didn't win,
Sage's P.O.V.I went home driving in my car at full speed because I wanted to get there as soon possible. Who could have thought that I would be so excited and so fired up about fighting another man's war? It was a big pleasure for me to involve myself to such a large extent like this. But actually, I didn't see myself doing anything else in this particular situation.Cassie had been taken, and this could surely well be the only way I could free her since I couldn't really depend on Luke to do the job for me. Everything seemed to have gone south in this situation and personally, I was feeling affected. I felt incomplete, especially because of the lack of Cassie around, and I also felt a little guilty even though I hadn't exactly done anything.Something told me that the person who had actually caused all this personally didn't even feel guilty himself, and that person was Luke. So, I tried to make myself a little happier knowing that since he wasn't killing himself for what he actuall