Chapter 5 - The Brotherhood of Ash
The gunshot echoed in Julian's ear long after the call ended. Silence fell back over the subterranean tunnel, broken only by the rhythmic dripping of water and Maya’s tiny, ragged breaths.
""Lucas?"" Julian whispered into the dead air.
Lucas Vance was his older brother, the golden boy who was supposed to have perished in a yachting accident off the coast of Monaco six years ago. His death had broken the family, leaving Julian as the sole heir to Catherine's empire. If Lucas was alive, the entire trajectory of the Vance dynasty was an elaborate fiction constructed by their mother.
""Dad?"" Leo asked softly, using the word for the second time. It struck Julian’s chest like an electric current. ""Was that Mom?""
Julian knelt slowly. He lowered the phone, looking at Leo's strained face in the dim illumination of the screen. He could not lie to the child. ""Yes. She is alive. And we are going to get her.""
""She said you wouldn't come,"" Leo whispered, looking down at his worn sneakers. ""She said you were getting married today, and that you had a new life. She told me if you hesitated, I should give you this.""
Leo reached into his pocket and produced a small silver pocket watch. Julian recognized it immediately. It had belonged to his grandfather, engraved with the motto Fidelis usque ad mortem—Faithful unto death. Julian had given it to Elena the night he asked her to run away with him, years before the world poisoned their bond.
Julian took the watch. The metal was warm from the boy's body. He closed his fingers around it, the sharp edges pressing into his palm until the pain anchored his swirling thoughts.
""I am never leaving you again,"" Julian said, his voice hard, forged in a sudden clarity he had lacked for seven years. ""Neither of you. Come.""
He led them through the remaining half-mile of drainage tunnels until they reached an access ladder beneath an abandoned textile warehouse near the industrial canal. He pushed the rusted manhole cover aside, climbed out first, scanned the rain-slicked alleyway, and lifted the children into the open air.
The city of Oakhaven was gray, veiled under a cold, relentless drizzle. The sirens from the cathedral were faintly audible in the distance, but the harbor lay in the opposite direction.
Julian had no car, no wallet, and his face would soon be plastered across every media outlet as the billionaire groom who vanished during an armed assault.
He led the children toward an old mechanic's garage at the corner of the block. Above the rusted corrugated gate hung a faded sign: Miller’s Auto Repair.
Julian banged three times on the steel side door, paused, and banged twice more.
May you like
A peephole slid open. A grizzled face with a thick gray beard appeared behind the grate. The man’s eyes widened. ""Julian? What in the hell is happening? The news says there's a terror attack at St. Jude's.""
""Marcus, open the door,"" Julian said quietly. ""My family is hunting my children. And I need a weapon.""
