The Northern King's Vendetta

Chapter 4 : Cracking the Gilded Cage

The interior of the Gilded Cage was a stark contrast to the crumbling streets of the nearby neighborhood, with velvet-wrapped walls and crystal chandeliers that vibrated with the energy draw of an independent backup generator while the rest of the city was blacked out, and scores of tuxedoed men lounged in rich seats atop reclining leather while savoring vintage champagne as if they weren’t actually in the midst of a trade in human slaves.

On a platform of polished marble atop the hall, Mia was strapped into a chair, her hands tied behind her, and though her dress was ripped and her face was smeared with grime, she held her chin high and regarded the crowd with an expression of such pure disgust that it made even Mr. Henderson, the portly silk vest-wearing auctioneer, a little queasy.

"We now stand at a current bid of $750,000 from the gentleman in the third row, do I have $800,000 for this one of a kind treasure?" Mr. Henderson wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked around for a paddle, raising it he asked, “Now, come on gentlemen you know the pedigree of the Vance family, that’s not everyday you get an opportunity to buy a part of a former dynasty.”

"800,000!" a voice shouted from the back, and the crowd laughed as a man in his sixties saluted the stage with his glass, ​ but the laughter was interrupted by a rumble that seemed like a mini-earthquake, and the huge oak doors at the front were not only opened, they were blasted inward by a focused explosive charge that sent splinters flying into the last rows of the audience.

The smoke from the blast had hardly begun to dissipate when Caleb entered the hall, but he was not alone, for he was dragging Silas Thorne by the collar of his expensive jacket, and Silas appeared to be a broken doll, with blood smeared across his nose and his formerly tidy hair glued to his forehead. The socialites in a wave of indignation rose from their seats shrieking about the absence of security, and the breach of sanctum sanctorum, but when Caleb strode down the middle aisle it was as though the temperature in the room plummeted twenty degrees and a leaden, breathless stillness trailed him like an invisible humidity that rendered inhaling arduous.

"So what's going on? Do you know who is in this room?" I'm Julian Vane, and my family owns half the shipping docks in this country, so youd better go get on your knees and apologize before I have you erased!" a tall oligarch shouted as he stepped into the aisle to block Caleb’s path, his face red with a mix of alcohol and unwarranted confidence.​ Caleb stopped walking and looked at Julian for a long moment without blinking, and then he reached out and held the man by his silk tie, bringing him close enough that their foreheads were nearly touching with Silas sobbing on the floor beside them.

"I don't give a fuck about your docks, and I don't give a fuck about your family name, because right now the only thing that's keeping you from death is the fact that I haven't decided to kill you yet," Caleb said, his voice so low and steady that it seemed to fill the silent room, "and as for the bidding, I have a new offer to put on the table."

“I think he’s in the family line now what can I say special I’ll kicked.. why you can’t, you cant” “ You can’t bid ! You are not even a member of this club , security, get him off the stage !” Mr. Henderson shouted from the stage, but there was no help when he realized his own security team was not answering their radios. "My demand is very simple, and it’s the life of every single person in this room," Caleb declared as he released Julian and took a step toward the stage. "You give me my sister and let us walk out of here, and I won’t have my men make this ballroom a morgue."

“You're bluffing," another voice shouted, "it's just one man with a hostage, you can't threaten all of us!" Suddenly, as though someone had given the command, the high windows around the top of the hall broke out all at once and red laser dots started bouncing on the chests and foreheads of the guests, and Commander Aris came through the destroyed doorframe with a small group of ten men decked out in full tactical gear, weapons at the ready and fingers on the triggers.

​"We've got the building contained, and my snipers are lined up on each exit, so I recommend everyone stay perfectly still while my commander takes care of his business," Aris said as he gave his men the command to spread out and lock down the room.

Caleb ascended the stage stairs and drew a combat knife from his belt, cutting Mia’s shackles in one swift action, and once she was free, she crumpled into his embrace and wept, her hands locked onto his tactical vest as though she was frightened he would vanish if she released.

"I got you, Mia, I told you to wait for me and I'm here now so you don’t have to worry about these people ever again," Caleb murmured against her hair, his eyes softening for one fleeting moment before turning back to the terrified mass and noticing Silas making an effort to crawl toward the rear door. ​

"Caleb, we need to get going, we need to take Aunt Elena and head out of this city!" Mia gasped, then peered up at him with sudden clarity, "you saved her, right? You made it to the house in time?"

“She’s safe, I dispatched her to Aris’s best team at the emergency medical unit, and they were bringing her to the central hospital under heavy guard,” Caleb said as he helped her to her feet, but then his radio crackled with a panic-ridden burst of static that brought him to a halt.

​“Sir, this is the hospital detail, we have a problem!” a voice crackled through the earpiece, accompanied by the distinct sounds of an intense gunbattle and screaming, “we were ambushed at the South Gate, it’s a Sterling Purge Squad, they didn’t come for a rescue, they came to finish the job, and th​ey’ve already breached the third floor where the aunt was being prepped for surgery!”

​When Caleb’s face registered the realization that Isabella Sterling had leveraged the auction as a way to bait him out and leave Elena exposed, it turned from a pale mask to one of pure murderous wrath, and he cast a look that brought a chill down the spine of the commander towards Aris. ​

“My sister is safe. Lock her down, get her to the extraction point, and kill everyone in here if they try to come or go,” Caleb said while making a beeline for the exit, leaping off the stage as he went, the pleas of the socialites who were moments from dying at the hands of the actor now falling on deaf ears as they screamed for compassion, "I'm going to the hospital, and tell the pilots to have the gunship hovering over the roof in five minutes, because I'm not leaving any of those mercenaries alive."

​"Caleb, wait!" Mia screamed, but he was already gone, disappearing into the darkness of the city where the war he thought he had finished was only just beginning.