Chapter 101: Taran

Something wakes me up. Something violent and sudden. I sit up with a gasp, clinging to my blanket and searching the dark room for my absent husband. It takes a moment for my brain to register a loud booming sound coming from the depths of the building. Seconds later I realize the room is shaking causing the things on my vanity to rattle and a brush to fall off the edge clattering to the floor.
"Diogo!" I call, hoping he's nearby as I struggle to throw off the blankets and crawl to the edge of the bed.
Just as I'm dragging myself to my feet he comes flying through the door, banging it against the wall. His eyes land on me with relief. He rushes to my side and helps me stand.
"We have to get out of the building, baby. Are you okay? Were you hurt?"
I shake my head. "What's happening down there, Diogo? Is it really bad?"
"An explosion," he says succinctly, pulling me out of the bedroom.
"My clothes!" I protest.
He doesn't look at me, just continues toward the door leading to the stairwell. "No time. The building is on fire, we have to get you out right now."
Grayson holds the door open for us and follows as Diogo runs through and starts down the stairs. Grayson moves out ahead of us his weapon out and at the ready. I hide my face in Diogo's shoulder unable to handle the dizzying pace as he descends the stairs faster than we've ever gone before.
"Taran!" I look up when I hear Emery's voice. She's on a landing in front of us with a few of Diogo's men.
"Move!" Diogo snarls. "There won't be a way out of the building unless we get the fuck out now."
Everyone hurtles downward, Diogo's men flanking us as we go, protecting us. I struggle to keep my eyes on Emery, praying that she's keeping up with the group. Around the fourteenth floor the air begins to thicken with smoke. A bad sign considering all the doors are fire proofed. If the explosion happened in the lobby we'll have to find a different way out. Perhaps underneath the building, through the old parking garage.
Eventually the smoke becomes so thick I can barely see through it. Everyone is coughing as their lungs fill with the sharp, acrid smoke.
"Commander!" A voice shouts eerily from below us.
"Here!" Diogo shouts back, his voice hoarse from the smoke.
The man leaps up the stairs to our level and then stops, doubling over to cough. He tries to catch his breath, but his lungs only fill with more smoke. Tears run unchecked down his face, a visceral response to the lack of oxygen.
"The bottom floors are completely destroyed." He struggles to get the words out. "I just barely made it out before the fire engulfed the lobby."
"Fuck," Diogo snarls. "How many did we lose?"
"Don't know for sure. Dax was killed in the explosion. I lost sight of the others."
Diogo's fingers clench around me as he takes in the news. It's hard to imagine the big tough guys he recruits into his military being killed. I hope they somehow managed to get out. Our own situation is starting to look bleak.
"We can't go back up," Diogo announces. "There's no way out of the building up there. We have to go as low as we can and see if we can make it to the ground another way."
I cling tighter to Diogo as he runs down the stairs, struggling to breathe with each step as we inhale the poisonous smoke. He pushes my head into his shoulder telling me to keep my face averted as much as I can. I want to tell him to put me down, that I'm slowing him down and making it harder for him to breathe, but I know he'll refuse. Besides, I won't be able to take the stairs as fast as everyone else.
Finally, we reach the point where the smoke is too thick, and the heat of the fire is reaching up through the lower floors.
"Through here," Diogo barks, flinging a landing door open with his shoulder. He carries me through and I'm able to take my first deep breath as fresh air from the broken windows of an abandoned floor hits us.
"What floor is this?" I ask fearfully.
"Six," Grayson answers grimly, coughing.
"Emery!" I twist around in time to see one of Diogo's men, his arm wrapped around Emery's waist, half dragging her, half carrying her through the door. She falls to her knees coughing.
"How do we get out?" I ask, as Diogo sets me on my feet, makes sure I'm steady and then heads to the windows, looking out over the side of the building. All the windowpanes are missing on this level, causing a sharp wind to rush through. When he turns back to look at me, I know we're in big trouble. Though his face doesn't change expression, I can read the terror. He's afraid. Not for himself, never for himself. He's afraid for me and our unborn child.
I curve my arms protectively around my stomach and walk toward the windows. Diogo holds me as I lean out the open window and look down. A rush of smoke and heat hits me, and I have to blink before I can see anything. Flames shoot out of some of the windows of the lower floors as they reach up toward us. I can't even see the ground, but I know it's down there, about 60 feet away. Shouts reach through the darkness, the occasional gunshot echoing through the night. It sounds like Diogo's people are fighting the rebels.
Then it really hits me. There's no way out of the building. My eyes connect with Diogo's and the message is clear; we're trapped.
"I'm so sorry, baby." He grabs me by the neck and drags me into his body. He lowers his head to speak in my ear. "I won't stop fighting for you. We'll find a way."
"I know," I whisper back smiling tremulously.
"She can climb." Emery's voice snaps us out of our moment. She stumbles toward us. "Out the window, she can climb down to the ground."
Fury flashes in Diogo's eyes as his arm tightens around me. "Absolutely not. In her condition she'll fall."
Emery shakes her head and persists, "I've seen this girl climb in almost every condition. In pouring rain, deadly heat, wearing multiple layers of clothing. Twenty extra pounds won't slow her down much."
Emery is exaggerating and we both know it. But she's also right. I'm the only one with the skill and experience to make it out of the building.
I grip Diogo's hand. "I can do it! I can make my way down and go get help."
He opens his mouth to refuse, I can see the negative in his eyes before he even speaks. Emery cuts him off. "Don't let her die along with the rest of us."
Her words stop Diogo and for the second time I see that flash of fury. Only this time I don't think it's aimed at my friend. It's aimed at himself, at the situation. "I should have fucking executed every last rebel when I had the chance."
He takes my face between his hands and holds me for a moment, looking at me. Seconds tick by as the fire rises through the building consuming everything on its way up to us. Smoke surrounds us, choking Emery and Diogo's men as they reach for the windows, trying to breathe.
"You will not fall." Diogo's voice is passionate, angry, despairing.
"I won't," I promise him fervently.
"You will survive."
"Yes!" Tears are running down my face now as I realize I'm about to leave my husband in a burning building.
"Our child will survive," he says fiercely, his grip on my head becoming almost painful. "Promise me."
"I promise." My voice is shaking, and I can barely see him through the tears.
"I love you." He smashes his lips down on mine, kissing me with passion and anger. I hang onto him, kissing him back.
"Commander!" Grayson shouts. "She needs to go now, or she won't make it through the fire. It's bursting all the windows on the lower floors."
We break apart. Without pausing Diogo lifts me onto the window ledge. I cling to it for a second, looking back at his grim face, the beloved lines. He hasn't shaved in days, his life completely consumed by me and the rebellion. He looks more handsome to me, lonelier and more unreachable in this moment than I've ever seen him. He is the Warlord. And he's saying goodbye. He doesn't believe they'll make it out.
A sob bursts from my lips as he leans out to place a gentle kiss on my lips. "Goodbye, Taran."
"I love you, Diogo."
Blinking away the tears I start my descent, climbing away from the open window and down into the raging fiery inferno below. My last view before I have to pay attention to what I'm doing is of Diogo's face as he's forced to watch his 7-month pregnant wife scale a building. He watches over me as I pick out the best path to the ground. When I look back up again, I see nothing more, my view of the others completely obscured as the building is engulfed in smoke and flames.
"Diogo," I whisper.