BOUND BY BLOOD

CHAPTER 2: YOU SAW TOO MUCH

Pack a bag, you leave with me in one hour.

The words were still ringing in Nora’s ears. One hour... To pack. To leave. To go... where?

She was still standing in Damien’s office. The smell of bleach and copper in the air and her cleaning cart by the door. Her hands wouldn’t stop shaking.

Damien had gone to his private bathroom to wash his hands with the door closed and water running.

One hour.

Run.

Nora didn’t think. She moved.

She grabbed her duffel from under the desk , the one she kept spare scrubs in and shoved Ethan’s photo inside.

Then she slipped out of the office. Barely breathing. The hallway was empty. 3am.

She ran past the elevators, past security toward the lobby.

Please. Please. Please.

She stabbed the lobby elevator button. Once. Twice. Ten times...The light stayed red. OUT OF SERVICE.

No. No no no.

Behind her, footsteps...Slow, deliberate coming from the executive hallway.

“Running won’t help, Ms. Hart.”

Nora froze.

She didn’t turn around. If she didn’t see him, maybe the last 30 minutes was a nightmare. Maybe Mr. Keller was just sleeping.

A hand closed around her upper arm. Cold, Final....He turned her to face him.

Damien.

Not a wrinkle on his black suit, Hair still damp. He looked like he’d just come from a board meeting except for his eyes. Still glowing, Faint. Like he wasn’t even hiding it anymore.

“You were told to pack a bag,” he said. “Not run.”

Nora’s throat was sandpaper. “I changed my mind.”

“About what?”

“About dying tonight.”

Something flickered in his expression. The executive elevator behind her dinged. The doors opened. A man stepped out. Tall. Dark hair. Sharp suit and a bit younger than Damien.

He stopped when he saw them. His eyes went to Nora’s duffel bag then to Damien.

“My lord,” he said. Voice tight. “The Council knows.”

Damien didn’t look away from Nora. “How soon?”

“3 minutes. They tracked the kill.”

The kill.

Nora’s stomach dropped.

This was Lucien. Damien’s right hand. She’d seen him in the lobby once, walking behind Damien like a shadow. He never spoke to staff. Right now he was looking at her like she was trash on his shoe.

“Who is she?” Lucien asked.

“She saw,” Damien said.

Lucien cursed under his breath. “Then we can’t let her leave.”

Nora yanked her arm free. “I’m not going anywhere with you. I have a son. He’s six. He needs surgery in 59 days. I can’t—”

“You won’t have the chance to be there if the Council finds you,” Lucien cut in. “A human in his office at 3am covered in blood. You know what they do to witnesses.”

Nora backed up. Her heel hit the `OUT OF SERVICE` elevator.

Trapped.

Damien took a step closer. “You saw something no human should ever see.”

“I didn’t see anything!” she lied. Her voice cracked. “Please. I’ll forget. I’ll quit. I’ll leave the country".

“You can’t forget,” Damien said softly.

He reached into his jacket and pulled out a black folder.

Nora’s breath caught.

He opened it.

Her photo. Job application. Tired eyes.

Under it: Ethan. Age 6. In a hospital bed. Tubes. Asleep.

Under that: CHILDREN'S HEART INSTITUTE - BILL DUE: $187,420.00

Under that: IMMIGRATION STATUS: VISA OVERSTAYED. EXPIRED 8 MONTHS AGO. NO WORK AUTHORIZATION.

Nora’s blood went cold.....He knows. Oh God he knows everything.

“Interesting,” Damien said. Loud enough for Lucien to hear.

“Ms. Hart. Your work permit expired. Your son’s hospital bill is unpaid. And you were in a restricted area after midnight.”

Lucien crossed his arms. “What are you doing, my lord? We should hand her to the Council. Now.”

Damien closed the folder. He tapped it once. Right on Ethan’s face. “Here’s what’s going to happen,” he said to Nora. Only to her.

“You work for me. You live in my house. You keep your mouth shut about tonight.

And I make sure Immigration never gets this folder.”

The lobby lights flickered.

Nora’s legs shook. 59 days... Deported... No surgery... No Ethan.

Damien leaned in. His voice dropped to a whisper.

“Or,” he said. “I make one call. And you and your boy get deported by Friday.”From outside, tires screeched. Lucien turned to the glass doors. “They’re here.”

4 men in black. The Council walking straight for the entrance.

Nora looked at the doors, At Damien, At the folder in his hand. She had 2 seconds to choose.

She chose wrong.

She bolted.

She didn’t get 3 steps.

Damien caught her wrist and yanked her back into his chest. His arm came around her waist like a steel band.

“You wanted to leave,” he murmured in her ear. “You can’t anymore.”

“Let me go!” She kicked. Hit nothing. “I need to call the hospital—”

Lucien pulled a gun. Not normal. It hummed. “We’re out of time.”The glass doors shattered.

Damien didn’t hesitate. He threw Nora over his shoulder like she weighed nothing and ran toward the parking garage toward his black car with the engine already running.Nora dangled, the duffel and folder clutched to her chest. Ethan’s face staring up at her. Shots rang out behind them. Lucien fired back.

Damien dumped her in the passenger seat and slammed the door. He slid in, floored it, and the car screeched out as bullets hit the concrete behind them. The city was still dark outside the window.

Just like 20 minutes ago when he’d said one hour and she’d thought she had a choice.

She didn’t.

Damien glanced at her. Blood on his knuckles that wasn’t his.

“Give me the folder,” he said.

Nora clutched it tighter. “No.”

His jaw ticked. “Ms. Hart.”

“I want to see Ethan first,” she whispered. “Take me to the hospital. Please.” Damien’s phone buzzed. He answered on speaker.

A woman’s voice. Cold.

“Damien. The Council wants the human. Hand her over.

Or we pay her boy a visit too.” The car swerved....Nora’s blood turned to ice.

Your boy.

They knew about Ethan. Damien hung up and the car went silent. He turned to her. His eyes were dead now. No glow, nothing.

“Looks like,” he said softly, “you don’t have a choice anymore.”

Ahead, the gates to his estate rose. Tall. Black. Spiked.

And in the driveway, waiting, were 3 more men in black.

END OF CHAPTER 2