Chapter 24 - The bloodline key
Damien’s vision tinted red. Every fiber of his being screamed at him to breach the doorway and put a bullet through the skull of every technician in the room. But Clara’s position stopped him cold. She was standing barely inches from Lily, her left hand resting gently on the back of the child's neck.
"The platelet count is rising," one of the technicians spoke in clipped German, his voice echoing through the comm-link Damien had intercepted. "The sovereign antibodies are fully synthesized. If we extract the primary marrow sample now, we can finalize the decryption sequence for Archon Valerius before sunrise."
"No," Clara’s voice was like ice, sharp and commanding. "The protocol clearly states the marrow extraction cannot take place until the neural receptors are completely dormant. If you trigger an adrenaline spike, the Sovereign enzyme will degrade. You touch her with that needle, and I will personally feed your lungs to the air scrubbers."
The technician flinched, pulling back his hands in deference. "Of course, Commander. We await your word."
From his shadow in the corridor, Damien frowned. Commander? Clara was giving orders to the elite research division of the Black Sun. This was not the behavior of a brainwashed captive or a desperate mother trying to sabotage her captors from within. She held total authority here.
Lily looked up, her cheeks stained with dry tears. "Mommy... I want Daddy. You said Daddy was coming to get us. Why are we in the cold hospital again?"
Clara knelt down before the little girl. For a fraction of a second, Damien saw a crack in her impenetrable facade—a fleeting tremor in her lips, a sudden swallow of grief. She gently tucked a dark curl behind Lily’s ear.
"Daddy doesn't understand the world we live in, my sweet girl," Clara whispered, her voice trembling slightly. "Daddy thinks he can protect us with money and soldiers. But the monster that wants your blood isn't a person, Lily. It’s an idea. And the only way to kill an idea is to burn down the temple that built it."
"Even if it burns our daughter?" Damien’s voice cut through the cavernous chamber like a whip.
May you like
Before the technicians could react, Damien stepped from the shadows, his weapon raised, his laser sight centered squarely between the eyes of the lead bio-engineer. Marcus and the strike team followed instantly, their suppressed rifles sweeping the room with clinical precision.
"Nobody move," Damien whispered, his eyes never leaving Clara’s face. "Or the next thing that spills in this room won't be in a test tube."
