Chapter 10 - Shattered Glass
The bullet tore through the wooden radio console, sending sparks and fragments flying. Julian lunged forward, tackling Victoria through the shattered window frame out onto the narrow, wind-swept balcony.
The drop below was a terrifying seventy feet into jagged black pines and jagged boulders.
Victoria fought with demonic fury, clawing at Julian’s eyes with her diamond rings, her heels slipping on the icy metal grating. ""You think you can take her from me?"" she screamed, spitting blood onto the frost. ""I spent eight million dollars keeping Olivia Vance sick and hidden! She was supposed to die in that clinic last week!""
Julian seized her wrist, twisting the gun away and sending it spinning into the darkness below. ""You poisoned her?""
Victoria sneered, her mask completely gone, revealing the sociopathic void beneath. ""A little thallium in her asthma inhaler. Slow. Invisible. Untraceable. Just enough to leave the child orphaned so I could legally adopt her!""
Behind them, the hatch on the floor began to shudder under heavy sledgehammer blows. Victoria's mercenaries were breaking through the lower barrier.
""You're insane,"" Julian breathed, horrified beyond measure.
""I am a Hale!"" she snarled, trying to shove Julian off the railing. ""We take what is ours!""
Julian parried her blow, pinning her against the safety rail. But before he could secure her, a massive gust of wind struck the tower, shaking the iron frame. Victoria lost her footing on the slick metal rungs. She slipped, her hands desperately clawing at Julian’s coat lapels.
""Julian! Catch me!"" she shrieked, her legs dangling over the precipice.
Julian gripped her wrists with both hands, his muscles screaming under the strain. For a second, he saw the terrified woman beneath the monstrous greed. But as he pulled, Victoria’s eyes flicked to the knife concealed in her coat pocket. She drew it, slicing straight across Julian’s forearm to force him to drop her so she could pull him over the edge with her.
Pain lanced through Julian’s arm. His fingers slipped.
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Victoria let out a single, piercing cry as she peeled away from the railing, plummeting through the storm into the swallowing blackness of the ravine below.
Julian collapsed onto the frozen metal floor, clutching his bleeding arm, just as the trapdoor inside burst open with a deafening crash.
