Chapter 14: The King Chooses Blood
Chapter 14: The King Chooses Blood
The name stared back at her.
Anthony Rossi.
Founder.
Project Raven.
Aria read it again.
And again.
The letters refused to change.
"No..."
She whispered.
"It can't be."
Anthony Rossi wasn't just Dante's father.
He was the man Dante had spent his entire life honoring.
The man whose portrait hung above the fireplace in the Rossi estate.
The man every Rossi soldier called The First King.
Her hands began to shake.
Alexander Harper quietly took the blueprint from her before she crushed it.
"I knew this would be the hardest part."
Aria looked up, tears filling her eyes.
"You knew?"
Alexander nodded.
"For years."
"And you never told Dante?"
"I couldn't."
"He wasn't ready."
Across Boston...
Dante stood alone in his father's private study.
The room had remained untouched since Anthony Rossi's funeral twelve years earlier.
Leather-bound books lined every wall.
A crystal decanter still rested beside the fireplace.
Even the scent of expensive cigars lingered in the air.
Dante slowly opened the bottom drawer of his father's desk.
Most of the contents were ordinary.
Old contracts.
Photographs.
Letters.
Then...
His fingers brushed against a false wooden panel.
He frowned.
Anthony had taught him how to build hidden compartments.
He had never mentioned this one.
Dante pressed the corner.
Click.
The panel slid open.
Inside lay a single cassette tape.
A handwritten label covered the front.
For Dante. Only if everything fails.
His heartbeat quickened.
Minutes later...
The old tape played through a dusty recorder.
Static filled the room.
Then came a familiar voice.
Older.
Strong.
Anthony Rossi.
"If you're hearing this, son..."
"Then I couldn't stop them."
Dante stood motionless.
"Everything you know about our family is incomplete."
"The Raven wasn't created to rule America."
"It was created to destroy the people who already did."
Dante frowned.
"What?"
The recording continued.
"I joined Project Raven because I believed we were protecting this country from corruption."
"I was wrong."
"Once they gained power..."
"They became the corruption."
Anthony sighed heavily on the recording.
"By the time I discovered the truth..."
"It was too late."
"Men who questioned Raven disappeared."
"Judges died."
"Journalists vanished."
"Even children became targets."
Dante slowly sat down.
For the first time in years...
He heard regret in his father's voice.
"Matteo found proof."
"Elizabeth Harper agreed to expose everything."
"I tried to protect them."
"I failed."
Dante closed his eyes.
His older brother.
Matteo.
He hadn't abandoned the family.
He had died trying to save it.
The tape continued.
"If Aria survived..."
"Protect her."
"Not because she's Harper."
"Not because she's Rossi."
"Because she's innocent."
"Don't let my sins become yours."
The recording ended.
Silence filled the study.
Dante removed the cassette.
His hands no longer trembled.
His father hadn't been a hero.
But neither had he remained a villain.
He had tried to destroy the monster he helped create.
Meanwhile...
At the Harper estate...
Aria stood before the frozen lake.
"I have to tell him."
Alexander looked toward the mountains.
"You do."
"But understand something first."
She turned.
"Anthony Rossi wasn't the only founder."
He unfolded another page hidden inside the blueprint.
Seven names.
Seven founders.
Five were already dead.
One was in prison.
Only one remained free.
Name:
Jonathan Pierce.
Occupation:
Director of National Intelligence.
Aria felt her stomach drop.
"The head of American intelligence?"
Alexander nodded.
"The real leader of Raven."
"He stayed invisible while everyone else took the blame."
Before Aria could respond...
The estate alarms erupted.
A loud siren echoed across the mountains.
Security guards rushed toward the front gate.
One shouted through his radio.
"Black helicopters!"
Another voice answered.
"Multiple armed vehicles approaching!"
Alexander's face hardened.
"They found us."
Boston...
Dante's secure phone rang.
Luca answered before handing it over.
"It's Harper."
Dante immediately picked up.
"Alexander."
Gunfire exploded through the speaker.
Then Alexander's strained voice.
"They're here."
"They've surrounded the estate."
"You were right."
"This was never about Edward."
Dante grabbed his coat.
"I'm coming."
"No."
Alexander coughed heavily.
"Listen carefully."
"If I don't survive..."
"Take Aria."
"Finish what Elizabeth started."
The call suddenly filled with automatic gunfire.
Someone shouted.
"Move!"
Glass shattered.
Aria screamed.
Then...
The line went dead.
Within minutes...
Every Rossi captain had assembled.
Luca looked at the flight map.
"Three hours by road."
"Fifty-five minutes by helicopter."
Dante didn't hesitate.
"Prepare both."
Luca looked confused.
"Both?"
"The helicopter will draw attention."
"The convoy will move separately."
"They won't know which one I'm in."
High above Vermont...
Military helicopters circled the Harper estate.
Missiles struck the outer walls.
Ancient stone towers collapsed.
Smoke covered the forest.
Harper security fought desperately.
But they were hopelessly outnumbered.
Inside the estate...
Alexander handed Aria a small wooden box.
"Take this."
"What is it?"
"The last piece of evidence."
She opened it.
Inside was a flash drive.
A wedding ring.
And one sealed envelope addressed to Dante Rossi.
Alexander smiled sadly.
"Your mother asked me to give him that."
An explosion shattered every window in the room.
Armed men stormed through the hallway.
Their uniforms carried no insignia.
Only silver raven patches.
Alexander drew a pistol.
He looked at Aria.
"There's a tunnel beneath the wine cellar."
"Go."
"I'm not leaving you."
"You must."
He gently placed his hand on her cheek.
Exactly as Elizabeth had done in the photographs.
"For once..."
"...let someone else protect you."
Tears streamed down Aria's face.
She hugged him tightly.
"Grandfather..."
He kissed her forehead.
"I've waited twenty-two years to hear that."
Outside...
The front doors exploded inward.
Heavy footsteps echoed through the mansion.
A cold voice filled the corridor.
"Find the Harper girl."
"Kill Alexander."
"But leave the evidence untouched."
Alexander slowly raised his pistol.
A calm smile crossed his face.
"They're too late."
He turned toward Aria one last time.
"Go find your husband."
The first gunshots echoed through the burning estate.
Aria ran toward the hidden tunnel with the wooden box clutched against her chest.
Behind her...
Alexander Harper walked alone into the hallway to face an army.
And somewhere above the smoke-filled mountains...
A black Rossi helicopter appeared over the treetops.
May you like
Dante had arrived.
End of Chapter 14
