They Crossed Me, I Became the God of war

Chapter 8

The secure satellite phone on the metal table buzzed with a sharp, steady vibration. The glowing red screen lit up the dark command room, displaying the private number Gideon had known for ten years.

Commander Alistair Kane looked up from his computer screens, his eyes narrowing as he saw the name flashing on the display. Serena Ashford stood beside Gideon, holding her breath as the quiet room filled with tension.

Gideon reached out with his calloused hand and picked up the phone. He pressed the speaker button, setting the device down in the center of the glass table.

A frantic, broken sob tore through the small speaker the second the call connected. Heavy gasps of air followed, sounding as if a woman had just run five miles through a storm to escape for her life.

"Gideon... oh God, Gideon, are you there?!" Cassandra wailed, her voice shaking violently with pure panic. "Please tell me you are listening to me! Please do not hang up!"

Gideon did not speak. His face was like a wall of carved black stone, his dark eyes staring at the glowing screen in complete silence.

"Gideon, I am so sorry!" Cassandra cried out, her tears sounding thick and desperate over the line. "You have to believe me! Everything that happened at the house was not my fault!"

Serena furrowed her brow, watching the screen with disgust, while Kane silently tapped his fingers across his keyboard, starting a live audio trace.

"Dominic held a gun to my head, Gideon!" Cassandra wept, her voice cracking with terror. "His guards beat me before you walked through the door! Dominic forced that poisoned knife into my hand and said he would blow my brains out if I did not stab you!"

Gideon remained motionless, listening to the woman who had tried to end his life hours earlier. "Is that so?" he asked, his voice low, flat, and steady.

"Yes! Yes, I swear on my life!" Cassandra sobbed hysterically. "I was terrified, Gideon! I did not know what to do! I only aimed for your shoulder so you would not die, because I knew you were strong!"

A soft chime sounded from Kane’s terminal. A green digital map appeared on the center screen, pinpointing the exact signal tower bouncing Cassandra's call.

Kane leaned toward Gideon, pointing his finger at the screen. The signal was not coming from a dark street or an alleyway; it was coming from the penthouse hallway of the Caldwell Grand Tower.

"I risked my life to call you, Gideon," Cassandra continued, her breathing heavy and ragged over the speaker. "I waited until Dominic went into his office, and I heard him talking about your little sisters!"

Gideon’s jaw tightened slightly, though his tone remained dead calm. "What did he say, Cassandra?"

"They took Lily and Maya to the sea!" Cassandra cried out, sounding completely heartbroken. "Dominic locked them in an offshore concrete fortress called the Blackwater Citadel! They are going to cut the girls open tonight!"

Her voice rose into a wild, frantic scream, carrying an urgent plea. "You have to go there right now, Gideon! You have to take your men and storm that island! You must kill Dominic before he hurts them!"

Kane pressed two buttons, activating the high-grade audio filter on the call. The software stripped away Cassandra's loud weeping, pulling up the faint acoustic echoes bouncing off the walls around her.

Through the high-end speakers, the faint sound of soft classical music and thick carpet footsteps played in the background. It was the exact sound profile of Dominic Caldwell's luxury penthouse floor.

"You must butcher Dominic for what he did to us, Gideon!" Cassandra pleaded, her voice trembling with manufactured rage. "He is a monster! If you kill him, you will save your sisters, and we can finally be together again! Please save me from this nightmare!"

Serena leaned close to the table, her hands trembling with quiet fury. She had never heard a person lie with such shameless deceit in her entire life.

Gideon looked at the live audio waves bouncing on the monitor, a bitter, cold certainty settling deep inside his chest. He saw through every single word she had spoken.

Cassandra had not called because she felt guilty for stabbing him. She had not called because she cared whether Lily and Maya lived or died in the cold cellar.

She had overheard Dominic planning to throw her away to human traffickers to clear his debts. Knowing she was doomed, she was trying to use Gideon as an attack dog to slaughter Dominic and wipe out the threat.

If Gideon died on that island, she would shed no tears. If Dominic died, she would walk into the empty offices the next morning and steal every penny left in the vaults.

Ten years of devotion, ten years of bleeding in the frozen mud of the northern trenches, and this was the woman he had fought to protect. She was nothing more than a venomous snake trying to turn two tigers against each other.

"Gideon? Why are you not saying anything?!" Cassandra gasped, forcing a pathetic whimper into her voice. "Are you going to the island? Please tell me you are going to save your sisters!"

Gideon leaned forward over the table, his eyes darker than the midnight sea. His voice came out slow, smooth, and chilling to the bone.

"I hear you, Cassandra," Gideon said quietly. "I know exactly where my sisters are now."

Cassandra let out a loud, relieved sigh over the phone, though a faint trace of greedy excitement leaked into her tone. "Thank God! You must hurry, Gideon! Do not let Dominic leave that island alive!"

"Wait for me in Port Valenford, Cassandra," Gideon replied, his words carrying the absolute weight of a funeral bell. "Stay right where you are. When I return from the sea, I will settle every single debt."

"I will wait for you, Gideon!" Cassandra said quickly, her voice dripping with fake sweetness. "I will be waiting for you to come home to me!"

Gideon reached down and ended the call without another word. The screen went dark, leaving the command room in complete, heavy silence.

Across the city, in the carpeted hallway outside Dominic’s office, Cassandra lowered the phone from her ear. The trembling panic and fake tears vanished from her face in a single second.

A wide, ugly smile spread across her red lips as she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. Her chest swelled with arrogant pride as she looked at her reflection in the gilded wall mirror.

"Stupid dog," Cassandra whispered with a vicious sneer, tucking the phone back into her coat pocket. "No matter how strong he thinks he is, he still crawls back the moment I shed a few tears."

She turned toward the elevator, her high heels stepping softly on the plush carpet as her mind raced with wicked greed. "Go ahead and kill Dominic for me, Gideon. Once the two of you destroy each other on that island, Port Valenford will belong to me."

Back in the dark command post, Commander Kane tapped his keyboard, locking a glowing red crosshair onto the phone number. "Supreme Commander, a twenty-four-hour tactical beacon has been planted inside her device. Her location will update every five seconds."

Serena looked at Gideon, her eyes filled with sorrow and concern. "She tried to use you again, Gideon. She wants you to walk into Dominic's guns so she can take everything for herself."

Gideon picked up his dark wolf-fur coat from the chair, throwing it over his broad shoulders with calm, terrifying resolve. His face showed neither anger nor sorrow, only the cold emptiness of an executioner.

"A snake will always strike with poison, Serena," Gideon said, his deep voice shaking the air in the room. "Let her celebrate her little tricks for tonight. Tomorrow, she will learn what happens when you try to manipulate an asura."

He turned toward the heavy steel blast doors of the bunker, his combat boots clicking firmly against the metal floor. "Alistair. Prepare the assault craft."

Kane snapped his boots together, raising a stiff, sharp salute. "Sir! The strike team is ready at the docks!"

Gideon stepped into the hallway, his fists clenched as his dark eyes locked onto the stormy ocean map ahead. "Move out. It is time to bring my sisters home."