Chapter 213

Chapter 213: Chapter 213

Drake

The security elevator descended to the lowest level of the complex.

Down here, behind reinforced steel doors and concrete walls, the temperature was kept low and the lighting minimal. The continuous hum of the ventilation system echoed through the corridor, mixing with the rhythmic click of my boots against the polished floor.

Two armed guards stood outside the holding cell at the end of the hall. The moment I approached, they swiped their keycards, input their security clearance codes, and stepped back as the heavy sliding door hissed open.

I stepped into the room, and the door sealed shut behind me with a solid, metallic lock.

The holding cell was small, stark, and sterile, lit by dim fluorescent panels overhead. Julian sat on the narrow metal bench in the corner, his wrists secured in heavy steel cuffs. His designer clothes were wrinkled and stained with dust, his silver hair disheveled.

When the lock engaged, he flinched, his head snapping up. Seeing me, a flash of terror crossed his features before he forced a quick, nervous smile.

"Drake," Julian said, his voice quiet and unsteady as he stood up, his cuffs rattling against his belt line. "You came down yourself. I knew you would. I knew you’d realize there’s been a massive misunderstanding."

I didn’t answer. I stood near the door frame, watching him with a flat, unyielding stare.

"You have to listen to me," Julian pressed on, taking a tentative step forward. He held out his restrained hands in desperate appeal. "Gideon forced my hand. He threatened to kill you if I didn’t override the side entrance security. I only went along with it to protect you, Drake. Everything I did was to shield you from his plot."

I reached into my coat, pulled out a encrypted flash drive alongside a stack of printouts, and dropped them onto the metal table between us.

They hit the surface with a sharp slap.

Julian stared at the documents. The color drained from his face as his eyes scanned the headers.

"These are the system access logs from the primary server," I said softly, my voice calm and precise. "They show your personal security bypass code used three times in the middle of the night. They show you manually overriding the west wing perimeter sensors right before Lysander was taken."

Julian swallowed hard, his eyes darting frantically between the papers and my face. "Drake, please—"

"These are the encrypted messages recovered from Gideon’s private terminal," I continued, pointing to the printed transcripts. "Sent directly from your private device. You promised him territorial assets across the border. You promised him full control of the supply routes if he removed my mate and ensured he never came back."

"It’s not what it looks like!" Julian cried out, stepping closer to the table, his tone rising in panic. "He set me up! He told me he was just moving him to a secure safehouse across the river! I didn’t know he hired a dark practitioner! I had no idea he was going to target the pregnancy!"

"You were in that room, Julian," I said, my voice dropping into a razor-sharp register that instantly cut through his panic. "You stood right next to her while she initiated the procedure. I saw you on the security feed. I heard you tell her to proceed."

Julian froze. His jaw dropped, but no words came out. His narrative collapsed completely.

He backed away slowly until his frame hit the concrete wall behind the bench. He slid down onto the metal seat, his shoulders slumping, his silver eyes wide with helpless dread.

"I trusted you," I said, taking a measured step toward him. "I gave you an executive position in this house. I gave you authority, access, and complete protection for years. And you used every bit of it to sell out my security from the inside."

"I was here first!" Julian suddenly snapped, his voice cracking with a bitter, raw resentment. Tears of frustration spilled down his cheeks. "Years ago, it was just me and you yet you have been blinded by that idiot. I thought disappearing from your life would make you value me more but you forgot me. I gave you centuries of loyalty."

I rolled my eyes, "Don’t give me that crap, Julian. The second I turned you, you resented me and ran away. Why are tou acting like a victim?"

"No, I didn’t."

"You ruined your own standing, Julian," I replied flatly. "You let jealousy dictate your actions. You targeted my mate, and you attempted to destroy my child."

I reached to my side, unholstering my sidearm with a smooth, practiced motion. The mechanical click of the chamber locking sounded loud in the small room.

Julian’s eyes locked onto the weapon. His chest heaved in short, rapid breaths as sheer panic took over, his back pressing flat against the concrete wall.

"No... Drake, please!" he begged, raising his cuffed hands to shield his chest, his voice breaking into a breathless plea. "Please, don’t do this! We have too much history! Exile me! Lock me in a maximum-security facility on the border! Just let me live!"

"There is no facility secure enough," I said, stepping right up to the edge of his bench. "There is no border far enough for what you did to my family."

"Drake!" he screamed, ducking his head behind his hands.

I raised the weapon.

"Do it, then," Julian rasped out, his voice dropping from a high scream into a strange, wet laugh. He lowered his hands an inch, his pale silver eyes staring straight into mine. There was no terror in his face anymore. The panic was gone, replaced by a dark, ugly grin that spread slow across his lips. "Pull the trigger, Drake. Go ahead. End it."

I kept the barrel leveled right between his eyes. "You think begging will change anything?"

"I am not begging," Julian whispered, leaning his head back against the concrete wall. He let out a soft, breathy chuckle that sounded cold in the small cell. "I knew you would come down here. I knew the moment you found those access logs with my name on it, you would walk down those stairs with a weapon in your hand. You are so predictable, Drake. You always act like the protector."