Chapter 5: Collateral Blood

Raine

"Cassian!"

I didn't even know my knees struck the floor. All I knew was his body on mine, numb, bleeding, stiff.

He wasn't breathing.

"Cassian, no—NO!"

I pressed my fingers against his throat, searching for a pulse. Faint. There. Ebbing, but still there.

A second shot was fired.

Sparks ignited at the back of my head as the bullet grazed the vault wall.

"Back off!" Ophelia screamed out. "You make one more step and the next one goes through your dumb skull."

I was perplexed.

She approached me—her heels echoing like judgment on the metal floor. Her dark red lipstick was unyielding, even as she stepped over Cassian's blood.

"I warned you," she sneered. "You don't deserve to live in this world, Raine. You're just a charity case we allow to wear diamonds."

"You killed him," I whispered, my voice shaking.

"He'll live. If I let him." Tilting her head, gun aiming at Cassian's head. "Now, hand over the envelope."

Taking a quick look at it—still on the table, untouched.

"I dare you," I spoke low, standing slowly, one hand still against Cassian's wound. "Come and take it."

Ophelia's eyes narrowed.

Then, from the shadows in the hallway, we heard a voice.

"Touch her, and I'll rip your arm off."

The man stepped out of the shadows.

Malik.

Cassian's right-hand man.

He looked devilish—shirt torn, lip bleeding, gun in one hand, fire in his eyes.

Ophelia flinched. "Malik, you're out of line."

"No," he retorted, stepping between me and the gun, "you are."

Her eyes flashed to her masked thugs. "Take them out."

Malik fired first.

One of the masked thugs dropped dead instantly.

The second rushed forward, but I was already on the move.

I dove for the steel table, snatching the envelope and rolling under it just as the second shot was fired.

The second masked man fell to the floor.

Silence.

Then Ophelia laughed. A harsh, bitter laugh.

"You think you've won something?" she spat. "You don't even know what's in that envelope."

I stood up, trembling. "Maybe not. But I know what it's worth to you."

She pointed the gun at me.

Cassian groaned on the floor. His hand twitched—barely.

Her eyes flicked to him.

That was her mistake.

Malik attacked her from behind.

Her cry was muffled as she crashed into the wall.

I ran to Cassian. My arms were dripping in blood. His eyes fluttered.

"Stay with me," I whispered. "Don't you dare leave me again."

He coughed—blood at the edge of his lips. "Envelope…"

"I've got it."

His feeble hand wrapped around my coat.

"I didn't lie… about everything."

"I know," I gasped, my eyes brimming with tears. "Don't you die on me, Cassian. I'll kill you myself."

Malik stood triumphantly behind us, gun pressed against Ophelia's head.

"Take her," I growled.

Malik nodded grimly. "It's far from over. Larsson and Leo—they're close."

"We'll be miles away before they get here."

I grabbed the envelope, shoved it into my bag, and pulled Cassian upright.

His weight bore down on me, but I held tight.

"We have to go."

Fifteen minutes later, outside the Foundry

Rain drenched the world again.

Malik's SUV screeched to a halt. He leapt out and flipped open the rear door.

"Get him in—quick!"

We shoved Cassian into the backseat. I followed suit.

Malik buckled into the driver's seat, engine already rumbling.

"Where are we headed?" I asked, holding Cassian's head.

"There is a safe house. Cassian built it five years ago—off-radar, no link to Ashcroft, not even to me."

"Good," I gasped. "Go."

As the city blurred past, I opened the envelope.

Two things are inside.

A legal document.

And a photograph.

The photograph stopped me from breathing.

A woman. Blonde. Younger than I am.

With a baby in her arms.

Cassian… standing beside her.

My heart broke.

On the back, in writing:

"Her name was Emilia. She died in this war."

The document… was a confession. Cassian's.

A thorough analysis of the entire illegal clause, bribes paid by Leo, cover-ups with Larsson, and the sham shareholders in favor of Ophelia's move to have Raine removed.

Everything.

"I don't understand…" I murmur.

Cassian stirred beside me.

"She was my sister," he said faintly. "She was illegitimate. But blood."

I looked at him.

"They killed her," he went on, voice breaking. "Because she found the vault first, even before I did."

One Hour Later — The Safe House

It was a cabin in the woods.

Malik carried Cassian in, sat him down on the couch, and stepped back.

"Take what you need," he told me. "I'll keep guard."

I nodded.

In the bedroom, I sat on the floor, the documents spread out before me.

My hands are trembling.

Everything we had been through—everything that had been done to us-every deception, every betrayal—had all been for this.

A vault.

A legacy.

A name.

Cassian opened his eyes.

"Now you know."

"Yeah," I croaked. "I know it all."

"Do you hate me?" he asked.

"I should," I whispered. "But I don't."

Silence.

Then he talked so quietly, I hardly heard him.

"I never stopped loving you."

I turned my head away.

Because if I saw him, I'd fall apart.

Later That Night

I heard a car.

One.

No engine.

Footsteps.

I got up, gun in hand.

Malik opened the door.

He was pale. Shivering.

"They found us."

I walked down into the hallway.

The figure stepped out of the woods.

It wasn't Larsson.

It wasn't Leo.

It was Julian Maddox.

His eyes were hollow. His clothing was damp. His hands were held up.

"I'm not here to fight."

I frowned. "You asked Cassian to trust you. Then helped them pretend he was dead."

"I got him out of there," Julian replied. "But now… the board's voted."

"What vote?"

Julian's voice dropped.

"To strip you of all marital rights. They've declared your contract null and void on the grounds of fraud."

My eyes went wide.

My knees buckled.

"You're no longer Cassian's wife," he said.

"And tomorrow… he loses his inheritance."