Chapter 6 - Night of Thunder
Before Vincent could issue an order, the grand chandeliers flickered violently once, twice—and died.
Total darkness plunged over the ballroom.
Screams erupted from the high-society guests as panic swept through the crowd.
BOOM!
A heavy explosion rocked the west wing of the estate, shattering glass windows and setting off emergency fire alarms. Red emergency lights began flashing along the walls, casting blood-colored shadows across the chaotic room.
"Maya, stay behind Gabriel!" Vincent roared, drawing a concealed sidearm from beneath his tuxedo jacket.
"No!" I yelled over the deafening sirens. "Noah is upstairs!"
Without waiting for permission, I spun on my high heels, kicked off the uncomfortable shoes, and sprinted bare-foot up the grand staircase through the swirling smoke and panicking crowd.
"Maya! Stop!" Vincent’s voice echoed behind me, but I didn't care. Noah was my priority.
I reached the second-floor corridor just as two heavily armed men in black tactical gear burst out of a side hallway. They carried submachine guns and wore night-vision goggles.
"Find the kid!" one of them yelled in a harsh accent. "Valenti wants him alive as leverage!"
My blood ran cold. They were going to kidnap Noah.
I crouched behind a marble pillar, my heart pounding in my ears. I knew I couldn't fight two armed mercenaries head-on. But I knew this house better than they did.
I ducked into an adjacent servant passage—a narrow, hidden hallway behind the wall panels that Mrs. Vance had shown me during my first week.
I sprinted down the dark passage, slipping quietly through the hidden door right into Noah’s nursery.
The room was in chaos. The nanny lay unconscious on the rug, and Noah was huddled beneath his bed, sobbing hysterically, holding his hands over his ears.
"Noah!" I whispered, scrambling across the floor on my hands and knees.
"Maya!" Noah cried out, reaching his small hands toward me. "They blew up the door!"
"Shh, baby, I'm here," I whispered, pulling him into my lap, hugging his small, trembling frame against my chest. "We have to hide. In the panic room."
Behind the nursery bookcase was a reinforced steel panic room Vincent had installed after Elena's death. I carried Noah across the room, pressed the hidden release button under the desk, and pushed the heavy steel door open.
"Get inside, Noah," I instructed urgently.
"Are you coming?" he whimpered, grabbing my dress.
Before I could answer, heavy footsteps echoed from the nursery hallway.
"Check this room! The kid’s in here!" a mercenary grunted outside.
I looked at Noah. I knew that if I stepped inside the panic room, the heavy steel door would take ten seconds to seal automatically—plenty of time for the mercenaries to see it closing and blow the door open with explosives.
I had to draw them away.
"I'll be right behind you, Noah. Lock the door from the inside and don't open it for anyone except your dad," I promised him, kissing his forehead.
I pushed him into the panic room and hit the internal lock button. The heavy steel door slid shut with a solid, airtight THUNK.
I turned around, grabbed a heavy bronze floor lamp from beside the desk, and stood waiting in the center of the dark nursery.
The door burst open.
A tactical flashlight beam blinded me. "There she is! Where’s the boy?!"
"He’s not here!" I yelled, swinging the heavy bronze lamp with every ounce of strength I possessed.
CRACK!
The heavy lamp struck the first mercenary squarely across his helmet, knocking him sideways. But the second mercenary stepped up, grabbing my wrists, slamming me violently against the wall, pinning me down.
"Where is he, you street rat?!" he snarled, raising a gloved fist.
BLAM! BLAM!
Two thunderous gunshots tore through the dark.
The mercenary holding me gasped, dropping to his knees, and collapsed onto the rug.
Standing in the shattered doorway, silhouetted by the red emergency lights, was Vincent.
His tuxedo jacket was gone, his white dress shirt was soaked with blood, and his grey eyes were burning with an unholy, demonic rage. He dropped his smoking gun, crossed the room in two strides, and pulled me violently into his arms.
"Maya!" Vincent roared, his voice trembling as he checked my face, my neck, my arms. "Are you hit? Did they hurt you?!"
"I'm fine... I'm fine," I sobbed, wrapping my arms tightly around his broad chest, holding onto him for dear life. "Noah is in the panic room. He’s safe!"
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Vincent closed his eyes, letting out a choked, ragged sob of pure relief. He buried his face into my neck, holding me so tightly I could barely breathe.
"You brave, foolish, incredible woman," Vincent whispered, his tears wet against my skin. "You saved him again."
