Chapter 181

Chapter 181
For a heartbeat, silence hung in the smoky corridor—thick, suffocating, vibrating with the weight of betrayal.

Leona stood framed by the shattered doorway like she owned the flames licking up the walls. Her smile was the kind that belonged on a serpent, slow and poisonous.

Siena felt Damien tense beside her, every muscle in his injured body going stone-hard.

“Drop the knife,” one of Leona’s men ordered, stepping forward.

Damien didn’t drop anything.

He didn’t even blink.

Siena could feel the rage radiating off him in waves—dark, lethal, coiled like a predator cheated of its prey.

Leona cocked her head. “Damien, darling. You look like hell.”

The blood dripping from Damien’s shoulder hit the floor in a slow, steady rhythm. His breathing was harsh, but controlled—too controlled.

“Is this your plan?” Damien said, voice low, deadly. “You bring my own men against me?”

“They were loyal to me long before they were loyal to you.”

Her smile grew razor-edged. “Funny what people will do when you actually pay them.”

Damien’s jaw clenched. Siena saw the muscle twitch. She also saw something else—the flicker of devastation he refused to show.

“He trusted you,” Siena said before she could stop the words. Her voice was hoarse from smoke and fear. “You were supposed to be his friend.”

Leona’s gaze flicked over Siena like she was dirt on her shoe. “I was his equal. Not his friend.”

She stepped closer, boots crunching over broken glass. “And then you showed up. The little stray he couldn’t resist.”

One of the men shifted his gun toward Siena.

Damien moved so fast it was almost invisible—he stepped in front of her, shoulders squared, shielding her body completely.

Leona tsked. “See? This is exactly the problem.”

Her eyes gleamed. “The king doesn’t kneel for anyone… except you, apparently.”

Siena’s heart pounded. She hated how exposed she felt behind Damien, how easily they could still shoot either of them, how Leona was savoring every inch of control.

Damien’s voice dropped to a lethal growl. “If you touch her—”

Leona raised a finger. “You’ll do what? Kill me? You had your chance, but you never could pull the trigger.” She laughed, breathy and cruel. “You always thought you could save me.”

Siena blinked. “Save you from what?”

Leona arched a brow. “From myself, apparently.”

Her tone sharped. “But here’s what he never understood: I don’t want saving. I want power.”

“And you think taking Siena gives you that?” Damien spat.

“Oh, I know it does.” Leona paused, savoring each word. “Because she is your weakness. You’ve proved it over and over, Damien.”

The fire crackled louder. Smoke thickened overhead.

Damien’s fingers brushed Siena’s lightly behind his back. A warning. A silent stay close.

Leona twirled her gun lazily. “Bring her.”

One of the men advanced.

Damien stepped to intercept—but Leona snapped, “Ah-ah. Move any closer and I shoot her first.”

Siena felt Damien’s fury like a living thing pulsing under his skin.

His breathing shook.

The man reached her.

“Don’t,” Damien snarled.

The soldier grabbed Siena’s arm. Hard.

She winced—and Damien lost it.

He lunged—

And three guns snapped up, aimed straight at Siena.

Leona smiled. “I told you. You move, she dies.”

Damien froze mid-step, chest heaving, blood dripping down his arm. His whole body trembled from the effort not to tear the man apart.

The soldier jerked Siena forward, and she stumbled, her body colliding with Damien’s chest for half a second—just long enough for her to feel the frantic beat of his heart.

His hand cupped the back of her head in that split second.

A soft touch.

A desperate one.

Then he released her before they punished her for it.

Leona raised a hand. “Tie her.”

Two men moved to grab Siena.

Damien’s voice was almost unrecognizable. Low. Rough. Terrified.

“No. Take me instead.”

Leona blinked—truly amused. “Oh, Damien. You’re making this too easy.”

“You want leverage?” Damien’s voice shook with rage. “I am leverage. You know that.”

Leona stepped closer to him. So close she could have kissed him. “I don’t want leverage, Damien.”

Her fingers ran down his jaw. Siena’s stomach twisted.

“I want revenge,” Leona whispered.

Damien stared at her with ice-cold hatred. “For what?”

“For replacing me.”

Her voice cracked—not with emotion. With something deeper, uglier.

“For choosing her over the empire we built together.”

Damien didn’t respond.

Leona’s smile sharpened. “Tie the girl. If he moves, shoot him in the leg.”

Siena fought as the two men grabbed her. She kicked, twisted, elbowed the taller one in the ribs hard enough that he grunted.

“She’s feisty,” he muttered.

Damien’s fists clenched. “Touch her again and I’ll rip your throat out.”

“Damien, please—” Siena whispered, her voice breaking.

He didn’t take his eyes off her. “Don’t fight them,” he breathed. “Not yet.”

But Siena did fight. Hard.

Because the moment rough hands closed around her wrists, the moment they tried to force her arms behind her back, something inside her snapped.

She wasn’t going to be taken.

Not again.

Not by Leona.

Not by anyone.

She jerked forward and bit the soldier’s hand—hard enough to taste blood.

The man roared, shoving her against the wall.

Damien surged forward—

Three guns pointed at Siena’s head.

Leona sighed. “Boys, boys. Let me handle the girl.”

She walked slowly toward Siena—heels clicking, smoke swirling around her like she was walking through hell and enjoying every step.

Leona grabbed Siena’s chin. Nails digging in.

“You should’ve stayed a nobody,” she murmured. “Your existence messed everything up.”

Siena spat blood at her.

Leona’s eyes flared with fury.

“That was a mistake.”

She drew her arm back and slapped Siena so hard her head snapped to the side.

Damien’s roar shook the whole corridor.

It wasn’t human.

It wasn’t sane.

Leona turned, satisfied. “Now he’s listening.”

Siena touched her cheek, breath trembling. Her ears rang. Her vision blurred at the edges.

But even through the pain, she saw something. Saw Damien’s face go blank—not emotionally, but strategically. He shut down the rage and let something else take over.

Calculation.

He wasn’t going to watch this happen.

He was going to stop it.

Leona mistook the look for surrender.

“Good,” she said. “Now—kneel.”

Siena felt the world stop breathing.

Damien didn’t move.

For three seconds.

Four.

Then—slowly, painfully—he lowered to one knee, blood dripping from his wound, smoke burning the side of his face, his eyes never leaving Siena’s.

It felt wrong to watch. Wrong to witness him forced down by someone who didn’t deserve to even breathe in the same room as him.

Leona exhaled in triumph. “You really would burn the world for her,” she whispered. “How…pathetic.”

Damien’s voice was a promise of genocide.

“Let. Her. Go.”

Leona crouched in front of him. “Not a chance.”

She grabbed Siena by the hair and yanked her forward.

Damien surged—

And six guns clicked simultaneously.

Leona leaned in, lips curling. “On your knees, Damien Voss. The great king brought to heel.”

Siena’s stomach twisted.

Rage burned so hot she trembled.

And then—

The floor beneath them rumbled.

Siena’s eyes widened. “What—”

A deeper explosion tore through the building, shaking dust from the ceiling. Flames roared down the adjacent hall.

One of Leona’s men shouted, “Ma’am, we need to go—now!”

Leona scowled. “Not without her.”

Smoke flooded the stairwell, heavy, choking. Alarms blared louder.

Siena coughed, vision swimming.

Damien stood in one slow, terrifying motion.

Leona’s eyes snapped to him. “I didn’t say—”

He moved before she finished.

He grabbed Siena by the waist, yanked her behind him, and slammed her into the protection of his body.

Gunfire exploded.

Glass shattered.

The wall beside them burst into sparks.

Someone screamed.

Damien shoved Siena toward the railing, shielding her with his entire body as bullets tore through the air.

“Siena, stay down!” he barked.

“Damien—behind you!”

He turned—

And Leona fired.

A single shot.

Close-range.

Straight at Damien.

Siena screamed—

And everything went white.