The air in the warehouse was a cocktail of iron and decay. With every step, Adrian's boots crushed the silence. The metallic tang of blood clung to the cold, damp walls; a distant, rhythmic water drip echoed like a death clock counting down the final moments of his enemies.
Adrian stopped near the center. His shadow stretched toward her a small, trembling, fragile thing huddled in the far corner. Valeria sat there, a portrait of ruin. Her knees were pulled tight to her chest, her hair a tangled curtain. Her upper body was completely bare, streaked crimson and shaking violently in the frigid air, a stark, agonizing display of absolute violation.
The blood froze in Adrian's veins.
He stood still, a towering sentinel. His exterior was granite, but the storm raging within him threatened to tear his world apart.
"Stay back," she whispered suddenly, the sound like broken glass dragging across stone.
"Valeria," he said softly, crouching down, his movements deliberate and slow. "It's me. Adrian."
She lifted her head. Her eyes wide, hollow, terrified found his. She flinched when his coat rustled, pressing back against the concrete as if praying to disappear.
He froze, palms open. "It's okay. No one's going to hurt you. Not anymore."
Behind him, Leonard's voice crackled softly through the comms. "Sir, we've cleared the perimeter. "
Adrian didn't look back. "Wait outside".
He reached for his coat. "Valeria," he whispered, "You're cold. I'm just going to give you my coat, alright?"
He inched forward. He knelt directly in front of her. Then, with painstaking care, he draped the coat around her shoulders, covering her exposed, violated skin as if drawing a curtain over the entire world.
The warmth of the coat seemed to tether her.
See?" His voice was a mere whisper now. "You're safe."
Her lips parted. "I… I killed them."
"You survived," he corrected, his voice hardening with conviction. "That's all that matters."
Tears mixed with the streaked blood on her cheeks. A new wave of horror hit her, not from the killing, but from the memory.
"They were laughing," she whispered, shaking uncontrollably. Then, her eyes wide, staring at the front of her shoulder, the words finally clawed their way out, breaking the wall of shock.
"They touched my body... They did disgusting things! How could they.." Her sentence shattered, ending in a high-pitched, choked sob that shook her entire frame.
Adrian's internal world turned to molten steel. The rage was no longer just a storm; it was a silent apocalypse. The sound of her utter devastation the acknowledgment of the disgusting things done to her body was a wound to his soul.
He couldn't speak. He couldn't move. To keep the monster inside him caged, Adrian squeezed his eyes shut for one terrifying, eternal second. He tasted ash and raw fury. When he opened them, the icy control was back, solidified into a promise of unimaginable retribution.
He reached out, his touch a promise, brushing hair away. "Can you stand?"
She tried, but her legs gave out, her frail body collapsing against his chest. The shock of how light, how breakable she felt, made Adrian's jaw clench, locking down the devastating rage.
"Easy," he murmured, the word a steel rod. "You're safe, Valeria. I've got you."
Her head fell weakly against his shoulder. Her mind was gone too numb to process. She offered no resistance when he smoothly slipped an arm beneath her knees and lifted her against his chest.
As he carried her toward the doorway, Leonard's figure materialized just outside the frame.
"Sir, we should move....." Leonard began, his gaze falling upon her exposed vulnerability despite the coat.
Adrian's eyes narrowed to lethal slits. It was a silent, terrifying command that transcended rank or loyalty. He would not have his woman seen like this.
"Out," Adrian commanded, his voice utterly devoid of warmth, low enough not to disturb Valeria, but sharp enough to enforce absolute obedience. "Clear the doorway. Now. And burn those bodies."
Leonard, who had seen true death a hundred times, flinched back instantly. He understood: Her dignity was sacred. Her humiliation was Adrian's alone to avenge. "Yes, sir! Cleared path only."
Adrian adjusted his grip, ensuring his coat completely enveloped her, shielding her from the world, from the guards, and from the cold, judging night. His coat was her only fortress, draped over the shame left by monsters.
As they stepped out, the chill wind hit. The flashing lights reflected in his icy, murderous eyes. He did not look at the bodies. His vision was a tunnel.
All he saw was her.
Her head rested against his chest, her eyes open but blank not crying, not blinking, just staring into the indifferent darkness. Shock had hollowed her out completely.
Adrian's arms tightened, holding her as if she were made of fragile crystal. His whole body was a tremor of suppressed fury, a devastating storm contained only by the need to get her home.
Leonard saw it that frightening, contained power and kept his eyes strictly on the ground.
Adrian kept walking toward the armored SUV waiting at the gate.
No one spoke. No one dared interrupt the terrifying silence of his rage, or the fragile sound of her uneven breath.