Chapter 29 - Fire in the Blood
"Victoria!" Sterling’s horrified shriek reverberated through the grand hall.
His madness fully consumed him. Realizing all was lost, he pulled an electronic detonator from his coat pocket. "If I burn, we all burn in hell together!"
He slammed his thumb down on the switch.
A series of muffled explosions ripped through the foundation beneath the ballroom. Thick, choking plumes of black smoke began pouring from the vents as pre-planted incendiary charges ignited the dry wooden framework of the century-old manor. Flames roared up the tapestries, turning the grand hall into a roaring inferno within seconds.
"Elena! Get Lucas! Now!" Sylvester commanded, surging up the burning staircase through the falling embers.
I dashed across the debris-strewn floor, sliding beneath the overturned table. "Lucas! Come here, baby!"
"Mommy!" Lucas threw his small arms around my neck, sobbing uncontrollably as I dragged him into my arms, wrapping my Kevlar-covered body over him to shield him from falling debris. "Mommy, you came!"
"I will always come for you," I whispered, kissing his forehead fiercely through the soot. "Hold onto me tight!"
Above us, Sylvester had reached the mezzanine. Sterling, completely unhinged, drew a hunting knife and lunged at Sylvester with a guttural roar.
Sylvester didn't even draw a weapon. He sidestepped the wild strike, grabbed Sterling’s wrist, and twisted it with a sickening snap of bone. The knife clattered to the burning floorboards. Before Sterling could even scream, Sylvester drove a brutal palm strike directly into his sternum, followed by a sweeping kick that drove the older man crashing against the flaming balustrade.
"This is for the threat against my son," Sylvester snarled, hauling Sterling up by his collar and dangling him over the edge of the inferno below.
Sterling, blood pouring from his mouth, coughed violently, but instead of begging, a hideous, broken grin spread across his blackened face.
"You... you think I planned this alone, Sylvester?" Sterling wheezed, his burning eyes locking onto Sylvester's. "You think... a ruined man could afford ex-special forces and military-grade C4 on his own?"
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Sylvester's grip tightened. "Who financed you, Sterling? Speak!"
"The High Council..." Sterling whispered through bloody teeth. "The signature... on your invitation... wasn't just feared by us. They want you dead, Vance. The call... came from inside your own bloodline..."
