The Cage (Book 2) ✔️

Proof of Life

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Proof of Life

Once he was at the top of the iron ladder, Schneizel pushed open the heavy trap door with one hand and light flooded the narrow tunnel. I squinted up against the sudden light after dredging through darkness. What I thought was moonlight however turned out to be a flashlight pointed right at us.

"What took you so long? I was worried sick." Said the man holding it.

He'd changed a bit since last I saw him, but I recognized him immediately. Aiden March, now a free man.

"You're just pissed I didn't bring you along." Schneizel climbed out of the tunnel and offered me a helping hand, which I was happy to take. Cade was the last to exit the tunnel, quietly closing the trap door behind him.

I patted myself clean of dust and then straightened to watch Aiden fuss over Schneizel, who didn't seem to mind it at all. If anything, Schneizel welcomed the attentions of his beloved, smiling down at Aiden like he was the inventor of the internet, while Aiden looked up at Schneizel with a glow in his eyes that was all too familiar.

A mirrored image of Schneider and I standing face to face, smiling at each other lovingly, flashed in my mind's eye. My heart throbbed in my chest. Was this jealousy I was feeling?

Upon spotting me, Aiden, who'd grown his brown hair almost to his shoulder and was sporting an upside-down cross -a Saint Peter cross?- tattoo on his right hand, smiled. Much had changed about him, but he hadn't lost his boyish charm.

I remembered the last time I'd seen him in the prison visitation room, scared, helpless, and angry at the world.

I was once again reminded of how similar our fates were. We were both wrongfully convicted, sentenced to live the remainder of our lives in the most notorious prison in the country, and that was exactly where we each met one of the Cross twins.

Would I be fortuitous enough to have the same happy ending he had?

Aiden approached me, still smiling. "Long time no see, Mr. Big Shot Lawyer."

I couldn't help but return the smile. This was a new side of Aiden I hadn't gotten to see before. "I'm afraid convicted criminals aren't allowed to stay lawyers."

A sadness entered his brown eyes and the kind smile disappeared from his face, and I instantly regretted my comment. "I'm sorry, Julian. The only reason you were ever there is me."

I shook my head reassuringly. "The world will be a much better place when the guilty are the ones who actually feel guilt, and not the rest of us. It's not your fault, Aiden. It's not mine, either. I was just doing my job, and someone decided to take advantage of that. That's on them." And because it seemed like I hadn't gotten it through Aiden's head yet, I repeated with emphasis, "It's not your fault."

Aiden made an attempt at a grateful smile, clearly relieved that I didn't hold any misguided grudges against him, but the sadness in his eyes didn't dissipate. Guilt was a difficult feeling to overcome, as I was well aware, and he was someone who'd lived through what I was living through now, so it was doubly piled on him.

I placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder and squeezed. Seemingly unconsciously, he placed his on mine and squeezed as well.

"Don't I get a hello?" Cade said from behind me, and Aiden's face lit up like a Christmas tree.

"Cade! I missed you, man!" Aiden ran up to Cade and threw his arms around him.

"Yeah, you won't fool me with this display. Not one letter, Aiden? Really? My feelings are hurt."

"Clearly," I muttered, since he was bringing it up yet again.

Next to me, Schneizel overheard me and laughed softly.

We stood side by side in silence, watching the surprisingly warm reunion between a convicted criminal and a dead man.

I decided to make use of this opportunity with Schneizel to voice my nagging concerns.

Turning to him, I said, "I'm sorry, but I have to ask."

He looked down at me with interest, his eyes now electric blue again. Was it a trick of the lights before?

I waited for Schneizel to nod permission, and once he did, I asked, "Can we trust your father?"

Schneizel wasn't the least bit surprised by my question. Cade and Aiden were too distracted to bother listening in on our conversation.

While Schneizel had snuck into his father's home instead of using the front door to keep from being discovered by his ever watchful enemies, he seemed to have no qualms with his father -which should have been the norm, but I'd quickly learned that nothing was normal when it came to the mafia. And while we were fortunate to have a mafia boss on our side, I needed to know we could count on him for support when we needed it.

"As long as our interests align."

It was a brutally honest answer if I'd ever heard one, which made me wonder about the type of relationship the twins had with their father. I didn't dare ask.

"And what exactly are his interests?"

"Keeping his heirs alive. For now."

I thought about his father's motivation for a moment, then settled with a subdued "That's good enough for me."

It really wasn't, but beggars couldn't be choosers, and now was not the time to open that can of worms.

I finally looked around to see that we'd emerged from the tunnel leading out of the Cross's estate into the forest, about half a mile from the estate's nearest walls. Thankfully, it was a moonlit night, so bright in fact that Aiden's flashlight wasn't necessary.

As I looked up at the moon, I asked another of my pressing questions. "Do you think Schneider would give your brother up?"

It was a question I already knew the answer to, but I was inclined to seek affirmation anyway, if only to see if one twin was as confident in his brother as I was.

"No." Schneizel kicked dry leaves, twigs and other forest debris onto the trap door, concealing it. "If he had, he'd already be dead."

"And you're sure he's not already dead how?" I dreaded asking, but in order to stop myself from going mad with worry, I needed the reassurance desperately.

The look that Schneizel gave me did anything but.

My stomach sank and toxic dread filled the cavity it once occupied.

Schneizel appeared to contemplate something, sighed in resignation, and then reached into his pockets and held out his open hand as proof of life.

I stopped breathing with a gasp that caught both Aiden and Cade's attention. Aiden let out a gasp of his own.

I struggled to keep the contents of my stomach in my stomach.

In Schneizel's open palm sat ten bloody fingernails. 

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

Ripped fingernails hurt like hell, I'll have you know. 

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