The crack of bone was crisp and clean. The mighty firstborn of the Harding dynasty dropped to his knees in front of me.
"You want to talk rules?" I grabbed a fistful of his hair and wrenched his head back so he had no choice but to look me in the eye.
"Let me teach you how rules work where I come from."
I backhanded him across the face. Half a tooth spun through the air and clattered to the floor.
"Harry! Anyone tries to stop us, break their legs!"
"Yes, sir!"
The Dunn brothers drew their weapons, every pair of eyes burning with menace.
The Harding bodyguards were well-trained, but standing against a pack of men who'd spent their lives dancing on the edge of a blade, their nerve crumbled in an instant.
I stepped over Quinton's body and shielded Bruno and Thomas as we pushed toward the exit.
Irene shrieked behind us, hysterical: "Call the police! Call the police right now! Have these thugs arrested!"
I didn't even turn around.
The moment we cleared the Harding estate, the SUV roared to life and tore out of there.
"Our private hospital! Now!" I shouted from the back seat.
Thomas slumped against my shoulder. His face was white as paper, his breathing so faint I could barely feel it.
I'd already formed a Divine Seal in secret, channeling a thread of spiritual energy into his body to shield the meridians around his heart.
But in the mortal world, a god's power was severely restrained.
If I pushed too hard, I wouldn't just invite divine retribution. I'd accelerate the collapse of his mortal body.
By the time we reached the Dunn Group's private hospital, the top medical team was already waiting at the entrance.
Thomas was rushed straight into the ICU.
I sat on the bench in the corridor, my brother's blood drying on both my hands.
A rush of heavy footsteps echoed from the far end of the hall.
My father, Malcolm Dunn, strode toward me in a loose linen suit, flanked by several of his top lieutenants.
The man who commanded fear across every street in the city had nothing on his face now but raw worry.
"Reggie! Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?" He grabbed me by the arms and looked me over head to toe.
I shook my head and pointed at the sealed ICU doors. "I'm fine. But Thomas is barely hanging on."
Malcolm's expression darkened.