"Do you all want to live through tonight?"

Silence fell on them as the group stared at Ashley, and she looked back at them with an otherwise curious look.

Truly a strange turn of events.

How could their own hostage, who had been their captive minutes ago, turn out to be asking her abductors whether they wanted to live tonight?

"What the hell are you talking..." Nelek trailed off when Khan breathed out,

"What... do we do?"

"Khan, what the hell are you talking about? You seriously believe this woman?" Warriyo snapped, controlling himself from saying harsher words. "What do you think this woman will do, huh?"

Ashley glanced at the window and stretched her neck to check if they’d been found.

"Maybe there’s a way..." the third one, who was holding their bags, blurted out. "Let’s call Dominion."

With that, Nelek and Warriyo turned to their colleague. They were already surrounded, and half of their feet were already in the grave. At this point, their chances of surviving were slim.

But...

Slowly, they turned to Ashley, whose attention was elsewhere.

"Let’s take her with us," Nelek uttered under his breath, and the rest nodded except the injured Khan.

They could still use Ashley — use her as leverage with Dominion. They didn’t need money. All they needed right now was Dominion’s protection in exchange for her life.

But just as the thought formed in their heads, Ashley spoke.

"Don’t just call Dominion — go straight to them." Her remark made them furrow their brows.

Ashley snapped her eyes to them. "You don’t have to trust me. All you need is to decide whether you want to live or die."

"What?"

"Dominion will kill you on sight, but if you have leverage, they won’t shoot you so easily," she said, scanning their faces. "I’m not as effective a leverage as you probably thought. Don’t underestimate Dominion that much."

Confusion etched on their faces at her ridiculous nonsense. Then Khan breathed out,

"What do we do then?"

"Khan! What the hell?!"

"We don’t have time!" Khan winced as he raised his voice, feeling his own blood squirt from his bandage. "We already offended Dominion. Whatever we do, they’re going to get us."

There was no escape for them in here.

"Exactly! That’s why we can’t listen to her!" Nelek argued.

"You can argue all night, but I’m afraid we don’t have time," Ashley jerked her chin at the window. "They’re going to find this place soon, and once they do, it’s over... for all of you. Not for me, though."

This time, the trio almost choked while Khan’s complexion paled even more. Ashley studied the injured man from head to toe before saying,

"I’ll buy you guys some time."

Hearing that, the four of them looked up at her. A mix of emotions swirled in their eyes.

This was by far the strangest thing they had ever encountered. Just moments ago, Ashley was their captive. But now, she was acting as though they had been together for years.

"Hand me a tracker," she said as she opened her palm, wiggling her fingers. "Once you reach Dominion, use the tracker as leverage. Just be sure to contact them as soon as possible. Otherwise, you’d be dead even before you open your mouths."

The guy carrying their stuff looked at the other three. Khan studied Ashley and remembered how quick her instincts were in the restroom. Had he used a different weapon and not a syringe with a potent sedative, Khan was certain they would have failed miserably.

Khan nodded, earning protests from the others.

"What the hell?! How could you just agree with her —"

"Do you have a better idea?" Khan forced the words out of his mouth. No one answered, because they knew deep in their hearts that their ideas would only buy them a few minutes.

Even if they escaped this place, Dominion would still be after them. It would be an endless pursuit.

"Just give it to her," Khan urged under his breath. "Let’s go with her plan."

The trio looked at the injured Khan before shifting their eyes to Ashley.

Reluctant, the one holding their stuff handed Ashley a small device — smaller than a thumb, like a chip.

"Sweet!" She popped the small chip into her mouth, keeping it tucked at the side of her teeth. She raised the chopstick in her hand and grinned.

"All the best!"

Having said that, Ashley turned her back on them and unhesitatingly stepped out of the room. What welcomed her was a small steel porch and a steep ladder leading down.

Ashley looked around, taking in the sight of a container terminal. The place she had been held in was just another container made to look like a room.

"..." She pressed her lips together before tying her hair up with the chopstick. As she did, she muttered, "Just for tonight."

She closed her eyes and drew a deep breath. When she reopened them, a glint flickered across her gaze.

"Just for tonight," she whispered as she descended the ladder, unarmed. "...for Dominion — my Dominion."

If she had done the unimaginable for the Di Carpios, she could do more for Dominion. Particularly for Lucian and her dearest Primo.

With that thought in mind, Ashley mentally cleared away everything unnecessary. She kept her mind blank — clear of conscience, of emotion, of anything — shutting off the tiniest bit of humanity she had, as she always did.

Once she reached the landing, one thought remained.

She was going to drag the mastermind that kept poking at Dominion straight out from the gates of hell.

*****

"Find them!"

"We’ve got no time!"

Hurried voices echoed through the port along with the blare of ships ready to set sail. The smell of grease and stale water clung to the harsh wind. Then, out of nowhere...

"Hello!"

The group, which had just reunited and was about to spread out again, paused in their tracks. Slowly, they turned, catching a woman standing several meters away.

Ashley smiled. "Good sir, can you help me? My abductors left me here alone, and I need a ride somewhere."

Deep lines appeared on the men’s faces as they studied her. One of them pulled out a small photograph from his pocket and darted his eyes between the woman and the photo.

Ashley raised her brows, watching him, before she heard him say,

"It’s her."

So they’re really after me, huh?

The men exchanged glances before fixing their attention back on her. One of them radioed the others: "We found her."

"Get her!"

One of the men marched toward her with large strides and stretched his arm out to grab her.

But the second he stepped into her vicinity, she reached out, twisted his arm, and slammed his body down against the concrete.

In the same beat, she jumped onto the man’s back, grabbed his hair and yanked it back, then drove the chopstick that had been tying her hair into the side of his neck.

For a moment, the remaining men stopped breathing. Everything happened so fast that before they knew it, blood began to spurt onto the concrete, and their pupils dilated in horror.

Ashley stared at the blood coldly, still gripping the chopstick. When she pulled it free, she snapped her sharp eyes up, then glanced back toward where her abductors were hidden.

*****

Meanwhile, inside the container room, mouths had fallen wide open.

After a brief argument, they had gathered by the window out of curiosity. They wanted to see how she planned to buy them time.

The second they reached the broken window, their eyes widened.

In a split second, she had taken down a man with what appeared to be... the same chopstick she had used to eat, to free herself, and to tie her hair.

"That woman..." Nelek breathed out, his complexion pale. "How did she..."

He couldn’t finish the thought. But all of them shared the same unspoken question.

Earlier... had they been the ones in real danger, and not her?