Lahat ng Kabanata ng THE KILLER THAT CLAIMED ME: Kabanata 71 - Kabanata 78

The heavy mahogany desk in my private monitoring room was buried under layers of internal personnel files, biometric access histories, and the handwritten security schedules`. I sat perfectly still, my arms crossed over my chest, my dark eyes fixed entirely on the man standing across the room. Nathaniel stood at perfect military attention, his jaw tightly set, his black tactical uniform immaculate. He didn't look at the files on my desk, and he didn't look at the live security feeds rotating behind my head. He looked like an iron statue, a perfect instrument of the Valak empire but the raw, bleeding exhaustion behind his eyes told a completely different story. "You've reviewed the technical data from the northern border wiretap, Nathaniel?" I asked, my voice completely level. "I have, Uncle," Nathaniel responded, his delivery professional, and completely deadpan. I stood up slowly, my massive frame casting a long, intimidating shadow over the glass table. I stepp

My boots slammed against the cold marble floor of the subterranean corridor, each impact sending a jarring shockwave straight up my spine. The freezing air of the server vault was a distant memory, replaced by the hot, suffocating rush of pure adrenaline. I didn't stop to use the internal comms; the security of the primary network lines was fundamentally compromised, a radio transmission would broadcast my findings to the snake. I tore through the double oak doors leading into the executive wing, my sidearm rattling against its tactical holster. "Out of the way!" I barked at the two vanguard sentries guarding the master study, throwing my shoulder directly into the heavy brass plates of the door. The door burst open with a violent crash. Bane was standing behind his mahogany desk, a tactical layout of the valley checkpoints spread before him. He snapped his head up, his dark eyes instantly flashing with a lethal, predatory irritation at my unannounced breach. "Natha

The iron foundations of my estate rattled as a massive explosion ripped through the outer northern gates. The night sky, once a deep midnight purple, blew apart into a violent wall of orange flame and cascading stone debris. Sirens wailed a deafening, rhythmic scream across the valley, their crimson emergency lights painting the smoke-filled corridors in the color of fresh blood.The moment that I had been silently dreading for so long had finally arrived.My domain was under attack. They had finally come. Victor and Roman had launched a full-on assault on my estate, throwing their vanguard strike squads directly at my perimeter. And my sister had been the one to throw open the front gate for them.She was also with Amaya.I had to find them both before they can get to Victor and Roman.My enemies had come but they weren't marching into an easy ambush. They were met with total resistance from my soldiers.Every single machine-gun nest along the ramparts opened fire simultaneous

The world was spinning in a fractured blur of crimson strobe lights and deafening explosions. The image of the young vanguard captain falling to the floor, his chest torn apart by automatic fire, was permanently branded into my mind. He had done his best to save my life and lost his in the process. I would never forgive Regina for doing that to him. That was the last thing that he deserved. I couldn't breathe. My throat burned with the thick, toxic taste of spent gunpowder, ash, and the metallic tang of blood. My side still hurt with every move after Regina had hit me with her knee and pinned me to the ground like some animal. Every instinct screamed at me to curl into a ball and hide among the shattered remnants of the limestone pillars. I should have but the frantic sound of the sirens drove my feet forward. I had to get to him. I had to find Bane. If I found Bane, he would make sure that I was safe. I tore through the smoke-choked arches of the lower gallery, my