Chapter 78 Blood-Stained
Seraphina stared at the body on the floor.
Balto lay sprawled across the cold concrete, his lifeless eyes staring blankly at nothing, the dark stain spreading across his collar growing wider by the second.
Her breath caught in her throat.
Her knees buckled.
Before she realized what was happening, she collapsed onto the floor, her palms scraping against the rough surface as her gaze remained locked on the corpse in front of her.
Her mind screamed one thing over and over.
What have I done…?
Her chest tightened painfully as the reality of it slammed into her.
She had killed someone.
Just minutes ago she had told Julian not to kill Balto. She had insisted that she and her son would not have blood on their hands.
And yet…
Her trembling hands lifted slowly in front of her face as though she could still see the gun in them.
She had pulled the trigger.
She had ended a life.
Julian was beside her almost instantly. But she could hardly comprehend what was going around her any longer.
He dropped to the floor next to her, reaching out to steady her shaking shoulders.
“Seraphina,” he said urgently. “Look at me.”
But she recoiled from his touch.
“Don’t…” Her voice cracked. “Don’t touch me.”
Julian paused, swallowing.
He slowly withdrew his hand, understanding the gravity of what was on ground.
Across the room, Vincent was still holding Balto’s unconscious daughter. Then he noticed that she was still conscious. Her body shook in his arms- as if her collapsing earlier had been a momentary shock.
Vincent calmly pulled a folded cloth from his pocket and pressed it gently over the girl’s nose.
Within seconds, her eyelids fluttered.
Then she went completely limp in his arms.
He caught her weight easily, adjusting his hold on her unconscious body.
Seraphina barely noticed.
She had thought she could not live knowing she had blood on her hands.
Yet in the end…
She had pulled the trigger herself.
For Julian.
“Phine? You did the right thing. Okay? Don’t start blaming yourself now.” Julian muttered to her, but making sure he kept his hands to himself to avoid triggering her. “He would have killed us all. You did the right thing, Sera.”
But Seraphina was still in denial.
“Oh my God…” she muttered almost to herself.
Vincent’s urgent voice cut through the haze.
“We don’t have time,” he said firmly. “We need to leave. Now.” He nudged at the men he came with to retreat their guns, and they did.
Julian wasn’t listening. His attention remained entirely on Seraphina, who was trembling violently in her sitting position on the floor.
Her breathing was uneven, her eyes unfocused.
She looked like someone who had just watched their world shatter.
“Phine…” Julian said softly again.
She didn’t respond.
Then a faint sound echoed somewhere inside the building.
Julian’s head snapped up instantly, his senses alerted.
His eyes narrowed. He knew that sound.
His blood ran cold as he looked around then- his wandering gaze stopped on Balto and he caught it. The ticking time bomb.
Even Vincent did. “Now!” Vincent shouted.
Julian didn’t bother with words.
He grabbed Seraphina, pulling her into his arms as he shot to his feet.
Without wasting another second, Vincent hoisted Balto’s unconscious daughter over his shoulder and sprinted toward the exit.
Julian followed right behind him, holding Seraphina tightly against his chest as he ran with every ounce of speed he had.
The hallway blurred past them.
Debris. Broken furniture. Shattered glass.
They burst through the entrance doors just as the striking deafening sound came through. BOOM.
The building behind them erupted in a violent explosion.
The ground trembled beneath their feet.
Flames burst through shattered windows as the blast roared through the air.
The force knocked Julian forward several steps.
He tightened his grip on Seraphina, shielding her body as debris rained down behind them.
When the shockwave finally faded, silence slowly returned.
Julian looked down.
Seraphina’s head had fallen against his chest.
Her eyes were closed.
Her body had gone completely limp.
“Shit,” Julian muttered under his breath, more scared than he had ever been in his entire life.
He shook her gently.
“Stay with me, Phine. You’ll be fine, love.”
—
Hours Later
Seraphina’s eyelids fluttered slowly. The first thing she smelt was antiseptic. Her head throbbed. Her whole body felt heavy.
Her memory was numb at first.
She shifted slightly, wincing as pain shot through her body.
A bandage pulled tightly across her cheek. She touched it only to notice that there was another wrapped around her arm.
For several seconds her mind remained foggy.
Then memories began crashing back.
The vault. Talia. Julian showing up. The revelation that he killed her father. Then - shooting Balto. What happened next? Her head hurt. The explosion.
Her eyes finally registered where she was at. A ward. An hospital.
Julian was sitting beside the hospital bed she was on.
The moment he saw her eyes open, he leaned forward immediately.
“You’re awake.” His voice was low with relief.
Seraphina coughed weakly.
Her throat felt dry.
For a moment she didn’t say anything.
Julian gently adjusted the pillow behind her.
“You should rest,” he murmured. “You don’t have to talk right now.”
But she did speak.
Her voice came out hoarse. “The bomb…who…”
“The bomb was inside Balto’s body,” Julian answered quietly.
Seraphina blinked.
Julian continued.
“If I had known killing him would trigger it… I wouldn’t have risked your life and allowed you to shoot him.”
Seraphina swallowed painfully. Her voice was barely audible.
“I killed him.”
Julian shook his head.
“You did it because of me.” He craved to hold her hands, but he didn’t want to scare her away. And he didn’t think he was ready to see her shift away from him again. That scared him more than anything. So he kept his bruised knuckles to himself, feeling his throat aching.
He needed his drugs. He was sick. But he couldn’t let Seraphina see.
“I’m sorry, Phine. I just…” His throat ached again, stopping him from speaking further. He quickly excused himself and went to the restroom, coughing into the sink- only to spit blood.