Izzy POV
Panic didn't just set in; it crashed over him. Not for me, but for Austen. The sight of the blood-the sheer, horrifying volume of it-had finally shattered his delusion.
"Open the door!" he screamed, his voice cracking. "Get her out!"
He rushed to the heavy steel door of the freezer, slamming his shoulder against it. He grabbed the handle and yanked, but it held fast. Locked. The Enforcers had sealed it from the outside to contain the 'accident.'
"The key! Where is the damn key?" Austen shouted, frantically patting his pockets.
One of his friends, a drunk associate swaying on his feet, fumbled in his jacket.
"I have it," he slurred.
He tossed a small silver key toward Austen.
But Austen's hands were trembling too violently. He missed the catch. The key skittered across the concrete floor, spinning to a halt at Deb's feet.
Deb looked down at the key. Then, her gaze lifted to the blood pooling inside the freezer. She looked at me, lying motionless on the ice.
A calculation flashed behind her eyes. She knew if I survived this, if the baby survived, her place as the queen was gone. I would be the martyr; she would be the memory.
She bent down, her movement fluid and predatory, and picked up the key.
"Here, let me help," she purred.
She walked to the door. She inserted the key into the lock. She turned it.
There was a sharp, sickening snap.
"Oops," she said, her voice terrifyingly flat.
She pulled her hand back. She held the head of the key. The rest of it was broken off, jammed deep inside the mechanism.
Austen stared at the broken metal in her hand. His eyes widened in horror.
"What did you do?" he whispered.
"It slipped," Deb said, shrugging effortlessly. "It was an old key, Austen."
Austen shoved her aside and grabbed the door handle, rattling it violently. It didn't budge. He pounded his fists against the steel until his knuckles turned white.
"No!" he screamed. He ran back to the glass partition.
"Izzy! Izzy, wake up!"
I could hear him. He sounded miles away, distorted, as if he were underwater. I couldn't move. I couldn't feel my legs anymore. I lay in the crimson slush, watching his world unravel.
"Break the glass!" Austen yelled at the crowd, spit flying from his lips. "Someone break the glass!"
The Enforcers looked at each other, shifting uncomfortably. The glass was reinforced, bulletproof. It was designed to contain industrial disasters, not yield to human desperation.
"It won't break, Boss," one of them muttered.
"Call security! Call someone!" Austen was unraveling completely. He banged his fists against the glass, pressing his face against the cold surface.
"Izzy, I am sorry. I didn't mean for this. Wake up! Tell me you forgive me!"
Deb walked up behind him. She placed a hand on his shoulder, a gesture of mock comfort.
"Austen, stop," she said soothingly. "It is over. She is gone. It is better this way. No loose ends."
He spun on her, wild-eyed. "Shut up! This is your fault!"
"Is it?" Deb raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow. "You gave the order, Austen. You told them to pour the water."
Austen looked back at me, devastated.
I forced my heavy eyelids open one last time. I locked eyes with him through the glass. I didn't have the strength to speak, but I mouthed the words, letting him read the shape of his doom.
He is coming.
"Who?" Austen yelled, leaning closer. "Who is coming?"
Deb laughed, a cruel, tinkling sound. "No one is coming, you idiot. Her father is dead."
And then, the world exploded.
The massive outer doors of the warehouse didn't just open; they blew inward with a deafening boom. Metal twisted like paper, and shrapnel sliced through the air. Thick smoke billowed into the room, choking the light.
Through the haze, a squad of men in black tactical gear poured in. They moved like shadows-swift, silent, lethal. Gunfire erupted in short, controlled bursts, dropping Austen's security detail before they could even reach for their holsters.
Austen froze. He looked at the ruined door, his face a mask of absolute confusion.
And then, through the swirling smoke, a figure emerged.
He walked slowly, leaning heavily on a cane, but his presence filled the room like a gathering storm.
Ezra Vancini.
He wasn't dead. He was very, very alive. And he looked like the devil himself, come to collect a blood debt.
Austen backed up until he hit the glass wall of my tomb, trapped between the ice and the fire.
"Daddy," I whispered into the cold silence.
My eyes fluttered shut. The last thing I heard was the rhythmic tap of my father's cane striking the floor, followed by the scream of a man who knew he was already dead.
