Chapter 129: ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-NINE

Nicholas’s POV

Blackthorne laughed at that.

The sound was mocking and loud, the sound of someone who had just gotten exactly what he wanted.

Nicholas remained on his knees with his hands raised, the gun lying several feet away from him, and for the first time since waking up in that warehouse, he felt completely powerless.

He had thought surrendering would be enough. He had believed that if he gave Blackthorne the weapon and stopped fighting, there would be no reason left for him to hurt his mother. He had been wrong.

"You finally understand," Blackthorne said, looking down at him. "All that confidence disappeared the moment I put a gun against your mother’s head. You were so determined to fight me when you thought you had something to fight with, but now you’re sitting there begging."

Nicholas’s breathing became heavier as he looked at his mother. She was still being held in place, the gun beside her head making it impossible for her to move without risking her life. She looked terrified, but somehow she was still looking at Nicholas instead of herself.

"You said you wanted me," Nicholas pleaded. "I’m right here. You don’t need to do anything to her. Whatever problem you have with me, take it out on me. Just let her go."

Blackthorne shook his head, almost disappointed by the suggestion. "You still don’t understand. I don’t need you to cooperate because I care what happens to you. I need you to understand that I decide what happens here. You surrendered because of her, and now you’re going to learn exactly how much that surrender is worth."

Nicholas stared at him, tears already gathering in his eyes. "Please."

"If you want me to die quickly, perhaps I should make sure you have something to remember first." Blackthorne turned toward his mother, his expression becoming colder. "You wanted to protect her so badly. You kept telling me you would do anything. So let’s see how far that goes."

Nicholas shook his head immediately. "No. Don’t."

Blackthorne looked back at him. "You know how important your mother is to you. That’s why this is going to hurt."

Nicholas’s knees scraped against the floor as he moved forward. "Please, Blackthorne. I’m begging you. Don’t hurt her. I’ll do whatever you want. I’ll stay here. I’ll stop fighting. I’ll do anything you tell me to do, just don’t touch her."

His mother looked at him with tears in her eyes. "Nicholas, stop begging him."

"Mom, please." He turned to her, his voice cracking.

Her eyes were wide with fear, but she kept them trained on Nicholas. "You need to get away from him."

"I can’t leave you here."

"You have to." She squeezed her eyes shut.

Nicholas shook his head desperately. "I’m not leaving you. I’m not going anywhere without you."

Blackthorne watched the exchange in silence, and Nicholas felt unease prickle down his spine. His mother kept trying to speak to him, but Nicholas couldn’t take his eyes off Blackthorne. He watched the man’s hand move toward the weapon and immediately felt his entire body go cold.

"Please," Nicholas said again, his voice barely holding together. "You already took everything from me. Don’t take her too."

Blackthorne raised the gun and Nicholas screamed as the sound of the gunshot tore through the warehouse.

For a moment, Nicholas couldn’t understand what had happened. His mother was still standing where she had been, but then her body went limp and she collapsed to the floor.

Nicholas stared at her without blinking, his mind refusing to process what he had just witnessed. The world seemed to go completely silent around him even though he could still hear the soldiers, the guards and Blackthorne somewhere nearby. "Mom?"

There was no response.

Nicholas remained frozen on his knees, staring at her. "Mom?" His voice broke the second time.

He crawled toward her, but his hands stopped against the floor when he realized there was nothing he could do. He stared at her face, waiting for her to move, waiting for her to open her eyes, waiting for anything that would tell him he had misunderstood what had happened.

Nothing came.

A strangled scream escaped him. "NO!". His body began shaking violently as he stared at her. He couldn’t make himself look away.

Only minutes ago she had been standing there asking him what was happening, confused about why she had been brought to the warehouse. She had been alive. She had been speaking to him. She had been worried about him.

Now she was completely still.

Blackthorne laughed again and Nicholas slowly turned his head toward him.

There was no anger in his expression anymore. There was nothing left for anger to cover. His face was wet with tears, his breathing uneven, and his eyes were fixed on Blackthorne with a kind of disbelief that made him look almost empty. "You killed her."

Blackthorne raised the gun toward him, but Nicholas didn’t move.

He had been prepared for death before. He had expected Blackthorne to kill him after killing his mother. He had surrendered knowing there was a chance he wouldn’t leave the warehouse alive, but none of that mattered anymore. His mother was gone, and the only reason he had been fighting in the first place had disappeared with her.

He stared at the gun pointed at him.

Then the warehouse doors suddenly burst open.

The noise snapped Nicholas out of his paralysis. Soldiers rushed into the warehouse, moving quickly through the room and overwhelming Blackthorne’s men before they could properly react.

Several of the guards were forced to the ground while others were surrounded and disarmed. Nicholas flinched at the sudden movement and instinctively covered his ears, still sitting beside his mother’s body as he tried to understand what was happening.

More soldiers flooded into the room and Blackthorne barely had time to turn before several of them reached him and forced him down. He struggled against them, shouting, but they restrained him and pulled his arms behind him.

Nicholas stared. He couldn’t understand any of it. One moment he had been waiting for Blackthorne to kill him, and the next, the entire warehouse had been filled with soldiers.

Then he saw the people walking in behind them.

Adrian, Cassian, Roman and Elijah.

Nicholas’s eyes widened.

Adrian walked into the warehouse first, his expression hard as he looked around at the chaos before his eyes settled on Blackthorne.

He stopped in front of his father while the other three immediately went toward Nicholas. "Nicholas."

Elijah reached him first, but Nicholas barely reacted. Cassian grabbed his shoulder while Roman crouched beside him, both of them trying to get his attention, but Nicholas kept looking toward his mother.

"Where’s Mom?" he whispered.

Neither of them answered immediately.

Nicholas looked at them, his face crumpling again. "She’s there. She’s right there. Do something."

Cassian swallowed hard and reached for him. "Nicholas, we’re here now. You’re safe."

"I don’t care about me." His voice rose as he pointed toward his mother. "Look at her. Do something."

Elijah’s eyes filled with tears, but he didn’t look away from Nicholas. "We will. Just stay with us."

Across the room, Blackthorne had stopped struggling.

He looked toward his sons. For several seconds, he simply stared at them before a smile slowly returned to his face. "You’re all here."

Adrian’s expression didn’t change.

Blackthorne looked around at the soldiers surrounding him and then back at his sons. "Good. Then you can clean this mess up and leave. There’s no reason for any of this to become a problem for you."

Adrian stared at him in disbelief.

Blackthorne continued as though nothing had happened. "Take my side. You know how much influence I have. You know what this family has built. Don’t throw everything away because of him."

His eyes moved toward Nicholas. "He’s a useless Omega. You can’t seriously be willing to destroy everything over someone like that."

Nicholas heard him and he slowly turned his head.

Blackthorne continued speaking, completely confident that his sons would listen to him. "He’s already caused enough trouble. You don’t need him. Leave him here and walk away from this. You can clean up what happened, deal with the authorities and continue living the lives you were supposed to live. Don’t let one Omega drag all of you down."

Nicholas stared at him and something changed in his expression as he slowly pulled away from his brothers.

"Nicholas?" Elijah caught his arm.

Nicholas didn’t answer and he stepped away.

Cassian immediately followed. "Nicholas, where are you going?"

Nicholas kept walking.

His eyes landed on a gun lying on the floor and he bent down and picked it up.

Roman froze. "Nicholas."

Nicholas didn’t look at him. His hand was trembling around the weapon, but he walked toward Blackthorne anyway. Tears continued falling down his face, and he didn’t bother wiping them away.

Adrian looked at him. "Nicholas, don’t."

Nicholas stopped a few feet away from Blackthorne.

Blackthorne looked at the gun and then at Nicholas, fear crossing his face at the sight.

Nicholas raised the weapon. "You killed her." His voice was eerily calm for a second.

Blackthorne stared at him, his lips pressed together.

Nicholas’s voice shook as he continued. "She trusted you. She spent years believing you were protecting her. She defended you when I was afraid of you. She believed everything you told her, and you killed her like she meant nothing."

Blackthorne said nothing and Nicholas’s tears continued falling. "You took my father from her. You lied to her for years. You brought me here. You killed her because you knew I would surrender for her, and you still expect me to stand here and listen to you talk about how useless we are."

He raised the gun higher. "You don’t get to decide what happens to us anymore."

Nicholas fired and the sound echoed through the warehouse.

He fired again. And again.

The brothers shouted his name, but Nicholas couldn’t hear them properly anymore. All he could see was Blackthorne, the man who had destroyed his family and taken his mother from him.

Nicholas kept firing, tears running down his face as his hand shook uncontrollably.

"Nicholas!"

He didn’t stop.

"Nicholas, it’s enough!"