"I want to stay with my son," Grace said, her voice firmer now despite the tears.

"I'm sorry, my son, but I can't leave Lukas. He's innocent in all this. He deserves his mother."

Jorghan stared at her for a long moment, his expression unreadable.

Then he nodded, as if confirming something to himself.

"Noted," he said quietly.

He turned to Scarlett, who'd been watching the entire exchange with wide eyes. "What about you? Want to come see another world? Escape all this mess?"

Scarlett didn't hesitate.

She moved toward him immediately, her decision already made. "Yes. God, yes. There's nothing for me here but their guilt and dysfunction. Take me with you."

"Scarlett, no!" Jamie reached for his daughter, but she danced away from his grasp.

"Why not, Dad? You murdered your nephew. Grace murdered her son. And you tried to sell to those nobles on that planet. This family is built on blood and betrayal. I'd rather take my chances in another world than stay here one more day."

Jorghan raised his hand, and the world responded.

A red-colored sigil appeared on his palm as mana poured out into it.

The marble floor beneath Grace cracked with a sound like thunder. Fissures spread in circular patterns, precise and controlled, isolating a section of floor roughly ten feet square.

Grace stumbled, her balance shifting as the stone beneath her feet suddenly became separate from the rest of the foyer.

"What are you—" she began, but the words died in her throat as the isolated section of floor began to rise.

It lifted smoothly into the air, Grace standing on it like a platform, ascending until she was level with the second-floor balcony. She gripped the edges, her knuckles white with terror, but the stone was solid despite being completely detached from the ground.

"No!" Jamie lunged forward, but Jorghan made a casual gesture with his other hand.

Another sigil appeared, and this was different from the former. Like hyperboloids with a plus was placed in the middle.

Blood erupted from the floor, which came from the dead guards, and he pulled in more from their bodies.

The blood coalesced into chains, thick crimson ropes that wrapped around Jamie's arms and legs, anchoring him in place.

Lukas tried to run toward his mother's floating platform, but Jorghan's fingers twitched, and the boy's legs locked together, blood pooling around his feet and hardening into restraints that held him immobile.

"Soldiers!" Jamie roared, his voice echoing through the mansion.

"All units, converge on the foyer! Now!"

Security personnel flooded in from every entrance—the professional military contractors who'd replaced the guards Jorghan had killed earlier, men and women with serious training and serious weapons. They took in the scene with agility. Unlike the guards, they follow strict orders.

And after the convergence, they had seen a lot of people with such abilities, so they didn't back down.

They opened fire without hesitation.

Bullets filled the air, a storm of lead that should have shredded Jorghan where he stood.

But he raised his hand, almost lazily, and the blood he'd already manifested expanded outward like a living shield. The bullets hit the crimson barrier and stopped, suspended in the viscous fluid, their kinetic energy absorbed and dispersed.

Jorghan's eyes glowed with blood-red light, and his voice carried clearly despite the gunfire. "Greg Torrance. Where is he?"

One of the soldiers, braver or more foolish than the rest, shouted back. "I don't know who that is! Stand down, or we will use lethal force!"

"You're already using lethal force," Jorghan observed calmly.

"It's just not working. Greg Torrance—head of security. Where is he?"

"He's dead!" another soldier called out.

"You killed him when you slaughtered the first response team!"

Jorghan nodded, as if confirming a checklist.

"Good. I wanted to be sure."

He closed his fist, and the blood shield exploded outward in a wave of crimson destruction.

Every soldier in the foyer was hit simultaneously, the blood-wave slamming into them with the force of a tsunami. Bodies flew backward, crashing into walls and furniture with bone-breaking impact.

Those who survived the initial wave found themselves drowning on dry land as blood forced its way into their mouths and noses, filling their lungs, choking off oxygen. They clawed at their throats, their faces turning purple, their eyes bulging with terror.

Jorghan walked through the carnage without breaking stride, the floating platform carrying Grace following him like an obedient pet. Scarlett walked beside him, her face pale but her steps steady.

"You're killing them," she said quietly.

"All of them."

"They shot at me," Jorghan replied, as if that explained everything.

"That's what happens when you shoot at me."

They moved through the mansion toward the rear exit, toward the garden where the ship waited. Behind them, the surviving soldiers gasped their last breaths, their bodies twitching as the blood Jorghan controlled systematically shut down their respiratory systems.

Jamie screamed from his position in the foyer, still bound by blood chains.

"You monster! You goddamn monster! She said she was sorry! She told you the truth! What more do you want?"

Jorghan paused at the doorway, looking back over his shoulder. "I want what was taken from me. Since I can't have that, I'll take what I can."

They emerged into the garden, where the ship sat gleaming under outdoor lighting.

Sarhita was there, standing near the vessel with Marcus hovering nearby, both of them looking confused and alarmed by the sounds of violence from inside the mansion.

"Jorghan!" Sarhita called out.

"What happened? What's going on?"

"Change of plans," Jorghan said, guiding Grace's floating platform toward the ship's entrance. "We're taking passengers."

He gestured, and the platform tilted, forcing Grace to stumble into the ship's cargo area.

The moment she was inside, the hatch slammed shut, sealing her in with a hiss of pressurizing air.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Sarhita demanded, moving to his side.

"Who is that? Why are you kidnapping someone?"

"Long story," Jorghan said.

"I'll explain on the way back. Right now, we need to leave. Board the ship."

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