Travosky had never been intimidated before, nor was he really now, but a slight part of him panicked at the glare in the young man's eyes.
Doubting that the body guard wouldn't pull the trigger was stupid because Travosky knew that he would. It was heard in his voice when he ordered those four words at the blonde man.
The young man hadn't really spoken a word up until now, and just seconds ago, he had killed off five of his men right in front of Travosky. It didn't take long to put two and two together that this was the man who eliminated the other twenty-four men Travosky previously had.
Travosky lifted his head back, keeping his eyes on Nathan, and grinned with a scoff.
"Impressive..."
Nathan felt his hand squeeze tighter to the gun, trying to keep his cool, but unless the man stepped away from Mara... that was unlikely. And so he repeated, with a brow raised this time, "Back. Away. Now."
His eyes narrowed, and the lowered tone in his voice added to his warning, "You'll find that I don't like to repeat myself."
As instructed, Travosky lifted his hands upward, palms out, and stepped back until he faced Nathan's direction. Without tearing his gaze, Nathan instructed Mara to untie her father and Ben. Mara glanced at the other men and Anna who were waiting for their instructions.
Travosky huffed under his breath, glaring at Nathan.
"Don't worry, darling, they won't touch your precious hero."
His eyes were burning holes into the young man, who raised his voice at the frozen footed brunette, "Mara! Untie them!"
She quickly jumped out of the fright her feet stilled in before and went over tugging at the rope around Ben's wrists. Mara frowned, unable to undo the tight knots but then noticed the small pocket knife lying by one of the dead men. She picked it up, cutting away at the rope until Ben pulled his wrists free. She was untying her father's bindings, when Ben joined Nathan by his side with another gun lying on the ground nearby.
With his gun was directed at the other remaining goons, Ben smirked, noticing how all of them were swallowing and small beads of sweat started to form at their brow. With the exception of Anna of course, Ben could tell this woman wasn't very afraid, nor intimidated, by many things and this wasn't one of them.
He spoke to Nathan without breaking from his stance, "Now what?"
Nathan sighed heavily, "I've no fuckin' idea..."
Ben grinned, almost chuckling, but sighed, "Well shit, Nate! What are the odds of getting out of here alive without that brain of yours thinking of nothing, but Mara?"
It probably wasn't the best time to poke fun, but it was easier to do so in order to keep calm--- and help them to think.
Mara didn't think it was the most appropriate time either, but she felt the blush on her face anyway. She looked at Nathan while she held onto her father's arm, wondering how Nathan was going to get them out alive without him trying to play hero again. She knew he was skilled in combat, but there wasn't much he could do if Travosky ordered them to be shot right then and there. The very thought made her swallow hard.
Anna was getting impatient with the delay of this pointless standoff.
To get things started, the female assassin took a shot at Ben with an angle that barely grazed his arm, but was enough to make the old man bend away to hold onto it. Nathan had pivoted the gun to shoot back, but when the bullet was released, Anna had timed it perfectly. She dodged it, kicking one of the men by her in front of it instead.
The spray of bullets had them all taking cover behind the large brown metal containers on the opposite ends of the large room.
Mara had taken cover with Ben, tearing away at the hem of her dress and tying it around Ben's bicep. It wasn't a deep wound, but still a wound nonetheless. And it was bleeding a little, so Mara knew the torn cloth would slow the blood down from the pressure. She winced when a bullet had bounced off the edge of the container, swooshing past her.
She looked over to see Nathan and her father with their backs against another container just across from them.
As he was busily shooting back and then pressing himself back against the wall of the container he hid behind, Nathan blinked a few times when Hallden's hoarse, and disapproving voice was heard above the shouting and shooting.
"You're a danger to her!"
Nathan's eyes tightened in his wide stare at the man next to him. He didn't even shoot back anymore, hiding behind the container, as Hallden grimaced, trying to keep himself out of the spraying bullets' way. He looked at Nathan, his face filled with concern.
"If it wasn't for you... none of this would have happened! She was safe! She was being protected by someone I trusted, but you filled her head with hopes of forever being with you!"
They both winced, ducking when another bullet bounced off the container above their heads that refracted against a large metal pole. Huddling closer to Nathan, Hallden sneered, finishing off what he was interrupted from preaching.
"You are giving Mara false hopes of a happy life! You are only going to make her life harder now! If we survive this, she'll never be safe, again! She'll be looking over her shoulder wondering if Charles or his men are coming after her. What do you really expect to happen, Nathan, hm? That you two will ride off into the sunset and live happily ever after!?"
Nathan's jaw tightened, his eyes on Hallden as his head was leaned straight back against the container.
Hallden shook his head, pointing at him, "You say you love her---"
"I do!" Nathan frowned, he shook his head, offended by what he was being scolded about.
"And mind you, this is certainly not the time or place to be giving me the father-to-boyfriend sermon! I'm a little preoccupied with getting you and your daughter to safety if you haven't noticed!"
He poked his head around the container and shot at the opposite end three times before hiding again.
Hallden shook his head, his eyes narrowed. Pointing at the young man, again, the father snapped, "Don't you acknowledge yourself, as her boyfriend. She has a husband! A damn good one! And she ran away from him to go with you!"
Hallden scoffed, then spat, "With the kind of man you are... she'll just be heartbroken again."
Nathan poked around the corner again, taking more shots, before pulling back and swallowed hard.
He frowned, his chest filling with disappointment. He should have known that Mara's father wouldn't want them together... but damn it! He came to rescue her, and told her how he felt, and now her father was giving his unwanted opinion. And with bullets flying around, too!
Nathan held the side of his gun closer to his face, with the barrel's end facing the ceiling, and turned to look at the enraged father.
"What are you asking of me exactly?"
Somehow, he knew already. He just didn't want to cope with the thought.
Hallden leaned forward, seeing that perhaps this young man could prove himself and at the same time, he'd be able to protect his daughter from another heartache. He pleaded, "Let her go, Nathan. Disappear from her life! Don't let her believe that there is possibility to be with you! Don't give her false hopes to being the man you think you want to be."
The words spilling out of the man's mouth made Nathan's chest cave in.
It would turn out this way, wouldn't it? Where he would finally wake up and realize that he was capable of being in love, risk his life for the woman who freed him... and then to be told he wasn't good enough for her.
Hallden really had fucked up timing. It only pissed Nathan off more knowing that he was used again. He was used to find Mara, and then Hallden would take her away from him after clapping a hand to the shoulder, grinning stupidly and winking, "Thanks for saving my investment. But stay away as payment."
Nathan shut his eyes tightly, pressing the gun to his forehead.
Anger started to fill into his chest as he poked around the corner, shooting and recoiling behind the container once more. He looked across the way at Ben recoiling too, after he took shots from where he and Mara were hiding.
Nathan's eyes settled on Mara; her hands clapped over her ears and wincing every few minutes. She scrunched her nose, tightening her eyes shut. Nathan tried to ignore him, but Hallden's voice seeped into his ears anyway, "If you really love her, Nathan... then you will do what's right and forever keep your distance. No matter what."
Nodding slowly, Nathan took a deep breath and forced himself to agree.
"Fine." He mumbled, turning to face the man. "You have my word that after we survive this," he raised a brow at Hallden, "And we will, because Mara means more to me than you want to believe---I will make sure that not even you can find me."
Hallden stared, feeling satisfied and a little less uneasy, that is until Nathan made a proposition of his own.
"Under the condition that Mara gets to live her own life."
Nathan could see the confusion he sprung up, and clarified, "You have to let her lead her life the way she wants to... not the way you do. You kept her so isolated, and for so long, she knows nothing about the real world, and you tossed her into a marriage before letting her experience anything!"
He leaned his head back and simultaneously groaned in frustration. Taking a deep breath through his nostrils, Nathan forced himself to look back at Hallden. He could feel himself holding the urge to punch the man as hard as he wanted to, and instead threw back the father's own words at him.
"If you really love Mara the way you say you do, you will let her live the way she deserves to." He paused for any interruption, but when Hallden's eyes blinked a few times, his head leaning back a little, Nathan finished, balling his fist and pounding it against the container behind them as he grunted, "Give her that option!"
Hallden swallowed.
He was not expecting a man like Nathan to say anything like that. The young man was forcing the father to let go of his daughter and, in return, Nathan would disappear from her life forever. It was starting to make Hallden wonder if asking the young man of this was a mistake, but he wasn't able to answer anything, when he had heard Mara scream.
During the whole time that Nathan was distracted, Anna had made her way with Travosky closely behind her with his own gun, to the edge of the container across from him.
Travosky grinned, his eyes wild with madness, "I want her. And I want him to see her go lifeless when I cut her throat."
Anna lowered her eyes, turning them to the corner of her eyes.
She frowned, not really understanding what went on in his bulbous head when he thought of torturous plans such as this one. She was holding the gun to the back of Ben's head. The older man closed his eyes, cursing under his breath as he raised his arms up in surrender and Travosky fisted Mara's hair, yanking her onto her feet.
Her scream was loud enough for Anna to notice that the girl's father and her lover turned around wide eyed.
The bodyguard immediately shot up, holding out the gun at Anna and making his way forward when the gun shots from the few of Travosky's men, still left, ceased.
Nathan was only two feet from Anna, the barrel end aimed between her smoke grey eyes. He lowered his brows, determination on his face when he threw a look at the blonde man standing with a blank stare.
"Release her, Travosky! Or I won't hesitate to put a bullet in Anna's forehead."
Travosky's throaty chuckle reached their ears and Anna's eyes widened slightly, turning her head slightly at him when he nodded, "Go ahead... I was done with her anyway."
Hallden was behind Nathan, begging the mad man to let go of his daughter. He could see her big blue eyes tearing up, and she cried out when the man behind her pulled her head back against his shoulder.
Mara almost stopped breathing when she felt a cool sensation against her throat. Travosky leaned his mouth next to ear, keeping his eyes on Nathan, and hissed, "Call off your pit bull, darling... or I'll spill your blood all over you."
Mara swallowed, her eyes meeting Nathan's. His jaw tightened, and she saw his hands tighten over the handle of the gun. Clearly he was torn of what to do. It seemed he ran out of ideas.
With a shake of her head, frowning at what she could see of Travosky, Mara spat back, "Eat shit."
Travosky lifted a thick brow, and threw the girl onto the floor; reaching behind him and was now pointing his gun at her. Mara's wide eyes stared at the barrel, her shoulders raised when she had sat herself up.
The blonde man looked at the two older men in the group, nodding to the side, "Looks like your kids need a lesson on respecting authority."
Before he could pull the trigger, however, Nathan stepped forward with his hands thrown up in surrender.
"WAIT!"
Travosky grit his teeth, grinning and his eyes wandered to Nathan. Licking his lips, the soldier shook his head slowly, raising a brow, "I'll make you a deal."
Oh, how the blonde man wanted to hear this. Travosky blinked hard, taking a breath, "Pardon?"
Nathan cautiously stepped towards Travosky, making the gun in Anna's hand now aimed at Nathan's chest. Aware of this, Nathan slowly reached his arm out and handed the assassin his gun voluntarily. She looked surprised when he held it out to her, but she took it when Travosky nodded towards it.
Nathan lifted a brow, looking at the large man, "I can get you the money you want. And in return, all I ask is that you let them go. I can get you whatever amount you want."
"And how's that?"
"I have enough. Let's leave it at that."
Travosky eyed him.
He wasn't sure what this young man was playing at, but Travosky knew damn well that he wanted his money. He's wanted his money for years, and Hallden had managed to get away with some excuse every time.
"How about I just kill her now, and you give me the money anyway?" He returned to looking at Mara, with her stiffening.
"Take me instead!"
Travosky gawked at Nathan once more, just as Ben shook his head, wincing as he stood up and held his arm, "No, Nate!"
Ignoring him, Nathan raised both brows, tilting his head.
"Keep me as collateral and you let them leave. Right now. I will give you everything you need to know if you let them leave, and then..." He paused, swallowing, "I'll take Mara's place."
Mara shook her head as Travosky reached down and pulled her up by her arm. She was still shaking her head, as she shouted, "No, Henry! Please, don't!"
She looked at him, but Nathan was waiting for Travosky's answer.
When he shoved Mara towards her father, and two of the remaining men held back Ben, Travosky nodded. "Get them out of my sight."
Hallden took one glance at Nathan whose eyes locked on Mara when she screamed at him, as she was being tugged away, "Nathan Henry, you promised me! YOU PROMISED!"
The pained look on the soldier's face was accompanied by restraint of teary eyes. Nathan glanced at her father, a silent plea to get Mara away fast, and Hallden nodded, knowing that Mara being there wasn't making this any easier for the young man.
Ben was another matter.
He was trying to reason with Nathan by telling him to think of his family, and what this would do to them if he didn't come back with them. When Nathan looked away, unmoved, Ben shook his head, "You can't do this Nathan! It's not right!"
Travosky rolled his eyes, waving his hand, "Get them out of here before I change my mind!"
Nathan shut his eyes tightly when he could still hear Mara calling for him and he swallowed, once he heard the iron doors slam shut. He opened his eyes and lifted them to see that Anna was staring at him with a soft expression she'd never worn before. He looked away to the blonde man sneering; obviously overjoyed that he'd be able to torture one of his captives after all.
And if enduring countless hours of torture, or even death itself, was the only way to protect Mara then Nathan wouldn't regret it.