Chapter 19 - The Reckoning
Dominic didn't wait for Julian to make a choice. He rolled behind a concrete pillar just as Julian fired a burst of gunfire from his submachine gun.
Dominic drew a hidden, ceramic-composite pistol from his ankle holster. He fired three precise shots at the cables supporting the steel cage, causing it to drop five feet before the emergency brakes caught it, lowering Claire and Harper closer to the ground and out of Julian’s direct line of sight.
Julian cursed, running down the catwalk to reset the winch manually. Dominic intercepted him at the base of the stairs. A brutal, hand-to-hand combat began. Julian fought with the desperation of a lunatic, wielding a combat knife, slicing through Dominic’s jacket and tearing into his flesh.
But Dominic’s strength was fueled by something stronger than madness: love. He blocked a lethal strike, twisting Julian’s wrist until the bone snapped. He grabbed his cousin by the throat, slamming him against the rusted iron railing.
"This is for my family," Dominic growled.
With a powerful heave, Dominic threw Julian over the railing. Julian fell into the darkness of the lower pits, his body silenced forever by the very machinery of destruction he had chosen as his stage.
Dominic didn't waste a second. He ran to the cage, ripping the door open with his bare hands. He cut Claire and Harper free. Claire collapsed into his arms, her body shaking with the onset of advanced labor.
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"Dom... the baby... he’s coming now," she gasped, her knuckles turning white as she squeezed his hand.
Dominic lifted her into his arms, while Harper held onto his belt. "I’ve got you," he whispered, running toward the exit where Silas, having tracked Dominic's transponder, arrived with an armored medical transport team just in time.
