Chapter 39 - The Shattered Glass
Serena shrieked in agony, her knee collapsing beneath her as she tumbled sideways toward the dark, churning water of the boat slip. Her wild shot discharged into the ceiling rafters, blowing apart a halogen light fixture and showering the dock in sparks and shattered glass.
In the ensuing chaos, Victor exploded into motion.
He didn't draw a backup weapon. He launched himself forward, slamming his shoulder into Alexander’s chest like a freight train, driving his older brother backward into the wooden support pillars. The silver-headed cane clattered into the deep water below.
"You bastard!" Alexander snarled, drawing a tactical combat knife from his belt and slashing viciously at Victor’s throat.
Victor caught Alexander’s wrist mid-air, the razor-sharp blade stopping millimeters from his jugular. The two brothers—blood of the same blood, darkness warring against light—grappled in a furious, bone-crushing contest of raw strength. Alexander was larger, driven by years of festering rage, but Victor was fueled by the absolute, desperate need to protect the two souls huddled behind him.
"You were always Father's favorite dog!" Alexander hissed, spitting blood into Victor’s face as he threw a brutal headbutt that cracked Victor’s nose, sending stars bursting across his vision.
Victor stumbled back, wiping the blood from his eyes, his breath coming in ragged gasps. Alexander lunged forward, knife raised for a downward execution strike.
From the dock, Lily acted.
Ignoring the pain in her bruised limbs, she shoved Ethan behind an overturned equipment crate. "Stay down, baby! Close your eyes!"
Lily lunged toward the Kimber pistol Victor had dropped earlier.
Serena, dragging herself across the wet boards with her shattered leg, lunged at the same time, her claw-like fingers digging into Lily’s hair, yanking her backward with demonic strength. "You're not taking him from me! He's my ticket out! I will kill you, you worthless bitch!"
Lily screamed as her head was violently jerked back, but she didn't surrender to the pain. She threw her head backward, slamming the crown of her skull into Serena’s broken nose. Serena shrieked, her grip loosening for a fraction of a second.
Lily rolled over, grabbed the heavy iron wrench from the floor, and drove it down into Serena’s wrist, pinning her hand against the deck boards. Serena howled, completely incapacitated, writhing in the cold lake spray.
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Lily grabbed the Kimber, racked the slide with trembling, blood-soaked hands, and aimed it at the two men fighting near the edge of the dock.
"VICTOR, MOVE!" Lily screamed.
