The taste of blood lingered on my tongue-iron-rich, bitter, and fucking alive. I didn’t remember whose it was. Didn’t care. All I knew was that someone dared to touch my family, and the walls were screaming with the price they’d pay for it. They’d fucking pay for breathing wrong.
My knuckles were raw, split open from the force of punches I threw, but I didn’t stop. Not when the metallic heat of blood splattered across my face. Not when bone shattered beneath my fists like brittle glass.
More than dozens of bastards dared to step on my fucking territory.
I didn’t feel pain. Not the cuts, not the burns, not even the ache in my chest. The pain was for the weak. I was something else. Something feral. Something entirely fucking monstrous.
I had to get to Zayne before any of them could touch him. I just hoped Mother would get Krystina and my little bird out safely. But something was wrong. I could feel it in my fucking bones. This attack was too timely to be a damn coincidence. It was planned. Meticulously strategic.
Lucius knew when I’d find the bug. When I’d comfort her he took that minute second when I felt like she betrayed me to strike at my vulnerable moment.
I could still see her face in my mind-confused, betrayed, and goddamn scared. She wasn’t supposed to look at me like that. Not her. I knew I was an asshole for even thinking she’d ever do this to me, but… the possibility that she had… was too much even for a monster like me.
But I acted on instinct, didn’t I? I snapped. The second I saw that goddamn bug, I didn’t think, I just reacted. Because that’s what I was-a weapon without hesitation, built to cut first and figure out the rest when the bodies stopped moving.
I had no time for guilt. Guilt was a distraction. Guilt was for men, and I wasn’t a fucking man tonight. I was a storm-a methodical, violent one.
I needed to see my ptichka. I needed to wipe those tears and kiss her trembling lips. Fuck, I needed to breathe here, or else I didn’t know how I’d survive this gut-wrenching pain in my chest.
Lucius. That name rotted in my mind like a corpse. I pictured his face, his smug grin, his fucking arrogance. He was behind this. I’d staked my life on it. And when I got my hands on him, I wouldn’t kill him quickly. No.
Quick deaths were mercies for men like him. Lucius didn’t deserve that. I’d make sure every second of his miserable existence dragged into eternity before he begged me to end it.
But first-I had to make sure she was safe.
“Get out of here, Judas!” I heard Dad’s voice somewhere from the stairs where he was shooting at the men.
“Get Zayne out first!” I shouted back slamming the empty barrel of the gun against the jaw of the bastard who lunged at me. Dad cursed in German and I knew he wouldn’t leave without me. Not him and neither the brooding man killing men with his eyes alone.
Alexei Volkov was killing men and leading his. His ways always amused me. How could a man so violent like him could be so calm? At least, I was not the calm one, I preferred tearing through limbs rather than finishing them with bullets.
“The west wing was blasted!”
One of the guard’s screams rang through the chaos, cutting through the haze. I twisted toward him the voice, my body moving on instinct. I found him struggling, blood streaking his face as he drove a dagger into a man’s stomach. The poor fucker didn’t even get a chance to cry out before he crumpled.
What was he doing here? He was supposed to be with Father, getting Krystina, mother and my little bird safe. If he was here, that only meant one thing.
“Get the fuck down, Alexei!” Dad’s voice boomed as he covered Father’s with his without hesitation and pulled him behind the pillar. My bloodshot eyes quickly raked over him checking for any injuries, when I made sure he had none, I shot two motherfuckers in their faces and stormed towards the guard.
“Where the fuck is she?” I snarled as soon as I got to him.
His wild eyes locked onto mine and he swallowed hard. “They took them!”
The room shifted under my feet and the weight of those words pulled me under like quicksand.
“They what?”
“They took them! They have your sister and Ms Rosewood, but-”
His words broke off, but I didn’t need him to finish. I was already moving.
The hallway blurred as I sprinted toward the hallway in the west wing, my pulse hammering in my ears. I heard Alexei and Dad following me.
The smell of smoke and iron invaded my senses as I stumbled toward the scorched hallway. My heart pounded like a drum. The shadows clawed at the edges of my vision as I finally found her-
Mother.
Her lifeless form lay crumpled on the cold ground, her hair fanned out, streaked with ash and blood. Her dress was torn, her skin marred with bruises and scratches, and for a moment, my world went fucking still. Time stopped.
I dropped to my knees beside her, my hands trembling as I reached for her face. “Mother…” My voice cracked. “Mother, wake up.”
She didn’t move. Her chest didn’t rise. My vision blurred, but I didn’t let the tears fall. No. Not yet.
“Dad!” I screamed, my voice a feral roar that echoed through the ruins.
Heavy footsteps thundered behind me, and I barely registered their voices as they came rushing in.
“Fuck,” Alexei cursed, his voice shaking as he dropped his weapon and fell to his knees beside her. “No, no, no. Rara. , wake up.”
He was frantic, his hands hovering over her, unsure where to touch, afraid to hurt her further. His face twisted in anguish, his usual arrogant, sharp demeanour shattered.
Dad was no better. He froze for a split second, his sharp eyes scanning her injuries before pure, unrestrained rage overtook him. “What the fuck did they do to her?” he growled, his fists clenching so hard I thought his knuckles might split.
“They’ll pay,” he spat. “I’ll kill them all. Every last one of those motherfuckers.”
But even as he spoke, I could see his soul faltering when he dropped beside her, his hand gently brushing a bloodied strand of hair from her face. His lips trembled as he whispered her name, his usual playful composure completely fractured.
“We need to move her,” Alexei said suddenly, snapping out of his shock. His voice was rough, his tone like sandpaper, but there was a desperate edge to it. “Now.”
He scooped her up in his arms, careful but quick, his bloodied sleeve staining her dress as he cradled her close. His jaw clenched as he stood, his broad shoulders heaving with the weight of his emotions.
“Judas, snap the fuck out of it!” Killian barked. “We need to get her out of here before they come back.”
But I couldn’t move. My hands were still frozen in mid-air where they’d hovered over her, shaking uncontrollably. My breathing was ragged, my chest constricting as a wave of guilt and panic hit me like a freight train.
This was my fault. She was hurt because of me. Because I’d let my guard down. Because I’d been too fucking stupid to see the trap for what it was.
I was supposed to protect her. I was supposed to keep her safe. And now, she was dying in front of me.
“Judas!” Alexei’s voice snapped me back. “Move!”
I stumbled to my feet, every muscle in my body screaming for action. My mind raced, alternating between raw, animalistic rage and the crushing weight of helplessness.
“Lucius did this,” I growled, my voice low and venomous as I followed them down the hall. “He’s dead. I’ll rip him apart with my bare fucking hands.”
“I don’t care who did it,” Killian hissed, his voice colder than I’d ever heard it. “I just want them buried. Slowly.”
I glanced at Alexei, who carried her like she was the most fragile thing in the world, his jaw set so tight it looked like it might shatter. Blood was dripping down his arm, but he didn’t seem to notice or care.
“Don’t you fucking die on us, Rara,” he muttered under his breath. “You hear me? You don’t fucking die.”
We burst out into the courtyard, and I couldn’t focus on anything but the reality. Her pale face, her lifeless body. My heart was a violent storm in my chest because of how close I was to losing everything. Seraphina and Krystina were kidnapped. My fucking mother was on the verge of dying. And I didn’t know where my biological father was. And Zayne. Fuck.
Alexei barked orders to the guards. Killian hovered close, his eyes scanning the surroundings like a predator ready to strike.
And me? I was falling apart. I’d never admit it out loud, but every fucking second that passed felt like a dagger twisting in my chest.
“She’s not dead,” I muttered, as if saying it out loud would make it true. “She’s not fucking dead.”
Alexei shot me a glare, his eyes blazing with a mix of anger and grief. “She won’t be if you pull yourself together and help us!”
I clenched my fists, my nails biting into my palms as I forced myself to focus. This wasn’t over. This couldn’t be over. Whoever did this was going to pay, but first, I had to make sure she lived.
Because if I lost her, there wouldn’t be a world left to burn.