Page 66 of Unholy Nights

The Savage Six react instinctively to the chaos. Cole and Lucas position themselves near Emerald and me, ready to move if needed, while Romeo directs his fighters toward the kitchen exit. Tristen's eyes stay locked on Madeline, his hand hovering near where I know he keeps a weapon. And Xander darts through the panicked crowd like some demented jack-in-the-box, his heterochromatic eyes wild with glee as he turns rich people's terror into his own personal entertainment.

"This is better than Christmas morning!" Xander shouts, making Richard Whitaker stumble backward into a melting ice sculpture. "Look how they run when you play with them!"

But Madeline just laughs.

"You think your pet criminals scare me?" She waves the remote. "I have enough explosives rigged to turn this whole estate into ash. One more step and we all burn."

"You killed him." Emerald's voice is steady even as tears cut tracks through the soot on her face. "Because he saw what you really are."

"I eliminated a threat." Madeline's mask finally cracks completely, decades of careful artifice shattering. "Just like I'll eliminate anyone who thinks they can steal my legacy. Including that bastard in your belly."

The words hit like bullets. Emerald's hand flies to her stomach as gasps echo through the smoke-filled room.

"That's right, darling." Madeline's eyes are wild now. "You think I didn't know? That I didn't have cameras everywhere? That I didn't watch every disgusting moment between you and him?" She gestures at me with the remote. "I saw it all. Every touch. Every kiss. Every time he fucked you in my house."

"Then you saw something real," Emerald says, her voice stronger. "You saw actual love. Not the twisted control you call love. Real, consuming, soul-deep love."

"Love?" Madeline spits the word like poison. "Love is weakness. Love is what gets you killed. Just ask your father—"

"No." Emerald takes another step forward. "Love is what gives me the strength to do this."

She moves faster than anyone expects, launching herself at her mother. They collide in a blur of white fabric and gold tulle. The remote goes flying as they hit the marble floor.

I'm moving before I can think, but Emerald is already rolling away. The remote skids across the floor toward Cole, who snatches it up.

"It's over, Mother." Emerald stands, blood running from a cut on her cheek. "You've lost. Everything."

The sight of her blood ignites something lethal in my chest, but watching Emerald rise, unflinching and unbroken, fills me with a savage pride that nearly drowns out my rage. That small cut is nothing compared to the years of invisible wounds Madeline inflicted, yet seeing it makes me want to tear her mother apart with my bare hands. But Emerald doesn't need me to fight this battle. She's magnificent in her defiance, stronger than Madeline ever imagined she could be.

My little phoenix is finally free.

Sweat trickles down my spine, my blood-red suit sticking to my skin as the temperature climbs. Each breath burns in my lungs, the smoke making my eyes water even as I refuse to look away from Emerald.

Behind us, the crowd surges against the exits, their panic growing as thick as the smoke that fills the ballroom. Expensive shoes slip on melting ice, silk dresses tear as people push past each other. The heat from the electrical fires makes the air shimmer, turning Madeline's winter wonderland into an inferno.

Someone screams as another piece of ceiling crashes down. The acrid smoke claws at my throat, making people cough andstumble. My eyes sting but I won't blink, won't look away from my goddess standing in the middle of her mother's burning empire. Romeo's fighters struggle to maintain order as the wealthy elite of Emerald Hills forget their careful breeding in their desperation to escape.

"Have I?" Madeline pulls herself up, that broken laugh bubbling from her throat. "Maybe. But so have you."

She reaches into the fabric of her dress and pulls out a gun.

The gun looks out of place in Madeline's manicured hand, but her aim is steady as she points it at her daughter's heart. At my heart, because that's what Emerald is to me.

"You want to know how I killed him?" Madeline's voice rasps through the smoke, her perfect makeup running in black streaks down her face. Somewhere behind her, another crystal chandelier crashes to the floor, sending screaming party guests scrambling. "Your father? With this exact gun." She coughs but keeps the weapon steady. "He thought he could take you, thought he could save you from what he called my 'obsession.'"

The heat is unbearable now, making the air shimmer between us. Madeline's designer dress clings to her body, dark with sweat and soot, but her eyes burn brighter than the flames consuming her empire. Romeo's fighters guide the last of the panicked guests toward the kitchen exit while glass continues to shatter in the inferno. "One bullet. That's all it took. And that's all it will take now."

I shift forward but Madeline swings the gun toward me. My lungs feel like they're filling with razor blades, but I won't look away from the weapon aimed at my heart. Emerald sways beside me, her breath coming in short gasps, the ivory silk of her dress now gray with ash. Her skin glows orange in the firelight, sweat plastering her dark hair to her neck.

"Don't." Madeline's voice cracks as she chokes on smoke, but her aim doesn't waver even as the ceiling groans ominously above us. "One move and I paint the walls with her blood."

"You won't shoot me." Emerald's voice is soft but certain. "You can't."

"Can't I?" The gun swings back to her. "You think you know me? Think carrying his child makes you special? Untouchable?" Her finger tightens on the trigger. "I brought you into this world. I can take you out of it."

The fire roars louder, drowning out the sounds of breaking glass and crumbling architecture. Through the thickening smoke, I catch glimpses of Cole and Lucas positioning themselves by the kitchen doors, waiting for my okay to take out my wife. But with that gun trained on Emerald, I don't dare risk it.

"Stop. Moving." The gun shakes in Madeline's grip.

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