Chapter 13 - The Awakening
Julian laughed nervously, taking a step back toward the black altar. "You think because your mother gave you her blood, you can control me? You are a child!"
Julian raised his revolver again, but Grace moved faster than the human eye could process. She crossed the fifteen feet of stone stairs in a split second, sliding low under his aim. She struck Julian’s knee with a sweeping palm strike, the impact cracking his kneecap with a sickening pop.
Julian screamed, tumbling to the floor and dropping his gun.
He scrambled to reach the chalice of Lily’s blood, but Dante was already there.
Dante grabbed Julian by the collar of his tailored suit, lifting him off the floor with one arm and slamming him viciously against the black stone altar. Dante’s shotgun was pressed under Julian’s chin, the cold steel biting into his flesh.
"Wait... Dante, wait!" Julian pleaded, his regal arrogance evaporating into pathetic terror. "If you kill me, the Covenant will hunt those girls to the ends of the earth! I'm the only one who can call off the hounds! I can give you peace!"
"You took my daughter's blood," Dante whispered, his voice trembling with a quiet, lethal fury. "There is no peace in this life."
Dante pulled the trigger.
The blast echoed through the hollow chapel like the hammer of god. Julian’s body went limp, sliding off the altar and falling into the pool of his own dark blood on the cold flagstones.
Dante dropped the empty shotgun, frantically ripping the IV line out of Lily’s arm. He scooped his youngest daughter into his arms, pressing his ear to her chest.
A faint, rapid heartbeat drummed against his cheek. Lily was alive.
"Lily... baby, wake up," Dante choked out, tears finally breaking through his hard exterior.
Lily opened her eyes, blinking weakly at the candlelight. "Daddy? Where's my bear?"
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"I have it, baby. I have it," Dante sobbed, hugging her tight.
Then he looked over the edge of the altar. Grace was kneeling beside Elena, holding the maid’s dying hand.
