Chapter 9 - The Price of Survival
Julian swung his firearm up and emptied the remaining four rounds into the center of the cracked glass. The bullets weakened the tempered core. Lowering his shoulder, Julian slammed his entire body weight into the fractured barrier.
With an explosive shower of glass, the door gave way. Julian tumbled out onto the wet grass of the private gardens, clutching Lily tight against his chest. Behind them, the entire glass roof of the solarium caved in, sending a geyser of sparks and roaring flames fifty feet into the night sky.
They rolled onto the manicured lawn, the rain beginning to fall in cold, heavy droplets. Lily was coughing, shivering violently, but she was alive and unbroken.
""Julian!""
Julian looked up through the rain. Sofia was running across the lawn toward them, limping heavily and clutching an umbrella. Behind her, police sirens wailed in the distance, their red and blue lights flashing against the trees lining the estate's grand driveway.
""You got her,"" Sofia cried, sinking to her knees beside them and pulling Lily into an embrace. ""Thank God, you got her.""
""Marcus is down in the cellar,"" Julian said, his voice hoarse from the smoke. ""And Caldwell... Caldwell is dead in the foyer.""
""And Victoria?"" Sofia asked, her voice trembling.
Julian turned his gaze back toward the front of the blazing mansion. The main entry doors stood open, smoke billowing outward into the night. But through the haze, the foyer was empty.
Caldwell’s body still lay on the marble steps, but Victoria was gone. The brass cylinder—the key to the subterranean archive—was nowhere to be seen on the wet stone driveway.
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Julian felt a chill run down his spine that had nothing to do with the freezing rain. ""She escaped.""
Before Sofia could speak, an unmarked black SUV roared past the distant security gates, tires screaming against the asphalt as it tore away into the mountain roads.
