LOGINPOV: Alexander"You take one thumb off that button," I said, "and I will tear your remaining arm out of its socket."Arthur Sterling laughed, a wet, rattling sound that sprayed blood over his burned jaw. "Look at you, Alexander. Still acting like you own the room. You think I care if you kill me? My liver is shredded. My lungs are full of river salt. I'm dead in twenty minutes anyway."Behind the thick glass of the escape pod hatch, Elena was screaming. Her hands were pounding against the reinforced pane, her bloody palms leaving dark smears across the viewsite. Leo was right behind her, his small face pressed against the glass, his eyes wide and completely unblinking."Drop the detonator, Arthur," I growled, taking a slow step down the narrow steel pipe."Step back!" Arthur shrieked, his thumb pressing harder against the red plastic switch on the casing. A sharp electronic beep echoed in the narrow corridor. "You pull that manual release lever, and the spark hits the secondary fuel t
Elena POVI froze, the freezing water in my shoes completely forgotten.My hands hovered inches above Leo's shoulders, my breath catching in my throat. The seven-year-old boy I had raised, the child I had carried through dark rooms and hidden away from my father's soldiers, was standing straight. His posture wasn't slouched anymore. His head was tilted at a precise, unnatural angle, his dark eyes staring at the glowing blue incubators with a cold, terrifying satisfaction."Leo?" I whispered, my voice breaking. "Baby, step back from the glass. Come to Mom.""He isn't your baby, Elena," Alexander said, his voice dropping into a dangerous, gravelly register.Alexander didn't hesitate. He grabbed Leo by the collar of his jacket, yanked him backward off the crate, and slammed him behind his back, shielding him with his massive frame. His rifle was raised, the barrel aimed squarely at the digital screen of the transport crate."Alex, don't shoot!" I shrieked, grabbing his bare, blood-staine
POV: Alexander"You should have died in the river, Mark," I said, my voice low and dark as I pulled my hand away from Elena's bleeding palm.I didn't reach for a gun. I stepped right in front of the two glowing blue incubators, my body forming a solid wall between the camera lens on the wall and my family. The sub rocked hard under my boots, the heavy diesel auxiliary generators humming in the floorboards."I don't die easily, Chairman," Mark's voice crackled through the PA speaker, smooth and completely distant. "You know how the Cartel operates. We don't take sides in family rivalries. We simply collect the assets when the dust settles. You have fifteen seconds left on that timer.""Mark, look at me," Elena called out, stepping up right beside my elbow. Her left hand was wrapped in a strip of torn fabric from her shirt, fresh blood soaking through the cloth, but her posture was rigid. "You worked in my lab in Zurich for two years. You know the biological structure of those pods. If
POV: Alexander"Put the gun down, old man," I growled, taking one heavy step toward him, my body positioning itself right between his gun barrel and my son.My knuckles were split wide open, blood dripping onto the steel floor, but I didn't feel it. I only saw the red flashing lights of the incubators behind me. The synthetic fluid was almost completely gone from the pods. The tiny hearts on the monitor screen were spattering into irregular, dying rhythms."Don't move, Alexander!" Nathaniel shrieked, his hands trembling so violently the pistol barrel shook in the air. "I built this entire network! I gave you life! I gave you those children! You don't get to walk away with my legacy!""Dad!" Leo screamed, clutching my leg from behind, his small body shivering against my wet trousers."Stay still, Leo," I muttered, my left hand reaching down to lock around my son's shoulder, holding him flush against the back of my thigh. "He isn't shooting anyone.""I will put a bullet through his head
POV: AlexanderMy fingers were buried deep into Vivian's throat. I could feel her windpipe groaning under my palm, her feet kicking wildly against my shins, but I didn't let go."Alex, look at the screen! Let her go!" Elena's voice was a ragged scream behind me. She was on her knees in her own blood, her hands dragging my leg, trying to pull me off. "He's going to kill them!"I looked down at the tablet on the wet steel deck. Lucas was staring straight into the camera lens, his hand hovering over the clear glass pod holding my sons. His thumb was resting right on the plunger of the digital syringe."Three seconds, brother," Lucas's voice came through the small tablet speaker, flat and devoid of any human feeling. "Three. Two..."I shoved Vivian away. She hit the wet submarine deck hard, coughing violently, her hands clutching her neck as she gasped for air."Good choice," Lucas said on the screen, stepping back from the pod. "Now, Commander, clear the deck. Bring Dr. Lin down to the m
POV: Alexander"What do you mean they're gone?" I roared.The wind off the bay slammed against my bare, bleeding chest, but I couldn't feel the cold. I couldn't feel the steel of the submarine deck beneath my boots or the ten tactical rifles pointed directly at my head. I only felt the hollow, terrifying emptiness where Elena's body was collapsing in my arms."They're gone, Alex," Elena choked out, her face completely ghost-white, her fingers digging so deep into my shoulders her nails tore the wet fabric. "The pulse on my wrist... the double beat... it stopped the second Julian touched that watch.""Step away from the asset, Vance!" the central commander shouted, taking two heavy steps across the wet submarine hull. He racked the bolt of his submachine gun, his eyes cold behind his black tactical visor. "You are an illegal biological vector. The council authorized immediate liquidation!""You shoot him, and I jump into the propellers!" Elena screamed, throwing her frail, bleeding fra







