Page 65 of Unholy Nights

The sprinklers activate, but it's not enough to combat the electrical fires now spreading through the wiring in the walls. Smoke pours from the vents as the climate control system fails.

What the fuck did she do to fuck with the electrical system?

"Get everyone out," I order Cole, who's already moving. But Madeline blocks the main exit, that remote still raised.

"Nobody leaves," she says as the room descends into chaos. "We all go down together."

"I can end this right now," Cole says quietly beside me, his hand already reaching for the gun I know he carries. "One clean shot."

"No." I grab his arm, my eyes fixed on that remote. "She's got a dead man's switch. The moment her hand releases it, everything blows. She planned for someone trying to take her out."

"Fuck." Cole's jaw tightens. "Romeo's guys could—"

"Same problem. She falls, we all die. She's made sure of it."

The marble floor becomes treacherous as melting ice sculptures create rivers that reflect the growing flames. Smoke curls through the room like a living thing, turning Madeline's winter wonderland into something from a nightmare.

"You should see your faces," she taunts as the crowd draws back. "All your precious wealth, your centuries of status, your careful breeding—none of it matters now. You're all just rats in my trap."

"The only rat here is you," Elizabeth Caldwell shouts over the panicked crowd, rage threading through every word. "You sold our children to predators. Used them as bargaining chips."

Something dark flashes in Madeline's eyes. "Used them? I improved them. Made them worthy of our world. Just like I did with Emerald." Her gaze fixes on her daughter. "Everything I did was to make you perfect. And how do you repay me? By spreading your legs for your stepfather?"

The words hit like a whip, but Emerald doesn't flinch. "No," she says, her voice steady even as smoke fills the air. "Everything you did was to control me. To own me. To make me as hollow as you are."

"Hollow?" Madeline's laugh sounds like breaking glass. "I built an empire. Created a dynasty. And you think fucking Cohen makes you special?" She takes a step forward, remote still raised. "You're nothing without me. Nothing but damaged goods now—"

"That's enough." My voice cuts through her tirade. "You've lost, Madeline. It's over."

"Over?" She hits another button and explosions rock the foundation. The massive chandeliers swing like pendulums, crystals breaking free to shatter across the marble floor as women in designer gowns scramble back. The impact sends decorative columns toppling into ice sculptures while hairline fractures race across the ceiling. Someone screams as a piece of molding crashes down inches from their head. "I'm just getting started."

The crowd surges toward the exits, but Romeo's fighters hold them back—the doors are too hot to touch now, the electrical fires having spread through the walls.

"Cohen." Emerald's voice is soft but certain. "Let me talk to her."

"No." The word tears from my throat. "I won't risk you."

"Trust me." She squeezes my hand. "Please."

Everything in me rebels against letting her step forward, but I see something in her eyes—strength I helped unlock, power that was always there beneath Madeline's conditioning.

"Mother," Emerald says, moving closer despite the heat and smoke. "You don't have to do this."

"Don't I?" Madeline's voice cracks. "They're trying to take everything. Just like your father tried—"

She stops, that calculating look returning. "You want to know what happened to him? Your precious daddy who abandoned you?" Her smile is cruel. "I took care of him. Because he tried to take you from me. Just like Cohen's trying to take you now."

"What did you do to him?" Emerald's voice shakes for the first time.

"What I had to. What I'll do to anyone who tries to steal from me." Madeline's finger moves on the remote. "Including you, my perfect little disappointment."

The sound system crackles with feedback as more electrical surges pulse through the walls. The smoke is getting thicker, the heat more intense. We're running out of time.

Through the smoke and chaos, I watch my entire world step closer to the monster who gave her life. Emerald's ivory dress glows in the firelight, the gold tulle catching embers like stars. She looks like an avenging angel as she faces her mother, and pride wars with terror in my chest.

"What did you do to my father?" Emerald's voice carries over the crackle of flames.

"Does it matter?" Madeline's smile is all teeth. "He's been in the ground for fifteen years. Just like you'll be when I'm done." She hits another button and part of the ceiling caves in, sending guests scrambling. "It's almost poetic, isn't it? The whole family, together again."

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