~~Young~~

Chapter Twenty Two

   “I see that one knows your name,” Bane motioned towards the empty room with his chin, “I hope she calls it out when I take her, her pleas for help will make it all that more satisfying.”

   “No,” Gage growled, “I won’t let you touch her.”

   “And who is going to stop me, you?” He laughed and put a little more push on Gage, “because it certainly won’t be your pathetic little mortal.”

   “She…she’s stronger then you think.” She had certainly proven to be far stronger then Gage knew any mortal to be, one more reason he admired her.

   “I hope so,” Bane grunted as Gage found some strength to push back, leveling them out, “because I’d rather her body be warm then cold when I fuck her too.”

   That was it. That was what Gage needed to end this. Sera was injured, mourning the death of her sister, and fighting for the life of her friends. She was suffering and Bane wanted to make her suffer more. Gage would not stand for it.

   He roared. The balcony, the glass doors, the roof above them all shook with his cries of fury. Then he charged. Four steps were all it took to send them both flying off the terrace to the ground below. This time it was Gage who wouldn’t let go and he pushed down on Bane’s head as they landed on the brick and mortar patio. Bane’s body was buried into the brick, turning them to dust. There was a satisfying crack beneath Gage’s palm on impact, Bane’s skull collapsing in and his body went limp, but he wasn’t done.

   It was only flesh, flesh Bane could easily heal as long as everything was still attached.

   And Gage wasn’t going to give him that chance.

   He scanned the yard quickly finding his blade. He dragged Bane’s body with him as he retrieved it, propping him up against the back fence to insure he didn’t miss. He reared back with both hands, pulling on all the anger and pain he had suffered, and swung for a home run…only to be left stumbling with the unexpended energy as Bane’s body disappeared before him.

   “This isn’t over Lucifer!” Gage spun and shouted to the air.

   “It will never be over,” the fire hissed in answer.

   The fire!

   Gage tore off for the front of the house, knowing that was where Sera would try and rescue her friends. He would rather have taken a flying leap over the building, it would have been quicker, but his feather was on its last string. And the throbbing of its eminent loss was nothing compared to the broken spines his body was already healing from the fall. Flight was not an option at this very moment.

   He didn’t like how warm the earth and grass beneath his pounding bare feet had become because of the fire. That structure wouldn’t last much longer.

   To his relief when he rounded the side of the house it didn’t seem that it mattered anymore. There were a handful of blackened bodies mingling with the other students on the curb across the street. They had been rescued. Sera’s friends had made it out alive if not in one piece, though singed and dirty was still a far cry from what Bane had intended for them.

   He didn’t see Sera immediately, but unsurprisingly there had to be a hundred bodies gathered now. Disasters tended to have that affect on mortals. An aerial view would have been a great option to find her, but his only choice was to sort through the crowd.

   He jogged up to the first face he recognized hoping he would offer some assistance. Even beneath the soot and ash those intelligent eyes stood out to Gage, Duncan. He paused for a moment remembering what Sera had told him last night about her and Duncan’s arrangement, reminding himself there was no reason for him to feel awkward. They weren’t together when Gage had set his sights on Sera, so he didn’t steal her from under Duncan’s nose, so there was no reason to fear ill will from the boy.