ASHES OF MERCY
2276 Words
Chapter Twelve: Ashes of Mercy
The drive to the community center felt endless.
Rain hammered violently against the SUV while sirens screamed somewhere ahead through the soaked Lagos streets. Traffic lights reflected across flooded roads like bleeding colors beneath the storm.
Inside the vehicle, silence suffocated everything.
Alaric sat beside Elena with one hand clenched so tightly against his knee that his knuckles had gone pale.
He hadn’t spoken since the phone call.
Not one word.
That frightened Elena more than anger.
Because silence from Alaric Kane usually meant violence was thinking for him.
The SUV cut sharply around a stalled danfo bus before accelerating again.
“Sir,” Gabriel’s voice came through the speaker, “local fire crews are already on scene.”
“How bad?” Alaric asked coldly.
A pause.
“Bad.”
Elena closed her eyes briefly.
No.
No no no.
The center couldn’t be gone.
Not after everything those women built.
Not after years of fighting for something good in a city that often swallowed vulnerable people whole.
“It could still be contained,” Gabriel added carefully.
But nobody inside the vehicle believed that.
Alaric noticed Elena’s shaking hands immediately.
Without speaking, he reached over slowly and held one gently between both of his.
The gesture nearly broke her.
Because his hands still carried traces of dried blood from downstairs.
Violence and tenderness existing together again.
That contradiction was becoming the story of them.
“You don’t know what happened yet,” he murmured quietly.
She looked at him.
His face remained unreadable.
Controlled.
But his eyes…
His eyes looked murderous.
“Lucien did this,” she whispered.
“Yes.”
No hesitation.
No doubt.
Her stomach twisted harder.
“Because of me.”
Alaric’s jaw tightened instantly.
“No.”
“But—”
“No.”
The force behind the word silenced her immediately.
“This is because of me.”
The guilt in his voice felt heavier than the storm outside.
Elena stared at him quietly.
“You can’t carry responsibility for every terrible thing people choose to do.”
“I can when they’re my enemies.”
Rain streaked across the windows while city lights blurred endlessly around them.
“You said Lucien wants you emotional,” she whispered.
Alaric’s eyes darkened slightly.
“He does.”
“Then don’t give him what he wants.”
Something bitter almost resembled a smile.
“Elena…” His thumb brushed slowly against her hand. “You are asking for restraint while someone burns down the only place that ever made you happy.”
The truth of that hit hard.
Because the community center wasn’t just work.
It was purpose.
Safety.
Family.
Hope.
And suddenly fear hit her properly.
Not for herself.
For the women.
“Bisi,” she whispered suddenly. “Oh my God.”
Alaric grabbed his phone instantly.
“Gabriel.”
“Yes, sir.”
“I want every employee and volunteer accounted for before we arrive.”
“Yes, sir.”
The line disconnected.
Elena’s breathing grew uneven again.
Alaric noticed immediately.
“Look at me.”
She tried.
Failed.
Because panic was rising too fast now.
“What if someone was still inside?”
“No.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do.”
His voice sharpened slightly.
“Elena.”
Finally she looked at him.
And found his full attention already waiting.
Focused entirely on her.
“They got people out,” he said carefully. “The call came too early for this to have been an accident.”
The words settled heavily.
Not an accident.
A message.
Lucien hadn’t simply attacked property.
He had attacked hope itself.
And he had done it deliberately.
The SUV slowed abruptly.
Blue and red emergency lights flooded the windows.
Smoke filled the night sky ahead.
Elena’s heart stopped.
“No…”
The community center stood in ruins.
Firefighters battled towering flames while thick black smoke consumed the building Elena loved like home.
The roof had partially collapsed already.
Windows exploded outward beneath intense heat.
Women cried nearby beneath umbrellas while police pushed crowds farther back.
The entire street glowed orange beneath the storm.
Elena exited the SUV before it fully stopped.
“Elena!” Alaric called sharply.
But she was already running.
Rain soaked her instantly as she pushed through the chaos.
“No! No no no!”
A police officer tried stopping her.
“Ma’am, you can’t—”
“That’s my center!”
The words broke halfway through.
Bisi rushed toward her through the crowd and immediately pulled her into a tight embrace.
“Elena!”
“Oh my God…”
They clung to each other while flames devoured the building behind them.
“You’re okay,” Elena whispered shakily.
“We all got out.”
Relief hit so hard her knees nearly gave out.
Alaric appeared moments later beside them, bodyguards surrounding him instantly beneath umbrellas.
But he ignored all of them.
His eyes searched Elena first.
Always first.
Only when he confirmed she was physically unharmed did he look toward the burning building.
And the atmosphere around him changed instantly.
Cold fury.
Dangerous silence.
A firefighter approached quickly.
“Mr. Kane?”
“What happened?”
The firefighter hesitated briefly.
“There was an explosion near the back office.”
Not accidental.
Alaric already knew.
“Accelerant traces were found near the hallway too.”
Confirmation.
Elena covered her mouth painfully.
Lucien really did this.
The firefighter continued carefully.
“If staff hadn’t evacuated quickly, casualties would’ve been unavoidable.”
The statement turned Alaric’s expression lethal.
Because that was the point.
Lucien wanted fear.
Trauma.
Pressure.
A psychological war.
“Elena,” Bisi whispered shakily, “someone locked the back exit before the fire spread.”
Her blood ran cold.
“What?”
“We almost couldn’t get outside.”
Alaric went completely still beside them.
Too still.
Gabriel noticed instantly.
“Sir.”
But it was too late.
Alaric was already walking toward the fire.
Fast.
Purposeful.
Dangerous.
“Elena,” Gabriel warned quietly, “stop him.”
She moved instantly.
“Alaric!”
He didn’t stop.
Rain soaked his white shirt while smoke curled through the night around him like something alive.
“Elena,” Gabriel repeated carefully, “if he reaches the wrong person right now—”
She grabbed Alaric’s arm hard enough to stop him.
His body froze instantly beneath her touch.
When he turned toward her—
The rage in his eyes nearly stole her breath.
Not shouting rage.
Not emotional chaos.
Worse.
Controlled violence.
The kind that kills quietly.
“You can’t disappear into this,” she whispered.
His jaw tightened.
“He tried to burn them alive.”
“I know.”
“I warned him.”
Fear crept through her chest at the calmness in his tone.
Not because he sounded unstable.
Because he sounded decided.
“Alaric…”
“He wants war.” His gaze shifted toward the flames again. “Fine.”
The word hit like a gunshot.
“No.”
His eyes returned to hers slowly.
“No?”
“This is exactly what Lucien wants.”
“He already has what he wants.”
The pain behind those words nearly broke her.
Because suddenly she understood:
Lucien wasn’t only attacking Elena.
He was proving something to Alaric.
That peace was temporary.
That redemption was weakness.
That monsters eventually return to violence.
And worst of all—
Part of Alaric believed him.
“You once told me people can change,” Elena whispered.
Lightning cracked across the sky.
“And I meant it.”
“Then don’t ask me to stand here peacefully while he terrorizes you.”
The emotion finally cracked through his composure.
Real fear.
Raw.
Unfiltered.
“He locked women inside a burning building.”
Elena swallowed painfully.
“I know.”
His voice dropped lower.
“If I had gotten here too late…”
He stopped speaking entirely.
Couldn’t continue.
Because the image alone was destroying him.
Elena stepped closer despite the rain.
“You don’t become him by protecting people.”
His eyes darkened.
“That depends how I do it.”
Silence settled heavily between them.
Thunder rolled across the city again.
Then suddenly—
A scream cut through the crowd.
Everyone turned instantly.
One of the women stood trembling near the sidewalk holding something wrapped in black cloth.
“I found this,” she whispered shakily.
Gabriel moved first, taking the object carefully.
Alaric’s expression hardened immediately.
“What is it?”
Gabriel unwrapped the cloth slowly.
Inside—
A burned photograph.
Elena felt sick instantly.
It was a picture of her and Alaric standing together outside the center days earlier.
Across the image, three words had been carved deeply with a blade.
**EVERYTHING YOU LOVE**
The air vanished from Elena’s lungs.
Lucien wasn’t threatening anymore.
He was promising.
Alaric took the photograph slowly.
And something terrifying happened.
He smiled.
Not warmly.
Not emotionally.
Coldly.
The expression frightened Gabriel immediately.
“Sir.”
Alaric looked toward the burning building again.
Rain dripped from his dark hair while flames reflected in his eyes.
For one horrifying second—
He looked exactly like the man Lucien remembered.
“Elena,” Gabriel said quietly, “get in the vehicle.”
She barely heard him.
Because her attention stayed locked on Alaric.
“Alaric…”
He folded the burned photo carefully into his pocket.
Then finally looked at her again.
And she realized something devastating:
The softness she loved was still there.
But rage was swallowing it alive.
“You should leave the city tonight,” he said quietly.
“No.”
“This is bigger now.”
“Then we face it together.”
His expression flickered painfully.
“You still don’t understand.”
“Then explain it to me!”
The emotion in her voice echoed through the rain.
People nearby turned briefly toward them.
But neither noticed.
“Every person Lucien ever cared about died,” Alaric said quietly.
The confession stunned her silent.
“He destroyed entire families over loyalty.” His eyes darkened. “And I helped him build that empire.”
Her chest tightened painfully.
“You were different then.”
“Was I?”
The question carried genuine self-hatred.
And suddenly she realized how close he was to breaking completely.
Not emotionally.
Morally.
“You are not that man anymore.”
His gaze held hers.
“You sound very certain.”
“I am.”
For several long seconds he said nothing.
Then finally—
“You shouldn’t be.”
The answer shattered something inside her.
Because for the first time…
Alaric doubted his own redemption more than she believed in it.
A police convoy suddenly arrived at the far end of the street.
More lights.
More movement.
More chaos.
One officer approached Gabriel quickly.
“There’s been another incident.”
Everyone stilled.
Gabriel’s expression hardened immediately.
“What kind of incident?”
The officer hesitated.
Then looked directly toward Alaric.
“One of your financial offices downtown was attacked thirty minutes ago.”
Elena’s stomach dropped.
“How bad?”
“Three security personnel hospitalized.”
Gabriel cursed quietly under his breath.
Lucien wasn’t slowing down.
He was escalating.
Systematically.
Alaric remained silent for several seconds.
Thinking.
Calculating.
Returning to strategy.
Then suddenly his phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
Every instinct in his body sharpened instantly.
Gabriel noticed too.
“Sir—”
Alaric answered anyway.
Silence greeted him first.
Then a smooth familiar voice.
“You look exhausted, old friend.”
Lucien.
The storm suddenly felt colder.
Alaric walked several steps away from the crowd slowly.
“Elena survives one fire and suddenly you’re emotional again,” Lucien continued casually.
“You’re running out of time.”
Lucien laughed softly.
“No. You are.”
Alaric’s grip tightened around the phone.
“You involve civilians again and I’ll bury you.”
“See?” Lucien murmured. “There’s the man I remember.”
Rain hammered against parked vehicles while firefighters continued battling flames behind them.
“You built an empire through fear beside me,” Lucien said quietly. “But now you want morality because a beautiful woman looked at you kindly.”
Alaric’s jaw tightened violently.
“You mistake love for weakness.”
“No,” Lucien replied calmly. “I understand leverage perfectly.”
The line went silent briefly.
Then—
“I wonder how long Elena survives once you stop hesitating.”
The call disconnected.
Alaric stood motionless beneath the rain.
Completely still.
Completely silent.
Gabriel approached carefully.
“Sir?”
Alaric slowly lowered the phone.
Then finally looked toward the burning remains of Elena’s center.
The fire reflected in his eyes again.
Only now—
There was almost nothing soft left inside them.
“Elena leaves tonight,” he said coldly.
She stepped forward instantly.
“No.”
He ignored her completely.
“Gabriel, prepare the jet.”
“Alaric—”
“Now.”
The command cracked sharply through the storm.
Gabriel hesitated only briefly before nodding.
“Yes, sir.”
Elena stared at him in disbelief.
“You don’t get to decide my life!”
His eyes locked onto hers instantly.
Dangerously calm.
“If staying alive requires hating me for a while,” he said quietly, “I can survive that.”
The words hit her harder than shouting ever could.
Because beneath the control…
Beneath the coldness…
He sounded heartbroken already.
And that terrified her more than Lucien ever could.
Because somewhere inside the storm and fire and violence—
Alaric Kane was preparing to lose himself again.
- Writer
