Chapter 9 - Night of the Crimson Harvest
In the pitch-black hallway outside the study, the heavy sound of silenced gunfire echoed through the stone corridors.
Thwip-thwip-thwip.
Gabriel had moved faster than expected. Realizing the house lights had failed, he had signaled his hidden men inside the perimeter early.
Leah huddled in the corner of Julian’s study, holding a sleeping Matteo tightly against her chest. The little boy was terrified, weeping quietly into her shoulder, his small hands clutching her hair.
“Shh... it’s okay, Matty,” Leah whispered, her heart hammering wildly against her ribs. “Aunt Leah’s got you. The giant is protecting us.”
Julian stood near the reinforced oak door of the study, holding two heavy handguns. He didn't look afraid; he looked like a god of war waiting for the gates to open.
The door handle jiggled.
BOOM!
The heavy oak door exploded inward as a breaching charge blew the lock off.
Three men in tactical black gear rushed into the room, their rifle lights cutting through the smoke.
Before the first gunman could raise his weapon, Julian stepped out of the shadows.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Three rapid gunshots shattered the room’s silence. The three attackers dropped instantly to the carpet.
From the hallway outside, Gabriel’s voice echoed through the smoke, raspy and bitter.
“Give it up, Julian!” Gabriel shouted. “Sable’s men have surrounded the house! You can't protect a fat waitress and a sick brat against thirty armed men!”
Julian didn't answer with words.
He stepped out into the dark corridor like a ghost, moving with terrifying speed and lethal grace.
Leah peeked through the shattered doorway, watching in awe and terror.
Julian was a force of nature. He moved through the darkness, dodging gunfire, eliminating attackers with ruthless, terrifying efficiency. Every shot he fired found its target. Every man who approached him fell into the shadows.
Suddenly, Gabriel appeared from a side passage, holding a heavy pistol pointed directly at Leah and Matteo inside the study.
“If I’m going down, Julian, I’m taking your little charity project with me!” Gabriel screamed, his finger tightening on the trigger.
“NO!” Leah shrieked, throwing her large body completely over Matteo to shield him with her own back.
BANG!
A gunshot deafened the room.
Leah squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the burning pain of a bullet in her spine.
It never came.
She opened her eyes slowly.
Gabriel was standing in the doorway, his eyes wide with shock. A neat, small bullet hole was centered directly between his eyebrows. He swayed for a second, then collapsed backward onto the stone floor, dead before he hit the ground.
Standing behind him was Julian, his pistol smoking, his dark hair messy, his amber eyes burning with ferocious, protective rage.
Outside the estate, heavy black helicopters roared through the night sky, their searchlights illuminating the pine forest as Julian’s true loyalist forces swarmed the grounds, completely wiping out Sable’s mercenaries.
Julian rushed into the room, dropping his weapon, kneeling beside Leah.
He pulled her up by her shoulders, checking her body with frantic, desperate hands. “Are you hit? Leah! Speak to me! Are you hurt?!”
Leah looked down at Matteo, who was unharmed, clutching his plastic train. Then she looked at Julian—at the blood on his shirt, the scar on his neck, and the terrifying, beautiful amber eyes that looked at her as if she were the most precious thing in the entire world.
“We’re okay,” Leah whispered, her voice choking up as tears spilled down her face. “We’re okay, Julian.”
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Julian let out a ragged, shuddering sigh. He pulled both Leah and Matteo into his broad arms, crushing them against his chest, burying his face into the soft curve of Leah’s neck.
“It’s over,” Julian breathed, his voice rough with emotion. “I’ve got you. Nobody will ever threaten my family again.”
