Chapter 12 - WHEN THE PALACE WENT DARK
The power failed as Clara crossed the threshold.
Gunfire erupted.
Marcus shattered the glass control panel with three shots.
Gabriel pulled Clara and Emma behind a steel column.
Alessandro tackled one of Vivian’s guards.
In the darkness, emergency lights flashed red.
Rosa lunged toward Clara with a syringe.
Clara grabbed her wrist.
They struggled beside the open vault door.
Rosa was stronger, but Clara was angrier.
She drove her shoulder into Rosa’s chest and forced her against the wall.
The syringe fell.
Rosa reached for Clara’s throat.
Clara picked up the syringe and pressed the needle against Rosa’s neck.
“Where is the antidote?”
Rosa smiled.
“You won’t use it.”
Clara pushed the needle closer.
“My daughter is dying.”
“So is mine.”
Clara froze.
Rosa’s eyes filled with tears.
“Vivian promised to release her from Lazarus custody if I helped.”
“Your daughter is alive?”
“I haven’t seen her in nine years.”
“Then Vivian is lying to you.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I know she poisoned a three-year-old child to open a door.”
Rosa’s grip weakened.
Clara lowered the syringe.
“Help me save Emma, and Gabriel will find your daughter’s name in the registry.”
A shot struck the wall beside them.
Rosa grabbed Clara and pulled her down.
Then she pointed toward Vivian.
“The vial she is holding is fake. The real antidote is in the silver case beside the console.”
Clara crawled toward the case.
Across the chamber, Vivian fired at Alessandro.
Gabriel struck her arm, sending the weapon across the floor.
Vivian kicked his injured side.
He collapsed.
“You should have stayed dead,” she said.
Alessandro grabbed her from behind.
She drove a blade into his shoulder.
He released her with a cry.
Vivian ran toward the archive chamber.
The timer above Emma’s bracelet reached two minutes.
Clara reached the silver case.
Locked.
She struck it against the floor.
Nothing.
Marcus slid beside her.
“Move.”
He fired into the lock.
The case opened.
Inside were six identical vials.
“Which one?” Clara asked.
Rosa crawled toward them, bleeding from the leg.
“Blue label.”
Five vials had blue labels.
“One is real,” Rosa said. “The others will kill her instantly.”
Clara stared at them.
The timer reached one minute.
Gabriel dragged himself toward the case.
“Vivian always marks authentic medical compounds with a broken circle.”
They examined the labels.
One blue circle contained a tiny opening near the bottom.
Clara filled the syringe.
Emma’s pulse was barely detectable.
“Please,” Clara whispered.
She injected the antidote into her daughter’s arm.
May you like
The timer reached zero.
Emma did not move.
