Page 159 of Fallen Empire

Before I could blink, Alex moved. He spun, dragging me into him, his arm clamping across my throat, crushing any chance at oxygen. Cold metal pressed into the side of my head, the barrel of his gun digging in.

“Tell your people to stand the fuck down, or she dies.”

I couldn’t see who he was talking to. My vision was already starting to fade, heat burning up my cheeks as I still couldn’t pull in a full breath. I clawed at his arm, nails digging into muscle, but it was useless. He was locked around me like iron.

My body didn’t have the strength left to fight; I’d been standing too long. Even in those seconds before it all went to hell, I could feel the strain bleeding through me. Arms heavy, shoulders tight, the weight of the pistol pressing into my palms until my fingers ached. My knees had already started to shake, warning me I wouldn’t hold on much longer.

“It’s not my people,” Jax said, his hands raised in surrender. But you didn’t surrender to Alex. He didn’t negotiate. He didn’t back down.

Another body dropped. The roar that ripped from Alex’s chest was so close it rattled inside my skull.

Three men left standing. And they had no clue who to aim their weapons at.

My ears were on fire. Darkness bled in at the edges of my vision, my pulse hammering in my throat. I fought it. Fought to keep my eyes open, fought to stay present, fought to stay alive.

But then a thought cut through the panic. Sharp, reckless.

What if I let the darkness take me?

If I went limp, he’d be holding dead weight with one arm, and I doubted he was prepared for that. Maybe it would slow him down. Maybe, it would give Jaxson enough time.

Enough time to make a move. Enough time for us to take this back.

His roar still rattled through my skull, every muscle in his body thrumming with the promise of violence. The arm crushing my throat pulled tighter, locking me in place like a trap built to snap shut and never let go.

My chest convulsed in shallow, desperate jerks. Each breath was a losing battle, my lungs clawing at nothing. My pulse pounded behind my eyes, heat flooding my face until my skin felt like it was on fire. My fingers dug at his forearm, nails scraping against muscle, but it was useless—he didn’t even flinch.

The room tilted, shadows bleeding into the edges of my vision. My body had been trembling for what felt like forever, muscles screaming from trying to prove my strength. I’d been so sure I could hold on… until now.

Somewhere through the ringing in my ears, I caught Millie’s voice. Ragged, but still dripping with that unshakable, smart-ass bite.

“Tell me something…” she called over the chaos, forcing Alex to look at her. “Is this Costa guy your ally… or your enemy? ’Cause from where I’m sitting, you’re the only one who knowshe’s coming… and your men are the only bodies that keep dropping.”

She laughed—a sharp, taunting sound that cut straight through the gunfire.

Alex’s final pull against my throat was all I could endure.

The blackness was coming, curling around me in slow, inevitable surges. My thoughts fractured—Jaxson, Millie, the bodies on the floor, the gun pressed against my skull—then scattered like leaves in the wind.

Then, a shot split the air.

The heat of gunpowder hit my nose a heartbeat before something warm splattered against my cheek. I didn’t know if it was his blood, mine, or someone else’s.

My body sagged, weightless, the world folding in on itself. Somewhere in the blur, I thought I heard my name—but it was swallowed by the dark before I could be sure.

And for the first time since this started, I didn’t know if waking up would be the victory… or the real nightmare.

Chapter 33

Millie

The shot cracked through the air like it split the world in two.

For a heartbeat, no one moved. Then everything erupted. Boots pounding, men shouting over each other, the deafening chop of the helicopter blades pressing in from above. My ears rang so hard I couldn’t tell where the noise ended and my own pulse began.

Blood sprayed across Savannah’s cheek, stark against the paleness of her skin. Her head tipped forward, going slack in Aleksei’s grip.

“Savannah!” I screamed, my voice shredding in my throat. My wrists tore against the rope cutting into them, the chair rattling on the concrete as I fought to get free. The bindings bit deeper, the wood groaning like it was laughing at me.