Chapter 13 - The Broken Vow
The revelation hit Nikolai harder than any bullet ever could. The memories of Sofia’s mother, Elena senior—a woman who had died in a private clinic surrounded by secrecy—flashed through his mind with agonizing clarity. He had sworn an oath on her deathbed to sever the child from the Rostov family's cursed heritage, to keep her far from the butchery that had defined their ancestors.
Sofia looked up at her father, sensing the terrifying shift in the air. ""Daddy? Who is that man?""
Nikolai pulled her tighter against his side, despite the fiery pain lancing through his punctured lung. ""He is nobody, Sofia. Don't look at him.""
Dominic stepped closer, his face hardening into an expression of ruthless authority. ""Hand her over, Nikolai. You are dying on this deck. Even your medics cannot keep you from bleeding out within the hour. Let her walk with her grandfather, and I will let your loyal men carry your corpse home with honors.""
Nikolai let out a low, ragged chuckle that ended in a cough of dark blood. He looked up at the old man, his dark eyes burning with an unyielding defiance that defied mortality. ""My father was right about you, Dominic. You talk too much before you strike.""
With a sudden, violent movement, Nikolai reached beneath his tactical vest and pulled a small, heavy black cylinder from his belt. It was an emergency military-grade magnesium flare.
Before Dominic’s snipers could react, Nikolai struck the ignition cap against the steel console.
A blinding, two-thousand-degree white inferno erupted instantly between them.
The intense light and deafening hiss threw the entire bridge into total sensory overload. Dominic recoiled, shielding his good eye with his heavy coat sleeve, crying out in pain as the intense heat scorched the air. The laser sights dancing on Mikhail vanished as the snipers outside were instantly flash-blinded by the sudden flare of celestial brilliance.
""Mikhail! Take her down the hatch! Move!"" Nikolai roared, the surge of adrenaline propelling him to his feet despite the hole in his chest.
Mikhail didn't hesitate. He scooped Sofia into his arms and dove down the open emergency hatch leading to the freighter's engine room, sealing the dog latch from below.
Dominic lowered his sleeve, his face twisted in fury as the flare sputtered violently on the deck. ""Kill him!"" he bellowed. ""Kill the monster where he stands!""
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Gunfire erupted from the catwalk windows, glass showering Nikolai as he threw himself over the helm. Two bullets tore into his shoulder, another grazing his ribcage, but the Don did not slow down. He grabbed a heavy iron fire ax mounted on the bulkhead wall.
If he was going to die on this ship, he would turn it into a pyre that would consume every ghost from his past.
