Chapter 6 - Bloodlines and Shadows
Marcus spun around, pulling his customized gold-plated pistol. "Damian?"
I stepped out from behind a red velvet curtain on the balcony, framed by the moonlight pouring through the floor-to-ceiling windows. I wore my classic charcoal suit, my hands resting calmly in my pockets.
The sight of me—a dead man standing before him—made Marcus take two steps back, his boots nearly stumbling over the marble step.
"You... you died in that alley," Marcus stammered, his gun shaking in his hand. "I saw the blood! Knox verified the pulse!"
"You always relied too much on other men to finish your dirty work, Marcus," I said softly, stepping closer with slow, deliberate strides. "That was your fatal flaw fifteen years ago, and it is your fatal flaw tonight."
Julian Reyes charged up the stairs, drawing a suppressed weapon. "Shoot him, Marcus! Shoot him now!"
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A single suppressed round shattered the glass window behind Julian. The bullet caught Julian clean through his shoulder, spinning him around and knocking him down the marble stairs. He crashed onto the dance floor below, groaning in agony as Cassian’s red laser sight danced across his chest.
The remaining syndicate bosses in the room backed away into the corners, dropping their weapons. Nobody wanted to fight for a dying king when the real emperor had returned.
Marcus backed toward the emergency exit, sweat dripping down his temples. "You think you've won, Damian? I have forty men surrounding this estate! I have your records! I have your name!"
"You don't have my name," I corrected, pulling a small audio recording device from my pocket and tossing it at his feet. "And you certainly don't have Arthur Vance's forgiveness."
The recorder clicked on. Marcus’s own voice from five years ago filled the quiet room:
"Arthur Vance is getting too close to the offshore accounts. Once I sign Damian’s name on the execution order, we take the forty million and bury Vance in the bay. Damian will take the blame, and the widow won't suspect a thing."
The room went dead quiet.
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Marcus stared at the recorder, his eyes wide with horror as he realized his ultimate betrayal had been laid bare not just to me, but to every lieutenant in the building.
"You framed me for the murder of an innocent man," I said, my voice dropping to an icy whisper. "You broke the code."
