Chapter 25 - The Price of Blood
"Mason, run!" Daniel choked out, fighting against the crushing vise around his windpipe.
Julian’s lips curled into a disgusting, victorious smile. "Well, look at that. The little dog brought himself right to the leash."
Julian released Daniel's throat with one hand, reaching into his tactical pocket to pull out the duplicate steel collar. He rose to his feet, leaving Daniel gasping on the floor, and began stalking toward the six-year-old boy.
"Come here, kid," Julian cooed with chilling gentleness. "Let’s put your necklace back on."
Mason didn't run.
Instead, the boy reached into his pocket. He pulled out the tiny silver whistle Emily had given him years ago—the whistle Daniel thought had been lost during the party. Mason shoved it between his teeth and blew with all the breath in his little lungs.
The shrill, piercing blast echoed through the house, so loud it reverberated off the glass walls.
Upstairs, the high-frequency trigger inside Daniel's master smart hub registered the specific pitch. It was the emergency panic trigger Emily had engineered before her death—a legacy failsafe Daniel hadn't even known existed in the system's old programming.
Instantly, the house's independent auxiliary solar battery engaged.
High-decibel security sirens mounted beneath the eaves roared to life, shattering the suburban night. High-intensity strobe lights in the foyer flared violently, strobing at twenty flashes per second, blinding Julian instantly.
Julian stumbled backward, dropping the collar, covering his eyes with an agonized roar as the disorienting light destroyed his night vision.
Daniel seized the opening.
Lurching from the floor with the fury of a father defending his blood, Daniel snatched the fallen iron pry bar and drove it straight into the back of Julian's knee.
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A sickening pop echoed over the wailing siren. Julian collapsed to one knee with a bloodcurdling howl.
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