Chapter 82 - Bloodlines and Betrayal
The roar of nitrogen venting from the overhead ceiling vents sounded like the scream of an approaching locomotive. Freezing white vapor cascaded down into the bunker, instantly dropping the temperature to sub-zero and creating a blinding fog that obscured the infrared sights of Victoria’s mercenaries.
"Marcus! Fall back to the drainage conduit!" Alexander bellowed over the deafening hiss.
Marcus, his shoulder bleeding from a graze, hurled an incendiary grenade toward the base of the stairs. The resulting concussion threw Victoria's vanguard backward in a shower of sparks and smoke.
"Go! Go! I'm right behind you, boss!" Marcus coughed, the lack of oxygen already biting into his lungs.
Elena pulled Leo toward a low iron grate behind the mainframe server banks—a forgotten maintenance shaft Julian Sinclair had mapped into the original blueprints. With her bare hands, heedless of the freezing metal tearing at her skin, she yanked the heavy iron latch.
"Leo, crawl through! Don't look back, sweetheart, just crawl!" Elena pleaded, guiding the terrified boy into the narrow pipe.
Alexander stepped between them and the advancing mercenaries, firing his sidearm until the slide locked back empty. He dropped the magazine, slapped in his final clip, and met Elena’s gaze. In the flickering red light, through the swirling clouds of freezing gas, there was no longer any trace of the cold billionaire who had handed her a hundred and fifty million dollars three years ago to walk away. There was only a man willing to burn the earth to keep her safe.
"You knew, didn't you?" Alexander asked softly, the oxygen deprivation making his vision blur at the edges. "About Victoria?"
"No," Elena choked out, tears freezing on her eyelashes. "Father told me I had an older sister who died in a clinic fire in Zurich before I was born. He never told me she survived. He never told me she was the monster orchestrating the Sovereign Syndicate!"
"She's not getting Leo," Alexander promised, his voice hard as iron. "And she's not getting you."
A heavy combat boot slammed into Alexander’s ribs from the side, knocking him violently against the console. A mercenary lunged with a combat knife, but Alexander caught the man’s wrist, twisting with brutal leverage until the bone snapped, driving his elbow into the soldier's throat.
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Above them, through the thinning mist, Victoria’s face appeared at the edge of the catwalk, her eyes burning with psychopathic ambition.
"Flee if you must, little sister!" Victoria’s voice echoed down the tunnel. "Every exit from the Black Forest is sealed! The Sovereign owns the skies, the roads, and every government between here and Berlin! You have nowhere left to run!"
