Page 19 of High Stakes

My stomach twists and I feel like I might vomit. “Stop,” I demand. He shakes his head and continues down the steps, his feet nearly slipping out from under him in his haste. The heat and flames grow more fierce as he reaches the basement landing. The building above us groans dramatically. “Get me Diego,” I demand sternly. “Now.” I usually don’t pull the spoiled princess move, but desperate times.

Fear forgotten, and anger coursing through my veins like molten lava, I square my shoulders and take the phone that Tobias hands me. Diego’s voice is barking orders, but I ignore him and cut him off mid-sentence.“This is a distraction. They’re trying to get into the vault on the second floor.” My tone is evenand deadpan, revealing nothing of the turmoil I am currently feeling.

“And what makes you think that?” Diego snaps. “Why do you have to make my life such a living Hell? Can’t you just do what you’re told for once and go with Tobias to the safehouse?” My lip twitches to fight my amusement. I can almost see him now in my mind, all covered in ash with his torn fancy suit. Yelling orders while holding a phone to his ear and pinching the bridge of his nose because ‘I give him the worst headache’.

“I saw three young men last week cleaning the room. I’d never seen them before.” Tobias basically shoves me in the back of the SUV as I speak, and I let him. But I did manage to make sure he caught the glare I was giving him before he slammed the door. “I thought it was odd, so I followed them. They came back two more times in what I assume were canvasing missions.”

“Damn it all to hell,” Diego yells into the phone and I flinch at his unbridled rage. “Why didn’t you say anything at any point before now?”

“I just assumed that you’d hired more help. It’s not like you let me sit in during meetings anymore,” I mutter, and Tobias actually groans. “Whatever. There’s your information. Now handle it,” I order Diego, and hand the phone back to Tobias.

Tobias mutters a begrudging ‘yes sir’ and pockets the phone. “I would tell you to stay here, but you’re not going to listen if I do, so please don’t do anything stupid, and stick close to me. And don’t tell Diego.” He hands me a damp cloth similar to the one he’s holding over his nose and mouth and moves to the side so I can exit the car. “We have minutes until the structure is too unstable. Do you understand?”

I nod once and follow him back into the burning building. We don’t get far before we’re stopped by a collapsed beam. It’s too small for him to fit through, but with my small frame I cansqueeze through. “Give me five minutes,” I call and slip through the opening before he can grab me.

“Emelia, you get your ass back here right now! Fuck! Emelia!” His voice fades as I run deeper into the flames and find the charred remains of the conference room.

I shoulder the door open and cough uncontrollably behind the cloth as smoke billows out. Several of the men are dead, but a few are still alive. “Carry who you can, but if they’re gone don’t risk yourselves to get them out,” I demand the men covered in soot before me. “Take the hallway on the right, you’ll find Tobias. Go!” I grab a man with blood staining his forehead. “Hector?”

“He went…” He coughs and doubles over. “Find you,” he wheezes out.

Fuck.

I turn on my heels and make my way to the second floor, stepping over holes in the stairs and dodging the growing inferno. My arms are blistering and I can still smell my hair burning, but I push on. As I round the corner, I see Hector on his hands and knees a few feet down the hall from the vault room. A pool of blood growing beneath him and a knife sticking out of his stomach.

I run and slide on my knees to his side. “You’re okay. We’re going to get you out.” His eyes meet mine and they are full of pain and fear. His skin is gray and there is blood staining his lips. “What happened?” My fingers close around the gun on the floor beside him.

“Bomb,” he gasps. “Vault. It’s…open…Sanders…double-crossed…for money.” His words are broken by shallow sobs. I stand slowly and I see red. The flames, the heat, and the urgency all fade away. And then I feel it. Something inside of me just snaps, like my soul is cleaved in two. Everything goes numb again, but this time it’s not because I’m terrified.

I’m angry.

I’m furious.

And someone is going to pay tonight.

Suddenly, I’m on my feet and slowly, confidently, walking towards the room with the vault. Sure enough, it’s wide open and there are at least eight men inside digging through everything. I take a deep breath and step into view, the gun shaking slightly in my loose grasp. One of the men looks up from the inside of the vault and he smiles, but before he can say anything I raise the gun and bury a bullet in his forehead.

A flurry of movement happens in my periphery, but I can’t be bothered. If I die, I die. I’ve lost everything else anyway.

My parents are dead.

Hector is dying behind me.

My home is gone.

What else do I have? I drop another four men in the room as they raise their guns, but I don’t kill them. I move to the heavy vault door and push it closed, the metal burning my palms. The men inside shout and scream and beg, but I seal them inside without a second thought. A wide, deranged smile stretching across my face.

When I go back to Hector, I find the hallway empty. Tobias steps through the smoke and I take in his blood-stained shirt. “Give it to me,” he demands and holds out his hand. I drop the gun into his palm and only then do I notice that my arms are covered in burns and blood. “I’ve got you,” he whispers as I collapse into his arms.

Suddenly, I can feel everything again. My body is burning, my lungs are so full of smoke that I can’t take a deep breath without coughing, and my head is swimming. Everything crashes down on me at one time and the last thought I have before darkness overtakes me is that I killed all those men without a second thought.

And I’m not the least bit sorry for it.

I lurch forwardin my bed, gasping for breath and clutching at my chest. Anubis bolts upright and cocks his head to the side with a deep growl, ever the guard dog. He looks from side to side and then decides that there is nothing in the darkness. His nose touches my hand that is still holding the sheets in a tight fist. “You can’t fight the demons that I’m fighting tonight, sweet boy.”

He whines and curls up against my thigh. I take another deep breath and drop my head back down onto the pillow. My heartbeat is echoing in my ears and I can feel it thudding against my chest rapidly. It’s been a while since I’ve had that nightmare. I close my eyes and try to slip back to sleep, but I can’t. All I see is death, fire and destruction.

Ten years and seven months.

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