Looking down at his grandfather with that same dead stare he had since he became like this.
"Stop struggling, old man; you might be powerful, but everyone needs to breathe," he said, his voice completely detached from any emotion, like he wasn't there, and in a way, he wasn't.
"Riven...why?" he managed to croak out as he collapsed to the ground, passed out.
"Because it's your fault," he said as his eyes narrowed and teeth clenched for a brief second before it faded away.
Letting his gaze linger on his grandfather for half a second longer, he then turned to Gabbie and the detective. The detective was curled up in a ball-like shape over Gabbie, covering most of her. He was barely breathing and badly burned on every inch of his side facing the heat his grandfather was cooking him with moments ago; on top of that, he had what appeared to be a piece of rebar driven into his back.
Gabbie lay under him, her arms lightly burned but otherwise mostly unharmed.
Eyes flickering to the pool of blood spreading around them, his eyes flickered back to her before asking.
"Is that blood his or yours?"
"What do you—" she was about to start only to be cut off.
"Answer the question and don't ask me any. Is that his blood or yours?" he repeated. "If you don't answer me, you're going to make orphans out of Julius and your partners' kids."
Hearing these words, their faces flooded her mind like a wave, but still she hesitated.
Still calm, he continued. "There is no one here to save you or your partner. Your people are most likely all dead. Killed by my grandfather on his way in."
"So answer..."
As the words left his mouth, Gabbie was suddenly reminded of a conversation she had with Katy.
It was a sunny afternoon, and they were lounging on the balcony with tea and macarons that she liked because neither of them could stand the taste of that fancy crap that was normally in Katy's house for appearances.
"If it meant you could save someone you cared about, would you make a deal with the devil?" Lily asked her.
"That's an odd question for a 'Would you rather?'. Especially for such a childish game; it's not even formatted correctly," she replied while raising her eyebrows.
"Just answer the question," Katy said while rolling her eyes but still seeming genuinely interested in her answer.
"No,"
"Why?" Katy seemed more interested now.
"I don't know; I don't think my pride would let me," she said plainly, while feeling weird about the question, like she didn't give the right answer.
"What about you?" Shooting the question back at her.
Smiling, a warm smile, Katy replied, "In a heartbeat. I'd make the deal in a heartbeat if it meant saving someone."
Looking at her friend in awe for a second, she forced a smile before playfully punching her in the shoulder.
"Of course you would, you selfless idiot, but I'll be there to make sure you never put yourself in that situation."
For a second, Katy just responded with a cold look that wasn't hostile but just empty, a look that Gabbie couldn't quite place before that familiar smile and glint in her ruby eyes returned to her face.
As her memory faded, Katy's face was replaced with Riven's, who was staring at her with what was basically a blank void in place of a face.
And in that moment, only one thing went through her mind: "I have to live." And even if she had to accept help from a devil to do it, she would.
Swallowing what was left of her pride, she said meekly:
"My legs—I can't feel my legs. And I'm lightheaded. I think I'm losing a lot of blood."
"Then it's yours," Riven muttered. "The rebar must have pierced your back but not sealed the wound, like it did for the detective."
"Gabbie," Riven started. "Get ready; I'm about to move you."
"No, I'll bleed out faster," she said as her eyelids got heavier.
"I won't tell you to trust me, but the fact that you're bleeding out so quickly means the spike in your back is doing little to nothing to seal your wound.
"So I'll use condensed smoke to temporarily seal the wound."
Looking at her half-lidded eyes and her doing all she could to stay awake despite her doubt in the idea, she didn't have the strength to protest.
"Okay, get ready; this is going to hurt," he said, but what he said fell on deaf ears because Gabbie's hearing was all but gone as she fought to stay awake, afraid if she went to sleep she wouldn't wake again.
Seeing he was running out of time, his fingertips unfurled thin tendrils of dark smoke that coiled around the detective like wires.
Fully wrapping around him, he gently lifted and separated the two of them, the spike sliding free of her lower back with a slicking sound and the detective hanging aloft along with the rebar that remained inside him before Riven laid him down to the side.
Instantly the blood started pouring from her faster, no longer being partially sealed. But before too much blood could seep out, the smoke wires turned to face Gabbie.
Before condensing it into a glossy, obsidian-colored seal that pressed over her wound, keeping any more blood from leaking out and, consequently, numbing the raw nerves.
"Are you still with me?" Riven asked, his tone never changing.
"Yes," she said poorly because she was starting to lose feeling in her tongue.
"Good," he said before broader veils of smoke rose and enveloped them both with a subtle gesture of his hands, creating two distinct cocoons of swirling ash and smog.
Inside she instinctively held her breath as anyone would do when surrounded by smoke, but then she heard.
"You can breathe; I lowered the smoke concentration inside so it would be more like mist."
She took a breath, but not because she trusted his words but because her body could no longer hold it in. She was shocked to see he was telling the truth; the smoke wasn't thick or ashy or suffocating; it was more akin to mist on a spring morning.
Out of the remaining smoke, Riven conjured chains connected to the human-sized pods and attached them to his wrist via tether, which resembled overly long handcuffs used for especially dangerous prisoners during transport.
Slowly levitating them above the ground. He walked over his grandfather and the crater he made. Strolling through the dilapidated police department. The only sound in the corridors was the crunch of glass and metal beneath his slides.
The walls were left with nothing but permanent shadows—long silhouettes of officers caught mid-scream, arms raised in futile defense against a cruel sun. It was a horror show of dark images burned into the plaster like terrifying photographic negatives.
Gabbie could barely see, her vision blurring as a result of not being able to keep her eyelids up, but she smelled ash and the scent of burning metal, wood, and other materials but no bodies, which gave her drained and weary brain a small hope that the others made it out or survived somehow.
Stepping out of the building, he was greeted by the warm night air, the city lights, and a crowd that had gathered, probably after hearing all the explosions.
Stopping, he looked at them—women, men, and children all gathered around, all with phones in hand recording or calling the authorities.
Looking at them for only a second before letting out a breath. He gazed up at the open, starless sky, its beautiful lights being drowned out by the city's.
With a sudden rush of magical energy, smoke shot out of his shoulder blades, forming enormous, storm-black wings that were wide enough for the building behind him to be completely eclipsed.
With a flap of his wings, he rocketed off the ground, knocking the crowd over with hurricane-like winds.
As he took off, the chains fastened to his wrist followed him like tethered specters. Ascending farther into the chilly darkness, he stopped for a second as he looked at the now visible starry sky.
Beautiful, he thought for a moment before rocketing away to a family friend.