"Take him out."
The guards dragged Augustin out like he was trash. Seraphina didn't even bother to look at him.
"Please—Seraphina—" His voice stopped when the door slammed.
She just stood there fixing her dress, looking really bored like she was in a meeting that was taking too long.
"You're a psychopath," I said.
My voice shook. I didn't care. I wanted her to hear it.
"You killed your best friend for money. You killed her because you couldn't handle defeat. You killed an entire family because you couldn't stand losing. That's pathetic. You are pathetic."
She tilted her head. Staring at me like I was a bug making noise.
"Your face reminds me of Elena whenever she's cornered," she said. "It's annoying."
She walked closer, her heels clicking on the floor loudly. I couldn't move. My legs just stopped working.
She stopped a few feet away. I could smell her perfume, the one that used to make me feel safe when I was stupid enough to trust her daughter.
"I really don't understand why you didn't stay dead like your brother," she said as if it was no big deal. "That would have saved everyone a lot of trouble."
Those words hit me hard. My twin brother, Adrien. She knew. She always knew. She was already looking at her watch. An impatient sigh escaped her lips.
"Time's up."
She glanced at the guards.
"I'm tired of looking at her face. It reminds me of a mistake I should have fixed fifteen years ago."
Her eyes came back to me.
"Tie her down. Make it look like a suicide. A panicked one." She shrugged. "She's had enough trauma to justify it."
The guards moved immediately. I ran towards the door. A strong hand grabbed my hair, yanking me backward so hard that my teeth clacked together. I had not even taken three steps. The chair screeched against the floor. Pain exploded across my scalp. I screamed, saying words I didn't even understand.
"No! Let go of me!"
I scratched the guard's arm. My nails dug into his skin. He didn't even flinch. Another hand grabbed my wrist. He snapped zip-ties around my wrist. He pulled the plastic so tight that it burned into my skin.
I threw my legs violently, jerking my body to free myself from his tight grip. My heels hit something hard. The guy cursed under his breath. His grip got tighter.
"Hold her still."
My heart was beating so fast that I thought it might stop. My vision got blurry as tears began to form in my eyes.
I don't want to die like this. Not here. Not now.
The door slammed open. Everyone froze.
Dmitri stood in the doorway. His jacket was torn at the shoulder. Blood stained his knuckles. One sleeve was ripped open to the elbow. He looked like he'd walked through something horrible to get here.
His breathing was steady. His eyes—
God. His eyes.
I'd seen him angry before. I'd seen him cold and dangerous. But this was different. This was something I had never seen before.
He looked at the guards holding me. The room got colder. The guard behind me let go of my hair. Lunged at Dmitri.
Dmitri stepped forward. He caught the guard's arm mid-swing and twisted it.
The guard screamed as his shoulder was torn out of its socket. Dmitri's elbow drove into his throat before the sound finished.
The man collapsed, choking on his own saliva.
The second guard reacted faster. He pulled out a knife. I tried to shout a warning to Dmitri but nothing came out. Just a strangled rasp.
Dmitri closed the distance. He slipped past the blade and grabbed the guy's wrist. He twisted it so hard. The guy's wrist snapped. The knife clattered across the floor.
Before the guard could recover, Dmitri drove his forehead straight into the guy's nose.
The guard staggered backward. Blood sprayed across the polished wood. Dmitri grabbed his shirt and hurled him into a rack of wine casks along the wall.
Glass shattered everywhere. Dozens of bottles exploded. Dark red wine spilled across the floor mixing with blood and broken glass. The guard groaned somewhere underneath the wreckage.
The first guard lay on the floor wheezing, clutching his throat. Dmitri stood in the middle of it all. Chest rising and falling slowly.
Then he looked at me. His angry face softened a little. Three strides were all it took for him to reach me. His hands cupped my face, trembling as they held me.
"Isabelle."
He looked at my face, my wrists, and the bruise on my arm.
"Did they hurt you?"
I tried to say something brave but my mouth betrayed me. My face fell apart.
"She killed them," I choked. The words came out broken. "My parents. She drowned them. She took everything. Augustin told me—the lake, the car, they were alive when it hit the water, they were screaming. My tw—"
I couldn't finish my sentence as I was unable to breathe properly. My knees gave out. He caught me before I hit the floor, pulling me against his chest.
"Shh," he murmured into my hair. "I've got you. I've got you."
I sobbed into his jacket. Great heaving sobs that ripped out of my chest. I couldn't stop them. I didn't want to stop either.
Adrien appeared in the doorway. He raised a gun straight at Seraphina's chest.
"It's over, Lady Schuyler."
Seraphina's straight face cracked slightly.
"Your husband's upstairs with Interpol," Adrien said. "The drive has everything. The forgeries. The arson plans. The lake reports that disappeared."
He lifted the gun higher.
"Your story has come to an end."
Seraphina's expression twisted. She looked at Dmitri with pure hate.
"You idiot," she hissed. "You're burning your own inheritance for a ghost."
Her eyes flicked to me.
"You think she'll love you for this?" A bitter laugh escaped her lips. "You're just like your father. All muscles. No brains."
Dmitri turned toward her slowly. Whatever warmth had been in his face vanished.
"My father built his empire on graves," he said quietly. "If burning it down is what it takes to bury you, I'll light the match myself."
Seraphina's lips curled. An angry sound ripped out of her throat. Dmitri turned away from her. He slipped an arm around my shoulders to keep me steady.
"Come on," he murmured. "We're leaving."
We walked toward the door. The floor was stained with wine and blood. Outside, sirens wailed faintly in the distance. Blue and red lights flashed through the windows.
It's over, I thought. It's finally over.
Should have known better.
Behind us, I heard fabric rustling. It was so small that you could miss it. Dmitri's arm tightened. Too late.
A gunshot ripped through the room.
Everything went dark.