It is pin-drop silent for about two minutes. The first move comes from Albert, who looks ready to chase after Charlotte.
"Don't!" Both Lily and Sara forbid him, while Bruno and I simultaneously block his path.
Sara glances at Lily, who sighs.
"Let me calm her down," Lily says, struggling to put on her prosthetic leg. She winces as the artificial neural connections bind to her nerves.
Once the leg is fully connected, Lily stands and climbs the stairs to follow Charlotte.
My attention is completely on Lily when Albert suddenly flips out, breaking free from our hold. I barely manage to push Bruno out of the way before Albert's dagger-sharp hand slashes at Bruno's neck. I dodge just in time to avoid Albert's fist.
"Aaarrgh!!"
Albert roars loudly, his fists smashing everything in sight. The walls begin to crumble under his fury.
"Take him out of here!" Sara orders, her voice stern.
I wrap my arms around Albert from behind, forcing his hands against his upper arms and locking them in place.
"Bruno!"
Bruno moves quickly, wrapping his arms around me before teleporting Albert and me into the forest. The moment we land, Albert roars again, breaking free from my hold with sheer force.
"Ugh!" I groan, hitting the ground chest-first. I get up as fast as I can, pulling Bruno's unconscious body away from the rampaging Albert.
I lean Bruno against a tree and pat his cheeks. "Are you okay, man?" I ask as he starts to groan and open his eyes.
Bruno coughs, nodding weakly. "Yeah..." he says between coughs. "Where is he?"
I scan the area. A few hundred feet away, Albert is venting his anger on the surrounding trees. Animals, big and small, scatter in all directions.
"Watch out!" I shout, shielding Bruno as a group of elephants stampedes past us in panic.
"How long do you think it will take for him to calm down?" I ask Bruno, watching Albert continue his assault on the forest. He's already knocked down several trees.
"Thirty minutes max," Bruno murmurs. "But I'm afraid the forest doesn't have enough trees to last that long."
"And I doubt the authorities will take that much time to notice the chaos," I reply, hearing the distant thrum of helicopter propellers.
"What are you saying?" Bruno asks.
I don't answer. Instead, I exhale heavily, stand, and approach Albert. Grabbing a sizable tree branch, I throw it directly at his head. Albert roars in pain and shock, spinning toward me with eyes full of rage.
"You!!"
As expected, he charges at me. I run toward him, ensuring our fight moves away from Bruno to avoid harming him.
Albert slashes at me with his knife-like hands. I dodge effortlessly, leaping into the air. But he grabs me mid-air, grips my waist tightly, and spins me around before hurling me away.
Instead of crashing into the ground, I adjust my reaction mid-flight and land smoothly behind him. Albert hasn't realized I've reached the sixth level of Spirit strength, giving me full control over my reactive movements.
Before he can react, I ram into him from behind, knocking him to the ground. I sit on his back, locking his hands and pressing a point between his jaw and neck with my finger.
"AAAARRGH!!" Albert screams, but that's all he can do now. The wind above us grows intense as the sound of helicopter propellers grows louder.
"Bruno, take us out of here!"
Bruno runs toward us. Seconds later, he wraps his arms around both Albert and me, teleporting us away to...
THUD!
"Ugh!" Bruno and I groan as we land hard on a rocky surface. It's pitch black; I can't see anything, but I feel the hard ground beneath my hands.
"AAARRRGH!!" Albert roars again.
"Where are we?!" I ask Bruno.
"AAAAAAAAAARRRGGH!!!"
"Just shut up, Alby! Or I will make you!" I bark at Albert before turning back to Bruno.
"My hiding place," Bruno answers briefly.
"Which is where?" I press.
"Let's just say they won't find us here," Bruno replies cryptically.
"Why is it so dark here?" Albert grumbles.
"Darkness calms me," Bruno answers with a shrug.
"Freak!" Albert retorts.
"Says the guy who destroyed half a forest because of a fight with his girlfriend," Bruno counters mockingly.
"You! I'll kill you when—"
"Cut it out, you two," I interrupt, silencing their bickering. Both snort but hold their tongues. I seat Albert against a rock wall before sitting down on the rocky ground myself.
"It's freezing in here," Albert complains.
"It'll help calm you down," I reply flatly.
"I didn't know you had a hiding place," I say to Bruno. "You're the calmest of the three of us."
Bruno shrugs. "Well, I haven't been here in a long time." He chuckles. "I used to come here at night, back when you and Viper were... you know."
I stare at him in the dark. "I'm sorry, man," I murmur.
"It's okay. I have her now, right? It's all good," Bruno says genuinely.
"Yeah... I'm glad it worked out for you two. I told her a long time ago that she'd be better off with you than with me."
"It's better for her to be with someone else than me," Albert suddenly joins the conversation, his tone bitter.
"You mean Black?" Bruno asks.
"Yeah..." Albert mutters.
"Is that why you haven't proposed to her?"
"Yeah..." Albert repeats softly.
"But why? You love each other so much," Bruno says, confused.
"A marriage can't be built on love alone," I interject, understanding Albert's thoughts.
"What are you saying?" Bruno asks.
"Look at her, Bruno. Look at her family. She grew up in a castle, a real damn castle, with butlers and maids. Her parents are nobility. Thhey don't need tp be a highseater t be called Lord and My Lady. While me..."
Albert doesn't need to finish. Bruno and I know his background too well.
Albert, though the only white man on the team, had the roughest life. His father left before he was even born, and his mother worked as a prostitute until she died of an overdose when Albert was only four. Left to fend for himself, he lived on the streets alone. Soon enough, Albert learned that survival often meant resorting to violence. By the age of eight, he was taken in by a capo, who treated him like a son. The capo taught him many things, including how to pack and deal drugs, as well as training him in Muay Thai. At eleven, the capo was caught by the police and sentenced to death, leaving Albert once again to survive alone on the streets. He became a freelance drug dealer and risked his life in underground street fights. The organization took notice of him after he won countless fights in his district, eventually becoming a living legend.
"But... it doesn't mean her parents would reject you," Bruno says, trying to offer hope. "The organization can help fabricate a good backstory for you..."
"I'm barren, okay!!" Albert's shout cuts Bruno off. While Bruno and I are stunned into silence, Albert struggles to hide his sobs.
"I can't give them descendants. And she's their only child," Albert says quietly.
"Does she know this?" I ask cautiously.
"No. I just found out myself," Albert admits. "She started talking about marriage after Lily got engaged. I thought her parents might accept me despite my past. So, I secretly got a premarital checkup... and then I found out."
Bruno and I exchange a glance in the dark.
"Well," Bruno finally says, breaking the silence, "you need to tell her everything."
"I don't want to lose her..."
"I know. But this is about both of you. You need to decide together," Bruno advises.
Silence settles over us again for more than half an hour, each of us lost in thought. A faint beep finally breaks it.
"It's King," Bruno says after checking his phone. "She wants us back at North Wing Tower."