Bonds forged in blood

**Chapter 16: Bonds Forged in Blood**

The Bratva trucks circled the chapel like wolves, headlights slicing through the fog. Viktor stood at the broken stained-glass window, counting shadows. *Twelve men. Four with rifles.* Ashley knelt beside Anya, pressing a kiss to her fever-damp hair. "Stay hidden, no matter what," she whispered, slipping a knife into her daughter's trembling hand.

"They'll want her alive," Viktor said, loading his last magazine. "The warlord's mark on her neck… it's a beacon."

Ashley's jaw tightened. "Then we cut it out of them."

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### **The Assault**

The first grenade shattered the chapel doors. Viktor dragged Ashley behind the altar as shrapnel peppered the pews. "Flank left," he barked. "I'll draw fire."

"Like hell." She gripped his arm, her wedding ring cold against his skin. "We do this *together*."

They moved as one—Viktor's bullets carving a path, Ashley's knife finishing what he started. Anya's whimpers morphed into a scream as a Bratva soldier lunged for her, but the air crackled violet. The man froze, clawing at his throat, and collapsed.

Ashley stared. "Anya…?"

The child stood, eyes glowing. "*I'm not scared anymore.*"

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### **Lev's Gambit**

A voice cut through the gunfire. "Viktor! Still playing house with Dmitri's leftovers?"

*Lev.* Viktor's former lieutenant leaned against a truck, a cigarette dangling from his smirk. "Hand over the girl, and I'll make it quick for the woman."

Viktor stepped into the open, hands raised. "You want her? Come take her."

Lev's grin faded as Anya emerged, her small hand clasping Viktor's. The violet light swirled, binding them—father and daughter—in a radiant pulse. The remaining Bratva men dropped their weapons, clutching their heads.

"*Enough!*" Lev raised his pistol, but Sasha's bullet struck first, blowing off his kneecap.

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### **Sasha's Farewell**

Sasha limped from the trees, her mutated arm fused to a sniper rifle. "Miss me?"

Ashley sprinted to her. "You're supposed to be dead!"

"Takes more than a few cultists." Sasha coughed, black blood staining her lips. "But this… this is it for me." She nodded to Anya. "Kid's got guts. Don't waste it."

Viktor approached, voice rough. "You didn't have to come back."

"Yeah, I did." She winked at Ashley. "Keep him in line, will you?"

Her body went rigid, the mutation consuming her in a final, radiant burst.

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### **The Calm**

Dawn found them at the chapel's ruins. Anya slept in Ashley's lap, the warlord's mark faded to a scar. Viktor rebuilt the altar with trembling hands, his wedding ring catching the light.

"We can't keep running," Ashley said.

"No." He knelt beside her, pressing a kiss to Anya's brow. "We end this. Tonight."

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### **The Promise**

Under a quilt of stars, Viktor and Ashley lay entwined, Anya's breath steady between them. "When this is over," he murmured, "we find that vineyard. Grow old. Boring."

She laughed softly. "I'd follow you anywhere."

His lips found hers, slow and sweet. "Even into hell?"

"Especially there."