Chapter 7
1093 Words
Isabella POV
The gas is a sweet, cloying fog. It smells like rotting lilies. I know this scent. It is a high-end incapacitant. My lungs burn. I pull my silk sleeve over my mouth.
Julian speaks through the vents. His voice sounds thin and manic.
"Give me the offshore codes. Or we all sleep here forever."
I look at Eleanor. My mother leans against the bedframe. Her fingers twitch around the pistol. She looks at me. I see her pride. She refuses to fall. She thinks she owns the air in this room.
"You will get nothing," she rasps at the ceiling.
I drop to the floor. The air is thinner near the marble. My heart beats against my ribs. I am afraid. I am a Vane. We hide fear behind math. I count the seconds between my breaths.
The door stays sealed.
A loud thud echoes from the balcony. The metal shutters groan. They rip outward. A shadow enters the room through the smoke.
Liam.
He wears a tactical respirator. He looks at me. He does not look at my mother. He moves with purpose. He is a predator in a burning house.
"Mask."
He presses the rubber to my face. I breathe. The oxygen is cold. It clears the fog in my brain. He pulls me up. His hand is a solid weight on my waist.
"We must go."
"Wait." I point to the suitcase on the floor. "The blueprints are in there. And my mother has the sapphire."
"Take the case." Liam kicks the leather bag toward me.
He pries the stone from Eleanor's limp fingers. He looks at her. He hates her. His pride wants to leave her here. He wants justice for his mother.
The wall pulses red.
"Thermal sensors," I whisper. "Julian is burning the house."
Liam POV
The mansion is a tomb. Fire climbs the walls. Julian is a coward. He chose fire because he lacks the courage to face me.
I carry Isabella. She grips the suitcase. She is stubborn. She is a Vane. She keeps her leverage even while she chokes.
I feel a pang of insecurity. Does she want me? Or does she want the man who can save her assets? I push the thought away.
"The back exit is blocked," Felix reports through the earbud.
"The wine cellar," Isabella directs. "There is a tunnel."
We run. The floor is hot through my boots. We reach the cellar. The air smells of oak. Isabella pulls a specific bottle of Bordeaux. The wall swivels.
"Isabella." I stop her.
I pull her mask off for a second. I look at her eyes.
"If we leave, you are dead to the world. No more empire. No more Vane."
I want her to choose me over the money.
"I am a ghost."
I kiss her. She tastes like smoke.
We enter the tunnel. It is damp. The ceiling rumbles. The house is collapsing above us. We reach the boathouse. The night air is cold.
Julian stands on the dock.
He holds a flare gun. His clothes are scorched. He looks small. He looks broken.
"Julian. Put it down."
"The suitcase!" Julian screams. "Throw it in the water!"
I step in front of Isabella. My hand goes to my belt. I do not have a weapon. I have only my body.
Isabella steps around me.
"The suitcase is empty."
She opens the latches. Old ledgers fall out.
"I switched them while the gas filled the room," she explains. "The blueprints are ash."
Julian stares at the paper. His face goes blank. He is a man who lost his only map.
I lunge.
Julian steps back. He trips on the slick wood. The flare gun fires.
The orange light hits the fuel tank of a jet ski.
The explosion throws us back. Julian vanishes into the dark water. He does not resurface.
"Liam. The boat!" Isabella pulls my arm.
We jump onto the deck. I start the engines. We roar away. The Vane estate is a pillar of fire behind us.
Isabella POV
The sky is orange. I sit in the passenger seat. I look at the fire.
Everything I knew is gone. My bed. My books. My name.
I feel a sense of shame. I let Liam see me like this. I am a girl in a scorched white dress.
I reach into my pocket. I pull out a crumpled piece of paper.
"What is that?" Liam asks.
"The real codes. I memorized them."
I look at the ink. I look at the water.
I drop the paper. It disappears in the wake of the boat.
"Everything is gone."
Liam takes my hand. His skin is rough.
"Not everything."
We drive for hours after reaching the shore. We reach a cabin in the woods. It is quiet. Liam starts a fire. He gives me a blanket and a glass of wine.
"Why did you do it?" I ask.
Liam kneels. He looks at my hands.
"Because you were brave enough to throw it all away."
I feel a spark of hope. I move closer. I want to believe him.
A knock echoes on the door.
Three sharp strikes.
Liam reaches for his gun. He looks through the small window. His face goes pale. He loses his breath.
"Liam. Who is it?"
He opens the door.
A girl stands on the porch. She is wet from the rain. She shivers.
She wears a red dress.
She looks exactly like me. She has my eyes. She has my height.
"Isabella."
Her voice is my voice.
"Mother told me you were dead. She told me I was the only one left."
I look at her hands. She holds a tablet.
The screen shows a map. A blue dot pulses at our exact coordinates.
"There are two of us," she states.
She smiles. It is a sharp smile. It is the smile of a predator.
I see the screen change.
"The Medusa core is active."
She points the tablet at Liam.
"Kill him. Or I delete the world."
- Writer
