Chapter 9 - THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE"ELENA!" I screamed, squeezing the trigger of my Sig Sauer.
The bullets tore through Salvatore’s shoulder, spinning him around and sending a spray of dark blood across the stone floor, but he didn't stop. With a feral roar, he plunged the runic dagger deep into Elena’s ethereal chest.
A piercing, glass-shattering shriek echoed through the catacombs.
Elena stopped dead in her tracks. The silver light glowing across her face flickered violently, turning a deep, bruised crimson.
"No!" Isabella cried out from the altar.
The little girl stood up on shaking legs—fully upright, unsupported, for the first time in her life—and threw her hands forward. A wave of pure, blinding energy erupted from the silver charm in her palm, blasting outward like a shockwave of concentrated light.
The energy slammed directly into Don Salvatore.
The old mafia boss was lifted off his feet, flying backward twenty feet before slamming into the stone wall with a sickening crunch. The runic dagger clattered to the floor, shattered into a dozen pieces.
Salvatore slid down the wall, coughing up dark blood, his eyes wide with shock and disbelief as his chest caved in. "The... the bloodline... is too strong..." he wheezed, before his head slumped sideways and he stopped moving permanently.
I sprinted across the catacombs, dropping my pistol as I slid onto my knees beside Elena.
Her form was fading fast, dissolving into wisps of silver smoke that drifted upward toward the broken ceiling.
"Elena... look at me. Stay with me," I choked out, my hands grasping desperately at empty air as I tried to hold her hands.
She smiled, her eyes softening as she looked past me toward Isabella, who was walking steadily across the stone floor toward us, her small legs carrying her every step of the way.
"I can't stay, Dante," Elena whispered, her voice growing fainter by the second. "The covenant was fulfilled. The gate is sealed forever. The Santoro threat is gone."
"I don't care about the empire. I don't care about the vault," tears streamed down my face, hot and unchecked for the first time in three years. "I just want my family back."
"We are back, my love," she whispered, reaching out one last time to touch my cheek. Her fingers felt like a cool, gentle breeze. "Look after our daughter. She’s going to change the world."
With one final, brilliant flash of silver light, Elena dissolved completely into the air, leaving behind only the soft scent of winter mint and chamomile.
Silence fell over the catacombs.
Sophia stood by the altar, holding little Emma’s hand, bowing her head in silent prayer. My capos stood in stunned, reverent silence around the perimeter of the room.
Isabella reached my side, knelt down beside me, and wrapped her small, warm arms around my neck.
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"Mommy said she loves us," Isabella whispered into my ear, her voice steady and strong. "And she said we're going to be okay now, Daddy."
I pulled my daughter tightly against my chest, burying my face in her golden curls as I looked up toward the broken ceiling where the morning sun was finally beginning to break through the clouds of New York City.
