from the blood, but it carried an undeniable, crushing auth

e. But under his father's lethal glare, he bowed his head in utte

his cane against the floorboards. He demanded she ap

njustice and humiliation made her entire body tremble. But looking at her gr

Holden. She bent at the waist in a deep bow, her voic

couture gown naturally fell away from her body. It exposed a

led weapons or changes in breathing patterns. For exactly 0.1

e tail end of his glance. The humiliation in h

rp step back. She glared at him with pure venom, ut

idn't offer a single word of explanation. His

lculating gleam in his old eyes. He coughe

debt, Cordelia would sign a legally bindi

n physically struck. She screamed that it was imposs

he sobbed, begging Alistair not to throw the fa

brutal card: if she refused, he would instantly liquid

ribs. The core tech project she had poured her so

at her ruthless grandfather and her powerless parents. The

He only wanted access to the vault to st

spike of pain shot through his veins. The Progenitor genes la

ng estate's radiation shield to buy time.

thick, leather-bound contracts. He handed a gold fountain pen

pen scratched aggressively against the paper. It

crawled his name with a fluid, careless motion

d his second command: the two of them would mo

he vault access you require," he said, his eyes boring into Holden, "will be granted remotely. The necessar

ave burned a hole through Holden's chest, but she had noth

or, her stilettos hammering the floor. She barked at

ing the murderous glares from Warren and Beatri

ff the noise of the estate. They sat in the cavernous bac

nst his spine. The promised remote protocol had begun. It wasn't the full treatment of the vault, but it was enough to stave off the immediate

toward the glittering skyline of Manhattan, carrying two