Emperor Of War

Chapter Twelve: A Brother's Shadow

Adam Swift's POV

The courtyard remained silent. No one dared move. No one dared speak. The fear hanging in the air was almost tangible.

Derek Carter was still kneeling before me, his expensive suit stained with dirt and sweat. The proud man who had once commanded soldiers and intimidated businessmen now looked like a broken shell of himself.

Beside him, Damien Carter lay on the ground, groaning in pain, unable to stand after what I had done to him. Around us, hundreds of people watched in terrified silence. I tightened my grip on my sword.

This was the moment I had waited ten years for. Another enemy. Another debt to collect.

Derek noticed my movement. The color immediately drained from his face.

"P-Please..." His voice trembled. "Don't kill me."

I stared down at him without emotion. For ten years, I had imagined moments like this. The men responsible for my family's destruction begging for mercy. The men who had shown none to my father. None to my brother. None to me.

Yet now they wanted mercy. The irony wasn't lost on me.

I took another step forward. Derek flinched. The crowd held its breath.

"Give me one reason," I said coldly, "why I shouldn't kill you."

My voice echoed across the courtyard. Derek swallowed hard. Fear filled his eyes. For several seconds, he remained silent. Then suddenly he blurted out the words.

"Your brother is alive!"

Everything stopped. Even the wind seemed to disappear. For a moment, I thought I had heard him wrong. My expression remained unchanged. But inside… Something shook.

Slowly, I lowered my sword. "What did you say?"

Derek immediately nodded. "It's true." His voice was desperate. "I swear it's true."

The courtyard erupted into whispers. Confused faces appeared everywhere. Most of them had no idea what he was talking about.

I narrowed my eyes. "My brother died."

The words came out colder than I intended. I had watched him bleed. I had heard his cries. I had carried that pain for ten years.

Derek shook his head frantically. "No." "I saw him."

I took a step closer. The temperature around us seemed to drop. Derek's breathing became uneven.

"You have five seconds to convince me you're not lying."

His body trembled. "I'm telling the truth."

My sword moved slightly.

Derek immediately continued. "After the ambush, there was confusion." His voice shook. "Some people believed both sons were dead."

I remained silent. Watching him. Studying him. Searching for any sign of deception. But all I saw was terror. Raw terror. The terror of a man standing before death.

"I didn't learn the truth until years later," Derek continued. "There were rumors."

"What rumors?"

Derek swallowed. "That one of the Swift brothers survived."

My heartbeat quickened. I hated it. Hated how a few words could affect me after everything I had endured. For years I had accepted reality. Taylor was dead.

That truth had become part of me. Part of the reason I kept moving forward.

Now Derek was trying to tear that certainty apart. "Continue."

Derek nodded quickly. "A wealthy family adopted him."

I frowned. "What family?"

"The Hayes family." 

The name was familiar. One of the most respected families in the country. Powerful.

Influential. Known for charity work and social prestige. Not warriors. Not politicians. Certainly not criminals.

The Hayes family had spent decades building a spotless reputation.

I stared at Derek. "Why would they adopt him?"

"I don't know."

His answer came immediately. "But that's what I heard."

The crowd remained silent. Listening.

Watching. No one dared interrupt. I crouched in front of him.

"If you're lying..." My voice dropped. "...I will make you regret being born."

Derek immediately shook his head. "I'm not lying."

His breathing was becoming faster. "I investigated it myself years ago."

Something in his eyes made me pause. Not confidence. Not manipulation. Conviction. As if he genuinely believed what he was saying.

I stood again. My thoughts were racing. Is Taylor alive? Impossible. Yet if there was even a small chance...

Even one percent… I couldn't ignore it.

For ten years I had lived with guilt. The guilt of failing to protect him. The guilt of surviving when he didn't. If Derek was telling the truth… Everything changed.

Everything.

I looked down at him. "What happened after he was adopted?"

Derek hesitated. Then answered. "He was given a new identity."

My eyes narrowed. "Why?"

"Protection."

The answer came quickly.

"The authorities were investigating the massacre." I remained silent.bDerek continued. "The people protecting him feared someone would finish what started that night."

The explanation made sense. Too much sense. A surviving Swift heir would have been a target. Anyone connected to Jackson Carter would want him dead.

Changing his identity would have been the safest option.

I slowly turned away. For the first time in years, uncertainty entered my mind. Taylor. Alive. The thought felt unreal. Like a dream. Like something my heart wanted to believe but my mind refused to accept.

Behind me, Derek spoke again. "I can help you find him."

I stopped walking. The courtyard fell silent once more.

"You know where he is?"

"Not exactly." I turned toward him. "But I know where to start."

Hope. A dangerous thing. For years I had buried it. Destroyed it. Refused to let it exist. Hope makes people weak. Hope made people careless. Yet now...

For the first time in ten years… I felt it. A tiny spark. Small. Fragile. But alive.

I looked toward the night sky. Memories flooded my mind. Taylor laughed. Taylor running through the garden. Taylor calling my name.

For years those memories had been all I had left. Now there might be more. There might be a chance.

I slowly lowered my sword.bDerek immediately released a breath he didn't realize he had been holding. Relief flooded his face. He thought he had saved himself.

Perhaps he had. For now.

I looked directly into his eyes. "If I discover you're lying..." My voice was calm.

Deadly calm. "...death will be the kindest thing that happens to you."

Derek nodded repeatedly. "I understand."

I sheathed my sword.

The crowd stared at me in confusion. No one had expected Derek Carter to survive tonight.

Truthfully, neither had I. But everything had changed. Because of one possibility. One impossible possibility.

As I began walking toward the exit, Dax fell into step beside me. Neither of us spoke. The silence between us carried the same question. Could it really be true? Could Taylor still be alive? I didn't know. But I intended to find out. And if my brother was truly alive...

Then the people who destroyed our family were about to face something far worse than revenge. They were about to face the return of the entire Swift bloodline.