Agron fires a round into the cabinet beside Sofia. Glass shatters on my sister before she ducks.
Blood freezes in my veins.
Alarms wail. Red lights strobe.
Leveling his gun at her, he pivots. “One more move and your sister joins Dad in the great beyond.”
Chaos from the outside bleeds through—muffled screams, harsh orders.
“What did you do, Agron?” I raise my hands, pulse hammering. “You won’t escape this.”
He flushes, eyes wild. “You forced this on me! I was going to take care of the old bastard months ago. Then you joined the party, hovering constantly. I couldn’t do anything. You brought this upon yourself.”
“What do you want then? Your dad’s dead. You didn’t pull the trigger. Leave. No one will know.”
He laughs. “You think I’m stupid? You’ll add this to your book of secrets and lord this over me forever. No.” Agron’s gun trembles. “You deserve to die, just like him.”
My gaze flicks to Sofia, who slides something out from her sleeve—a glint of silver.
A knife or a blade. She just needs a distraction.
“You think you’re so smart, Elias Kent. One step ahead of everyone,” Agron spits. “But you aren’t. You don’t even know how much your peoplehateyou—”
The door crashes open. Shrieks and shouts echo down the hall—people fleeing, code calls blaring.
“I’ll get backup,” a familiar male shouts from the hall. “Stay here. Don’t move.”
The words snag at me. I know that voice from somewhere, but I don’t have time to place it.
Then suddenly, a muscular man with a shaved head and a sleeve of tattoos bursts in.
Aleksei.
“Go, Elias! I got this,” he yells, gun raised.
Time slows to snippets. The ruckus dulls to a hum.
Agron turns, his attention shifting from me to Aleksei.
I move before Aleksei finishes his words.
I know what’s going to happen.
Agron cocks his gun. The barrel flashes orange.
I shove Aleksei aside. Fire explodes through my chest.
“Elias,” Sofia screams.
My world spins—ringing, tilting, dimming. My body hits tile. Warmth floods my shirt.
Blood. I got hit.
Loud thuds. Metal clanging. A scuffle.
Sofia cries—then a crash—her head knocks against the cabinet and she goes down.
Aleksei’s fist cracks against Agron’s jaw. The asshole drops like a boulder in water.
