All Chapters of The Bride in the Blackwood File : Chapter 11 - Chapter 15

The dial tone echoed through the silent study.Damien slowly lowered the receiver, his expression unreadable.Lucas was the first to speak."'You've been chasing the wrong Blackwood.' What does that mean?"Damien looked toward the rain-soaked window."It means whoever called us wants us to question everything."Ava tightened her grip on the letter in her hands."No."Both men looked at her."They wanted us to hear one thing."She held up her mother's letter."St. Mary's Hospital."Damien nodded."We're done chasing ghosts.""We find the living."---Less than an hour later...The Blackwood convoy pulled into the parking lot of St. Mary's Hospital.The aging building looked untouched by time.Its faded walls carried decades of forgotten stories.Ava stared at the entrance."This is where I was born."Damien glanced at her."And where someone has been waiting for eighteen years."Lucas led the way toward the reception desk.A middle-aged nurse smiled politely."Good afternoon. How may I

The words echoed through the emergency ward."They switched us... the night we were born!"Time seemed to stop.Ava stared at Anna, her mind refusing to accept what she'd just heard.Then another gunshot shattered the silence.The bullet struck the wall inches above Ava's head."Move!" Damien shouted.He grabbed Ava's hand and pulled her behind a concrete pillar as shattered glass rained across the floor.Lucas fired two quick shots.The attackers ducked behind overturned hospital trolleys.Patients screamed and rushed toward the emergency exits.The entire ward dissolved into chaos.---One of the masked men spoke into an earpiece."Target located."A calm voice answered."Forget the other woman.""Bring Ava Carter to me.""Alive."Damien heard enough."They're after you," he said to Ava."I know.""No."His voice hardened."You don't understand.""They don't care who gets hurt.""They only want you."Ava swallowed."Why?""Because you're the only person who can destroy them."---Th

The archive seemed to stop breathing.Ava stared at the man standing in the doorway.Lucas.Her mind refused to accept what her eyes were showing her.He was holding a gun.Behind him stood three masked men.Damien moved instantly, stepping in front of Ava."Lucas."His voice was low.Dangerously calm.Lucas didn't answer.He simply raised his weapon."Put the gun down," Damien ordered.One of the masked men laughed."Still giving orders, Mr. Blackwood?"Damien's eyes remained fixed on Lucas."You were with me at the cemetery.""At the hospital.""At my grandfather's manor.""You knew about the file."Lucas's expression remained cold."I knew more than you realized."Ava's heart pounded."You were the one helping them?"Lucas finally looked at her."Not all of them.""Just the ones who were willing to pay."Damien's jaw tightened."How long?"Lucas hesitated."Long enough."The answer hit harder than Ava expected.Damien took one step forward."You knew about my sister."Lucas's expre