Chapter 74: Thrones Built on Bones

The palace alarms were no longer subtle. Sirens shrieked through ancient halls, bouncing off golden arches and silk-hung corridors like the cries of ghosts unearthed too soon. What was meant to be Xavier’s coronation had become a live confession—his empire hemorrhaging secrets to the entire world.

And Luca?

He was done hiding.

He kicked open the side door to the throne hall.

Xavier was alone now—guests fled, media scrambled, loyalists vanished like smoke. But the man still stood by the grand mirror-backed throne, a glass of dark wine in one hand, the other gripping a ceremonial dagger more symbolic than lethal.

“How poetic,” Xavier murmured. “You arrive at the end, just like always—when the blood’s already been spilled.”

Luca walked forward, slow, controlled, every inch a lion. “And yet, I’m the one still standing.”

Xavier laughed softly. “Barely. Your hands are as stained as mine, cousin.”

“But my son’s hands won’t be.”

That landed.

Xavier’s smile faltered, his mask slipping. “You think you’ve won?”

“I exposed your entire infrastructure. You have no allies left.”

“But I have the boy,” Xavier snapped.

Luca stopped.

“What?”

Xavier’s eyes gleamed. “Not Leo. Gabriel. The child your precious Evangeline never knew was being sculpted into a king. Do you know what it’s like to raise someone in the shadows? To teach him the difference between fear and respect?”

Luca’s voice dropped to a growl. “You brainwashed him.”

“I gave him purpose. Unlike you.”

They circled now, like predators at the edge of a hunt.

Luca’s hand hovered near the pistol on his side.

Xavier saw it.

“If you kill me, you make me a martyr.”

“No,” Luca said, pulling the pistol free and aiming it. “I make you silent.”

Below the throne room, Evangeline and Yusuf ran through the dim catacombs. Dust and dried jasmine scented the air. Ahead: a crumbling wooden arch marked SALLE DES ORIGINES.

Yusuf paused. “We’re beneath the oldest wing. This wasn’t on the map.”

Evangeline’s eyes narrowed. “Which is why Xavier used it.”

They entered cautiously, pistols drawn.

And stopped.

There, illuminated by a flickering oil lamp, was a boy—no, a man. Late teens. Lean. Dressed in a dark ceremonial coat lined with De Luca crestwork. Eyes like frozen steel.

He stepped forward.

“Evangeline,” he said.

She froze.

“…Gabriel?”

He nodded.

“But you’re—”

“Dead?” he finished for her. “No. Just… repurposed.”

Yusuf stepped between them. “He’s stalling. Move.”

But Evangeline held up a hand.

“Why did you stay with him?”

Gabriel’s face twitched. “Because the world killed me once. Xavier gave me a name.”

“No,” she said softly. “I gave you a name.”

“I remember your lullabies,” he whispered. “But I remember hunger more. Loneliness. He found me.”

“Then let me find you again,” she said.

He hesitated—just a flicker.

Behind them, footsteps approached.

Yusuf checked his comms. “Three incoming. Hostile.”

Evangeline turned to Gabriel. “You can stop this. Right now.”

Gabriel’s eyes darted to the hard drive in Yusuf’s hands. Then to the passage behind them.

Then…

He stepped aside.

“Go.”

Evangeline grabbed Yusuf’s hand, and they sprinted past, vanishing into the tunnel’s curve.

Gabriel stood alone.

Watching.

Torn.

Above, Luca and Xavier stood at a frozen impasse. The gun wavered.

“You don’t get to win,” Xavier sneered. “You were always a blunt weapon. I was the architect.”

Luca’s eyes darkened. “And every architect has a flaw.”

He stepped forward, pressing the muzzle to Xavier’s chest.

“But mine was thinking I had nothing left to live for.”

He fired.

Once.

Xavier staggered back, clutching his side.

Not the heart.

A warning.

The throne behind him cracked under the impact.

Xavier dropped to his knees, coughing blood, smirking.

“You won’t kill me.”

“No,” Luca said. “You’ll stand trial. And burn in daylight.”

Guards arrived—Interpol this time, led by a neutral UN unit Evangeline had quietly tipped off.

They cuffed Xavier.

The lion’s roar had become law.

In the distance, a helicopter lifted from the Marrakesh foothills.

Evangeline, Yusuf, and the drive were aboard.

She stared at the city below, thinking of Gabriel. Of Leo. Of what comes next when the fire finally goes out.

And of the man waiting for her at the landing pad.

A lion.

A father.

Not a king.

But hers.