30. Sacrifice

Chapter 30

Sacrifice

G reed.

It's the bread and butter of every corporation. Doesn't matter what industry, doesn't matter how many green initiatives or employee benefits a company provides, at the end of the day, it's all about money.

Growth.

Absolute power.

Greed's a sin, one that I knew would be damn near impossible to repent.

Judgement Day has come.

Good thing I'm the fucking gavel.

"The keys, Camilla," Zhao grins, stalking toward me like a slithering snake, fangs exposed and soaked in venom. "We're gonna need those back."

"What the fuck are you doing?" Leo growls, taking a purposeful step forward. I latch my grip around his wrist, chaining my guard dog. He breaks the hold, glaring at Zhao as he stands in front of me. "Walk away, Dragon. Don't start something you can't finish."

Zhao blinks, then breaks down in pompous laughter as he looks over his shoulder at Alba. "Do you hear this fucker?" Zhao continues to lose his shit, slapping his knee. Alba joins him as Hazel lingers a few yards away and watches this shit show with doe-like eyes. Suddenly snapping his head toward Leo, Zhao's expression darkens, and all humor disappears, morphing into contempt. "Step away from your whore and give us THE FUCKING KEYS!"

He must be an only child. What a tantrum.

"I'm right here," Hayden whispers. "Don't worry."

"I'm fine," I mumble back, hoping Zhao doesn't hear me.

"Do you not remember what happened the last time The Dragons tried this little trick?" Leo grunts, posture widening. "Have you learned nothing from history?"

"This isn't like last time, stronzo ," Wei spits in a mocking tone. "This time…" He glances at Alba who smiles. "This time we have help. And you?" He takes a step to the side, meeting my hardened gaze. "This time The Angels are without their God." He looks down at my hand again. "The keys. Now!"

"You're okay," Hayden whispers in my ear. "Stay the course. Breathe. In and out."

Showtime.

"You truly are an idiot, aren't you?" Elegantly, like a proper queen, I place the back of my hand on Leo's arm, gently pushing him aside as I step forward, striding toward Zhao. Breathing evenly, I twirl the car keys around my index finger. "These keys are only a fraction of what my organization is worth, and yet, you—" I narrow my eyes at my puppet, "—and yet you're willing to start a war over... pennies ?" I blink, sighing. "If you needed a little start-up cash, you could've just asked."

"This ain't about the money." Zhao grits his teeth so hard I fear they may spark. "This is about revenge."

"Revenge?" I let out a scoff. "A little embarrassing that you need help to get revenge, isn't it?" I look over at Alba who's almost at the exit. Coward. "Hmm...a shame. Here I was thinking The Dragons finally grew some balls."

"Hah!" Zhao clicks his tongue. "That's rich coming from some dumb bitch with daddy issues." He glowers at me with disgust. "At least I don't need to fuck my business partners to secure deals, you fucking whore."

"No?" I ask flippantly, tilting my head as I look at his twitching mouth. "Strange.” My gaze darts between Zhao and Alba. “Looks to me like you’ve been in bed together for some time.”

"The fuck did you just say?" Zhao fumes, bulking out.

"Tread carefully," Hayden whispers. "Don't push him, Camilla. Don't provoke him."

Too late.

Zhao whips a gun out of the back of his pants and presses the tip to the underside of my chin, tilting my head up.

"Camilla!" Leo barks, lurching forward but Zhao holds out his hand.

"Don't move or your queen will rule the heavens," Zhao spits, a sheen of sweat collecting on his forehead as his hot, monstrous breath flows up my nostrils. He meets my unwavering gaze as he adds, threateningly and practiced, "If I were you, I'd keep that dirty little mouth of yours shut."

"Or else what?" I ask through my teeth. "You gonna kill me, Zhao? Hmm?"

Zhao scoffs. "You are outnumbered , Camilla." He nods toward the doors we entered through. "You think you got help back there?" He laughs, smirking. "You ain't got shit, princess. All your men are tied up and fucking useless to you right now."

"Is that so?" I hum, unfazed. "Wow. Do you want a round of applause or something?"

"I don't think you really understand what's happening, do you?" Zhao asks, shaking his head in frustration. "You're fucked, Camilla. You're fucked. You see…" He glances at Alba. "We—me and Malik—are gonna take those keys." He nods at my hand. "And you..." He gives me a proud grin. "And you will get nothing!" He raises his voice so his dead can hear him. "Nothing!" He leans closer to my face, his spit seeping into my skin as he whispers, "Because this time, you're the one that's going to surrender. You're the one who's going to run away!"

"In these shoes?" I breathe, giving him a little smile. "I doubt it."

"Just give him the keys, dear Camilla," a fatigued Alba states from across the room. "No need to be difficult. We do not want blood."

"Well..." Zhao hitches a shoulder, a frightening look in his eyes. "Maybe we do..." He sucks in a breath, licking his lips. "Why bother waiting?" He digs the gun harder into my chin and I hear Zoey whimper behind me. "We can handle it. We can fucking handle it!"

"Zhao!" Alba grunts in frustration as he approaches us. "No! We said not today!" He stops behind Zhao, swallowing as he attempts to talk his partner off the ledge. "We need time, Wei. We need more resources. The long game. We play the long game, remember?"

"But she's right here," Zhao seethes, eyes widening with homicidal tendencies. "Right in the palm of my hands!" He laughs, pupils growing with inhuman pleasure. "Look at her! Look at her face! She's scared. Look at that." He meets my flat gaze. "Look at the fear in her eyes."

"Fear?" I whisper, expelling a soft giggle. "You think I fear you?" I smile. "You think I fear death?"

"Camilla, stop!" Hayden orders in my ear, tone flustered, nervous. "Stop talking, now!"

We all have roles to play.

I'm playing mine the way I was taught.

Biancos don't cower. We don't surrender. We don't forfeit.

"No?" Zhao asks, gaze flickering across my resolute features. "Death does not scare you?"

"Does it scare you ?" I swallow against the barrel of his gun. "Are you afraid of dying, Zhao? Do you think about it sometimes? How it would be like to feel your soul leaving your body? To so , so slowly, lose your ability to breathe? Feel your heartbeat weaken? Feel the blood in your veins stop flowing, stop providing your brain with oxygen? Do you ever think about that?" I give him a weak smile. "Because I do. "

"Camilla—" I ignore Hayden's voice as I continue.

"I think about it a lot," I say. "I think about it so often that death has become a friend. It's become a confidant of sorts." I lick my lips as I whisper, "I'm not afraid of death, Wei... I died a long time ago."

Zhao's nostrils flare as his jaw clenches. "Okay," he hums, licking his teeth as he scans the room, gaze landing on a quivering Zoella. His brow perks up, and he scoffs. "I wonder though…" He lowers the gun from my chin, taking a step back as he grins at Zoey. "I wonder if she fears death. Hmm?"

"End it now, Camilla!" Hayden barks. "Bravo Team, wait for my signal! Fuck, Camilla!"

Shit.

Damage control.

"Really?" I ask Zhao, blinking. "You think I care?" I expel a laugh as I point to Zoella. "About her ? A Di Rossi? Really, Zhao?" I blow air out my nose as I narrow my eyes at him. "Jesus, you've been gone for too long." I step aside, gesturing toward Zoey. "You want to kill her? Please, go ahead. Be my guest."

Leo snaps his focused attention toward me, gaze hardened as he shakes his head subtly. I don't react.

"You hurt my sister, and I promise you will suffer a fate worse than death.” Leo yanks Zoey behind his protective body. "I promise."

"Camilla..." Hayden whispers my name like it's a prayer. He's pleading, begging me to end it. "Finish it. Do it!"

"Enough," I sigh, clicking my tongue and feigning exhaustion. "Everyone here is so damn dramatic." I dangle the truck keys in front of Zhao. "You want these? Huh? Is that what you want?" Giving him a sly smile, I throw the keys across the room and they land near Hazel. "Go get 'em, boy."

"Good gi—" Hayden says, freezing. "Good job, Camilla. Remember, stay the course."

"I'm going to fucking kill you," Zhao grunts, pointing the gun at me as Alba places a hand on his shoulder, guiding him backward. "I swear to God, your head is mine!"

"Let's go!" Alba says, nodding at the troll by the second exit. "We'll deal with her another time."

"Pick up the fucking keys," Zhao growls at Hazel. She stares at me, chest rising. Zhao wraps his hand around her throat, spitting, "I said pick them up !"

"Okay," Hazel whimpers, dropping to her knees as she grabs the keys, hands shaking. Not good. She holds them in her hand for a second, and I nod, encouraging her. She swallows, passing them to Zhao slowly. "Here, baby."

Stay the course.

"You're a fucking idiot," I state, meeting Hazel's eyes as I take a step forward. "Really? You're going to let him talk to you like that?" I take another step, gaze locked on hers. "Like you're some slave? Some fucking servant?" I shake my head in rehearsed disapproval. "Until you start acting like something other than his little submissive whore, he's going to keep treating you like one!"

"Shut up!" Hazel screams, pulling a tiny pistol out of her jacket pocket. She wraps both hands around the gun and glowers at me, her arms extended, sturdy. Her aim...P erfect . On target. Me. "Shut the fuck up!"

"Hazel!" Zhao barks. "The fuck you doing? We got the keys, let's fucking go!"

"No!" Hazel yells, ignoring Zhao. "She disrespected me. She's been disrespecting me!" Hazel quickly glances at Zhao. " And you!" She shakes her head. "As your future wife... I can't let that happen."

"What are you going to do, Hazel?" I ask, catching Alba and the troll quietly retreating out of the back exit. "You're gonna shoot me? Huh? You think you got it in you to kill me? Hmm? You're weak, Hazel! You're not gonna do it. You can't do it."

"Oh, I can," she states in a faltering voice. "I can do a lot of things, Camilla." She swallows. "I'm stronger than you think."

"Really?" I ask, my chest rising against the vest as she takes a step closer. My pulse quickens. "Do it then, Hazel. Shoot me."

"I will..." she breathes, nodding. "I?—"

"Do it," I whisper, taking a step closer.

"Cami!" Zoey squeaks from behind me. "Too close?—"

"Fucking do it then!" I yell, commanding her.

I've always thought that humans are born as shields—strong, secure, and impenetrable.

It's people that make us weak.

It's people that take away our power.

But the thing about shields… They can be mended, fixed, repaired.

Sometimes they become stronger than ever before.

It's a cycle .

A cycle Hazel broke.

"Cami!" Zoella screams as a bullet hits the center of my chest, and I tumble backward falling on the cold metal floor. I gasp for air, my skin burning as I dip my fingers into the gushing blood pouring out. "Cami!"

"Let's fucking go!" Zhao yells, and their footsteps disappear.

"Bravo Team, go!" Hayden yells in my ear. "Camilla, breathe! It's okay! You're going to be okay!"

"It hurts," I breathe out, eyes watering as I examine my crimson-soaked fingers. I turn my head toward Zoey. "Zoe..."

"It's okay," she whimpers, stroking my cheek, my forehead, my lips. She hesitates, but then I swallow, coughing. "You're going to be okay."

"We need to go," Leo states, scooping me up in his arms as he runs toward the door.

"Relax." My eyelids flutter, looking up at him as he gets outside. "I'm going to be—" Another cough. "Just fine."

"Camilla!" Frankie grunts, struggling against the zip tie restraints. His eyes widen as he sees all the blood flowing from my chest. "Fucking hell!"

"Here." Zoella runs to Frankie, flicking open a switchblade before cutting him loose. "She needs to go to the hospital now!"

"Shit!" Frankie grunts as he runs toward the parked SUV, the rest of his men waiting for Zoey to untie them.

"I feel very...very tired," I whisper, my heartbeat slowing down as my vision blurs. "Hay...Hayden? "

"Hang in there, Mils," Leo says as he rushes me toward the SUV. "Hang in there."

"Over here." Frankie hops out, helping Leo place me in the back seat. He peers down at me, distraught as he puts two fingers on my pulse point, eyeing the wound in my chest. "Leo, she's fading."

"Shut up!" Leo cries, teeth gritted. "She's fine! She has to be fine!"

"Can you hear me, Camilla?" Hayden whispers as Leo and Frankie hop in the front seats. "Listen to my voice. I'm right here."

"Is this..." I swallow, my body shutting down. "Is this what dying feels like?"

"You're not dying, Cami," he says in a calm, soothing voice.

"Feels like dying," I hum, police sirens blaring in the background as Frankie speeds off the port. A sense of serenity washes over me, my body light, eyes closing. "It's... It's kind of nice."

"I'm here, Cami," he says again. "You're not dying."

"It's okay," I hum, all sense of time and space melting into nothingness. "I..." I try to catch my shallow breath. "I..."

"Camilla."

I wasn't lying when I said Death was a friend.

I've seen it many times.

Snippets of the good, the bad, the ugly, and the beautiful.

Somehow this friend makes even the worst memories seem comfortable, familiar, warm .

How can you long for inevitable pain ?

How can you crave undoubted disappointment?

How?

It's simple really.

You fall in love.

And even though death is banging on your door, splintering the wood, causing havoc...you don't let it in.

Sometimes you're not ready for a funeral.

For death.

But what if death is ready for you ?

Do you welcome it with open arms? Or do you fight?

I tried to fight. I fought for years.

My bones shattered. My skin bruised. My muscles weakened.

But I fought.

This time though...death didn't even have to knock.

The door was open.

I left it open.

I love you.