Chapter 44 Vault 17
Dual POV – Mark × Becca
MARK
“Take them down! No mercy tonight!”
The command tore out of me before the SUV even stopped.
The castle loomed ahead,an enormous house that looked more like a castle wrapped in ruin.
The kind of luxury built to hide sins.
Glass walls cracked from old explosions, vines curling around marble statues, the gold-lined gate hanging half-broken.
Collins ducked behind a marble pillar. “South wing, boss.”
“Then we start there.” I checked my gun, the weight steady in my palm.
We kicked through the main doors,
echo swallowing the night.
A shot rang out then another.
Then complete chaos was unleashed.
Smoke grenades rolled across the marble floor, spilling white fog through the grand foyer.
Davenport’s men came to attack. The smoke grenades were already mixed with something by Williams and Drek so it made them weak.
“Bang! Bang,” one of Davenport's men shot but it went through the walk.
I fired twice.
One went down, then another.
“Move!” I barked.
Collins covered my flank, bullets slicing past chandeliers that exploded into raining glass.
Every sound blurred until one rose above it a voice, faint and cracked, floating through the mansion’s intercom.
“Danielle! Please!”
Becca.
My blood turned to fire.
“She’s here,” I said, voice rough with relief and rage. “She’s alive.”
We fought harder.
Every hallway led deeper into the monster’s ribs, black marble, silver trims, the kind of wealth meant to hide filth.
Davenport’s empire always looked polished from the outside, but rot lived in the corners.
I kicked open the door of the room. It was empty.
I kicked another one but she wasn't there either .
“Screech,” I heard a sound like chains.
“Keep checking!” I shouted,already running toward the sound.
BECCA
The noise reached me first, gunfire. It startled me from my slumber.
Bang! Bang
Then came a scattering noise, like drops of pearls.
It was distant but I was certain that there was shooting in this building.
I froze, breath caught in my throat. Then came the voice that shattered the fog in my head.
“Take them down!”
Mark.
Tears burned before I even realized I was crying. I pulled against the chains, my wrists bruised, heart slamming against my ribs.
“Mark…” I whispered, half in disbelief, half in prayer.
The metal groaned and then, as if hearing me, the cuff around my wrist slid free.
The other followed, clattering to the floor. For a second, I just stared.
They’d been loosened. Someone had already freed me.
I didn’t wait to wonder who.
My bare feet hit the cold marble, pain shooting up my legs.
The floor wasn’t smooth anymore; something sharp and hot seared my skin with every step.
I looked down, I saw fine silver dust glittering like sand.
It was acidic but I had no shoes on or around.
My soles burned on every step I took.
The hallway twisted endlessly, lined with mirrors that reflected my panic back at me.
“Danielle!” I called. “Danielle, where are you?”
I received no response, only my voice echoing back to me.
The echo of doors slamming, boots thudding, voices murmuring from somewhere near.
“Danielle where…” I used my palms to cover my mouth as I saw two other Davenport men at the corner.
I pressed against the wall, heart hammering.
“The bombs are set,” one said. “Timer is set. The boss said no one walks out.”
My stomach dropped.
Bombs.
I waited until their footsteps faded, then limped down another passage.
My throat ached. My feet bled. Still, I ran.
MARK
“Clear left!” Collins yelled.
We moved through another corridor, shooting past metal crates.
A bullet grazed my shoulder; I barely felt it.
Then, through the smoke, I saw her.
Small, barefoot, stumbling forward, skin pale under the emergency lights.
“Becca!”
She turned, eyes wide.
A guard behind her raised his gun. I fired first. The light above them shattered, raining sparks.
The man fell.
“Mark,” she called out faintly. Becca swayed, then collapsed.
I caught her before she hit the floor.
“You’re safe now,” I said, voice shaking.
Her fingers curled weakly into my shirt. “I thought you wouldn’t find me.”
“I’d burn the world for you Becca,”
Her breath hitched. For a moment, even the alarms felt distant; only her, trembling in my arms, the smell of rain and smoke around us.
Collins’ shout shattered it. “Boss! More are coming
I lifted her easily and dropped her to a safe place. “Hold on.”
BECCA
His heartbeat thundered against my ear, steady, alive.
I clung to it like oxygen.
We turned a corner and there she was, the queen of danger.
Davenport!.
The woman was cloaked in black, soaked by the rain.
I could see her smile beneath the veil and darkened red lipstick.
“Finally,” she said, voice smooth as glass.
“Great, Mark Simmons is here to see me,”.
“What a lovely sight to behold, Cinderella and her prince,”
Behind her, Mark’s men had already subdued the others. They were tied together and kept at the corner of the room.
The night crackled with tension.
Mark set me down gently, stepped forward, eyes dark. “Where’s Danielle?”
Davenport smirked. “Nice question.”
A door opened, and two guards dragged Danielle out. She was disheveled, terrified.
My sister’s eyes met mine; she gasped my name.
Davenport spread her arms. “Give me the last Simmons shares, and you can all walk out alive.”
Mark raised his gun. “You’re bluffing.”
He swiftly manhandled her and placed his gun on her skull.
“I'm going to blow your brian in pieces and next time, you know who you're playing with,”
“Are you?” She smirked.
“Of course I know who I'm playing with, Mark Simmons,” her voice got colder and her gaze was firmly fixed on it.
“If you send out another bullet from this gun of yours, this building is going to explode and we all die here,” she spread her hands smiling.
Then it dawned to me, what I overheard from the men at the corner was true
“Mark,” I whispered, “she’s not lying.”
He didn’t lower the gun. “What do you want?”
“Everything,” she said softly.
MARK
I moved closer, defying all laws of space between us.
Davenport’s perfume was sharp enough to sting.
Strangely, the scent of her perfume smelled oddly familiar but I couldn't place where this cologne was from.
“You don’t get to write the ending,” I said.
Her chin tilted. “Then shoot me,”
Behind her, Collins slipped through the shadows. He caught her wrist, twisting it behind her back.
Davenport cried in pain.
Danielle broke free, running toward Becca.
“Go!” I yelled.
My finger tightened, then chaos.
Danielle collided with my arm just as the trigger jerked.
“Bang!” A shot flew to the left side of the building and the world blew apart.
The blast roared through the east wing, heat licking our backs as glass shattered, flames blooming like red flowers.
“Everyone out!” I grabbed Becca, pulling her and Danielle through the hall as the ceiling began to fall.
We burst through the front doors into the downpour.
The rain hit like needles, steam rising from the ground where fire met water.
Collins shoved the back doors open. “Go, go, go!”
I pushed Becca inside the SUV, Danielle after her. The engine roared to life. Gravel sprayed behind us as we sped away, headlights slicing through smoke.
BECCA
“Boom!!!,” The building exploded. I could see it from a distance. The castle that hosted me was swallowed in flames.
Tears flowed down to my cheek. For some reason, I felt as if I was reliving this experience.
Fire outbreak.
My body trembled too hard to speak, but Mark’s hand found mine.
“She’s still in there,” I whispered.
He didn’t look away from the road. “Then hell’s finally found her.”