The scream that tore from Nora’s throat was a raw, animal thing, shredding the silence that followed the gunshot. It was a sound of a world breaking, of a future incinerated in the space of a single, deafening crack.
Liliana’s grip on her loosened, the knife clattering to the floor. The woman was frozen, staring in horror at Demetri’s still form, her grand revenge culminating in a tragedy she seemed unable to process. “No… no, it wasn’t supposed to be…”
The spell was broken by the roar of engines and the shattering of glass as Ivan and the rest of Demetri’s security team stormed the warehouse. The remaining thugs, seeing their leader incapacitated and their primary target down, scattered like cockroaches. A brief, violent firefight erupted, but it was over in seconds. Ivan’s men were pre
