Built from Ashes

Chapter 9: The Bloodline's Toll

In less than thirty seconds, the corridor fell deathly, suffocatingly quiet.

Dante stood over the last remaining infiltrator, his boot planted squarely on the man's tactical chest plate. The air reeked of scorched polymer and copper. Without a word of warning, Dante leaned down, gripping the man’s throat with one hand while pressing the muzzle of his sidearm squarely against his temple.

Dante Vance

Who authorized the secondary sweep in sector four? Give me a name, or your neural imprint joins my brother's in the void.

Assailant

(Gasping, his face purple as he clawed desperately at Dante's leather-gloved fingers)

Go... go to hell, Vance... the Council already—the Council already owns the grid!

With a cold, impassive flick of his wrist, Dante pulled the trigger. The heavy thud of the body hitting the floor echoed hollowly off the curved walls.

He didn't even blink. He holstered his weapon, turned around on his heel, and strode straight toward the concrete pillar where Elena was cowering. His dark coat was stained with dark crimson splatters, and his eyes burned with an animalistic fury that made her breath catch in her throat.

He didn't ask if she was hurt. Instead, he reached down, grabbed her by the wrist, and hauled her straight up against his hard, heaving chest.

Dante Vance

(His breath hot against her ear, trembling slightly with suppressed rage)

Did they touch you? Did those bastards lay a single finger on you?

Elena

(Pushing against his chest, her eyes wide with a mixture of terror and fierce anger)

No! But they called me an encryption key, Dante! They think I'm carrying your core data inside my head! What did Julian give me? What didn't you tell me back in that archive?

Dante Vance

(Freezing for a fraction of a second, his dark gaze locking onto hers with terrifying realization)

It wasn't a code, Elena. It was a transfer. Julian didn't just love you—he hid the entire syndicate ledger inside your neural baseline before they caught him.