Chapter 8 - Siege on Vale Manor
The cellar was cold, illuminated only by the flickering red emergency beacon mounted above the drainage archway.
“Julian,” Roman said, stepping directly in front of Claire to shield her from the line of fire. “You always did lack the stomach to face me without an army at your back.”
Julian chuckled, a dry, raspy sound. “An army gets the job done, dear brother. You spent your life playing the noble billionaire, hoarding our father’s empire, while I had to take what was rightfully mine through the shadows. Did you really think a little boat crash in Nantucket would finish me?”
“You killed Nathaniel Bennett,” Claire’s voice cut through the tension, clear and razor-sharp as she stood by the pneumatic control lever. “He was an innocent man. He trusted your family.”
Julian’s eyes flicked to her, a dismissive sneer curling his lip. “The architect? He was a meddling fool who couldn't keep his nose out of my shell companies. Just like you, little girl. But don't worry—you’ll both join him in the rubble in approximately ninety seconds.”
Julian raised his gun, his finger tightening on the trigger.
“Duck!” Claire screamed.
She didn't pull the pneumatic lever; instead, she yanked the heavy industrial drainage release valve situated directly above the main water intake pipe.
A torrent of five hundred gallons of pressurized reservoir water blasted from the overhead pipe like a cannon shot, slamming directly into Julian and his two approaching mercenaries. The sheer kinetic force of the water swept the men off their feet, throwing them backward across the slick concrete floor. Julian’s weapon went flying into the darkness.
“Now!” Roman roared.
Roman surged forward, closing the distance before Julian could recover. He drove his fist into the first mercenary’s jaw, knocking him cold, and disarmed the second with a brutal wrist-lock, slamming the man’s head against the brick wall.
Julian scrambled to his feet, lunging for a dropped combat knife. He slashed wildly at Roman, cutting through the heavy cashmere of Roman’s sleeve, opening a shallow red line along his forearm.
Roman didn't even flinch. He caught Julian’s knife-arm at the wrist, twisting with bone-shattering force. The knife dropped to the floor with a metallic ring. Roman drove a devastating knee into Julian’s midsection, followed by a sweeping right hook that sent his brother crashing into the collapsed iron shelving of the pantry.
Julian lay coughing blood, staring up at his brother in stunned, terrified disbelief.
Above them, the structure of the house groaned violently. The first series of demolition charges detonated on the east wing, sending cascades of mortar, brick, and dust raining down upon the cellar.
“The roof is coming down!” Claire shouted, fighting the roaring water pressure to lock the final pneumatic lever in place. “The tunnel is open! Roman, we have to go!”
Roman looked down at his brother. For a brief second, the shadow of old grief crossed his face, instantly replaced by an unyielding resolve. He leaned down, retrieved the zip-ties from the floor, and ruthlessly bound Julian’s wrists and ankles.
“You’re not dying here, Julian,” Roman said coldly, hauling his brother up by his collar and throwing him over his shoulder like a sack of dead weight. “You’re going to stand trial for every single life you destroyed.”
“Roman!” Claire cried out as a massive ceiling beam cracked directly above their heads.
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Roman grabbed Claire’s hand with his free arm. “Jump!”
Together, they threw themselves into the mouth of the brick aqueduct just as the entire ground floor of Vale Manor collapsed inward in a deafening avalanche of fire, steel, and falling stone.
