Stolen Fire
1450 Words
Chapter Twenty-Three: Stolen Fire
The penthouse went silent.
Then violent.
*****
Cassandra
The shattered doorway smoked with dust and broken plaster. Emergency lights bathed everything in a red pulse that made Lyra look almost demonic.
Beautiful.
Cold.
Triumphant.
Julie stood beside her in a designer coat and malicious smile, one hand on her hip, the other holding a silver injector gun.
Behind them, rogue wolves in tactical gear spread through the corridor.
Armed.
Disciplined.
Paid.
Bosco swore softly. “You brought mercenaries into my building.”
Julie smiled sweetly. “Your security was overpriced.”
Lyra’s eyes never left Cassandra.
“I offered you dignity,” she said. “Distance. A chance to disappear quietly.”
Cassandra folded her arms. “You offered me threats in expensive packaging.”
Lyra’s jaw tightened.
“And yet,” she said, “you stayed.”
*****
Jason
He stepped forward instinctively, placing himself between Lyra and Cassandra.
“This ends now.”
Lyra’s eyes flickered with pain before rage swallowed it.
“You always choose her.”
“I never chose you.”
The words landed like a slap.
Julie winced theatrically. “That was brutal.”
Lyra lifted her chin. “Then I’ll choose for myself.”
She snapped her fingers.
The rogues raised weapons.
Jason’s wolf surged to the surface.
“Try it.”
*****
Lucien
Lucien looked delighted.
Not by the danger.
By the chaos.
“At last,” he murmured. “Something honest.”
Maxwell shot him a disgusted look. “Do you enjoy every disaster?”
“Only the dramatic ones.”
Lucien loosened his cuffs and glanced at Cassandra.
“Do you prefer rescue by claws or charm?”
She stared at him.
“I prefer silence.”
He smiled. “Cruel woman.”
*****
Bosco
Bosco pressed a hidden switch beneath the counter.
Steel shutters began slamming down over the penthouse windows.
Julie frowned. “Rude.”
“You entered my home armed,” Bosco said. “I’m responding culturally.”
Then he pulled a pistol.
The rogues immediately re-aimed.
The room became one spark away from m******e.
*****
Maxwell
Maxwell moved beside Cassandra, low voice controlled.
“If this turns, stay behind me.”
She gave him a dry look.
“Why does every man here think I need hiding?”
“Because we’d rather bleed than risk you.”
The sincerity in his voice caught her off guard.
Before she could answer, Lyra laughed sharply.
“There it is. That pathetic orbit around her.”
She stepped into the room fully.
“I’m done watching men worship a servant girl.”
Cassandra’s expression changed.
Cold now.
Measured.
“I stopped being your insult years ago.”
Lyra smiled thinly.
“Then prove it.”
*****
The Offer
Lyra lifted a small black device.
“Come with me willingly,” she said, “and no one here gets hurt.”
Jason barked a laugh. “You expect anyone to believe that?”
“No,” Lyra replied. “I expect her to.”
Julie added brightly, “There are explosives in the building.”
Bosco’s eyes narrowed. “You’re lying.”
Julie shrugged. “Probably.”
No one liked that answer.
*****
Cassandra
She stepped forward.
Jason caught her wrist instantly.
“No.”
She looked down at his hand, then up at him.
“You don’t get to decide for me.”
“I get to stop insanity.”
“Then start with your ex-fiancée.”
Lyra’s face darkened. “I was never an ex anything.”
Jason released Cassandra slowly.
“She’s right,” he said. “You were never anything.”
Lyra’s composure cracked.
“Take her.”
The rogues charged.
*****
War in the Penthouse
Everything exploded at once.
Jason shifted partially, claws tearing through sleeves as he lunged into the first wave.
Maxwell moved like a surgeon in combat. Precise, brutal, efficient.
Bosco fired twice, both shots disarming without killing.
Lucien laughed and vaulted over the sofa, landing among three rogues like he’d been invited.
Cassandra grabbed Jay’s sleeping monitor from the table and cursed.
“Jay.”
Bosco barked to two guards, “Protect the child!”
Julie slipped sideways during the chaos, heading deeper into the penthouse.
Cassandra saw her.
And followed.
*****
Julie
Julie entered the nursery with a satisfied smile.
“Honestly,” she muttered, “if men keep choosing mothers, remove the child.”
She reached for Jay’s crib.
A hand seized her wrist.
Hard.
Julie gasped.
Cassandra stood behind her, eyes dark and steady.
“If you touch my son,” Cassandra said softly, “you’ll leave here crawling.”
Julie recovered enough to sneer.
“You think motherhood makes you special?”
“No,” Cassandra replied. “Survival did.”
Julie swung the injector gun wildly.
Cassandra twisted, drove Julie into the wall, and sent the injector skidding across the floor.
Julie screamed.
“Maxwell should have been mine!”
Cassandra blinked.
“That’s what this is about?”
Julie slapped her.
Big mistake.
Cassandra’s power flared, not enough to destroy, just enough to pin Julie against the wall without touching her.
Julie’s feet lifted off the floor.
Her eyes widened in terror.
“Put me down!”
“Apologize.”
“What?”
“For entering my child’s room.”
Julie spat.
Cassandra lowered two fingers.
Julie rose another foot and shrieked.
“Fine! Sorry!”
Cassandra dropped her.
*****
Main Room
Lyra fought like fury wrapped in silk.
She slashed Jason’s shoulder with a silver blade.
He hissed.
“You’d mark me for her?” she cried.
“No,” he snarled. “For myself.”
He disarmed her with one brutal twist.
She stumbled straight into Lucien, who caught her by the elbow.
“My prince,” Lyra said breathlessly, recovering instantly, “surely you see I’m the more strategic alliance.”
Lucien released her like she burned.
“I prefer women who don’t arrive with explosives.”
“I can change.”
“I hope so.”
Then he tossed her gently but decisively into a sofa.
*****
Maxwell and Bosco
The last rogues retreated toward the corridor.
Bosco’s guards closed in.
Maxwell looked around.
“Where’s Cassandra?”
Bosco’s face changed.
“NURSERY.”
All three men moved at once.
They nearly collided at the door only to find Cassandra calmly tucking Jay back under a blanket while Julie sobbed on the carpet.
Maxwell blinked.
“What happened?”
Cassandra smoothed Jay’s hair.
“She made poor choices.”
Lucien looked impressed.
Jason looked aroused and tried not to.
Bosco looked proud and annoyed about it.
*****
Lyra’s Last Play
From the hallway came slow clapping.
Lyra stood there bruised, furious, but smiling.
“You all keep underestimating me.”
She pressed the black device.
A deep metallic click sounded beneath the floor.
Bosco went pale.
“That wasn’t a bluff.”
Julie sat upright instantly. “Wait, you said probably!”
“I lied.”
Red warning lights flashed.
STRUCTURAL CHARGES ARMED
Bosco swore in three languages.
Jason turned to Cassandra. “Take Jay and go.”
Maxwell grabbed Julie by the arm. “Move.”
Lucien grinned. “Now this is romantic.”
“No one likes you right now,” Jason snapped.
*****
Escape
The group rushed toward the private elevator.
Lyra blocked the way.
Jason stopped in front of her.
“Move.”
“No.”
“You’ll die too.”
She smiled sadly.
“Then at least you’ll remember me.”
For one second, pity crossed Jason’s face.
Then he shoved past her.
She let him.
Because she was watching Cassandra.
Always Cassandra.
*****
They reached the garage level as the first explosion tore through the top floors.
Concrete rained down.
Cars screamed alarms.
Bosco shoved everyone toward armored SUVs.
“Go!”
A second blast hit.
The garage ceiling cracked.
Lucien pulled Cassandra aside just as steel crashed where she’d stood.
She collided against his chest.
His arms locked around her.
For one dangerous second, neither moved.
Then Jason yanked her back.
“Hands off.”
Lucien smiled lazily. “Jealousy suits you.”
Maxwell opened the SUV door. “Get in. All of you.”
Cassandra turned, and froze.
Jay’s blanket was in her arms.
But Jay was not.
Her blood went cold.
“No..!”
Bosco’s voice sharpened. “Where is the boy?”
Then from the smoke above, Lyra’s voice echoed through the collapsing structure.
“If I can’t have Jason…”
A pause.
“…I’ll take what he loves most.”
Jay cried out somewhere in the darkness.
Cassandra screamed.
And the garage roof began to fall.
- Writer
