Supreme Authority

Chapter 19

The man who strutted like a king minutes ago was nothing now—broken, filthy, crawling in his own shame.

Cassandra’s chest tightened, but not from fear. Fascination gripped her instead. She wanted to see how far he could fall.

“Answer her,” Alex said, his tone flat, his head tilting toward Cassandra like the motion of an executioner’s blade.

The man’s gaze snapped to her, eyes wide, frantic. “I—I can’t! If I talk, I’m dead! Please—”

Alex crouched low, meeting him eye to eye. His voice was steady, but carried the weight of ice. “You’re already dead. The only choice left is whether you die with your secret or your confession.”

Then Alex straightened, stepping back. “He’s all yours.”

Cassandra closed the gap, her heels crunching against the gravel with every step. She stopped over him, her shadow falling across his ruined face.

“Speak. Now. Who sent you?”

His chest heaved. He wanted to lie, but Alex’s silent figure loomed in the corner of his vision like a dark omen.

The boy… no, the thing… wasn’t human.

Men bled, but not the way Alex had made them bleed tonight. God help me, the man thought. I’m already in hell.

If I speak, I die. If I stay silent, I die.

His mind spun in circles until the words broke free, torn from him like shreds of flesh.

“It… it was Victor… Victor Hues.”

Cassandra froze. A sharp, bitter laugh burst from her lips. “Victor Hues,” she repeated, each syllable spat like venom.

Headlights flared. Black cars screeched to a halt, tires spitting gravel. Doors flew open and men in dark suits swarmed out.

“Miss Cassandra!” one shouted, breathless, panic in his voice. “We couldn’t locate you. Your other guards were down—we came as fast as we could!”

Cassandra’s lips curled into a faint, icy smile. “You’re late.”

She brushed at her dress as if the blood in the air were nothing more than dust.

The men froze, their eyes falling on the scattered corpses. Horror flickered across their faces.

Cassandra raised a hand, silencing them. Without a glance at the groveling wreck still on the ground, she flicked her wrist toward him.

“Clean this up. Deliver it to Victor Hues. Tell him I know.”

The man broke, scrambling on his knees, blood staining the pavement. His voice cracked into sobs. “N-no! Don’t send me to him! He’ll kill me!”

One guard stepped forward, but before he could grab him, the man’s trembling hand fumbled at his waist. A pistol clattered into view. He raised it with shaking desperation.

His eyes were wild, empty of hope. He pressed the muzzle beneath his chin. His lips trembled.

“I’d rather kill myself…” A hollow whisper, then steel thundered.

The crack split the night. His body collapsed in a heap, the gun clattering beside him, and the stench of blood grew heavier.

Cassandra didn’t flinch. She stared at the corpse, her face carved from stone. “All the more reason,” she murmured.

“Send him to Victor.”

The guards bowed quickly and moved with grim efficiency.

Cassandra lingered, her gaze on the lifeless man as if he’d already been erased from memory.

Slowly, she turned to Alex. He hadn’t moved, hadn’t spoken. He stood in the shadows, still as a statue, watching.

She moved toward him, unhurried, her heels striking the floor like a slow drumbeat. When she stopped, her lips curled into a sly, dangerous smile.

“Tell me, Alex…” Her voice turned smooth, velvet laced with mischief. She leaned in, close enough for him to catch the faint trace of her perfume.

“Would you like to marry me?”

For the first time that night, Alex froze. His brows drew together as if he wasn’t sure he’d heard her correctly.

Inside, something shifted. Marriage? Cassandra? Of all the schemes she could throw at him, this one was the most absurd.

No woman had managed to catch him off guard in years. Not since Sophia. His ex-wife had been the last person who touched anything human in him, the last scar he let anyone leave behind.

Cassandra saw it immediately. Her grin widened, and a low, throaty laugh rolled from her lips.

“Oh… so you do react differently,” she purred, eyes glinting like a predator toying with its prey. “For a second there, you almost looked human.”

Alex exhaled slowly. His gaze lingered on her, longer than he meant it to. “You shouldn’t joke about things like that. Marriage isn’t something I treat lightly.”

Her laugh softened into a playful chuckle. She shook her head, amused at her own audacity.

“Don’t take me so seriously, darling. It was only a joke… though,” she paused, her voice dipping, warmer, more intimate, “I wouldn’t mind marrying a man as capable as you.”

She was about to push further when her phone buzzed sharply in her hand. The sound cut through the air like a blade.

Her smile faded. She glanced at the screen, her brow furrowing.

“Yes?” she answered coolly.

But her face changed as she listened. The color drained from her cheeks. Her hand trembled though she tried to mask it.

“What do you mean critical?” Her voice spiked with sudden panic. “No—that’s impossible. He was fine this morning! He—” Her words cracked mid-sentence.

She clenched the phone so tight her knuckles whitened. Her eyes shut briefly, fighting to keep her composure. “…I see. I’ll be there immediately.”

She lowered the phone with deliberate slowness, staring at the dark screen as if it had betrayed her. Her throat worked as she forced herself to speak.

“Alex,” she whispered, then louder, her voice breaking, “Alex, please… it’s my grandfather. He’s in the hospital. They say he’s dying.”

Alex’s face stayed unreadable, his tone flat. “And what exactly do you expect me to do?”

Her knees threatened to give out. She stumbled closer, hands twitching toward his arm before she pulled them back.

“You can help him. I know you can. Please… save him! I’ll give you anything—anything you want!”

But Alex only shook his head, calm, unyielding. “That was never part of the agreement. My work here is finished.”

“Please,” she begged, her voice breaking completely now. “Money, power, land—I’ll sign it all over. Just don’t let him die.”

For a long moment, it seemed he would walk away. But then a shadow passed through his thoughts—the reason he had the fountain of life in the first place. He exhaled a quiet, weary sigh.

“What hospital?”

Her head snapped up, hope flooding her eyes like dawn breaking through darkness. “St. Catherine’s Medical Center.”

Alex’s gaze hardened. Fate, or something crueler. That was the same hospital where his sister lay.