Chapter 48 - The Crucible of Oaths
The plasma torch sheared through the final bolt with a shower of white-hot sparks. Marcus kicked the heavy iron hatch inward, revealing the service stairwell that led directly into the central spine of Castiglione Tower.
Before we mounted the steps, Dante grabbed my wrist. His skin was burning up, a fever of 104 degrees boiling his blood as the final stages of the synthetic neuro-toxin attacked his brain stem.
"Brianna, look at me," he gasped, pulling an autoinjector filled with an amber liquid from his tactical belt.
"What is that?" I demanded.
"Combat ephedrine and pure neural stimulants," Dante said grimly. "If I inject this, it will force my heart to bypass the toxin block. It gives me thirty minutes of peak motor function. After that... my heart will tear itself apart."
"No!" I reached to knock the syringe from his hand, but he caught my wrist with surprising strength.
"Mateo is on that roof, Brianna!" Dante's voice broke, tears shining in his bloodshot eyes. "Castiglione will kill our boy the moment he realizes we've breached the building. You and your father need someone to breach the penthouse blast doors from the control node. I am the only one who has the biometric bypass keys."
"You promised we would make it out together," I wept, gripping his tactical vest with both hands, burying my face into his chest. "You swore to me on that wooden bench, Dante. You swore you'd be there to watch our children grow."
Dante lifted my chin, his gaze fiercer and more full of love than on the day we exchanged our vows in that modest church five years ago.
"I will hold the gates of hell open until you and the children are through," Dante whispered, pressing his lips passionately, desperately to mine. "That is my vow to you, Brianna. Forever."
Before I could stop him, he slammed the autoinjector into his neck.
His pupils contracted into pinpricks. The tremors in his limbs vanished instantly, replaced by a terrifying, unnatural surge of raw physical power. He racked the bolt of his rifle with a metallic snap that echoed like a death knell in the concrete stairwell.
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"Let's go get our son," Dante said.
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