122: Human Sacrifice
KILLIAN
"They attacked me," Matteo rasped, clutching his ribs. "Scorpion's men. A whole pack of them. I don't even know how the hell I made it out."
Roman cursed under his breath.
Matteo pulled out his phone with blood-slick fingers. The screen was cracked, flashing a single text across it.
"Mum... she managed to send this earlier. She said she was hurt. Said she loves us," his voice cracked, his eyes filled with anguish.
"And Raf?" I asked, tense.
Matteo shook his head, frustration etched in his features. "I've been calling him for a while now. He's not picking up."
I yanked out my own phone, barking an order into the line. "Find him. Now. I don't care if you tear the city apart, track Raf."
But even as I spoke, a sick twist knotted in my gut. Scorpion wasn't just hunting me anymore. He wanted my whole fucking bloodline.
The thought barely settled before a thunderous explosion shook the estate. A column of smoke and fire erupted from the eastern wing, lighting the sky in orange.
Roman threw an arm up over his face. Matteo stumbled back, his eyes wide, but I was already moving.
Inside, the mansion was drowning in chaos. The air reeked of smoke and chemicals. Every inhale stung enough to burn my throat raw. Chandeliers swayed on their chains, their crystals chiming like broken bells. The alarms screamed, echoing down every corridor.
And beneath it all, I could perceive something worse. An acrid smell that I recognized instantly.
Acid.
We tore into the grand hall, and my heart seized.
My mother was hanging off the balcony, her fingers clawing into the railing, her body trembling from the effort of holding herself up. Her hair was matted with blood, a bruise spreading along her cheek. Tears were rolling down her face.
Below her was... hell itself.
A massive metal bath filled with steaming black liquid boiled and hissed, sending up plumes that scorched the back of my throat even from here. One slip, and she'd be swallowed whole.
My stomach lurched violently, my throat constricting. My mother…my mother…dangling above something no human should die in. Acid.
Her skin, her bones, her screams... the image carved itself into my skull before it even happened.
And then I saw him.
Black Scorpion stood in the shadows beside her, his arms folded. His eyes were cold and devoid of expression.
"Your mother is seconds from dissolving in acid. And upstairs... your brother is one breath away from being impaled. Dozen nails, straight through the chest,” The words were a deadpan that sent a jolt of pain through me.
He tilted his head, studying me with eyes that had no light in them. "So tell me, Killian. Which life matters more?"
My fists curled until my nails dug deep into the cuts on my palms, blood dripping onto the marble. Rage and panic churned through me in equal measure.
And beside me, Matteo was silent. His jaw was clenched, his stare fixed on Scorpion.
His voice was hoarse but steady when he spoke. "Go! I'll get Mum—go!"
Scorpion's words clawed through me, but I didn't give him the satisfaction of hesitation. My body was already moving, my footsteps echoing down the hallway as I tore for the staircase.
"Killian!" my mother's scream ripped through the air.
I didn't look back. I couldn't. My chest was burning with rage and terror as I took the stairs two at a time.
The door at the end of the corridor was slightly ajar, smoke curling through the crack. I pushed it open with my shoulder and nearly staggered back at the sight.
Raf was strapped to a metal bench in the center of the room, his wrists bound, blood covering half his face.
Above him, a rig of steel pulleys and chains held a cluster of nails the size of fucking daggers. Their sharp tips hovered inches above his chest, swaying with every tiny shift of the trap.
He lifted his head, his blue eyes widening when he saw me. "Killian...no! Don't! It's rigged—please!" His voice broke, shaking badly.
"Shut up and hold still," I snapped, but my own voice cracked on the edges.
Every step forward felt like I was walking through quicksand. My mind kept flashing to the worst—those nails spearing through his chest, his body slumping, lifeless. I wanted to rip it all down, but my own thoughts screamed at me: One wrong move and you'll kill him yourself.
The whole room reeked of oil and acid. Every corner screamed 'booby trap.'
I stalked forward slowly, every step making the nails groan lower as though they were hungry for flesh.
"Killian, don't risk it!" Raf's voice rose to a sob. "Not for me! Please!"
The nails groaned again, the chains straining. The tips were close enough now. One of them brushed his shirt, tearing a line down the fabric.
I saw red.
I lunged. My foot slammed against the side of the bench, tilting it just enough to throw the pulleys off balance. The nails shrieked downward.
"Fuck!"
I ripped Raf free, yanking so hard the restraints tore skin. My body screamed with every motion, but I didn't stop. I threw myself backward with him in my arms.
The nails crashed down where he'd been a second before, burying themselves in the bench with a sickening crunch.
We hit the ground hard. My skull cracked against the marble floor, a burst of white exploding across my vision. For a split second, everything went dark.
Through the haze, Raf's voice reached me.
"Killian!" He was shaking me, his hands slick with blood—mine, his, I didn't even know. "Don't you fucking die on me!"
I groaned, my head spinning, the taste of copper thick in my mouth. "Shut up. You weigh a ton."
Relief broke across his face as he let out a sob. I dragged us both up, half carrying, half stumbling as we staggered out of that cursed room.
My head pounded with every step, blood dripping into my eye, but I forced my legs to move. Raf's arm was around my shoulders, my arm gripping his waist tight. Together, we stumbled down the hall, smoke curling around us.
We broke into the grand hall again just in time to meet an unsightly scene.
Matteo.
He was locked in a brutal fight with Scorpion, blood running down his side where the bastard had already stabbed him once. Our mother lay crumpled near the railing, clutching at the floorboards and screaming his name.
"Matteo!" I roared, and when his gaze met mine, I saw no hatred in my brother's face. Only a bone-chilling resolve.
And I knew.
I fucking knew that he was planning to be a human sacrifice tonight. Like hell was I going to let that happen.
Black Scorpion's eyes weren't empty now. They burned with grief so raw, it seared through the smoke.
"You think this is me demonstrating cruelty?" His voice cut through the air. He shoved Matteo back and raised his blade, his glare drilling into me. "No. This is retribution."
His words wrapped around me, pressing against my chest.
"My mother. My father. My little sister...They screamed while your father's fire consumed them." His hand shook, rage twisting his face. "I clawed their bones out of the ash with these hands. And your father called it strategy. He called it cleanup."
My chest caved inward because I knew he wasn't lying. Fucking hell, his rage was justified. But the man he should've faced was dead. We had no hand in the incident that had broken him.
I was not like my father. None of us were. Therefore, we didn't deserve this.
"Don't you dare play innocent, Killian." His voice cracked, venom spilling out with his grief. "You carry his blood. You carry his sins. And you will know what it means to watch your family die while you watch helplessly like I did."
Raf stiffened against me, his breathing ragged. My mother's sobs grew louder. And I could hear her crying and screaming, telling him it wasn't the fault of her sons. That it was all her fault. If she had never been with my father, our blood wouldn't be tainted.
But how could I let her blame herself when she'd suffered so much under the hands of the tyrant?
"Jonas—" The name ripped from my throat in a half snarl, half plea. "Take me. Leave them."
He laughed. But it was broken and hollow. "You think your death would hurt you? No. Living with their screams echoing in your fucking nightmares...that's what I want."
Matteo surged to his feet, clutching his side where blood poured freely. He staggered between Scorpion and our mother, his chest heaving.
"You want revenge?" He spat, his lips stained with blood. "Then take me."
Scorpion's eyes darkened. "You're nothing. You were always nothing."
But Matteo didn't falter. For once, he didn't cower.
"Maybe," he rasped, his gaze darting to me, then Raf, then our mother. "But tonight, I'm the only thing standing between you and them."
He lunged, ramming Scorpion with a roar, driving him towards the railing. The blade punched into Matteo's side, but he didn't stop. Blood sprayed from the injury, his face contorted in agony, but he pushed forward nonetheless.
"Matteo!" I roared, stumbling forward, Raf at my side.
He glanced back once, just once, and his eyes locked with mine. There was no hate or rivalry in his gaze. Instead, he flashed me a twisted, bittersweet smile.
"Take care of them."
And then he drove both himself and Scorpion over the railing.
Time slowed.
Scorpion's scream tore through the hall as they plummeted. He twisted, trying to shove Matteo off, but Matteo's arms were iron chains, locking them together.
Then came the loud hiss as the boiling acid swallowed them. Flesh seared, and smoke rose.
My mother's scream ripped the night in two.
And my knees gave out, my vision swimming red as every part of me splintered apart.
Matteo…my idiotic brother, my enemy, my blood...he was gone.
In that instant, all I could think was...if I had been stronger, faster, smarter...he wouldn't have had to throw himself into hell for us. It should've been me. It should've fucking been me.
But the reality was, for the first time in his fucked-up life... he'd saved us.
And for the first time in years, a tear crawled down my cheek.