Chapter 14 - Ash and Dawn
The morning sun broke over the horizon, painting the skyline in bleak hues of industrial gray and pale amber. Dominic stood on the rooftop of an unfinished high-rise overlooking the harbor. Below, emergency fireboats were still spraying plumes of foam onto the smoldering remains of his warehouses, but the blaze was finally contained.
His phone buzzed. He answered.
"The girl is stable," Dr. Evans reported, his voice raspy from exhaustion. "We transfused four units of blood. The wound is clean, and the fever has broken. She will make a full recovery, Dominic. She is currently under twenty-four-hour guard at the clinic."
"Good," Dominic said. "Provide her with a clean passport, fifty thousand dollars in cash, and a train ticket heading west. When she wakes up, tell her she is free."
"And you?" Evans asked hesitantly. "The streets are in chaos. With Sterling dead and the Council fractured, every small crew in the five districts is trying to carve out a piece of the territory."
"Let them try," Dominic said, hanging up.
He heard the heavy, uneven thud of boots climbing the metal stairs behind him. Dominic turned slowly, his hand resting near his holster, but stopped when he saw the towering silhouette emerging onto the gravel roof.
Viktor stood there, his face covered in soot, dried blood caked across his torso where a makeshift pressure bandage was wrapped tightly beneath his torn tactical vest. He was leaning heavily against the iron doorframe, breathing hard, but his eyes were alive with quiet, unbroken loyalty.
"You took your time," Dominic said, a faint, rare trace of a smile touching the corner of his mouth.
Viktor spat a mouthful of blood onto the gravel and walked forward with a heavy limp. "The sewer collapsed early. Dug my way through the auxiliary line into the subway. Took me an hour to find a working vehicle."
"Sterling is dead," Dominic told him.
May you like
Viktor nodded slowly, looking out over the burning harbor. "The Council is already convening an emergency session at the Grand Plaza. They think you are dead, boss. They think the city is empty."
Dominic turned back toward the rising sun, the cold wind whipping his black overcoat around his frame. "Then we shouldn't keep them waiting."
