Chapter 12 - THE FIRE ON CHRISTMAS NIGHT
The blast threw snow across the road.
Dominic shoved Elena behind the SUV.
Flames burst from the lodge's east side.
“No.”
Elena ran.
Dominic caught her.
“My parents!”
“Marco!”
Security rushed forward.
Federal agents emerged from hidden positions.
The front door was blocked.
Dominic and Elena circled toward the rear.
A window shattered.
Laura appeared behind the glass.
“Elena!”
Elena screamed.
“Mom!”
Smoke poured around her.
Dominic grabbed a metal bench and smashed the lower window.
“Move back!”
Laura dragged Frank's transport chair toward the opening.
Inside, Margaret stood near the staircase.
Calm.
Watching.
Dominic climbed through.
“Elena, stay outside.”
She ignored him immediately and followed.
“Of course.”
Smoke burned their lungs.
Margaret smiled.
“You came.”
Elena stared.
“Let them go.”
Margaret looked at Frank.
“You ruined everything.”
Frank coughed.
“You ruined yourself.”
Margaret's expression tightened.
“You helped Alexander hide my son.”
“I helped keep Elias away from an empire that would've destroyed him.”
“You stole his birthright.”
“No.”
Frank looked at her.
“Alexander did.”
Margaret flinched.
Truth hurt more when spoken by someone who knew the history.
Dominic moved closer.
“Your son is alive.”
“I know.”
“He doesn't want this.”
“He doesn't understand.”
“He understands better than you.”
Margaret's face twisted.
“Alexander left us with nothing.”
Dominic nodded.
“He was wrong.”
Everyone froze.
Margaret stared.
Dominic continued.
“My father failed you.”
Elena watched him.
“He failed Elias.”
Dominic's voice remained calm.
“But you turned his failure into permission to hurt everyone else.”
Margaret's eyes filled.
For one second, she looked like an abandoned seventeen-year-old girl.
Then she lifted a detonator.
“Don't.”
Dominic stopped.
Margaret looked at Elena.
“You were supposed to die outside.”
Elena's stomach tightened.
“So there was a second plan.”
“Yes.”
“What?”
“The storm.”
Margaret's expression hardened.
“I knew Vanessa would punish you eventually.”
“You counted on her cruelty.”
“I encouraged it.”
Vanessa had been manipulated too.
Again.
Elena whispered:
“You told her Dominic liked me.”
Margaret smiled.
“Every day.”
Dominic's jaw clenched.
“You poisoned that relationship.”
“No.”
Margaret looked at him.
“I revealed what was already weak.”
Elena almost laughed.
The same language every manipulator used.
She stepped forward.
“Do you know what your problem is?”
Margaret frowned.
“You think finding weakness gives you ownership of it.”
Silence.
“You saw Vanessa's jealousy and fed it.”
Another step.
“You saw Elias's anger and fed it.”
Another.
“You saw Frank's fear.”
Another.
“You saw Dominic's family wounds.”
Margaret's hand tightened around the detonator.
Elena continued.
“And every time someone made a terrible choice, you told yourself you didn't cause it.”
“Stop.”
“But you did.”
“Stop!”
“No.”
Elena's voice sharpened.
“You don't get to spend thirty years making people worse and then blame them for becoming what you encouraged.”
Margaret's hand shook.
Dominic watched the detonator.
Elena watched Margaret's eyes.
A teacher learns when a student is about to break before they know themselves.
Margaret was breaking.
Then Elias's voice sounded from Dominic's phone.
“Mom.”
Margaret froze.
Dominic placed the phone on a table.
Video.
Elias in federal custody.
Bandaged.
Alive.
“Elias.”
Her face collapsed.
“What did they do to you?”
“Nothing compared to what you did.”
She stared.
“I did everything for you.”
“No.”
His voice shook.
“You did everything for revenge.”
Tears appeared.
“I wanted what belonged to you.”
“I wanted a mother.”
Silence.
The detonator lowered slightly.
Elias continued.
“You taught me Alexander hated me.”
“He abandoned you.”
“Yes.”
“He chose Dominic.”
“Yes.”
“And you defend him?”
“No.”
Elias looked toward Dominic.
“I just don't need to kill him anymore.”
Dominic almost smiled.
Margaret's tears fell.
“I can't lose you.”
“You already did.”
That shattered her.
Her hand lowered.
Marco moved.
He tackled her before she could react.
The detonator fell.
Federal agents rushed in.
Dominic freed Laura.
Elena reached Frank.
Then the ceiling creaked.
“OUT!”
Fire had weakened the beams.
Dominic lifted Frank from the chair with Marco's help.
Everyone moved toward the broken window.
Elena was last.
A ceiling beam collapsed.
Dominic turned.
“Elena!”
The beam struck the floor between them.
Fire surged upward.
She disappeared behind smoke.
Dominic ran back.
“Boss!”
He ignored Marco.
“Elena!”
Her voice answered faintly.
“Here!”
Dominic climbed over debris.
He found her trapped beneath a fallen shelf.
He lifted it.
Pain tore through his shoulder.
Elena crawled free.
“You came back.”
He stared at her like the question offended him.
“Obviously.”
They reached the window seconds before another section of roof collapsed.
Outside, Elena fell into the snow.
Dominic dropped beside her.
They were both coughing.
Both shaking.
Alive.
Sirens approached.
Margaret was in custody.
Her parents were alive.
The lodge burned behind them.
Elena looked at Dominic.
“It started with me freezing in snow.”
He laughed breathlessly.
“And ends with us sitting in it.”
“Progress.”
Then she noticed blood on his shirt.
“Dominic.”
He looked down.
A piece of wood had cut deeply across his side.
Her face changed.
“You're hurt.”
“It's fine.”
“No, it isn't.”
He swayed.
Elena caught him.
“Dominic?”
His eyes lost focus.
“Stay with me.”
He smiled weakly.
“That's supposed to be my line.”
May you like
Then he collapsed against her.
And for the first time since Christmas Eve began, Elena was the one screaming for someone to save him.
