Chapter Sixteen: The Blood Cathedral
The storm rolled in just past dusk.
Heavy clouds choked the sky, thunder groaning like an omen. Veronica "Ronnie" Moretti stood at the edge of the field outside the decaying cathedral, the wind tossing her black coat behind her like wings. Behind her, Luca tightened his grip on the rifle slung over his shoulder.
"You sure this is the place?"
Ronnie nodded. "Victor never hides in the shadows. He builds them."
The cathedral—abandoned for decades—loomed in the darkness, its spires fractured like broken bones. Gargoyles lined the roof, their faces worn by time, staring down like silent judges.
Cass crouched beside her, scanning the blueprints one last time.
"He's got a full security team inside. At least twenty men. Heat signatures on all floors. And something else."
Ronnie turned.
Cass hesitated. "There's a vault below the sanctuary. It's giving off an electromagnetic pulse. We think that's where he's keeping Mia."
Ronnie's jaw tensed. "Then we go in quiet. We get her out. Then we finish this."
---
Scene: Entering the Cathedral
Rain began to fall in sheets as they approached. Lightning flashed, briefly illuminating the massive stained-glass windows.
Cass disabled the external cameras. Luca picked the lock on the service entrance. Monroe moved in last, silently, already checking for traps.
Inside, the cathedral was a graveyard of grandeur. Dust-laced pews. Shattered candles. The scent of rotting incense and old blood.
Ronnie moved like a ghost, hugging the shadows.
They reached the nave without alerting the guards. From above, the choir loft crackled with faint radio chatter.
"She's close," Rami whispered. "Sublevel two. Near the vault."
They split. Ronnie, Cass, and Monroe descended the spiral stairs into the crypts. Luca and Rami stayed topside to control the exits.
---
Scene: The Vault
The crypt air was damp and cold, smelling of mold and secrets. Torchlight flickered from sconces—Victor's men weren't subtle.
They passed stone coffins, until they reached the iron door of the vault.
A single guard stood outside.
Monroe threw a knife. Silent, clean.
Cass hacked the keypad. The door clicked.
Inside, Mia sat chained to a chair, her eyes wide.
"Ronnie?" Her voice broke.
Ronnie crossed the room in seconds, cutting the cuffs, catching her as she collapsed.
"I thought—"
"I know," Ronnie whispered. "We're getting you out."
A crackle sounded from a speaker in the wall.
"I was wondering when you'd come."
Victor.
---
Scene: Victor's Challenge
"You think this is about one girl?" Victor said, his voice echoing through the crypt.
"This is about everything," Ronnie growled.
"This is about you, Veronica. About how far you're willing to go. You burned the city. Took my empire. So now... let's see what you'll destroy to keep it."
The floor beneath them shook.
Cass glanced at the vault's control panel. "It's wired. He's going to collapse the crypt."
Victor's voice was almost gleeful. "You have sixty seconds."
Ronnie grabbed Mia and turned to run.
The floor split.
Stone buckled.
They bolted through the tunnels as dust and fire chased them.
---
Flashback: A Promise of Blood
Years ago, Ronnie sat on the church steps beside her father.
"Would you kill for peace?" he asked her.
"I'd die for it."
He smiled. "Wrong answer. We don't die. We survive. Then we make them regret letting us live."
---
Scene: The Last Confession
They emerged from the crypt into the sanctuary just as the ceiling collapsed behind them. Mia coughed, clinging to Ronnie.
Guards swarmed in from the transepts.
Cass opened fire. Luca and Rami stormed through the main doors, covering them.
Ronnie walked forward as bullets flew. Her eyes locked on the altar.
Victor stood there, flanked by two of his lieutenants.
"You should've stayed dead," he hissed.
Ronnie stepped onto the altar.
"Funny. I was about to say the same thing."
They charged.
---
Scene: Battle in the Cathedral
Gunfire ripped through stained glass. Candles exploded in showers of wax. Monroe threw a flashbang. Rami tackled one of Victor's men.
Ronnie fought her way to Victor.
They clashed like titans—no guns now, only fists and fury.
He slammed her into the altar.
She headbutted him.
He drew a knife.
She twisted his wrist.
"You lost the second you made this personal," she whispered.
Victor sneered. "You'll never be like your father."
"I'm not. I'm worse."
She drove the blade into his side.
He collapsed.
---
Scene: Ashes and Ascension
Outside, the storm broke.
Rain washed blood from the stone steps. Mia leaned on Cass, blinking into the dawn.
Ronnie stood at the cathedral doors, silhouetted by lightning.
Victor's body lay behind her.
She didn't smile.
She simply walked down the steps.
Luca met her with a nod.
"It's over?"
She shook her head.
"It's just begun."
Cass approached with Mia. "We've got her. And something else."
She handed over a USB drive pulled from the vault.
Ronnie plugged it into her phone. Files loaded. Names. Deals. Corruption. Politicians. Judges. Everything Victor had.
A kingdom of rot.
Ronnie looked up at the rising sun.
"We're not just rebuilding the empire," she said. "We're rewriting the rules."
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To be continued in Chapter Seventeen: The Phoenix Accord