Chapter Thirty-Five: The Fall of Bloodlines

The city felt still, as if it was holding its breath.

For years, Manhattan had been the pulse of everything I hated and everything I craved. Power. Control. Darkness. And every inch of it came with a price. But standing there, on the rooftop of what had once been the Blackwood Estate, I could feel that price finally being paid.

And this time, it wasn’t just my body that had to pay for it.

I stared out across the skyline, Lucien’s hand warm against the small of my back. He didn’t speak, but I could feel his presence beside me—like an anchor.

“What now?” I asked, my voice rougher than I expected.

He looked at me, eyes shadowed but determined. “We finish this.”

It wasn’t a question. And that’s what terrified me. I’d been running my whole life—running from my father, from the man I thought I was supposed to love, from everything that had ever made me feel small. But now? There was no running left.

There was only forward.

We’d tracked Eryx’s movements for days—every whisper, every turn, every low hum of power that carried his name. And each time, he was closer.

Clara had already gone into hiding, her identity still a dangerous weapon. She had become our most powerful bargaining chip, and every time I thought about it, the weight of that truth sat heavy on my chest. How much longer could we keep her hidden before Eryx discovered what she really was?

Lucien had been quiet for hours, strategizing the next move. But I knew he was thinking the same thing I was.

Eryx would come for her.

He always did.

By the time we reached the facility, the night had turned bitterly cold. The wind felt like it was tearing at my skin, and the lights of the city below flickered dimly, offering no warmth. We stood outside what had once been the heart of the Blackwood legacy—a place where the monsters who’d made us were created.

It wasn’t the largest building, but it was the most significant. Every operation, every twisted, horrific thing Reagan Blackwood had ever dreamed up had been born in the depths of that building. And now, it was where we would take our stand.

“The walls are lined with security,” Lucien murmured, his voice low. “We won’t get through the front. But the underground tunnel’s a different story.”

“Underground?” I repeated, eyeing him with suspicion. “You’ve had this planned for a while, haven’t you?”

He gave me a sharp, almost predatory smile. “You think I’m going to leave things to chance?”

I shook my head, fighting the surge of unease building inside me. This was it—the final fight. We couldn’t afford to lose.

“Let’s make sure they know we’re coming,” I said, my voice firm, biting through the cold. “Eryx needs to see what happens when you burn a legacy to the ground.”

We moved quickly, slipping through the back entrance of the facility. My pulse thudded in my ears, the silence of the night heavy and suffocating. The tunnel was cold, damp, and smelled of old metal and sweat. But there was something else too—a deeper scent. A memory.

This was where Reagan had built his empire. Where he’d tried to build me into his perfect heir.

But I wasn’t his anymore.

We moved in sync, the team silent and swift. Lucien’s hand brushed against mine in the dark, a simple reminder of his presence. Andrei led the charge, his eyes scanning every shadow, every movement. We couldn’t afford to be caught off guard now.

It was only when we reached the heart of the facility that I realized what we were really up against. This wasn’t just a fight for Clara’s safety.

This was a fight for my soul.

“Keep moving,” Lucien said, his voice cold. “We’ve got one shot at this.”

We descended deeper, past rooms I didn’t want to see. Past doors that held nightmares I had been running from. It was like walking through a tomb—familiar and suffocating.

Then we reached it.

The center of the facility.

The heart of the Blackwood legacy.

And standing there, in the coldest part of the room, was Eryx Blackwood himself.

He looked like a man who had been waiting for us.

His eyes, sharp and calculating, flicked between Lucien and me as if he had anticipated this moment for years. His lips curled into a smile that was more cold amusement than anything else.

“Did you really think you could destroy everything I built?” Eryx’s voice sliced through the air, his tone rich with disdain. “I am the Blackwood legacy.”

I stepped forward, a fire igniting in my chest. “You’re nothing but a ghost who hides behind blood and fear.”

He laughed softly, but there was no warmth in it. “You don’t get it, do you? You’re my legacy, Ivy. You’re the one who will carry the weight of all of this. And in the end, you’ll inherit everything.”

I froze. “You think you can scare me with words?”

“No.” His eyes glinted with something darker. “I think you’ve already inherited it. Look at your hands. Look at the blood on them.”

My heart pounded in my chest as the truth crashed into me like a wave.

Eryx had been manipulating me all along. He had known my every move, my every fear. And he thought he could control me by making me doubt my own choices.

But I wasn’t that girl anymore.

“Enough,” I said, voice steady. “This ends tonight.”

The battle that followed was a blur of gunfire, broken glass, and the sound of metal scraping against stone. It was chaos—pure, unrelenting chaos—but it was ours. Every inch of power I’d claimed, every drop of blood I’d shed, was now unleashed.

Eryx fought like a man who had nothing left to lose. But I fought like a woman who had nothing left to fear.

We finally cornered him in the heart of the facility. The last room. The last chamber.

Lucien and I stood together, our eyes locked.

Eryx smiled, a cold, twisted thing. “You think you’ve won? You think you’ve beaten me?”

“No,” I said quietly. “But we’ve beaten what you represent.”

With a final shot, the legacy of Blackwood crumbled.

As the building burned, I stood at the edge of the ruins, my heart beating with the power of a thousand storms.

Eryx Blackwood was dead.

Reagan’s empire was no more.

But the fire… it had claimed something far greater than bloodlines.

It had claimed my future.