“Life isn’t safe. It doesn’t matter what you do. You can tiptoe around, or you can leave your mark. Either way you die.” I think of my mother and Livia. Then I think of my father and Kaiser. Who lives, who dies. I have never felt more like his enemy. It’s me against him.
“I’m not going out without a fight. Evil men walk around like they own the place. Like they own us. And we’re just supposed to take it? Well, I’m not going to take it anymore.”
* * *
Kaiser
I faced down men all the time in the ring. Bigger and badder men who wanted to stab me and rip out my entrails. I faced them and never felt afraid.
But I’m afraid of Belladonna Bosco. Her wicked mind, her deadly skills. The fear curls in my belly and at the base of my spine, like the respect you pay to a black adder. “What are you going to do?”
“What should’ve been done in the first place. I’m going to kill them. I’m going to kill them all.”
I don’t know what to say. Let me help, I want to help. Or let me do it for you. Let me fight for you. Let it be me.
I don’t have the right to say any of that to her. Because I am the man who would use my power over her. I am everything she hates. Everything she is right to rebel against.
The only way to fix it is to go back in time and destroy everything I am, everything I’ve fought for, and everyone I fought alongside. I can’t do that. I’m not strong enough.
But it turns out I don’t have to say anything because in the painful seconds that follow, the lights in the room go out, plunging us into darkness. I tap my phone to check the cameras on the perimeter, but they’re out. “Something’s wrong,” I say.
Bella starts laughing. A high-pitched, hyena-like sound. Chills race over my entire body.
Before I can ask why she’s laughing, a call comes through.
It’s Argos. “You okay?”
“We’re in a blackout.” I head to the lights and flip the switch. Nothing.
“I see that. Security system’s offline.”
“Sentries?” We posted guards around the perimeter. Not Fraternitas, but former Tier One operatives from a security firm we contract with. Sounds of gunfire crackle outside.
“Shots fired,” I shout. I race to Bella. I’ve got to get her somewhere safe. She’s wearing a ballgown, so I dip and toss her over my shoulder.
“Kaiser, wait—” She thumps on my back, but I ignore her and hustle out of the room and down the stairs.
“I’ve got Bella. We’re headed to the saferoom.”
“Backup’s en route. Stay on the line.”
“Copy.” I enter the safe room and hit the code to secure it. Only after the steel locks set with a muffled click do I set Bella down.
“We’re under attack,” I tell her.
She backs away, straightening her gown. “I can tell. They didn’t take long, did they?”
“You think it’s the Vesuvios.”
“I know it.” Her smile is pure evil.
Chills run up and down my arms. My heart speeds up, knowing I’m in close contact with a deadly predator. “You planned it this way.”
“I did,” she giggles. She’s giddy. “I wanted them to come for me.”
Panic flares through me. I can’t let her face the Vesuvios alone. They only understand brute force.
Fortunately, I’m an expert in brute force.
