50. Chapter Fifty Nathan

Chapter Fifty: Nathan

I had no idea how I was going to get out of this…and I was almost certain I was about to watch my mother be executed.

My heart pounded a relentless rhythm, but my body was frozen in place. Ma, bound and bloodied, sat tied to a chair in the center, her eyes defiant even as they flickered with pain. Ba paced before her, his presence monstrous in the silence.

"Did you know?" Ba's voice sliced through the quiet, tight and teetering on the edge of madness. His eyes, dark pits of fury, were locked on me. The question was absurd, rhetorical. He didn't expect an answer, not really.

I swallowed hard, my gaze flickering between the unfamiliar bodyguards lining the walls and Ma's bruised face. They stood like statues, their hands resting near holstered weapons. I knew arguing would be useless, offering excuses even more so.

Still, the urge to defend her clawed at my throat, begging for release.

I had to choose my words carefully.

This was Ba's killing floor, and Ma wasn't the only one at risk.

"Say something, Nathan," Ba demanded, his voice growing louder, eyes wild with anger and hurt. I could see the strain behind his facade; the betrayal had wounded him deeper than any knife ever could.

"I don't…" I paused, struggling to find the right words. "I don't know what you want from me—"

"Your mother and Knuckles," he spat, the words laden with venom, "have been plotting my death. Justin isn't even my son." His hand sliced through the air as if he could cut the truth into smaller, more digestible pieces. "I don't know about Alex or Lily either. The only one I thought I could trust was you," he said, his eyes boring into mine. "But even you've been softened by her doting."

His words stung, a slap of reality that made it clear just how much had unraveled in the fabric of our family. Ma's gaze met mine, a silent plea for understanding, for forgiveness.

"Ba, this..." My voice broke through the heavy air, barely above a whisper, but enough to halt his tirade. "You don't have to do this. Think about how it will look." My mind raced, desperate for a reason he might accept, something to stall for time. "We can work this out, find another way."

My appeal hung between us, a thin thread of hope against the suffocating dread. Ba's face twitched, a brief flicker of uncertainty that quickly hardened back into the cold mask of the Serpent. There was no room for error now; every word, every gesture mattered.

"Work this out?" he echoed, his tone mocking, skeptical. "With a traitor?"

Ma's eyes never left mine, her strength unwavering even as she remained bound to the chair. She seemed somehow above it all, even in her vulnerability—a queen awaiting judgment from a king who'd lost his way.

"Please, Ba." The title felt foreign on my tongue under these circumstances, an uncomfortable blend of respect and fear. "There's always a price, but blood doesn't have to be it."

His snarl cut through my plea like a knife slicing silk, and I went entirely still as Ba raised the gun in his hand until it was level with my forehead. The cold metal of the barrel pressed against my skin, a cruel kiss from the man who had taught me how to be a monster.

"Are you a traitor too, Nathan?" His voice was a venomous hiss, demanding allegiance or blood.

"Kenny, no!" Ma's voice shattered the tense silence, her words thick with desperation. "Don't hurt him."

I could see the struggle in her eyes, the fierce maternal instinct clashing against the chains that bound her. Her body strained against the ropes, as if sheer will might set her free to shield us from the storm we were caught in.

Turning his gun back on her, Ba's lips curled into a sneer, and a dark chuckle rumbled in his chest. "The dutiful wife, the loyal Triad daughter…oh, Evelyn, you always played your roles so well." His gaze bore into hers, stripping away the years of pretense. "And yet, here you are—a snake hiding in the warmth of its nest." He spat the words at her, each one laced with poison. "You vile fucking whore."

"Kenny," she said, her voice low but unyielding, "you can break my body, but not my spirit. I am more than the lies you convince yourself of."

The air between them crackled with a lifetime of secrets and unspoken truths, a dance of power where only one could lead. Ba's grip on the gun tightened, an unspoken threat that lingered like a shadow over us all.

I stood motionless, my own weapon holstered, useless against the army of loyal bodyguards that surrounded us. My mind raced with thoughts of Abby, Lily and Justin, the lives hanging in the balance beyond these walls. I wanted to rage, to fight, to scream—but survival meant playing the part, just as Ma had taught me.

"Where's Knuckles?" I managed to force the words through a throat constricted by fear. "Seems he's the one you should really be angry at."

Ba's eyes flicked toward me, a momentary distraction from his contempt for Ma. "Knuckles?" He shook his head with a scornful laugh. "I don't know where that traitor slithered off to, but it won't matter soon. He'll be dead soon enough...along with his bastard son." His gaze narrowed as he turned back to me, the question implicit in his stare. "Have you taken care of Alex? It's time we took out the trash."

My heart hammered against my ribs. Lying was second nature in our world, but never had a falsehood weighed so heavily on me. I met Ba's gaze, masking the turmoil inside.

I knew this would break my mother, but I had to do it if I wanted either of us to get out of this alive.

"Yes," I lied smoothly, the word tasting like ash on my tongue.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ma's expression crumble, her spirit fracturing with the weight of my betrayal. The lie was necessary, a shield to protect Alex from the crosshairs of Ba's wrath, but that knowledge did little to ease the pain.

Ma's sobbing filled the air, raw and wrenching. She looked up at Kenny through a veil of tears that cut streaks through the dried blood on her cheeks. The words that spilled from her lips were laced with venom and despair. "You're a cruel and vicious man, Kenny. A disease, and the Serpents will be better off without—"

The report of the gun was deafening, echoing off the walls of the room like some unholy gavel delivering its final verdict. Ma slumped forward, life extinguishing in an instant, body limp in the ropes tied to the chair.

My mother was dead.

Sudden. Swift.

Brutal.

My throat tightened until I thought I might choke on my own heartbeat, but I forced my expression into one of cold indifference. I couldn't let Ba see the chaos raging inside me. Couldn't let him see how his bullet had struck me just as surely as it had struck Ma.

I stood there, mute, my gaze fixed on Ma's body as if I could somehow will her back to life. In the background, I heard Ba's voice, but the words were distant, muffled by the pounding of blood in my ears. All I could think about was Abby and Justin, hiding away in the apartment, unaware of the storm that raged on the horizon. I had promised Abby I'd return to her, and I intended to keep that promise, even as the urge to lunge at Ba, to throttle the life from him with my bare hands, surged within me like a living thing.

But I knew the consequences. The bodyguards—silent sentinels of death—wouldn't hesitate. Their loyalty to the Serpent was unyielding, bought with blood and fear.

So I stood still.

I waited…because I knew we were going to bring him down.

The Serpent turned to face me, his eyes probing for a crack in my armor. He expected tears, a breakdown, any sign of weakness he could pounce on. But he found none. My face was stone; every muscle set in grim determination.

"Congratulations," he said, lips twisting in a manic grin. "You are now the official heir to the Golden Serpents. My last remaining son…my most loyal weapon."

But he had no idea what I actually was.

A dragon—ready to defend his family to the death.