Chapter 94

Blood Oaths.

Damian’s POV.

The gunfire still echoed in my ears long after the last bullet fell silent. Smoke curled into the shattered hall, the metallic stench of blood soaking into my throat. I cradled Claire against my chest, my hands pressed desperately against the wound in her side.

Her skin was pale, damp with sweat. She stared weakly, eyes fluttering open. “Damian,” her voice was fragile, like glass splintering, “….don’t… let her win.”

My jaw clenched. I lowered my lips to her temple, forcing the steadiness that I didn’t feel. “Don’t you dare give up on me now. You hear me? You’re mine, Claire. You don’t get to leave.”

She coughed, a thin ribbon of blood at her lip. Still, she managed a faint, broken smile. “Possessive bastard. Even now..”

My heart twisted. Around us, my men regrouped, dragging bodies, reloading weapons. But all my focus narrowed on her pulse fluttering beneath my fingers. I turned to Mateo.

“Get her out. Now. She needs surgeon.”

Claire’s hand shot up, trembling but insistent. “No. If you send me away, you’ll fight Lucian and Tatiana alone. You won’t win.”

I swallowed hard. I hated that she was right. But every second she stays, she bleeds.

A new sound shattered the moment. The deliberate clap of hands. I turned, my muscle coiling like predator. From the shadows Lucian stepped forward, his expression carved from stone, his eyes colder than any enemy I had ever faced.

“Touching,” Lucian drawled. “The great Damian Cross brought to his knees by love. My, how predictable you’ve become.”

I lowered Claire carefully against a pillar, pressing Matteo’s hand over her wound. Then I rose facing Lucian with the fury of a storm.

“You,” I spat. “After everything. My brother, my ally, my blood, you betray me for a corpse of a dynasty.”

Lucian’s smirk darkened. “Not a corpse. A resurrection. You still don’t understand, do you? The Solokovs were never truly dead. They’ve been waiting for someone worthy to lead them back to power.”

Tatiana Sokolov appeared behind me, stepping into the broken light of the hall. Her eyes glittered like twin shred of ice, so haunting familiar it made my skin crawl.

“The Sokolov name lives,” she declared, her voice steady, regal. “And with Lucian at my side, we’ll cleanse this rotten empire you’ve built.”

Claire groaned softly, forcing her gaze upward. “She’s…she’s just a girl clinging to ghosts. And you…” her weak eyes fixed on Lucian. “You were always jealous of him. Admit it.”

Lucian’s jaw tightened. For a fleeting second, his mask cracked. Then his voice dropped, low and lethal. “All my life I fought in your shadow, Damian. The favored son. The choose heir. And Claire…” his gaze flickered, sharp as a knife. “…you had to take her too. Everything I wanted, you destroyed.”

My fury turned into something darker, sharper. “So you trade family for delusion? You’ll regret this, Lucian. Because betrayal isn’t strength. It’s rot. And I’ll burn it out of you.”

Lucian’s lips curled into a cruel smile. “Then come try, brother. But know this, when you fall, it won’t be me who ends you. It will be the heir of Sokolov’s blood.”

The hall erupted in chaos. Tatiana lifted her weapon, her movement precise, elegant, deadly. I lunged forward, my men clashing against Lucian’s loyalists. Gunfire cracked like thunder.

My focused narrowed only on Lucian. We collided, fist and fury, years of brotherhood tearing apart with every blow. My knuckles split across Lucian’s jaw, but Lucian fought like a man possessed, wild, desperate, unrelenting.

“You were never stronger than me,” Lucian snarled, grappling me into a pillar. “You only had father’s favor. Now you’ll see what happens when the forgotten son takes what he deserves.”

I shoved back, our foreheads crashing together. “You were my brother! And you sold your soul to her.” I jerked my chin toward Tatiana, who fired a shot that grazed Matteo’s arm, sending him sprawling.

Claire, half conscious, tried to raise her gun, her hand trembling too violently to aim. Still, she hissed through gritted teeth, “Damian…don’t let him win.”

I roared, throwing Lucian down onto the bloodstained floor. “You hear her? You’ll never take from me again!”

But Lucian laughed through bloodied lips. “I already have. You just don’t see it yet.” His words dripped with a venomous promise.

My guy twisted. What had Lucian already set in motion?

Tatiana stepped forward, covering Lucian’s retreat with cold precision. She moved like someone born to kill, her lineage undeniable in every strike. I blocked her fire, shoving a broken table as cover, fury thrumming through my veins.

“You think wearing the Sokolov’s name makes you powerful?” I snarled. “You’re just a pawn, Tatiana.”

Her lips curved into a chilling smile. “No. I am the queen reborn. And you Damian Cross, will knee before me, or die at my feet.”

Lucian staggered upright, splitting blood, his eyes gleaming with fanatical resolve. “She’s right. Together we build an empire greater than anything you could imagine.”

My men fell one by one, outnumbered by Lucian’s hidden forces. It wasn’t just betrayal; it had been orchestrated for months, years even. Lucian had been waiting for this moment.

Claire screamed suddenly, a strangled, weak sound. A bullet had ricocheted close, splintering stone above her head. Matteo dragged her aside, but my chest clenched painfully at the sight of her barely clinging to life.

Lucian noticed, smirking. “She won’t survive this war, Damian. You can’t protect her and fight us. You’ll have to choose.”

And for the first time, I felt the sting of true helplessness clawing at my ribs.

The final minutes of the clash blurred into a storm of rage and gunfire. I fought like a man possessed, every strike fueled by Claire’s faltering breath. My blade caught Lucian’s arm, forcing him back. But Tatiana’s presence was an unrelenting shadow, her precision cutting through every defense.

At last, silence fell in a fractured lull. Bodies littered the hall, smoke curling upward. I stood bloodied, chest heaving facing them both.

Lucian wiped blood from his mouth, grinning savagely. “This is just the beginning. You think this is our final war? No, brother. The Sokolovs have risen, and you…” his voice dipped to a snarl. “…are already late.”

Tatiana’s eyes glittered with ruthless triumph. “When the door settles, Damian Cross, the world will bow to us.”

I lifted my gun, my hand steady despite the weight crushing my chest. My glaze flickered to Claire, her body trembling, her hand reaching weakly toward me. Her eyes begged me not to falter.

And with her strength biting In me, I swore under my breath; “I’ll end this. Both of you.”

The war wasn’t over. But the final act had begun.