Chapter 14 - The Fall of BlackwoodThey returned to Blackwood Manor at dusk.
Marcus had transformed the estate into a fortress.
But Elena knew it was already compromised.
She walked through the corridors slowly.
Every painting.
Every staircase.
Every hidden camera.
Every locked door.
She had once believed they were part of Cassian's empire.
Now she understood.
Someone else had designed the mansion as a battlefield.
Cassian entered the command room.
“How many men?”
“Twenty-three.”
“How many can we trust?”
Marcus hesitated.
“Seven.”
Cassian nodded.
“Then we fight with seven.”
Dante, wounded but alive, entered.
“I'll fight.”
Marcus looked at him.
“You should be in a hospital.”
Dante smiled weakly.
“I've had worse nights.”
Elena spread a map across the table.
“Viktor will attack from the southern perimeter.”
Marcus shook his head.
“That's obvious.”
“Exactly.”
She pointed elsewhere.
“The real attack comes through the underground tunnels.”
Cassian looked at her.
“Can you stop them?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“I can't.”
He frowned.
“I thought you had a plan.”
“I do.”
Elena looked at him.
“But I need you to trust me.”
Cassian didn't hesitate.
“I do.”
The attack began five minutes later.
Explosions rocked the eastern wall.
Gunfire erupted from the southern fields.
Cassian's men moved into position.
The enemy advanced.
Exactly as Elena predicted.
Then the tunnel doors opened.
Viktor's elite team emerged.
Straight into an empty corridor.
Elena had already evacuated it.
A trapdoor opened beneath them.
They fell into the old wine cellar.
Marcus triggered the steel doors.
The attackers were trapped.
Cassian stared at Elena.
“You planned that?”
“No.”
“What?”
“They planned it.”
She pointed to the surveillance monitors.
The enemy had been following false instructions for hours.
Elena had leaked the information deliberately.
Viktor's forces were attacking the routes she wanted them to use.
Cassian smiled.
“That's cruel.”
Elena looked at him.
“Efficient.”
Then the main doors exploded.
Viktor walked through the smoke.
He was alone.
He removed his coat.
“Enough.”
Cassian raised his weapon.
Viktor looked at Elena.
“Still hiding behind uniforms?”
Elena stepped forward.
“No.”
She removed her apron.
Let it fall.
Then she loosened her braid.
Her auburn hair spilled across her shoulders.
For the first time, she stood in front of Viktor as the woman she used to be.
“Elena Rostova,” Viktor said.
She lifted her rifle.
“That's right.”
Viktor smiled.
“I wondered when you would stop pretending.”
Cassian stood beside her.
Viktor laughed.
“You still don't understand, Cassian.”
“Understand what?”
“I didn't come here to kill you.”
He pointed at Elena.
“I came to collect her.”
Cassian stepped forward.
“You're not taking anyone.”
Viktor's smile disappeared.
“Then you'll die with her.”
The lights went black.
When they returned, Viktor was gone.
So was Elena.
Cassian spun around.
“Elena?”
No answer.
A single note lay on the floor.
He picked it up.
Three words.
Trust nobody.
Then the phone in his pocket rang.
Elena's voice came through.
“Cassian.”
“Where are you?”
A pause.
“I'm with Viktor.”
Cassian's blood ran cold.
“Don't come after me.”
“Why?”
Her voice broke.
May you like
“Because he has your father.”
The call ended.
