Chapter 36: The Price of Blood on the Danube

Kasimir

The warehouse smelled of dirty river water, rusty metal, and engine oil.

Outside, the Danube River flowed against the old wooden posts beneath the warehouse. Thick grey fog covered the river and the nearby Austrian border. Cold air came through the cracks in the metal walls, cutting through my dark wool coat and making the pain in my injured shoulder worse.

I stood in the middle of the large, dark warehouse with my hands in my pockets. My fingers were wrapped tightly around a heavy tactical knife.

I had no gun. Neither did Soren. That was the only rule of our meeting. We had agreed not to bring firearms, but the peace between us was fragile. We were enemies who had come together because we wanted something from each other, even though years of hatred stood between us.

“You’re late, Soren,” I said calmly.

My rough voice echoed through the empty warehouse as water dripped from the ceiling.

A tall, slim figure stepped out of the shadows near the loading area.

Soren Lindner walked into the pale moonlight coming through the broken skylight. His expensive grey suit was spotless, even though the ground outside was covered in mud and dirt. His silver hair shone under the moonlight, but his narrow grey eyes were cold and dangerous.

“A gentleman never rushes into a place full of wolves, Kasimir,” Soren said smoothly.

His polished way of speaking made my stomach turn.

He stopped about ten yards away from me, leaving plenty of space between us.

“I must admit, I was surprised when I received your encrypted message,” he continued. “I thought you’d be too busy nursing your injured shoulder or crying over what remains of your family’s empire.”

“My shoulder is fine,” I replied roughly.

I took one slow step toward him. The sound of my boots echoed through the warehouse.

“And my family’s legacy is none of your business. You wanted to meet face-to-face. You wanted the Falkenrath shipping records. I’m here.”

Soren gave me a small, bitter smile.

He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a slim silver cigarette case. He opened it with a sharp click.

“Ah, yes. The shipping records,” he said. “The key to controlling the entire Baltic shipping route. Your father killed for them. Your grandmother suffered for them. And now, you’re willing to hand them over just to save your precious little wife from losing her mind.”

My hands tightened around the knife in my pocket.

“Don’t you dare talk about Vespera,” I growled.

My voice was low and threatening, warning him not to push me any further.

Soren ignored the warning. He lit his cigarette, and its red tip glowed in the darkness. The light made the lines on his face look even deeper.

He blew out a cloud of smoke toward the high ceiling.

“Why shouldn’t I talk about her?” he asked. “She’s at the center of this entire family feud, isn’t she? An innocent woman caught between two powerful enemies.”

He paused, studying my face.

“Tell me something, Kasimir. Does she know yet?”

My body went rigid.

It felt as though the air in my lungs had suddenly turned heavy, making it difficult to breathe.

“Know what?” I asked.

“Does she know that her beloved, honorable father was the one who approved the sinking of the Aegis?” Soren asked.

He took another slow drag from his cigarette, watching my face with a cruel smile.

“Does she know that while she sleeps beside you, trusting you to protect her, you’re protecting the memory of the same man who betrayed her family and handed them over to my organization twenty years ago?”

The silence that followed was unbearable. It felt as if the weight of his words could crush everything around us.

Every part of me wanted to attack him. I wanted to close the distance between us, cut his throat, and make him pay for his lies. But I forced myself to stay where I was.

Then I remembered Vespera’s face. I remembered the way her dark eyes had looked at me, full of fear but also a fragile kind of trust, when we spoke over the radio just hours earlier.

That memory was the only thing stopping my anger from taking control.

“My father was a monster, Soren. Just like you. Just like Greta,” I said quietly.

My voice was so cold and low that his smile faded slightly.

“I don’t care about the past. I don’t care about the Aegis. I care about what’s happening now. I have the ledger and the decoded shipping records that prove your secret accounts paid for the sabotage that destroyed Falkenrath Logistics.”

I pulled a small, heavy black flash drive from my coat and held it up between two fingers. The moonlight reflected off its surface.

Soren’s eyes immediately fixed on it. The confidence in his face disappeared, replaced by the sharp attention of a man who had just realized he might be in danger.

“This drive contains everything,” I continued, slowly moving his attention away from the dark corners near the river.

“Every money transfer. Every fake company you used to hide your money. If I press one button on my computer, all the evidence will be sent directly to the federal prosecutors in Frankfurt and the Baltic maritime court. By sunrise, your entire empire could be destroyed.”

Soren gave a short, dry laugh, but the smoke coming from his mouth was no longer steady.

“You wouldn’t dare do that. If I go down, Greta goes down with me. And if Greta falls, the Adler family name will be ruined too.”

He paused before adding, “Vespera will also lose the only legal protection keeping her sister’s trial medicine safe.”

“Try me,” I whispered.

“Give me the master access codes for the Swiss laboratory accounts. Let Liesea go free, and I’ll leave this country tonight with Vespera. You can keep the Danube shipping routes. You can keep all the dirty money. I’m done playing Greta’s games.”

For three painful seconds, neither of us moved.

My heart beat heavily against my chest. The tension between us was so intense that it felt as if the rusty metal beams above our heads might break.

Soren stared at the flash drive in my hand. His jaw tightened before he slowly reached inside his jacket.

I prepared myself for anything But he didn’t pull out a gun.

Instead, he took out a thick leather envelope sealed with wax and held it toward me.

“A fair exchange,” he said.

His mocking tone was gone. Now, he sounded like a businessman discussing a deal.

“The Swiss access codes for the Falkenrath ledger. We end this tonight, Kasimir.”

I took a step toward him and reached for the envelope.

Then I heard a sound from above us.

A metal beam creaked.

It wasn’t the wind.

It was the clear sound of a soldier’s boot stepping onto the rusty metal walkway about sixty feet above the warehouse floor.

I immediately looked up.

A bright red laser beam cut through the fog and landed directly on the center of Soren’s chest.

Soren froze. All the color drained from his face as he stared at the red dot moving across his jacket.

“Kasimir… what have you done?” he asked in a frightened voice.

“That wasn’t me,” I replied.

My heart slammed against my ribs as I stepped backward and quickly pulled the knife from my pocket.

Then a figure emerged from the shadows on the high platform.

She wore a long, dark coat. Her silver hair was perfectly arranged, and she held a gold-headed cane in one hand. Two heavily armed soldiers stood beside her.

It was Greta Adler.

My grandmother looked down at us with a cold smile that sent a chill through my body.

“You’ve always been too sentimental for your own good, Kasimir,” she said.

Her voice echoed through the enormous warehouse.

“Did you really think I’d let you give away my empire just to save the daughter of a traitor?”

She slowly raised her gloved hand.

Then she pointed one finger downward, giving a clear order.

“Kill them both.”