Cassius POV
"Detonate the bombs in both family homes. "Now."
The words hit me like a punch to the gut. I was hiding behind an overturned table, watching the chaos spread, when I heard that radio message.
Bombs? In our homes?
My blood turned to ice. My little sister Emma was at home tonight, sick with a cold. My grandma was there too, too old and frail to come to the gala.
They were going to die because of these madmen's plan.
"No!" I shouted, jumping up from my hiding spot. "You can't do this!"
The masked man with the radio spun toward me, shocked. "Another Moonstone. How perfect."
But I wasn't thinking about family feuds anymore. I was thinking about Emma's sweet laugh and my grandmother's gentle hands. They had nothing to do with this business war. They were innocent.
"My family is at home!" I screamed. "There are children there! Old people!"
The masked man shrugged like he didn't care. "Casualties of war."
Something inside me snapped. I'd always been angry, always looking for fights, always trying to make trouble between the families. But this was different. This was murder.
I lunged at the man with the radio, knocking him to the ground. We rolled around on the floor, fighting for the device.
"Stop the bombs!" I yelled. "Stop them now!"
Around us, the fight was getting worse. Security guards were fighting the masked invaders. Guests were screaming and running for the doors. I could hear Lady Valeria shouting orders and Arius's father yelling for his men.
But all I cared about was getting that radio.
The masked man was stronger than me, though. He threw me off and scrambled to his feet. The radio skittered across the floor toward where Selene and Arius were still standing together.
"Selene!" I shouted. "Get the radio! Stop the bombs!"
My cousin looked confused and scared, but she dove for the device. Arius helped her, both of them grabbing for it at the same time.
That's when I saw something that changed everything.
Another masked man was coming up behind them with a knife.
He was going to kill them both while they were trying to save our families.
I didn't think. I just moved.
I threw myself across the room, slamming into the man with the knife just as he was about to strike. The blade cut across my shoulder, sending fire through my whole arm, but I didn't care.
"Behind you!" I yelled to Selene and Arius.
They spun around, and Arius instantly jumped into the fight. The three of us fought with the attacker, finally managing to knock him unconscious.
"Cassius!" Selene was looking at the blood running down my arm. "You're hurt!"
"I'm fine," I lied. The cut burned like crazy, but there were more important things to worry about. "Did you get the radio working?"
Arius was pressing buttons furiously. "I think so. But I don't know the code to stop the bombs."
"We need the leader," I said, looking around the chaotic ballroom. "He's the only one who knows how to call them off."
That's when I spotted him near the back exit, trying to escape while his men kept fighting.
"There!" I pointed. "He's getting away!"
The three of us started running through the fight, dodging security guards and fallen chairs and broken glass. My shoulder screamed with every step, but I pushed through the pain.
We had to catch him. Our families' lives relied on it.
"Stop!" Arius shouted at the fleeing boss. "We need to talk!"
The man turned around and laughed. "Too late, children. Your families' homes are already burning."
"You're lying," Selene said, but I could hear the fear in her voice.
"Am I?" The boss held up his phone. "Watch."
The screen showed a live video feed of a house on fire. I recognized it instantly - it was the Blackwood family mansion. Flames were shooting out of the windows while fire trucks raced toward it.
My heart sank. If they'd really bombed the Blackwood house, then ours was probably burning too.
Emma. Grandmother. They could already be dead.
"You monster," Arius whispered, looking at his burning home.
"Monster?" The leader's voice was full of fake hurt. "I'm a businessman. Your families have controlled this city's trade for too long. It's time for new managers."
"So you're going to murder innocent people?" I stepped forward, my hands squeezed into fists despite the pain in my shoulder.
"Sometimes sacrifices are necessary."
That's when Selene shocked all of us. She stepped right up to the boss, looking him straight in the eye.
"You made one mistake," she said quietly.
"What's that?"
"You united us."
Before any of us could ask what she meant, the ballroom doors burst open. Lady Valeria marched in with a team of police officers, followed by Arius's father and his security team.
"Nobody move!" the police yelled. "Everyone on the ground!"
The masked men finally realized they were outnumbered. Some tried to run, but there was nowhere to go. Within minutes, most of them were in handcuffs.
But the leader just smiled as they arrested him.
"It doesn't matter," he said. "The damage is done. Your families will never recover from this."
"What do you mean?" Lady Valeria asked.
"Check the news," he laughed. "See what the world thinks of the Blackwoods and Moonstones now."
Arius pulled out his phone and opened a news app. His face went white.
"What is it?" I asked.
He showed us the screen. The title made my blood freeze: "BLACKWOOD-MOONSTONE FEUD TURNS DEADLY: FAMILY HOMES BOMBED IN ESCALATING WAR"
But that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was the tiny headline underneath: "POLICE INVESTIGATING BOTH FAMILIES FOR TERRORISM CHARGES"
"They're blaming us for the bombings," Selene whispered.
The boss was still laughing as they dragged him away. "Perfect, isn't it? Even in loss, I win. Both your families are finished."
I looked at Arius and Selene, standing together covered in dust and blood, and realized the truth.
We weren't just fighting for our lives anymore.
We were fighting for our lives. Our people. Our very life.
And we were losing.