Chapter 35
Chapter 35: The Bloodline Tribunal
"You're lying to me!" Daniel yelled, his gun leveled at Clara’s forehead, his thumb pulling back the hammer. "You don't want to save his life. You want to hand him over to the phantom in the machine! He isn't our son, Clara. He’s Marcus. They imprinted him."
"I know," Clara whispered, a tear finally escaping her eye and freezing against her pale cheek. "Do you think I want this? Do you think I want to look at my child and see the ghost of the monster who enslaved my mother? But I am a mother, Daniel. I would rather raise my enemy than bury my son."
Tomás stepped forward, his submachine gun raised. "Drop the gun, Daniel. It’s over. The board has been reconstituted under Clara’s name. We have the codes. We have the transport. The world needs the Architect back. The global markets are collapsing without the Mendoza oversight."
Daniel looked from Clara’s desperate, tragic face to his brother’s soulless, power-hungry eyes. Then he looked at the crib.
May you like
Alejandro was sitting up, staring at the standoff with an unnatural, absolute calm. The child reached his tiny hand out toward Clara, ignoring Daniel completely. He had chosen his caretaker.
Daniel felt his spirit break. He slowly lowered his weapon, dropping it onto the concrete floor. "You've won, Clara. Take him. But if there is any shred of the woman I loved left inside you... don't let him forget my name."
