Chapter 8 I love you

"POW!"

The first gunshot was thunder in a clear sky.

For one breathless second, the entire rooftop froze. The music stopped. The wind stilled.

Then-thump.

The man who had insulted Seraphina earlier - the smug escort with a pistol and a sharp tongue - dropped like a marionette with cut strings, a crimson stream gushing from the center of his throat.

A gurgling sound choked out of him as he hit the marble floor. Dead before his knees bent.

Seraphina screamed, "Oh My Goodness!"

Her instincts took over. She bolted from the decorated table, nearly tripping on her gown as she rushed to her mother.

"Mama!" she cried, pulling Megan behind a thick flower pillar. Her hands trembled as she frantically checked her mother's face. "Are you okay? Did you get hit?!"

"No," Megan whispered, heart hammering. "But we have to go. Now! I knew Nate was up to no good." She pulled Seraphina towards the door.

Seraphina looked around, frantic. Nate was no longer kneeling.

He had drawn a gun from his waistband and stood tall, gun aimed vaguely forward, jaw clenched tight.

His men - all dark suits and bulletproof vests - circled him like a phalanx.

Megan clutched Seraphina's arm. "We need to go find your father. We need to warn him."

Seraphina nodded sharply. "Let's go."

They turned to run but then-

Click.

Cold metal pressed against the backs of their necks. A second man, eyes hidden behind mirrored glasses, hissed through clenched teeth:

"Not so fast, princesses."

Seraphina's legs locked. Her mother went rigid, "w- what do you want from us?" She wheezed but was ignored.

The fear was instant. Crippling. Ice in their bones. The metallic kiss of the guns at their necks reminded them that their lives balanced on a twitch of a stranger's finger.

Nate's eyes widened when he saw Seraphina being held at gunpoint. "Don't you touch her!" he barked, voice low and threatening.

The masked man smiled coldly but said nothing.

Then-

A whirring sound tore through the sky.

Everyone, even the guards, instinctively turned their eyes upward.

A black helicopter, silent as death, hovered just above the rooftop. The blades whipped the air, scattering petals and bits of paper decor across the rooftop like confetti.

A ladder dropped.

Boots landed on steel.

And then a man - tall, shrouded in black, the wind snapping his long coat behind him - began his descent.

He didn't rush. He moved with the calm of a predator who knew he was feared.

The rooftop crowd parted. Not from obedience - from awe. From terror.

He touched down, adjusted his coat, and stepped forward with slow precision.

Even Nate paled.

"Stand down," Nate barked to his men. "Now."

They hesitated.

"I said STAND DOWN!"

They obeyed.

Megan and Seraphina were forced back into their seats by the gunmen. Their chairs scraped across the marble.

Seraphina's heart slammed in her chest.

The stranger stopped ten feet from Nate and dusted off his coat like he was irritated by the atmosphere.

"Nate Callahan," he said slowly. "You've grown bolder since the last time we spoke."

"I could say same for you." Nate's face twitched. "What the hell are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be catching fish or skinning humans?"

"Skinning h- humans?" Seraphina and her mother choked on their saliva as their face paled in disbelief.

"You're in no position to demand anything from me, nor question me." the man replied, voice like sharpened obsidian. "But because you're Dante Navarro's blood, I'll at least spare you the embarrassment."

Seraphina flinched.

"Dante Navarro."

That name. That name from Ivy's horror stories.

She'd spoken of Dante like one speaks of a curse: a shadow king, the underworld's puppet master. Ruthless. Untouchable. Unforgiving.

"Nate's uncle?" Her stomach turned.

"Good," Nate muttered. "So you remember whose family you're about to cross."

The man's lip curled. "Don't flatter yourself. Your name means nothing to me. It didn't matter then and it sure as hell wouldn't matter in the future."

Then he moved - fast - right into Nate's space. Their chests nearly touched.

"Have you forgotten the purpose of your presence here in Nevada?"

Nate clenched his jaw. Didn't answer.

Seraphina's ears pricked.

"What purpose?"

As if answering her question, "You were sent to protect something," the man hissed. "Instead, you took what wasn't yours."

He turned to her now. Cold eyes. Sharp jaw. Beautiful - in that way dangerous things often are.

He tilted his head.

"You look dumber in person," he said evenly,

Seraphina stiffened. "E- Excuse me?"

"Feisty too," he mused. "No wonder the boss wants you. Even his nasty little nephew wanted a pet like you."

Seraphina surged to her feet.

"Who the hell are you?! And what gives you the right to insult me? You don't know me!"

He laughed softly. "No, but I know your type. Loud. Naive. Easily bought."

"You're dumb!" she screamed. "And a PET! Your entire family is a bunch of leashed dogs!"

"Seraphina," Nate warned, stepping between them, "mind what you say..."

"Back off," the man said without looking at him. "You've already lost the right to speak."

Megan tugged at Seraphina's hand amd whispered, "Baby, don't rile them up."

Nate frowned. "What the hell are you talking about?"

The man turned, voice rising slightly.

"Orders from Dante Navarro himself. Nate Callahan has stolen from the Black Moth syndicate repeatedly but due to blood ties, was forgiven serveral times. He violated the order that was given to him which was to protect Seraphina Vale. Now, he's tried to wed something-someone-that didn't belong to him, a possession of mine. His crimes are punishable by death."

Seraphina's blood ran cold.

Megan clutched her.

"What... possession?" Seraphina whispered. "What are you talking about?"

"You," the man said. "You are that possession."

Seraphina stood. "I don't belong to anyone! Nate's supposed to protect me? Why?! WHO ARE YOU?!"

"Enough," he snapped. "You'll know what you need to know when the time comes."

Then he waved his hand.

"Take them away."

"No-WAIT!"

Two men grabbed Seraphina's arms while the other grabbed Megan who hissed. "Let go of my daughter you scoundrels!"

She twisted. Screamed. Looked at Nate.

He stood still.

Eyes low.

"Explain!" she cried out. "Nate! TELL ME WHAT'S HAPPENING!"

But he didn't answer.

Tears streaked her face.

Suddenly-

Gunfire exploded.

The world became fire and thunder.

Navarro's men opened fire - systematically taking down every one of Nate's guards.

Bullets flew. People screamed.

One by one, Nate's men collapsed in pools of red.

And then-

All guns turned on Nate.

He looked at Seraphina.

Softly.

Like it was the last time.

"I love you," he whispered.

The first bullet hit him square in the chest.

For the first time in years, the words that she had been begging to hear from him with sincerity finally came out. She instantly forgot all the aches he had caused her. Seraphina screamed. "NO!"

She broke free and ran toward him. Gunshots rang out, but she didn't care.

Her mother screamed behind her, "Sera! No!"

From a distance, her father watched from the next rooftop - tears in his eyes, unable to interfere.

Three bullets pierced her back as she threw herself over Nate.

Her body trembled. Her blood painted his.

"STOP!" she screamed.

The men halted. The masked man's eyes widened in shock.

"Stop shooting! Stop!" The man panicked as he rushed to Seraphina, "You dumb bitch!"

Seraphina trembled as she hugged Nate, "I'll never forgive you."

Nate smiled through bloody teeth. "I know. I deserve it," he gasped. "But I loved you. I really... really did."

She sobbed harder.

"I tried to make you hate me," he said. "So you'd be safe. So you'd never know what I did."

She stared at him, throat raw.

"Since I couldn't love you in this life, I'll love you in the next life," he whispered. "But this one... this one was borrowed time."

His body slumped forward.

Dead.

Seraphina stared ahead. Felt nothing.

Felt everything.

The skies darkened.

Rain began to fall.

And the last thing she heard was her mother, crying her name in the distance-

"SERAPHINA!"