The Shadows Grace

Chapter Five: When Darkness Has No End

The sound of the blast shutters slamming into their tracks was like industrial thunder. It shook Rose's bones. One by one the great views of Neo-Verona's skyline were covered by reinforced steel. The city's lights went out. They were replaced by the flickering, light of the emergency sirens.

In the scary red light, the penthouse changed from a beautiful place into a tomb.

Skyler Vane screamed. She was very angry. She waved her submachine gun in the air. She tried to keep her balance. "You little brat! You think you've saved yourself? You've just trapped yourself with the man who killed your father!"

Draco didn't move. He didn't even look at Skyler. He was only looking at the girl behind him. This girl had just shown she was in control. He felt a dark pride. The "lamb" had tried to control the slaughterhouse.

"Silas!" Draco shouted over the sirens.

Silas, still held by Skylers guard saw his chance. The shutters hit the floor with a loud *thoom*. The vibration made the guard stumble. Silas pushed backward. His elbow hit the guard's stomach. He spun around. He took the gun from the guard. He did this quickly and strongly. Rose had only seen this in movies.

"Go!" Silas yelled. He kicked the guard toward Skyler.

Skyler shot her gun. The *tat-tat* sound shredded a very expensive vase. The pieces flew like shrapnel.

Draco grabbed Rose. His arm was like iron around her waist. He pulled her behind the black kitchen island. He protected her body with his own. The back of his vest took the hit from the flying pieces.

"Stay low " he hissed. His voice was loud in her ear. ". Stay behind me."

Rose was breathing fast. She smelled gunpowder and the ozone from the emergency electronics. "She's going to kill us! You're all going to kill each other!"

"Not tonight " Draco whispered. He took a gun from his back. It was a pistol. He slid it across the floor toward her. "If I go down you use that. You point it at anything that moves. You don't stop until it clicks. Do you understand me?"

Rose looked at the heavy metal. Her hands, trained for ballet felt dirty holding it. "I can't. Draco I can't."

"You *can* " he said. His eyes looked at the system with a scary intensity. "Because you are a Maxwell. You are mine. I won't let you die in the dark."

Skyler was getting crazy. The blackout shutters cut off her communication with her team. She was alone with her dying guard, Silas and the man who was protecting a "nothing" girl.

"Draco!" she screamed. Her voice cracked. "Look what you're doing! You're throwing it all away for a girl who doesn't even know her father's name! She's a parasite! She's a weakness!"

Draco didn't answer with words. He used the penthouse system. He pulled a hidden tablet from under the island. He tapped on it. The emergency lighting turned off.

The red strobes died. There was a dark moment.

Then the floor lamps turned on. They were not very bright. They were in an amber "hunting mode."

Draco moved. He didn't run. He flowed. He used the furniture as cover. He moved quietly. Skyler spun around in circles. Her gun was shaking.

"Where are you?!" she screamed.

"I'm here Skyler," Draco's voice echoed from the ceiling speakers. "I'm the shadow you forgot to fear. I'm the debt you can't pay.. I'm the man who is officially calling off the wedding."

A single shot rang out. Draco didn't aim for Skyler. He aimed for her submachine gun. The bullet hit the barrel. The force of the impact made Skyler drop the gun.

Silas moved in. He tackled the remaining guard. Draco stepped out from behind a pillar. His gun was level with Skylers' forehead.

The silence that followed was very heavy. It was broken by Roses' ragged breathing.

Skyler stood in the center of the room. Her hands were shaking. Her platinum hair was messy. She looked at Draco. For the time she saw the truth. He wasn't just interested in Rose. He was *consumed* by her.

"You'll never be free of me " Skyler spat. A single tear of rage went down her cheek. "My father will burn this city to find me. The Vanes don't lose, Draco. We just wait for the time to strike."

"Your father is currently watching his bank accounts being drained " Draco said. His voice was cold and flat. "Silas has been busy while we were 'talking.' By the time these shutters open the Vane name will be a footnote in Neo-Verona's history. You aren't a Queen anymore Skyler. You're a liability."

He turned his head. "Silas. Take her to the sub-basement. Keep her alive until the transfers are confirmed. Then... Get her out of my city. If she ever sets foot in Neo-Verona again don't ask for my permission. Just finish it."

Silas nodded. His face was grim. He grabbed Skyler by the arm. He dragged her toward the service elevator.

"You'll regret this!" Skyler screamed as the doors closed. "She'll hate you Draco! She'll see you for what you're and she'll wish you had let the Morenos kill her!"

Draco stood alone in the wreckage. The silence was absolute. He slowly lowered his gun. His shoulders slumped for the first time in a decade. The adrenaline was receding. It left a hollow ache.

He turned toward the kitchen island.

Rose was still there. She was huddled on the floor. The pistol he had given her was clutched to her chest. Her eyes were wide and vacant. She stared at the spot where Skyler had been standing.

Draco approached her slowly. His hands were held out palms up. "Rose."

She flinched at the sound of her name. She looked up at him. The fear in her eyes was no longer about Skyler or the Morenos. It was about him.

"Is it over?" she whispered.

"For now " he said. He knelt in front of her. He reached out to take the gun from her hands.. She held on tighter.

"You lied to me " she said. Her voice was sharp and brittle. "Elias... The scholarship... The protection. It was all you. You've been watching me like I'm a science experiment."

"I was keeping you safe " he argued.. His voice lacked conviction.

"Safe?" She let out a laugh. "I was in a cage! I didn't know the person who was 'protecting' me was the person who made me an orphan! You didn't save me Draco. You just postponed my execution."

She stood up. Her legs were shaking.. Her gaze was steady. She looked around at the luxury the glass and the blood-stained marble. "Skyler was about one thing. You like to own things.. I am not a dance studio. I am not a trophy.. I am certainly not yours."

Draco stood with her. His presence was towering.. His expression was soft. "You are free to leave Rose. The shutters will open in ten minutes. I've put five million dollars in an account in your name. You can go to London. You can dance. You can forget I ever existed."

Rose stared at him. She was stunned. "Just like that? After everything you did to keep me here?"

"I wanted you to choose me " Draco said. His voice dropped to a whisper. "I thought if I gave you the world you wouldn't care who bought it. I was wrong. I'm a monster, Rose. I've spent my life learning how to destroy. I thought I could learn how to love by force.. You can't force a swan to sing."

He turned away from her. He walked toward the glass wall. The shutters were beginning to open. They revealed the dawn of Neo-Verona.

Rose watched his back. She saw the way his hand trembled as he reached for a glass of water. She saw the man, behind the Don.

She looked at the elevator. The path was clear. She could go. She could have the life she always dreamed of.

As she walked toward the door she saw something on the floor near the elevator. It was a notebook with a leather cover that had fallen out of Skyler’s pocket during the struggle.

She picked it up because she was curious or maybe she still felt a sense of doom.

She opened it to the page. There was a photo stuck to the inside—a photo of her father. He wasn't alone. He was standing with a man she didn't know. The man looked a lot like someone else.

Under the photo in Skyler’s frantic writing were the words: *' The Maxwell Secret. It wasn't about the debt. It was about the family line. Draco doesn't know who she really is. If he finds out he won't protect her. He'll have to be the one to kill her.'*

Rose’s heart stopped beating. She looked at Draco, who was still staring out at the city not noticing the book in her hand.

"Draco?" she whispered.

Before he could turn around the doors to the penthouse didn't just open; they were blown off their hinges.

A new group of people burst into the room—not the Morenos, not the Vanes. They wore the insignia of the *Internal Affairs Commission** of the Syndicate. The High Council.

The man leading them a man with gray hair and hard eyes looked at Rose then at Draco.

"Draco Zuckerberg " the man said, his voice sounding important and powerful. "You are under arrest for treason against the Council.. As for the girl..."

He smiled, a slow and scary expression.

"...we’ve been looking for the Maxwell heir for a long time. Bring her. The Council has a use for the daughter of a King."

Draco didn't move toward the men. He moved toward Rose.. This time Rose didn't back away. She looked at the notebook at the Council and finally at Draco.

"Run " Draco whispered.

Rose didn't run. She stepped forward with the notebook hidden in her dress and looked the High Councilman, in the eye. "I’m not going anywhere. I think it’s time we talked about what my father left me.”