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ASTRID'S POV:

We pulled up to the estate, but instead of the usual welcome, we were met with chaos.

No guards, no staff—just the gate slightly ajar and two of the head guards lying lifeless nearby.

The air was thick with the scent of blood and helpless screams filling the air.

He turned back to face me, his eyes blazed with fury. "Mierda!" Damon jumped out of the car, his face a mask of fury and determination.

"Stay in the car," he barked at me, his eyes blazing. I knew better than to argue, but the fear gnawing at my gut was too much. Ignoring his command, I followed him towards the entrance, my heart pounding in my chest.

The west wing was engulfed in flames, the heat unbearable, just as he said. The main hallway even more a warzone. Damon's men were locked in combat with intruders—enforcers from guards I knew back at the Enrico household.

Bullets flew, and the acrid smell of gunpowder filled the air. I caught sight of Damon ducking behind a column, his gun drawn and firing.

"Damon!" I shouted, running towards him, dodging any bullets that came my way. His eyes widened in shock and anger when he saw me.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he shouted, yanking me behind the column. I couldn't help but smile. Even when he was blacked out angry, the urge to protect me still overrode everything.

"I couldn't just stay in the car while you fought," I said, taking his gun and firing a shot at one of the intruders from behind my back.

"Astrid..." Damon began, but just as a sound left my mouth in protest, a sudden explosion rocked the ground, and before I knew it, I was on the other side of the battlefield, meters away.

I landed in a heap of rubble, coughing up blood as morning light shone down on me.

Am I going to die here?

Shit. Why'd I have to be so stubborn? Maybe I shoulda fucking listened this time??

I winced as a pain shot through my skull, my ears ringing with unrelenting force until the sounds of the battlefield were no longer.

I watched as Damon's mouth opened to scream my name, but no sound came out. All I could make out was his ash-covered face running toward me in a heap of desperation.

"Astrid, you're okay," he repeated, his hands hovering over me, unsure where to start.

A shot whizzed past his head, and in a heartbeat, his expression hardened.

"You have to get up, or you're as good as dead. Get to the safe room. Now."

I nodded, fear and guilt twisting in my stomach, and scrambled down the hall. I shouldn't have even known there was a safe room, but somehow he knew I did. I slid in and locked the steel door, pacing back and forth with my hands clenched into fists. My mind raced with worry for Damon but also for my father's relentless vendetta.

Minutes felt like hours until Damon burst into the room, his face a mix of anger and exhaustion. Relief flooded through me, but it was short-lived.

"Damon, I'm so—"

"Save it," he snapped, his voice harsher than I had ever heard. "We're not safe yet. Your father—"

"He's not going to stop," I said, cutting him off. "He wants to destroy everything you've built."

Damon panted, his eyes narrowing. "You think I don't fucking know that? What do you think I've been doing for my entire life?"

"Damon I-" he cut me off. "Why didn't you stay in the car? Why are you so damn hard headed!" He sucked in a breath. "Do you know what I would have done if something happened to you...? I feel sick to my stomach just thinking about it!"