Chapter Fifty
A gaping hole explodes in the middle of Gaius’s chest.
Vlad seems fine—if by “fine,” I mean cut up savagely with a machete, but shotgun-pellet free.
Leaving the weapon in Vlad’s shoulder, Gaius clutches his chest.
“How is he still standing?” Felix whispers in my earbud.
With a grunt, Vlad grasps the machete in his shoulder with both hands and rips it out—spewing a fountain of blood.
Gaius’s eyes widen and he starts to move back, but it’s too late.
Vlad chops Gaius’s head off.
The head rolls away as the body drops to the floor, and the Mandate aura disappears.
Vlad also slumps. There’s a puddle of blood at his feet.
I hope he stays upright enough to keep that egg in check.
“You can let me go,” Lucretia says in a hoarse voice. “I’m not following Gaius’s commands any
