CHAPTER 13 BLOODLINES AND BETRAYALS
878 Words
The air thickened with shock.
Lena stared at Jaxon, eyes wide. “Your mother? Jaxon… I thought you said”
“I thought she died,” he snapped, pacing in ragged circles. “I saw her car. Saw the wreck. They told me it was an accident.”
“But it wasn’t,” Rafe croaked from the floor.
Jaxon’s throat tightened. “You’re sure, Rafe?”
Rafe nodded weakly. “Viktor… he told me. Wanted to break me. Said he kept ‘the woman who made you both strong’… as insurance.”
Lena covered her mouth. “Oh my God…”
Jaxon slammed his fist into a metal panel nearby. The sound boomed through the building.
“He’s been using her,” Jaxon growled. “For years. Against us. Against me.”
Lena placed a gentle hand on his back. “Jaxon…”
But he shook her off and kept pacing. His breathing grew harsh.
“He took everything,” he spat. “My childhood. My brother. Now my mother? No. No. I’m ending him.”
Lena stepped in front of him, palms on his chest. “Then think. Don’t run into his traps blind.”
Jaxon grabbed her wristsnot harsh, but desperate. “He has my family, Lena.”
“I’m your family too,” she whispered fiercely.
Jaxon froze.
Something inside him cracked open.
Lena’s eyes glistened, but her voice remained steady. “Don’t fight alone. Not anymore.”
He exhaled slowly, tension draining just enough to think.
Rafe groaned again.
They both turned.
Jaxon knelt beside him. “Just hold on a little longer. I promiseI’m getting you out of this. We’re going to find her.”
Rafe coughed, blood staining his lips. “Jax… listen. Viktor’s not working alone.”
Jaxon stiffened. “What does that mean?”
Rafe swallowed hard. “There’s someone above him. Someone worse. Someone who wanted you both broken.”
Jaxon’s stomach dropped. “Who?”
Rafe’s eyes clouded with fear. “He called him The Architect.”
Lena whispered, “But Viktor runs the Syndicate”
“No,” Rafe hissed. “He’s just a puppet.”
Before Jaxon could reply
Lights flashed outside the building.
Engines roared.
A dozen Syndicate trucks arrived, surrounding the warehouse from all sides.
Lena cursed. “How many waves does this bastard have?”
Jaxon stood instantly, grabbing his gun. “Enough to die tonight.”
Rafe strained to rise, but Jaxon stopped him. “You’re staying down.”
Rafe’s voice cracked. “Jax… they’ll kill her. They’ll kill you”
“They’ll have to kill me ten times,” Jaxon growled.
Lena grabbed his arm. “We need a plan. They’ll storm this place any second.”
Jaxon scanned the room.
Old crates. Rusted machinery. Broken control panels. Oil puddles.
And then he saw it.
A massive, old industrial crane hanging overhead, its chain thick and heavy, its hook still intact.
A dangerous idea formed.
“Lena,” he said, “help me.”
She followed his gaze and her eyes lit up.
“Oh,” she whispered. “That’s insane.”
“Yeah,” Jaxon said. “But it’ll work.”
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THE FIGHT BEGINS
The doors exploded inward.
Syndicate soldiers poured in twenty, maybe thirty of them guns raised, moving in formation.
Jaxon stood atop the steel walkway, having climbed fast and silent in the shadows. He aimed his rifle and opened fire from above.
Men screamed. Bullets tore through their ranks.
Lena had taken position behind a forklift, firing in short, controlled bursts. She hit her targets cleanly, forcing the enemy to split their focus.
Rafe, bleeding on the floor, dragged himself behind cover, clutching his gun with shaking hands.
The Syndicate pushed forward mercilessly.
“Cover Lena!” Jaxon roared, shooting down two men closing in on her.
“I’m fine!” she shouted back then ducked as bullets ripped past her.
More men entered.
“Now!” Jaxon yelled.
Lena sprinted to the panel controlling the crane.
She slammed her fist against the broken wiring, sparks flying.
The crane WHINED to life overhead.
The heavy hook swung wildly.
Jaxon timed his shotfired into the cable’s tension bolt
The bolt SNAPPED.
The giant hook plunged down
CRASHHH!
It crushed a group of Syndicate soldiers instantly, sending shockwaves across the floor.
Lena didn’t stop there. She kicked the emergency lever.
A floodgate opened
Releasing a wave of thick industrial oil across the floor.
Soldiers slipped, shouting, falling in heaps.
Jaxon aimed a flare gun he found earlier and pulled the trigger.
FWWOOOSHHH!
The flare streaked down, skidding across the oil.
Then
FIRE ERUPTED.
The floor ignited in a massive swirling inferno. Men screamed, scattering in all directions.
Lena shielded her face from the heat.
Jaxon leaped down, landing hard, grabbing Rafe and pulling him to safety.
“We need to move!” he shouted.
More trucks arrived outside.
Viktor’s voice boomed over a megaphone:
“JAXON! This ends now!”
Jaxon’s eyes burned with fury. “No. It ends with you.”
He lifted Rafe onto his shoulder.
“Lena, with me!”
She ran to them instantly.
Together, bodies bruised, hearts pounding, flames raging behind them
They escaped through the back door and into the stormy night.
- Writer
