Chapter 12 - A King Unchained: Liam’s Wrath
Liam didn't drop to his knees.
Instead, with blinding speed, he raised his custom .45 and fired a single, impossible shot upward at a seventy-degree angle.
BANG!
The bullet severed the heavy steel tension cable holding the industrial winch directly above the catwalk.
The two-ton steel hook dropped like a meteor, crashing through the metal grated walkway right between Julian and the mercenary holding me.
The catwalk buckled with a deafening screech of tearing steel.
The mercenary lost his footing, tumbling over the railing to his death on the concrete floor forty feet below.
Julian stumbled backward, dropping his revolver as he desperately clung to the twisted metal rail.
“Leo! Secure Clara!” Liam roared.
Liam discarded his silver cane, throwing all caution and medical warnings to the wind. He sprinted toward the metal staircase, his braced leg pounding against the steel treads as pure adrenaline completely blocked out the agony in his healing femur.
He ascended the stairs like an avenging demon.
Julian scrambled to his feet, pulling a combat knife from his tactical vest, his eyes wide with cornered panic.
“Stay back!” Julian screamed, slashing the blade through the air.
Liam reached the top of the buckled catwalk. He didn't even flinch.
When Julian lunged with the knife, Liam sidestepped the thrust with terrifying precision, grabbed Julian’s wrist with his left hand, and snapped the bone like a dry twig.
Julian shrieked in agony as the knife fell through the grated floor.
Liam drove his right fist into Julian’s jaw, followed by a devastating knee strike to his ribs that shattered bone.
Julian collapsed onto the metal grating, coughing blood, crawling backward until his back hit the safety railing.
Liam stood over him, breathing heavily, his eyes burning with lethal, pitiless darkness. He drew his second handgun, leveling the barrel directly between Julian’s eyes.
“Liam... please...” Julian whimpered, raising his unbroken hand in desperate supplication. “We’re brothers... blood...”
“You lost the right to call me brother the moment you touched Clara,” Liam said, his voice dead and cold as the grave.
BANG.
Julian slumped against the railing, lifeless, his reign of terror ended forever.
Liam turned immediately, holstering his weapon, and rushed toward the pillar where I was tied.
Leo was already there, cutting through the heavy nylon ropes with his tactical knife.
The moment the ropes fell away, my legs gave out from exhaustion and shock.
Liam caught me in his arms before I could hit the floor. He pulled me tightly against his broad chest, burying his face in my neck, his entire body trembling violently.
“I have you,” he whispered, his voice choked with raw, uncontrollable tears. “I have you, Clara. You’re safe. I’m here.”
I wrapped my arms around his neck, burying my face in his collar, sobbing with pure relief as his strong heartbeat hammered against my cheek.
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“You came for me,” I cried.
“Always,” Liam breathed, pressing desperate, tender kisses across my forehead, my cheeks, and finally my lips. “Always, my love.”
