Jade was panting for breath and pressed against the wall, taking cover from the gunfire from her own family.

Fighting for her freedom had been no small task and even with Ethan beside her, the breakout and path to freedom had been filled with death and destruction.

Jade was starting to feel the wound in her shoulder. As they took a moment to catch their breath, the high of adrenaline had eased enough for her to start feeling pain again.

She wanted to stay, retrieve the family that cared and save them from the corruption that festered in the rest, but in their current condition it wasn’t an option.

Jade looked back towards the door they had come from, the door that led up the stairs and to the main bedrooms. Her cousin Axelle would be there, trapped inside simply by her family name.

“We’ve gotta go!” Ethan called over to her, his gun firing covering fire as more of the family’s security pushed through the barricade they had quickly fashioned behind the main entrance.

Jade nodded, feeling freedom and guilt as the two of them blew a hole in the wall and escaped through it.

Her new name, her cover, would be Axel. In honour of the one person who knew who she truly was, and as a reminder of the one she was forced to leave behind.

“Axel, Axel Finch,” she whispered.

With one last look at the family estate, she scaled the outer walls and dropped down the other side. As soon as her feet hit the floor she was gone.