Page 110 of Peaceful Chaos

She shakes her head sadly. "I think it might be too late for me."

"Go on outside and let us get those kids out of there," Lucien tells her.

"Be careful," she says before slipping out the door.

Javier paces back and forth. "We can't gas him out, not with kids."

Lucien, Raven, and I share a look. There's an air duct overhead, and as much as I hate it, only one of us will fit.

"Give me a boost," Raven demands.

"Princess," I start to speak, but she kisses me to stop my argument.

"Let's end this," she says determined.

I cup my hands and hoist her up toward the vent access. Lucien and I move toward the door. We need to keep him distracted for Raven to get into place.

Lucien kicks open the door. We pull off our goggles since Damien has a camp lantern in the room. It's still dim, but we can see well enough to see the gun he's holding to Tempest's head.

"Hey, Dad, did you miss me?" Lucien taunts.

Damien snarls. "What a disappointment you've turned out to be. I was ready to hand you the world, and you throw it in my face? You don't deserve to be my heir, but this one will be much better." He waves toward the bassinet in the corner.

"You've got the baby, you don't need the girl," Lucien says.

"Sure I do. This one is going to make me a lot of money. I've got an empire to rebuild thanks to you. I couldn't get my hands on your other sister, but that's okay. Young flesh is worth so much more. I think I will enjoy her first. At least this one isn't related to me, and she also looks so much like your mother."

"You're a sick sonofabitch," I snarl at him and take a step forward.

Lucien grabs my arm, keeping me from moving any further into the room.

Damien laughs. "Still a thoughtless killer I see. Do you really think you can reach me before I put a bullet in her head?"

"Can't sell a dead girl," I throw back. "If you pull that trigger nothing will stop us from killing you."

Tears stream down Tempest's face, and I hate myself for the harsh words I'm saying in front of her. I can't take time to worry about her feelings though. Right now the only thing that matters is to make sure she walks out of this building.

Damien shrugs. "So we're at an impasse."

Raven's hair slips through the grate on the vent, and I realize a little too late she's going to need a bigger distraction to get it off. Lucien sees the same thing and waves at someone I can't see standing off behind me.

"What's to stop me from making a move, now?" He isn't really asking Damien a question but signaling to Raven and whoever he's silently communicating with to act.

An explosion goes off not far from the room, and Raven uses the noise to cover the sound of her kicking out the grate. Damien's attention is drawn toward the explosion, and he doesn't notice Raven drop down behind him until she's got a knife to his throat.

"Drop the gun," she orders, and emphasizes her demand by pressing the blade against his throat until a trickle of blood runs down his neck.

"I swear, she's like a damn cat," Lucien says with pride.

"I'll pull the trigger," Damien blusters.

"And I'll cut your fucking throat. Don't try me." A malicious smirk pulls up her lips. She presses the blade harder against his throat. “Or do. Don’t think for a second I’ll hesitate to cut right into your carotid.”

The steady pressure she applies to the knife keeps the trail of blood rolling down his neck. He wisely realizes she’s not bluffing and drops the gun.

"Good, now kick it away," Raven insists.

"Tempest," I snag her attention, "come here."

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