Chapter 6 - The Fall of the House of Vane
Victor looked around wildly, realizing the security guards who had been patrolling the cliffs were now standing at the top of the stairs, their weapons pointed directly at him.
He was entirely alone.
"I’ll kill her, Stellan!" Victor screamed, pointing the gun back at Clara. "I swear to God, I'll pull the trigger!"
Before he could align his sights, Norah acted.
With the same lack of hesitation that had carried her over the LaSalle Street Bridge, she lunged forward, grabbing Victor’s wrist and slamming it against the stone railing.
The gun fired, the sound lost in the roar of the wind, the bullet chipping the stone near Stellan's feet.
Stellan was on him a second later.
He grabbed Victor by the throat, his massive hand squeezing until Victor's face turned purple. With a single, fluid movement, Stellan threw his brother-in-law against the concrete wall of the boathouse, knocking him unconscious.
The pistol clattered to the ground.
Stellan didn't look at Victor. He turned instantly to Norah, his hands gripping her shoulders. "Are you hurt? Did he shoot you?"
"I’m fine," Norah gasped, her chest heaving. "But Danny... Beatrice tried to poison Danny's medicine."
Stellan’s face darkened to a shade of black that Norah had never seen before. He turned to his head of security, who had just descended the steps. "Secure Victor. And find Beatrice. I want her in the cellar before the sun sets."
"Yes, Mr. Vane," the guard said, dragging Victor’s limp body away.
Stellan looked down at Clara, who was watching him with wide, tearful eyes. He knelt down on the cold stone, pulling his daughter into his arms. Clara buried her face in his neck, her small shoulders shaking with silent sobs.
Stellan looked up at Norah, his grey eyes shining with a rare, raw emotion. "You saved her again."
"We saved her," Norah said, offering a weak smile.
But as she spoke, the adrenaline began to fade, and the cold of the November wind began to seep into her bones. Her knees buckled, and she began to fall.
Stellan caught her before she hit the ground.
May you like
He lifted her easily into his arms, holding her close against his chest. "I have you, Norah," he whispered, his voice warm and steady against her ear. "I have you. You're safe."
As he carried her back up the stone steps, Norah closed her eyes, the rhythmic beat of his heart beneath her cheek the only sound that mattered in the world.
