Chapter 10 - THE SIEGE OF THE SILENT PALACE AND THE SACRIFICE OF THE FALLEN KING
The garden was suddenly filled with the sounds of combat,
the sharp crack of rifles echoing against the high stone walls.
I pulled Emma into the shadow of a large marble fountain,
my mind racing through the security protocols.
"Stay low,"
I hissed,
drawing the pistol from my chair.
"Don't move until I tell you."
Elias hadn't just sent a sniper;
il he had sent a strike team.
I saw them moving through the trees,
black-clad figures with silenced weapons.
My security team engaged them near the gatehouse,
but I knew the main house was the target.
"Luke!
Status!"
I barked into the radio on my collar.
"They’ve breached the north perimeter,
Danny!"
Luke’s voice was strained.
"We’re pinned down at the garage.
Get inside the safe room!"
The safe room was in the basement,
too far to reach in my current state with Emma in tow.
"We’re heading for the study,"
I told him.
"Meet us there."
I used the motor on the chair to its limit,
maneuvering through the narrow garden paths while Emma stayed crouched beside me.
Another shot hit the fountain,
spraying us with cold water and stone chips.
I returned fire,
the recoil of the 9mm vibrating through my arms.
We reached the heavy oak doors of the study,
and I shoved them open,
practically pushing Emma inside.
"Get behind the desk,"
I commanded.
"The mahogany is reinforced with steel."
She did as she was told,
her eyes wide with terror but her movements precise.
I parked my chair in the center of the room,
facing the doors,
two extra magazines laid out on the desk in front of me.
I was a king in a chair,
defending my last stand in a room filled with the history of my sins.
The doors burst open,
and the first man through didn't even have a chance to aim before I took him down.
The second man dove for cover behind a leather sofa,
spraying the room with submachine gun fire.
Books exploded into confetti,
and the fine crystal decanters on the side table shattered into a thousand pieces.
I felt a sharp pain in my shoulder,
a hot iron brand that told me I’d been hit,
but I didn't stop firing.
Through the smoke and the chaos,
I saw Elias.
He walked into the room with a calm that was more terrifying than the gunfire,
a heavy shotgun in his hands.
"It ends tonight,
Danny,"
he said,
his voice carrying over the noise.
"The fortress falls,
and the monster dies."
He leveled the shotgun at me,
and for a moment,
I saw the end of the story.
But then,
a blur of movement came from behind the desk.
Emma didn't have a gun,
but she had the heavy silver tray she had used to bring me coffee.
She swung it with every ounce of her strength,
catching Elias across the face just as he pulled the trigger.
The shotgun blast went wide,
shredding a painting of the Chicago skyline,
and Elias stumbled back,
blinded by the impact.
I didn't miss my chance.
I emptied the rest of my magazine into his chest,
watching as the man who had haunted my dreams fell to the floor,
his blood staining the expensive Persian rug.
The room went silent,
the only sound the ringing in my ears and the soft thud of the silver tray as Emma dropped it.
I looked at her,
the adrenaline beginning to fade,
leaving only the cold reality of what we had done.
"You saved me,"
I whispered,
my voice failing as the blood from my shoulder began to soak through my shirt.
She crawled toward me,
her face covered in soot and tears,
and took my hand.
"I told you,"
she said,
a small,
broken smile on her lips.
"If I stop working,
I don't get paid."
As Luke and the rest of the security team burst into the room,
I felt the world start to gray at the edges,
but for the first time in two years,
I didn't feel like I was in a grave.
I felt like I was finally,
May you like
truly,
awake.
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