THE DEBT OF BLOOD
639 Words
Ava – A Name She Ought Not Know
Ava sat stiffly in Damien's vehicle, her heart pounding.
The world outside faded, neon lights flashing by the tinted windows, but she couldn't focus on anything except the spectral touch of the man's hand on her wrist.
And his words.
"You look just like your mother."
Her fists clenched in her lap.
That man—her kidnapper—had known her mother.
But how?
She glanced at Damien, her throat parched. "Do you know who he was?"
Damien exhaled, his hands gripping the wheel. "His name is Luca Moretti. A bottom-feeder in the underworld, but he works for someone bigger."
Ava's stomach twisted. "Who?"
Silence.
She knew that silence.
It was the same one he gave when he wasn't sure she was ready to hear the truth.
But she wasn't playing games.
"Damien," she pressed. "Tell me."
He finally looked at her, his expression impassive.
"Gideon Laurent."
The name hit with the force of a bullet.
Ava's mouth opened. "Laurent?" She swallowed. "As in—"
"Yes," Damien said grimly. "The Laurent family. One of the oldest crime families in Europe."
Ava was sick.
Her mother had died in a car crash. At least, that was what she'd been led to believe.
But if the Laurents were behind it…
Then maybe—just maybe—her death hadn't been an accident after all.
---
Damien – A Message in Blood
Luca Moretti was tied to a chair in a dark warehouse, blood dripping from a split lip.
Damien crouched in front of him, rolling his sleeves up with slow, methodical precision.
Luca chuckled, even through the pain. “You’re angry, Lancaster.”
Damien’s smile was sharp. Deadly.
“You took something that belongs to me.”
Luca spat blood onto the floor. “Didn’t take her. Just sent a message.”
Damien’s fingers tightened around the handle of a knife.
“Message received,” he said flatly.
And then, without another word, he drove the knife into Luca’s thigh.
Luca screamed.
Damien leaned in, voice quiet. “Who gave the order?”
Luca’s breath was ragged. “You think I’d tell you?”
Damien twisted the knife.
Luca gagged out a half-laugh, half-sob. "You may hurt me all you want, Lancaster. But Gideon's coming for you. For her."
Damien's jaw locked.
Luca laughed through the pain. "And when he does? There isn't a goddamn thing you'll be able to do about it."
Damien pulled out the knife in one sharp motion, wiping the blood on his arm.
Then he stood.
And without another word—he drove a bullet between Luca's eyes.
Because there was always something he could do.
And Gideon Laurent had just made himself an enemy.
---
Lena & Xander – A Warning from the Dead
Lena watched Xander pace back and forth in the room, his usually stoic face twisted with frustration.
She gripped the file Nikolai had given them minutes before, her fingers wrapped tightly around the edges.
"You knew," she whispered.
Xander didn't stop pacing. "I suspected."
Lena's heart pounding. "That my father was in with the Laurents?"
Xander paused, turning to her. "Your father was trying to get out of it. And they don't let people quit."
Lena's throat tightened. "So they killed him."
Xander didn't reply. The quiet spoke for itself.
She took a deep breath, running a hand across her temple. "This… this is bigger than I thought."
Xander stood close to her, close enough that she felt the heat coming off of him.
"It's greater than all of us," he said quietly.
Lena looked up at him. "And what next?"
Xander's voice was deadly.
"Now? We find out exactly what they're doing."
Because if the Laurents had moved against Ava, against any of them—
Then they'd just fought war.
---
- Writer
