Page 156 of Vicious Knight
I wasn’t even aware of such a message.
“Had you listened to my warning, none of this would have happened. But you had to go and kill his spy. That’s why he tried to kill you. He will keep trying because you know too much.”
“This is madness. You have to stop him, Levgen,” Mom blurts.
“I’m afraid it’s too late for that,” comes a cold, raspy voice from the corner of the room.
We all turn around to look and my soul fractures at the sight of the scar-faced man standing in the doorway.
My God. He’s here. Inside the house with us. How did he get in without the guards noticing him?
He steps forward with a psychotic smile that belongs in a horror movie. “Sorry, Mrs. Yegorov, you can’t stop me and there’s no one to help you. My men have surrounded the place and all your guards are dead.” His voice is emotionless and raspy, matching the gruesome appearance of his face.
“I told you I would take care of the situation.” Levgen steps forward.
“And yet the boy is here.” The man looks at Thorne. “Here with all the evidence and probably more shit to expose me and mine.”
“You motherfucking bastard. You killed my family.” Thorne squares his shoulders. The man holds his hand up.
“I wouldn’t move if I were you.” He wiggles his fingers, and two men carrying guns enter from behind him.
One points a gun at Thorne and the other at Mom. The guns have red laser pointers shining on Mom and Thorne’s foreheads.
Terror closes my throat, and I dare not breathe. My nerves are amplified when the man approaches me and yanks me toward him.
My body is already weakened from the situation, but having him touch me makes me feel sick to my core. But that becomes the least of my worries when he places the cold metal barrel of his gun against my head.
I go still in his arms, my eyes on Thorne who looks frozen in fear for me.
“Let her go,” he barks.
“No. I don’t think so. Here’s what I want, Thorne Ivanov. You can give me everything you have on me.” He glares at Thorne, then switches his gaze to Levgen. “And you, old friend, you can give me fifty million for my troubles. And you get to pick which of your girls lives. Your wife or your stepdaughter.”
This is an absolute nightmare. I can’t believe this is really happening.
Dark terror spreads across Levgen’s face like a rash. “Let them both go and I’ll give you everything.”
“No. You’ve crossed me one too many times with your loose ends. I demand a heart from one of the people you love.”
“Just take mine. Please don’t hurt them,” Levgen begs. “Kill me and let them go.”
The man laughs out loud, and I feel the rattle of his laughter pulsating through my being. “No. Choose now.”
The sound of gunshots outside cuts through the moment.
Gunfire rips through the air again and Levgen takes the chance to lunge for Mom. He pushes her out of the way of the laser focused on her head. The two tumble to the ground but one of the guards fires a shot and hits Levgen.
I barely register what’s happening before Thorne moves into action and pulls out his gun to shoot the guard. He also shoots the scar-faced man in the arm.
Yelping in pain, the man releases me and I rush toward the corner to take cover behind the piano.
At that moment, Caspian rushes out of the kitchen and shoots the scar-faced man in the chest. Lucian is behind him with some of the guards I’ve seen at Raventhorn.
“Obviously, I didn’t come alone either,” Thorne snarls, pointing his gun at the scar-faced man. “I knew you were watching me and waiting for the right moment to attack, but you wanted to see what shit I had on you first. That’s why you came out tonight.”
The scar-faced man falls to his knees, dropping his gun and grabbing his chest. “End me then, Knight.”
“This is for my family.” Thorne shoots him in the head and the monster from my nightmares slumps to the ground in a pool of blood, vanquished.