Chapter 24 - Blood and Betrayal
The warehouse turned into a killing field. I vaulted over a crate, my rounds striking the metal shelving, sending sparks showering down like dying stars. Marcus was good, better than I expected, but he fought with the arrogance of a man who thought he had already won.
"You think you’re protecting that boy?" Marcus yelled over the gunfire. "You’re just delaying the inevitable! The Serpent requires the bloodline to complete the cycle!"
"He is not a cycle!" I screamed, firing blindly to pin him down.
I checked my magazine. Two rounds left. I needed to move. I grabbed a flare from my utility belt and tossed it toward the far corner of the room. As it flared into a blinding red light, Marcus shifted his aim, distracted by the sudden brightness.
I lunged, not away, but directly toward him.
We collided, crashing into a stack of shipping pallets. He recovered quickly, driving his fist into my ribs, knocking the wind out of me. I gasped, swinging my pistol as a club, catching him on the temple. He stumbled back, disoriented.
I didn't give him a chance to recover. I pinned him against the cold steel of the warehouse wall, my forearm against his throat.
"Who gave the order?" I demanded, my voice a jagged edge.
"You... you’ll never stop them," he choked out, his eyes glazing over. "They are... everywhere."
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He went limp. He wasn't dead, just unconscious, but he was useless to me now. I stepped back, my chest heaving, the weight of the betrayal crushing.
"Arthur," I panted into the mic. "Extract me. Now."
