Chapter 20 - The unopened door
Pain ripped through Damian’s abdomen like white-hot iron, but he didn't scream. Instead, he gripped Cassian’s wrist, twisting it until the joint popped, ripping the knife away and driving his elbow violently into Cassian’s throat.
Cassian collapsed onto the concrete, gasping for air, clutching his crushed windpipe, his vision fading.
Damian staggered backward, pressing a hand against his bleeding wound. He leaned against the wall, breathing heavily, each breath tasting of copper and smoke. He knew he had minutes before shock set in.
He stumbled down the narrow service tunnel, following the trail of Mara and Lila’s footsteps toward the lake exit.
"Mara..." he called out hoarsely, emerging into the cold, damp air of the underground boathouse.
The underground dock opened out into the dark waters of the misty lake. But the speedboat wasn't waiting. Marco was nowhere to be seen.
Instead, Mara was standing on the wooden dock, frozen in terror. Lila was clinging to her knees, staring down at the water with wide, horrified eyes.
Surrounding the dock were three black tactical gunboats, their heavy machine guns trained directly on Mara and Lila. Floodlights suddenly clicked on, blinding Damian as he stumbled onto the dock platform.
A man stepped to the front of the center gunboat, holding a radio receiver. It wasn't one of Cassian’s men. He wore the formal crest of the Global High Council—the supreme rulers of the international underworld who sat above all mafia families.
"Don Damian Vance," the man’s voice echoed across the dark water through a loudspeaker. "Your brother was foolish to act alone. The High Council has observed this conflict from the beginning."
Damian raised his pistol with his last ounce of strength, but his vision was blurring from blood loss. "Back away from them."
"We care nothing for Cassian, nor your empire," the man replied coldly. "We only care about the girl. But not because of the money."
The man turned his gaze to Lila.
Lila slowly let go of her mother’s skirt. She stepped to the very edge of the dock, her eyes locked on the commander’s uniform. Her small hands raised, trembling violently in the harsh white light, as she signed a phrase she had never shown her mother before:
*The red seal on his chest... it matches the tattoo on my back.*
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Mara gasped, stumbling back in complete shock. "What... what did she just sign?"
Before Damian could process the words, the heavy iron blast doors behind them slammed shut, locking Damian, Mara, and Lila on the isolated dock as the gunboats began their rapid approach into the harbor.
