Chapter 5: The Escape
731 Words
SHADOWS OF DESIRE
Author: Brian Mutale Sampa
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Chapter 5: The Escape
The building shakes like a dying animal beneath our feet. The walls groan. The floor vibrates. Paintings fall from their hooks and shatter on the marble.
Not an earthquake. Explosions. Multiple explosions, one after another, shaking the foundation of the DeMarco tower. The floor cracks beneath us. Long, spiderweb fractures spread across the marble tiles. Glass windows spiderweb and shatter inward. Alarms blare from every direction. Red lights flash. Smoke pours from the stairwell, thick and black and choking.
Julian grabs my hand. His grip is iron, almost crushing my fingers. "Roof. Now. Do not argue."
We run. Stairs. Smoke. Heat. Each step is agony on my wounded calf. Blood soaks through the makeshift bandage Julian tied around the wound. The fabric is red and wet. Julian half-carries me, his arm around my waist, pulling me up each flight. His muscles strain. Sweat drips down his back.
Dante's voice echoes through the building's speakers. He sounds calm. Enjoying himself. Like this is a game.
"Give me the Omega, Julian. Hand her over and I let the rest of you live. Refuse, and everyone burns. Including your precious pups. Think carefully, brother. You have ten minutes."
Julian does not answer. His jaw is set. His eyes are black—wolf eyes, fully shifted. He kicks open the roof door. Cold wind hits my face.
A helicopter waits on the landing pad. The pilot is dead. Bullet hole in his forehead. Blood pools on the controls. His eyes are still open, staring at the darkening sky. He never saw it coming.
"Can you fly?" I ask, my voice shaking.
"I can do anything she can do." He pulls the body out of the seat. It falls fifty floors. I hear the impact below. I look away. I cannot watch.
He starts the engine. Blades spin. Wind whips my hair across my face. The noise is deafening—a roaring chop that drowns out the alarms. The helicopter shakes beneath us, eager to lift off.
Rogues swarm the roof. At least twenty of them pour through the stairwell door. Claws on concrete. Snarling. Hungry. Their eyes glow gold in the fading light. They spread out, surrounding us.
"Get in!" Julian fires a pistol with one hand, steers with the other. Shots echo across the roof. Two rogues fall. Then another. Bodies pile at the stairwell door, blocking the way for the others.
I climb into the passenger seat. My hands are slippery with blood. A rogue jumps onto the helicopter skid. Its claws scrape the metal. Julian turns and shoots it in the face. It falls screaming, tumbling end over end until it hits the ground far below.
We lift off. The building below erupts—floor by floor. Glass explodes outward. Fire licks from broken windows. Bodies fall. I watch the penthouse where I was almost poisoned burn to ash. Smoke fills the sky like a funeral pyre, black and thick.
"Where are we going?" I shout over the blades.
"Neutral pack territory. Three hours north. No one finds us there."
"And then?"
He looks at me. The setting sun catches his gold eyes. For a moment, he looks tired. Human. Scared. The mask of the cold Alpha is gone.
"Then we decide if this is real. If you want me without the curse. If you can forgive me. If you can ever look at me without seeing the monster I became."
The helicopter flies west. I press my hand to my stomach. The twins kick. Alive. Safe. For now.
Then a cramp. Low and deep. Then another. Then another. Harder each time. My abdomen tightens like a fist.
I look down. Blood. On my jeans. On the seat. Spreading fast. Too much blood. Bright red against the gray leather.
"No. No, no, no—"
Julian's face goes white. His hands shake on the controls. He looks at the blood. Then at my face. Then at my stomach. His lips move but no sound comes out.
"The pups," he finally says, voice cracking. "The stress. The attack. The fall. Mia, hold on. Do not close your eyes. Do not you dare close your eyes. I am getting you to a healer. Just hold on. Hold on to me. Hold on to them. Please. Please, Mia. I cannot lose you again."
- Writer
