Chapter 5 - The Price of Silence
"Put the pipe down, Julian," Evelyn said evenly, stepping over the threshold into the ruined pharmacy. She didn't seem bothered by the spilled chemicals or the blood. Her cold composure had returned, ironclad and impenetrable. "Or he drops her head-first onto the concrete."
Julian’s muscles locked. The air left his lungs in a sickening rush. Slowly, agonizingly, he opened his hands. The iron pipe clattered onto the bricks.
"Let her go, Mother," Julian choked out, raising both bloody hands in surrender. "She's a child. Your own granddaughter. She carries your blood."
"She carries Clara's blood," Evelyn corrected with ice in her tone. "Clara was a common nobody who thought she could investigate my foundation. She poked her nose into bank transfers that funded this entire dynasty. She thought she was a righteous crusader. In the end, she was just fragile."
Dr. Finch coughed violently, crawling away on his knees and clutching his bruised throat. "He... he has the recorder, Evelyn. The child had Clara’s dictaphone."
Evelyn’s eyes narrowed, shifting toward Lily. The guard shook Lily roughly. The tiny girl cried out, tears streaming down her pale cheeks, but her hands stayed clamped around her ragged doll.
"Take it from her," Evelyn commanded.
The guard reached for the doll, but Lily suddenly sank her teeth deep into the guard’s thumb. The man cursed loudly, his grip slipping as he instinctively pulled back.
"Run, Lily!" Julian screamed.
Julian didn't hesitate. He launched himself forward, throwing his entire weight at the second guard who was raising his sidearm. They slammed against the stone wall, Julian driving his elbow repeatedly into the man's temple.
Lily hit the floor and scrambled beneath the heavy wooden workbenches, vanishing into the maze of wine cellars behind them.
"Kill him!" Evelyn shrieked, backing out into the hallway. "Kill him now!"
The guard Julian had pinned managed to bring his knee up into Julian's stomach, knocking the breath from his lungs. Julian staggered back, colliding with the table where the pool of lighter fluid lay near the overturned metal wastebasket.
Dr. Finch, desperate to save his own skin, scrambled toward the doorway, still holding his lit lighter. Julian saw the spark. He didn't try to stop it.
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Julian grabbed the bottle of pure ethanol from the counter and hurled it directly into the flame.
A massive wall of orange fire erupted with a deafening whoosh, throwing Julian backward into the darkness of the lower cellar as the doorway exploded in blinding heat and smoke.
