chapter 10
1682 Words
Chapter 10 – The Descent
Rain lashed through the shattered window, wind howling like a beast tearing at the villa’s bones. The cliffs yawned below—jagged black rock vanishing into a furious sea.
Isabella’s stomach churned. “You can’t be serious.”
“I don’t joke about survival,” Adrian said flatly.
He adjusted Ethan in his arms, the unconscious man pale as moonlight, blood soaking Adrian’s shoulder. Then his gaze snapped back to her, sharp as a blade. “You climb, Isabella. I’ll handle him.”
“I can’t climb that!” she cried, voice breaking against the thunder. “Look at it! It’s suicide!”
“Better than Damian’s cage.” Adrian’s tone cut through her panic. He shoved a coil of rope into her trembling hands. “Tie it to the desk. Now.”
Her fingers shook so violently the knot slipped twice. Tears blurred her vision. Ethan moaned weakly, his head lolling against Adrian’s chest.
“Please,” she whispered, “there has to be another way—”
Adrian’s eyes locked on hers, fierce and unrelenting. “There isn’t. Move.”
---
The rope went taut. Adrian swung himself out first, boots scraping against slick stone as he clutched Ethan close, moving with terrifying efficiency.
Isabella froze at the window’s edge. The drop seemed endless. Waves slammed the rocks below, exploding into white foam.
Her breath tore ragged from her chest. “I—I can’t—”
“Yes, you can.” Adrian’s voice carried up through the storm, brutal, commanding. “Look at me, not the drop.”
“I’ll fall!”
“Then fall forward. Never back.”
Her pulse thundered in her ears. Then a different sound sliced through—footsteps. Doors slamming open above. Shouts. Damian’s men.
Adrian barked again, urgent now. “Climb, Isabella!”
Something inside her snapped. Survival over terror. She swung one leg over the ledge, fingers clutching the rope until her knuckles bled. Rain plastered her hair to her face as she lowered herself down, each movement a prayer.
“Good,” Adrian called. “One step at a time.”
---
Gunfire cracked from the window above. Stone shattered near Isabella’s head, fragments stinging her cheek. She gasped, body slamming against the cliff face.
“Keep going!” Adrian roared. His arm shielded Ethan, but he fired back one-handed, bullets sparking against the storm.
Voices barked commands above—Damian’s men had spotted them.
Isabella sobbed, scrambling down, her feet slipping on wet stone. “I can’t—I’m slipping—”
“Eyes on me!” Adrian shouted. His voice was steady, anchoring her against the chaos. “Don’t look down. Don’t look back. Just me.”
Her chest heaved, but she forced herself to focus—on the dark blur of his coat below, on Ethan’s pale face against his shoulder.
Gunfire exploded again. Sparks rained down the cliff.
“Move, Isabella!” Adrian snapped. “Or Damian’s men will make sure you never move again.”
---
Her foot slid on moss. Rope burned her palms as she slipped, a scream tearing from her throat. The cliff blurred, the sea rushed up—
Adrian lunged. With one arm he clutched Ethan, with the other he caught Isabella’s wrist just as she fell past him.
Her scream echoed across the storm. Her body dangled over the abyss, rain slashing her face, nothing beneath her but death.
“I’ve got you!” Adrian grunted, straining against the weight of both her and Ethan. His arm trembled violently, but his grip didn’t break. “Climb up! Now!”
“I—I can’t!” Her nails scraped his skin, blood mingling with rain.
“Yes. You can.” His eyes burned into hers, wild and unwavering. “Fight, Isabella. Or die.”
Somewhere inside, something broke—and rebuilt itself harder. Gritting her teeth, she clawed at the cliff, dragging herself back onto the rope, sobbing but alive.
Adrian’s breath rasped harsh. “That’s it. Keep moving.”
Above, Damian’s men cursed, gunfire echoing.
-------
They were halfway down when a voice boomed above the storm.
Cold. Velvet. Familiar.
“Isabella.”
Her entire body froze.
Damian’s voice.
She dared to look up—and through the flashes of lightning she saw him. Standing at the shattered window, coat black as night, hair plastered with rain. His hand gripped the railing. His gaze found her like a hawk pinning prey.
“You can run,” Damian called, voice carrying effortlessly over the storm. “But you’ll never escape me.”
Her breath hitched, tears blinding her. Adrian’s voice barked below, “Don’t listen to him! Keep climbing!”
But Damian’s words hooked into her ribs like claws.
“You’re mine, dove. Always mine.”
The storm swallowed his laughter, but it followed her down the cliff, into the black sea waiting below.
---
The last stretch of cliff tore the skin from Isabella’s palms. Her arms screamed, rope cutting deep into her flesh.
Then—stone gave way beneath her boots. She lost her footing, shrieked—
And then she hit wet sand, knees buckling. The shore. She was down. Alive.
Adrian dropped beside her a second later, Ethan’s limp body cradled in his arms. His boots splashed through the tide. The storm slammed against them, waves hammering rocks, thunder splitting the sky.
Isabella collapsed onto her hands, gasping for air. She dared a look back. The cliff loomed behind them, jagged and endless, windows of the villa glowing faintly through the rain.
Above, shadows moved. Men. Guns flashing in lightning.
They hadn’t shaken Damian.
---
“On your feet,” Adrian barked. He set Ethan down in the shallow shelter of a rock outcrop, water foaming around their ankles. Ethan groaned, blood soaking through Adrian’s coat.
Isabella crawled to him, clutching Ethan’s face between her trembling hands. “He’s so cold—Adrian, he’s—”
“He’s alive,” Adrian cut her off, eyes scanning the storm. “But not for long if we don’t move.”
“Move where?” she snapped, panic rising. Her voice cracked like the thunder. “There’s nothing here! Just sea and rocks and death!”
Adrian’s glare snapped to her. “Better death than a leash.”
Her heart twisted at the words—but before she could answer, a shout split the night.
“There!”
Figures poured down the cliff path. Armed. Ruthless. Damian’s men.
Adrian cursed under his breath. “Too soon.”
---
Gunfire spat sparks off the rocks, bullets hissing into the storm. Isabella screamed, throwing herself over Ethan’s body.
Adrian moved like shadow and lightning combined—snapping his pistol up, firing back in sharp, surgical bursts. One man went down, then another. But more poured onto the shore, their voices carrying through the rain.
“They’re pinned!”
“Take the girl alive!”
The words froze her blood.
Adrian’s arm yanked her upright. His voice was harsh in her ear. “Run, Isabella. Run and don’t stop.”
She shook her head violently, clutching Ethan’s arm. “I’m not leaving him—”
“I’ll carry him.” Adrian’s grip was iron. “But if you stay frozen, none of us leave this shore alive.”
--
They staggered along the shoreline, waves battering their legs, rain blinding them. Adrian half-carried, half-dragged Ethan over jagged rocks. Isabella stumbled beside them, lungs burning, tears indistinguishable from the storm.
Bullets chased them, snapping against stone, ricocheting into the sea.
“Faster!” Adrian barked.
“I can’t—” Her voice broke, chest heaving.
“Yes, you can!” he roared back.
Another bullet exploded against the rock inches from her head. Isabella screamed and surged forward, raw terror fueling her legs.
They ducked behind a boulder, chests heaving. Ethan lay slumped between them, eyes flickering open.
His lips moved. Barely sound.
“Leave… me…”
“No!” Isabella’s sob ripped out of her. “Don’t you dare—don’t you dare say that!”
Adrian’s jaw tightened, rain carving hard lines down his face. For a split second, he almost looked like he agreed. Then he shook his head violently. “Not an option.”
---
A flare hissed in the sky—blood-red against the storm.
Adrian’s face went pale.
Isabella followed his gaze—and her heart stopped.
More men. Not just from the cliffs. From the sea. Boats. Engines growling against the tide, spotlights slicing through rain. Damian’s men fanning out across the rocks, cutting off every escape.
They were surrounded.
Her chest squeezed tight, breath choking her throat. “We—we’re trapped—”
Adrian’s gun clicked empty. He hurled it aside, drew a blade instead. His eyes burned in the lightning. “Then we carve our way out.”
Ethan coughed, blood staining his lips. His hand grabbed Isabella’s wrist weakly. “Don’t… trust… him…”
She shook her head wildly, torn between them, torn between choices. “Stop it! Both of you! We’ll never make it if you keep—”
A new voice cut her off.
Smooth. Cold. Inevitable.
“Little dove.”
---
He stepped from the shadows like he’d been part of the storm all along. Black coat whipping in the wind, hair plastered to his face, eyes burning like coals.
Damian.
Isabella’s blood iced over. Her body locked, every instinct screaming flight while her legs refused to move.
Adrian stiffened, blade ready, Ethan groaning at his feet.
Damian smiled slowly, like this was nothing but a game. “Run. Fight. Bleed. It doesn’t matter. You always end up back in my arms.”
Her knees nearly buckled.
Adrian snarled. “Over my dead body.”
Damian’s gaze flicked to him, amused. “That can be arranged.”
Lightning split the sky. Guns raised. Men closed in.
And Isabella stood caught between them all—her brother’s fury, her lover’s pain, her captor’s claim—her own scream ripping out of her as the storm closed in.
---
- Writer
