Chapter 7 - THE PRICE OF A SOUL
“Let her go!” Sofia screamed, dropping to her knees.
Lily was sobbing, terrified, her tiny hands clutching the silver bracelet Pierce had shoved into her pocket.
Catherine didn’t flinch. Her rifle remained steady.
“Shoot him, Catherine!” Julian yelled from the floor, his hand finally grasping Thomas’s gun.
But Catherine looked at the little girl with absolute indifference.
“The child is a liability,” Catherine said flatly. “Shoot her, Leonard. Or I will.”
Reversal.
Catherine didn’t come to save anyone. She came to erase all loose ends.
Pierce’s eyes darted frantically. “If you kill her, the cure dies with her.”
“I don't need a cure,” Catherine smiled. “I’m perfectly healthy. I just need the vault.”
She shifted her aim.
Not at Pierce.
At Sofia.
“Only the biological heir can unlock it,” Catherine said. “Give me the code, Sofia, or I kill your daughter.”
I looked around the room.
Julian was too weak to raise the gun.
Daniel was pinned by the remaining guard.
Evelyn was unconscious.
It was just me.
A practical nurse from Wisconsin.
Who knew how to fix things with duct tape.
Or in this case, an IV pole.
I grabbed the heavy metal IV stand behind me—the one still holding the tainted blood bag—and hurled it like a javelin.
It smashed into Catherine’s shoulder.
The rifle went off, the bullet burying itself in the ceiling.
At the exact same moment, Julian fired Thomas’s gun.
He didn't aim at Catherine.
He aimed at the chandelier hanging directly above Pierce.
The bullet snapped the main cable.
Three hundred pounds of crystal and brass plummeted downward.
Pierce looked up just in time.
He shoved Lily away, trying to dive clear.
The chandelier crushed him against the floor.
Silence descended on the room, broken only by the tinkling of settling crystal and Lily’s crying.
Sofia scrambled forward, pulling Lily into her arms.
Daniel headbutted the distracted guard holding him, knocking the man out cold.
Catherine was on the floor, clutching her broken shoulder, staring at me with venomous eyes.
“You stupid girl,” she hissed. “You think this is over?”
I walked over and kicked the rifle away from her.
“For you, it is.”
I knelt beside Julian.
He was incredibly pale. The bleeding had slowed, but only because his heart was failing.
He looked up at Daniel.
“I’m sorry,” Julian whispered. “I wanted to be a good father to you. Gabriel was… he was a good man.”
Daniel hesitated. Then, he knelt and took Julian’s bloody hand.
“You raised me,” Daniel said, tears falling. “You protected me. You’re my dad.”
Julian smiled. A genuine, peaceful smile.
Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, folded piece of paper.
A plane ticket.
“Take Sofia,” Julian gasped. “Take the girl. Go to Zurich. The vault… the money… it’s all there. Start over.”
His chest stopped moving.
May you like
His hand went limp.
Julian was gone.
