A dive.
In the face of death,
the Night Demon had no time to think.
His body moved on instinct, honed from years of killing.
He lunged.
Dragged a corpse up with him.
Used it as a shield.
Bang! Bang!
Two rounds punched into the body shielding him.
The Night Demon's eyes locked on the far corner—
Duggan,
aiming straight at him.
With his off-hand,
he snatched a fallen pistol,
ignoring the burning agony in his shot-through palm.
He unloaded the magazine in a furious spray,
forcing Duggan back into cover.
Then, with a headlong dive,
he smashed through the exit's glass doors
and vanished into the night.
The barrage kept Duggan pinned for a moment.
By the time he peeked out again,
only shattered glass,
a carpet of corpses,
and Anna crouched behind a pillar remained.
He sighed.
That one shot during Anna's close-quarter struggle—
if not for the poor angle,
he could've ended the Night Demon right there.
Still…
their mission was essentially accomplished.
With that thought,
Duggan strode over to Anna,
extended a hand,
and hauled her up from the floor.
[Ding! Reminder: one of your Blue-ranked assassins has died…]
[Ding! Reminder: one of your Blue-ranked assassins has died…]
[...]
[Ding! Reminder: your Purple-ranked assassin (Anna Poliatova) has advanced in quality—upgraded to Gold rank…]
At Lighthouse Hotel,
the string of notifications pulled Alex from his game session with the little girl.
He handed the controller to Caine,
rose to his feet,
and strolled into the lounge.
Pouring a glass of whiskey,
he downed it in a single gulp.
A flicker of joy mixed with a sting of regret.
Joy—because Anna had finally ascended to the level of a top-tier assassin.
Regret—because of the ten Blue-ranked killers he had dispatched,
four had perished in this mission.
But like Duggan,
he knew the purpose had been achieved.
Now all that remained—
was to wait.
The first to return to the Lighthouse Hotel was Nikita.
She pulled up to the entrance,
Winston at her side.
They stepped out together.
Behind them,
a High Table car rolled to a stop as well.
The Adjudicator emerged with two assassins in tow.
They followed into the lobby,
eyes fixed on Winston trailing Nikita upstairs.
He made to follow.
But two Lighthouse guards blocked his path.
At once, the Adjudicator's escorts drew their pistols.
Too slow.
More than a dozen Lighthouse killers surged forth,
guns leveled,
barrels black and unblinking.
The Adjudicator did not flinch.
Calmly, he produced a black coin.
"I believe you know what this means.
Inform your leader that I wish to see him."
Silence weighed on the lobby.
Then, from the staircase,
Susie's voice drifted down.
"High Table Adjudicator…
your authority extends only to notice, mediation, and arbitration, does it not?"
The Adjudicator turned,
eyes narrowing as Susie descended the steps.
With a cold snort, he replied,
"Then let me put it plainly.
On behalf of the High Table,
I order the Lighthouse to hand over Caine and his daughter.
Refuse—
and your organization will be designated a terrorist syndicate."
Susie's lips curled.
"Is that so? And who defines those standards?"
Her casual retort
left him momentarily speechless.
At length, he barked back:
"You abducted members of the High Table—Caine and his daughter."
No sooner had the words left his lips than—
Thunk!
A golden playing card embedded itself at his feet.
The symbol: King of Clubs.
Susie's voice floated again,
icy and unhurried.
"Mr. Caine is one of us now.
As you well know, the High Table has its laws,
and each family and syndicate has its own codes.
Yes, the High Table's law overrides clan codes.
But—"
Her eyes glinted.
"—even the High Table cannot dictate the allegiance of an assassin once they've chosen a syndicate, can they?"
Her reasoning rang true—
but only halfway.
Because technically,
this right applied only to syndicates backed by one of the Twelve Families of the High Table.
Like the Roma clan behind John Wick's Ruska Roma.
But the argument in the lobby
wasn't meant to be decisive.
It was a stall.
Both sides clawed for time.
Yet here too,
Alex held the advantage.
Beneath their feet, in the underground garage,
the SUV carrying John Wick and Helen
rolled to a stop by the elevator.
Soon,
they would ride to the second floor.
Soon,
John Wick would seal his blood oath with Caine.
And once that was done…
even the High Table itself
could not undo it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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