SHADOWS OF THE LOST HEIR

The violent impact threw Elena against the reinforced door, the seatbelt locking painfully across her chest. Titan braced his massive paws against the floorboards, snarling viciously as the screech of grinding metal pierced the rain-drenched night.

"Hold on!" Marcus shouted, fighting the steering wheel as the SUV skidded sideways across the wet asphalt.

The second chase vehicle pulled up alongside them, its tinted passenger window rolling down rapidly. Elena caught a glimpse of a masked operative leveling a tactical shotgun directly at their glass.

"Down!" Julian roared.

Elena dove toward the floorboards, wrapping her arms around Titan's neck. A deafening blast shattered the outer layer of the reinforced ballistic glass, spider-webbing the window with white fractures but holding the heavy pellets at bay.

Julian didn't hesitate. Lowering his own window two inches, he aimed his sidearm and squeezed the trigger three times in rapid, ruthless succession. The pursuer's front tire blew out with a violent pop. The sedan lost control instantly, spinning across the highway, striking the guardrail, and cartwheeling into the abyss toward the crashing waves hundreds of feet below.

"One down!" Marcus yelled. "The second one is trying to pit us!"

The remaining sedan slammed into their rear quarter-panel again, trying to force them off the road into the jagged rock face of the mountain. The impact blew out their rear right tire. Marcus wrestled the shuddering steering wheel, but the vehicle was losing momentum, spinning wildly toward an abandoned highway weigh-station ahead.

"Brace for impact!"

The SUV plowed through the rusted chain-link fence of the weigh-station, spinning 180 degrees before coming to a violent, jarring stop against an overturned freight container. The engine died in a hiss of steam and ruptured radiator fluid.

For a heartbeat, there was only the sound of heavy breathing and rain lashing against the crumpled hood.

"Elena, are you hit?" Julian asked, his voice razor-sharp as he checked his tactical vest.

"I'm—I'm okay," she gasped, her hands shaking as she pulled herself upright. Titan was already standing over her, every muscle rigid, his bared teeth gleaming in the red ambient glow of the dashboard lights.

Through the rain, the headlights of the second chase vehicle illuminated the weigh-station yard. The car parked fifty yards away, completely blocking the exit. Four men in combat gear stepped out into the downpour, their rifles raised, moving in a practiced tactical sweep toward the wreckage.

Julian reached into the glove compartment, pulled out a second handgun, and pressed it firmly into Elena’s hands.

"Sixteen rounds," Julian said, looking directly into her eyes. "Keep the safety off. Arthur taught you how to shoot at the range in Valetta, didn't he?"

Elena looked down at the cold, heavy steel in her grip. "Target practice isn't the same as killing a man, Julian."

"If they get past me and Marcus, you don't aim for targets," Julian said, his voice entirely devoid of hesitation. "You aim for survival."

He kicked open the damaged door into the torrential storm. Before Elena could move, a deep growl echoed through the car. Titan was staring at the shattered rear window.

Beyond the four gunmen, a fifth figure stepped out from the shadows of the rusted shipping containers. He was tall, dressed in an immaculate charcoal overcoat, holding a silver umbrella.