Chapter 315

A sharp crack of bone.

Owen's scream was inhuman. He curled up from the pain.

Lucas released him. Let him collapse like a heap of garbage.

Then Lucas stepped forward, bent down, and draped his coat over Juliana. He scooped her up from the cold ground.

He didn't say a word.

He just held her, turned, and looked down at the woman in his arms—face pale, lips bitten white. His voice was low, hoarse, trembling in a way he didn't realize.

"I'm here."

The mountain wind howled through the trees.

Juliana could feel the tension in his chest. Every breath he took was laced with barely restrained violence.

Lucas didn't look at her.

"Owen."

He spoke.

"Lucas… you…"

Lucas cut him off.

His words came slowly. "You're proud of yourself."

Not a question.

"Your cargo ships anchored in international waters. Your underground empire built on bones and blood." Lucas's gaze finally left Owen and fell on the woman in his arms. The emotion in his dark eyes threatened to devour everything. "And you touched Juliana."

Owen froze.

"So what if you destroyed it? You think you won? Lucas, look at yourself! You're no different from me now! We're both beasts!"

Owen struggled to rise, eyes locked on Lucas like a dying snake.

"If you've got the guts, kill me! Shoot! Let your precious woman see what a murderer you really are!"

Owen threw his last hope toward Scorpion, who was still standing, and screamed with everything he had left: "Useless! Do it! Kill him!"

Scorpion—gun pressed to the back of his head by David—shuddered violently.

He wanted to move. But the man behind him spoke.

"Your wife just gave you a son." David's voice was soft, but it drove into Scorpion's spine like an ice pick. "Don't let him be born fatherless."

Scorpion's grip on the gun trembled.

The gun fell onto the leaf-covered ground.

All the fight drained out of him. He slowly raised his hands.

David didn't say another word. He disarmed him efficiently and cuffed his wrists.

It all happened in a flash.

Owen watched his last hope die. His bloodshot eyes filled with nothing but madness and destruction.

He let out an animalistic roar. His gaze landed on the knife he'd dropped.

He lunged for it, scrambling across the ground, grabbed the handle, and with the last of his strength, drove it toward Juliana in Lucas's arms.

"If I die, I'm taking her with me!"

Juliana's breath stopped.

She felt the arms around her tighten suddenly. Then the world spun.

Lucas moved.

He didn't retreat. Didn't dodge.

He pivoted on his right foot, holding her, and spun half a circle. He used his own back to shield her completely from the blade.

At the same time, his free hand shot out—not to block Owen's knife hand, but to lock around Owen's throat.

Owen's momentum stopped cold.

He was lifted off his feet. The tip of the blade hung less than an inch from Lucas's heart.

But that inch became an insurmountable gap.

"You…" Owen's face turned crimson. His eyes bulged. His throat made choking sounds.

Lucas brought his face close.

"Even hell wouldn't want your filthy bones."

Before Owen could respond, Lucas released his throat.

As Owen gasped desperately for air, Lucas's hand moved down and gripped Owen's wrist.

A light twist.

Another crack.

Owen screamed and dropped the knife.

But the knife didn't fall.

Another hand caught it mid-air.

Lucas gripped the mud-stained blade, reversed it, and with a movement both lightning-fast and precise, drove it into Owen's heart.

The light in Owen's eyes dimmed rapidly. He looked down at the small handle protruding from his chest, face frozen in disbelief.

He never understood why Lucas chose this way.

The forest returned to silence.

The murderous aura that had surrounded Lucas—ready to destroy everything—receded like a tide as Owen fell.

Lucas looked down at Juliana in his arms. Pale, lips bitten, silent.

In those bottomless eyes, her reflection finally returned.

"It's over."

His voice was terribly hoarse.

Juliana's taut nerves finally snapped. The pain in her shoulder, the exhaustion—it all crashed over her.

She leaned against him and used the last of her strength to point into the darkness behind her.

"Cave… Kate… she's in the cave… she was shot, high fever…"

Lucas's jaw tightened instantly.

He didn't even look back at David. Just held Juliana and strode in the direction she pointed.

"Get the medical team here! Now!"

His voice cut through the wind like a branding iron.

David, holding the completely surrendered Scorpion, followed quickly. He glanced at Owen's body, then at the woman in Lucas's arms. Didn't ask. Just issued orders into his radio.

Soon, scattered footsteps and flashlight beams pierced the darkness.

Milo charged ahead. Like a trapped beast following the scent of blood, he pushed through the underbrush, covered in dew and mud. When his flashlight beam found the small cave, he froze.

Inside, Kate leaned against the stone wall. Motionless.

"Kate!"

Milo stumbled toward her.

"Don't move her!"

Juliana struggled in Lucas's arms, voice weak but urgent. "Gunshot wound to the back. Might've hit the spine. You can't move her carelessly!"

Lucas tightened his hold. His low voice came near her ear. "Medical team's here."

As he spoke, several paramedics in tactical gear, carrying emergency kits, arrived under escort.

The lead doctor quickly assessed Kate's condition. His flashlight passed over her dilated pupils. His expression darkened.

"Blood pressure dropping, heart rate one-sixty! Open IV access, apply hemostatic clamp, prep epinephrine!"

Orders flew rapid-fire.

"Treat her first." Lucas's tone left no room for argument. He meant Kate.

"I'm fine." Juliana shook her head. Her gaze never left the makeshift treatment area. "Just dislocated. Maybe some fractures. Kate's condition is far worse."

The doctor relented. He pulled out bandages and a splint and did emergency stabilization on Juliana's shoulder. The entire time, Lucas held her. Didn't let anyone else touch her. His steady arms were her only support.

Around them, more tactical officers poured in, conducting a sweep of the area. Owen's body was covered with a white sheet and carried away. Scorpion was taken into custody. The harrowing manhunt finally ended.

"Lucas."

Clarence approached. He glanced at Kate, surrounded by the medical team, then at Lucas. Lowered his voice. "It's done. Owen's lines in Astoria and Europe—we closed them all simultaneously. That name is erased from this world as of today."

Lucas nodded. Acknowledged. His attention remained entirely on the woman in his arms.

Juliana's body trembled slightly. From pain or cold, he couldn't tell. He wrapped his coat tighter around her.

"She's stable to move!"

At the cave, the attending physician finally straightened, wiping sweat from his brow. "Vitals temporarily stabilized, but the bullet's still inside. She needs surgery immediately! Fast, get her down the mountain!"

Tactical officers moved in, swiftly loading Kate onto a specialized mountain stretcher.

The descent was harder than the climb.

The group moved like a silent, rapid army through the rugged terrain. Flashlight beams crisscrossed through the trees, illuminating slick mud and tangled roots.

Juliana leaned against Lucas. The jostling sent waves of pain through her shoulder. She bit down. Didn't make a sound.

She could hear the heart monitor on the stretcher beeping. In the silent forest, it sounded like a death knell, striking everyone's hearts.

Milo stayed beside the stretcher, one hand on its edge, the other pushing aside hanging branches. His eyes never left Kate's bloodless face. His world had narrowed to that faint beeping—ready to disappear at any moment.

After what felt like forever, light appeared ahead.

At the base of the mountain, over a dozen police cars and ambulances sat with lights flashing silently. Red and blue alternated, casting flickering shadows across every face.

"Quick! Over here!"

The ambulance doors swung open. Paramedics rushed forward.