Chapter 10 - The Calm Before the War
Dominic didn't waste a second celebrating. He spun around in the dim, flooding corridor, his eyes instantly locking onto me and the children huddled by the water valves.
In two long strides, he was kneeling beside us, scooping Leo and Lily into his arms with a fierce, protective urgency that defied his own exhaustion. His expensive shirt was torn, his knuckles were bruised and bleeding, and a dark crimson stain soaked through the sleeve of his jacket where a grazing round had clipped his shoulder earlier in the evening.
"Are you hurt?" Dominic demanded, his eyes scanning every inch of Lily and Leo, checking for injuries with frantic, shaking hands.
"We're okay," I gasped, leaning against the cold stone wall, my legs suddenly refusing to hold me up any longer. "We're okay, Dominic."
"We need to move now," Viktor's voice boomed from down the corridor as he limped into view, his left arm bound tightly in a makeshift sling, an assault rifle gripped firmly in his right hand. "The local perimeter is completely overrun, Boss. We've got three SUVs coming down the access road. They aren't local police—they're clean-up crew from the syndicate's main branch downtown."
Dominic stood up, holding both children against his chest, and looked down at me. His expression was a hard, unyielding mask of iron resolve, but as his eyes met mine, a flicker of raw, human vulnerability broke through the armor.
"Can you run, Ms. Carter?" he asked quietly.
I pushed myself off the wall, wiping the cold sweat and stone dust from my face, and squared my shoulders. I had walked into this house as a cook four months ago, terrified of his shadow. Now, standing knee-deep in rising water with the whole underworld closing in around us, I looked him dead in the eye.
May you like
"Try me," I said.
Dominic gave a single, sharp nod, turning toward the dark, flooded exit tunnel. "Viktor, lead the way. We're taking the fight to them."
