Chapter 243: End of a Traitor

Keith holds a knife at Cassidy's throat.

Edward curses out loud, turning instead to point his gun at him, but he soon learns he can't shoot without risking her safety. Her captor might act before him. Seven, on the other hand, observes Bryan staring stiffly at Asher - disbelief, fury and betrayal flashing across his eyes.

"Edward?" Cassidy intoned, her voice surprisingly firm.

His expression softens a little. He can't help but sigh in relief despite their current situation.

"Cassidy-"

"You know, Keith..." Asher cut Edward off, his drawl of Keith's name disrespectfully sarcastic.

"We could've escaped with Cassidy long before they showed up."

"Yes..." Keith spat, glaring spitefully at Seven.

"But that bastard shot the one I love. I know you're the reason why Sophie's in a comatose up until now. I'd rather you all see me slit this woman's throat instead."

Asher's blank stare cracks. Bryan saw through that, causing him to question his intentions. 

"Dylan will not be happy with you..." he continued. 

"I have an agreement with him-"

"To hell with him...!" he cried out.

"He doesn't give a shit about me! And I don't give a fuck if he throws a tantrum about losing the right to kill this stupid bitch!"

Edwars noticed how anger spark in Cassidy's eyes. 

It seems like she is still she no matter what her circumstances are. Though threatedned by a blade, she's still got the guts to talk against her captor.

"You people don't care at all who you kill, do you?" she rasped, her tone bold and furious.

Edward winces upon picking up on the hidden hurt behind her words. So, she already knows about what happened to Adrian. 

"Why should we...?" Keith sneered, a wrathful, unhinged glint in his eyes.

"You're nothing but bugs in the way of our plans. And bugs are always exterminated."

He tears at the collar of Cassidy's shirt, the knife glinting over the exposed skin. With a crooked smirk, he goes on to taunt, "I didn't get to kill that loser myself. But you're still here. I can exact revenge on his dearest little wifey instead."

The blade sinks deep into her flesh, and she bites back her reactive scream.

Edward roars, blindly charging forward. Recognizing the direness of the situation, Seven struggles to pull him back. If he does anything rash, then both Cassidy and Bryan will die tonight.

He wonders how much time is left as he frantically scans for any openings – any options that'll get them out of this situation.

Bryan keeps looking at Asher who also looks back at him with the same intensity. He searches his face – surely, he'd never want to do this. Dylan had only manipulated him into the game, forced him to play a wretched hand. He had said earlier that Keith could've escaped with Cassidy. That meant that he had been there.

Asher had known that this would happen - he must have something up his sleeve.

'You're doing this so that Ma'am Cassidy wouldn't get hurt, right? Of course, you won't shoot. You're still on our side.'

Something in Asher's expression shifts then.

He lowers his gun slightly – an opening. Bryan slowly draws closer to where Keith is, biding his time and exchanging short glances with him. Keith is distracted now - he won't see any miniscule movements. It's still too dangerous to make a move with his knife digging into Cassidy's chest, however.

The blade comes away, dripping with blood. At some point, a few stray tears have trailed down her cheeks – a testament to his actions. He grins maniacally at the scars he's embedded in her.

"How pathetic, Mrs. Millicent..." Keith remarked gleefully, waving his knife around.

"You look like a damsel in distress."

Bryan scowls. From above him, Asher suddenly mutters, "You forget that even damsels in distress can turn on you in a flash."

His eyes widen in realization.

Asher is a traitor after all. Having understood the situation immediately, Bryan rolls forward, covering his eyes.

He hears the distinct sound of a flash bomb going off overhead, hears the clatter of Keith's knife hitting the floor as its wielder screeches, effectively blinded along with everyone else. Counting the seconds, he hoists himself up from the floor then lunges forward in the direction of Keith's angered cry.

Bryan slams headfirst into a body.

The light fades. He grapples with Keith, trying to pin the madman down. In response, he struggles against his hold. Bryan was then caught off guard when he unceremoniously headbutted him.

"Freaking bastard!"

Keith attempts to roll hin over, but Bryan fights against his efforts, ignoring the throbbing of his head and the weariness of his muscles.

He notices Keith's eyes dart to the side, and he looks to find Edward aiming his gun, staggering to his feet as he recovers from momentary blindness. He thrashes, trying to break Bryan's hold. As he focuses on pinning him down, it takes him a fraction of a second slower to realize that Keith has regained hold of his knife.

Bryan rolls off of him to avoid getting stabbed. Taking the opportunity, Keith blindly aims for Edward, throwing the knife at him with all the strength left in him. Seven is his unintended trajectory.

"Look out!"

Asher shoves Seven aside.

Edward watches in shock and horror as he falls to his knees, the knife embedded deep into his side. Cackling, Keith grabs hold of the pistol strapped to the side of his leg and manages to fire it thrice before Bryan leaps forward to yank the gun away from him.

With a growl, Edward finishes Keith off with one impeccable shot from his own gun. 

"It's game over for you, Keith."

Edward registers some of his blood spraying against the side of his face. Yet his sight has zeroed in on Asher who lies dying in Seven's arms.

"I can't believe you..." Bryan murmured hysterically from the side, slowly removing the knife from Asher. 

"You goddamn stupid bastard!"

"A-Asher...?" Cassidy muttered dazedly from her spot on the floor.

"N-No... No, no... Asher!"

She'd been disentangled from Keith when Bryan had tackled him. Now, she sits still, gaping in aghast shock at the scene before her - the wounds on her chest slowly bleeding out. Edward tears his eyes away from Asher and rushes over to tend to her. She's gone extremely pale at the thought she'll also lose her childhood friend. 

Bryan crawls forward, trying to settle his tumultuous thoughts to focus on only one thing - making sure Asher gets out of this alive.

"How much time do we have left, Sir Edward?" Seven asked softly, his hands coated in blood.

Edward shook his head, pulling the device from his pocket and checking it briefly. With a deep, shaky breath, he then answered, "Four minutes. We can make it out before the building explodes."