Chapter 13 - Blood and Retribution: The Fall of Sable and the Last Stand at Midnight
Muzzle flashes illuminated the warehouse in rapid, strobing bursts.
Julian moved like a phantom of death. Taking cover behind industrial steel pillars, he eliminated two mercenaries with surgical double-taps. Bullets sparked against the concrete around him, ricocheting into the darkness.
Leah threw herself across the wet concrete, sliding on her knees until she reached Matteo's chair. She wrapped her entire body around the trembling boy, using her own back to shield him from stray bullets.
"I'm here, baby, Auntie's here!" she cried, furiously working to untie the rough hemp ropes around his small wrists.
"Auntie, my chest hurts..." Matteo gasped, his eyes rolling back.
"Take this, take it now!" Leah popped the emergency sublingual pill under his tongue, forcing him to swallow the liquid from the tiny vial she had brought.
Above them, Sable ran down the iron staircase, firing wildly toward Leah and the child. "Die, you little rat!"
Before Sable could line up his shot, Julian Vance charged out of the smoke.
Julian tackled Sable mid-air, both men crashing violently into the pile of iron scrap below. Sable's gun skittered across the floor, falling into the watery abyss of the dry dock.
The two titans collided in brutal hand-to-hand combat. Sable swung a jagged iron pipe, striking Julian's shoulder. Julian barely flinched; his counterattack was devastating. A bone-shattering punch broke Sable's nose, followed by a knee to the ribs that sent him sprawling across the bloodstained floor.
Julian grabbed Sable by the throat, lifting the grown man off the ground with one arm, slamming him against the concrete wall.
"You threatened my family," Julian whispered, his voice the sound of pure, unadulterated death.
"Julian... please..." Sable choked, clawing desperately at Julian's iron grip. "We were brothers... we built this..."
"You are nothing to me," Julian said coldly.
With a swift, brutal motion, Julian snapped Sable's neck and cast the traitor's lifeless body down into the dark, freezing waters below.
Silence descended upon the warehouse. Only the sound of the rain and Leah’s frantic sobs remained.
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Julian turned. Blood dripped from his split lip and a bullet graze on his arm, but he didn't care. He walked over to where Leah was holding Matteo, dropping to his knees, wrapping his massive, blood-stained arms around both of them.
"It's over," Julian breathed into Leah’s hair, his voice trembling with raw emotion. "You're safe. Both of you."
