Chapter 250: Never Had the Time

Asher takes a look at where Dylan is, studying the situation.

"I'm not exactly sure, but I think this is alright..." he told the others as he looked back at them.

"They're bearing down on him fast. We have to get Dylan on to the pressure plate."

Edward shot Asher a wary look, still unsure about this whole plan of theirs. With a frown, he then asked, "And you're sure this won't cause the whole place to blow up?"

"Positive. By eighty nine percent," Adrian reassured him, expression straight and flat.

"Eighty nine percent?!" Edward exclaimed. 

"That's good enough for me!" Cassidy chirped before standing up again. 

"Hey, wait...!" Asher called, taken a aback. 

"Where do you think you're going?" 

"To help!"

Sparing no time for argument, she dashed off to carry out the rest of the plan. Their eyes widened then, their mouths slightly gaping. Left in shock and disbelief, they had to take a moment more before they understood what she was going to do.

"Damn it, Cassie! Come back here!" 

Cassidy rushes into the fray regardless of Asher's call. Time stands still for Adrian starting from that point on.

He is not quite sure what his wife is trying to prove. This hasn't been in the plan. She was supposed to stay back with them while the others confronted their last standing enemy.

It was good enough. It was feasible enough.

Cassidy has to do nothing - nothing at all. But then, Adrian remembers her spiteful echo earlier.

"In fifteen minutes, you will die!"

It's just like back then.

Fifteen minutes or ten - he doesn't know how long they have exactly. He's not sure of anything, but he's sure about one thing. There's no mistaking the determined look in her eyes when she said what she said.

Adrian doesn't know what she'd seen back then - when the world had been swallowed into an abyss of fire. He doesn't know what Cassidy has been through without him all this time.

She might be more hurt than she is. She might be more unstable. She might be more enraged.

Dylan never had fifteen minutes. Neither had Cassidy.

Feet kicking against the concrete - faster than Asher and Edward can ever be, Adrian rushes forward, fear gripping his heart and fueling his movements. He frantically goes after Cassidy, and he calls out desperately, "Seven!"

Momentarily distracted, Seven is almost struck aside while Dylan is pushed forward by Cassidy at that exact same time.

She plows into him brutally, shoving him towards the waiting pressure plate - towards his waiting grave. Seven was able to deliver one last blow to make sure that he'd end up on it, but at the last minute, he grasped the hem of Cassidy's shirt.

"You dirty little—"

Seven hastily pulls her to get her away. When he does, he attempts to gather Cassidy into his arms next. 

And for that fraction of a moment, it seems like they are going to win.

That's until Dylan's hand finds its way to a hidden dagger in his suit and strikes straight through her - his last grapple at victory. Cassidy gasps out loud, caught off guard, and Adrian wonders at the guttural sound that escapes his lips soon after.

The tip of the blade is still poking through her back when the heel of Dylan's foot steps on the pressure plate. The explosion comes before any of them can comprehend the scene, and they are all blown back - with Cassidy disappearing along with Dylan behind the flames.

Mouth frozen mid-scream, Adrian wracks his brain for anything that he can do. He looks like death warmed up at that point. He faces the fire, forces his limbs to move and reaches out his hand to where Cassidy is - albeit uselessly.

"Fuck!"

He should have had a better plan.

---

Firemen burst into the field, aiming to save them, but Adrian is not the one who needs to be saved this time. 

"Where is she?!"

Asher materializes beside him, and Adrian shakes his head. He pulls his cloak around himself and looks back at the fire - to their source of distress.

"Shade! Where do you think you're going?"

"Let me go—"

"Sir! It's not safe! Please come this way so we can secure the place!"

The fireman's voice grates at his ears, but he can only think of his wife — determined, stubborn, reckless. Then, there's her face disappearing into the fire.

Adrian pushes forward again. That's until Asher steps in one more time, his hand on his shoulder keeping him from going any further.

"Adrian, let me."

Someone else is tugging him back. He barely registers Asher's voice, and he fights against it but to no avail. His hold is strong - firm. Soon, Edward is the one to disappear through the smoke in their stead. 

Something within Adrian has snapped - he's not sure what, but then, he's suddenly overwhelmed with the feeling of feeling nothing at all.

Stiff. Numb. Dead.

Dead again. 

For a long moment, the air is tense - as if it's being pulled by the weight of Adrian's desperation as well as the formidable hunger of the fire before them. Sparks flash in his eyes - perhaps, they are embers, or ash, or soot. He briefly entertains the thought of begging the gods for all the strength in the world to release himself from Asher's grip and plunge into the fire - if not to rescue Cassidy, then to die with her as well.

"Shade, get a grip!"

Adrian doesn't listen.

Instead, he keeps pushing and pushing, not wanting to be dragged away without knowing for sure. He can hear the commands of the firemen, but he's a commander himself - he does not heed their words.

He does not need to.

He vaguely registers the efforts of the firemen. The flame is growing smaller and smaller now, but he's not sure what he will come to find once it's all been put out. But then, there comes a slice of hope - a familiar figure cutting a hole into the breath of the flames.

Adrian sags in relief to find Seven carrying Cassidy's unconscious form.

Edward follows after them, his guard set. Their clothes are singed - they're sure to have suffered some minor burns. Even still, they are alive. When Adrian looks into his elder brother's eyes, he can find the answer to his pending question -

Cassidy can still be saved.

Only then did Asher's voice get clearer. Only then did Adrian realize what he's saying the whole time.

"Let's get out of here, Shade."

---

Charles rushes over, running around in a panic, and after a short pause, the firemen come after him - they must have seen the others.

"President?! Asher?!"

Adrian can barely feel Asher's hand loosening its grip around his arm. He barely even hears his soft, "It's Cassie. She's hurt."

"What...?" Charles breathed, shocked and perturbed.

"Where is she? The hell even happened?" 

"She's bleeding out - stabbed, and we're told she's unconscious. The wound is deep."