Fastlane

Chapter fifty-nine

Nadia

At first, I thought I was drowning. The cold swallowed me whole long before consciousness did. Not water. Air.

Wet, freezing air that clawed into my lungs every time I tried breathing.

My body felt impossibly heavy, every inch throbbing in violent pulses that made me want to sink back into unconsciousness immediately.

Darkness pressed against my eyelids. Somewhere nearby, metal scraped slowly against concrete. Chains. My eyes snapped open.

Pain exploded through my skull so hard I almost blacked out again.

The ceiling above me wasn’t a hospital ceiling.

It was rock. Jagged black stone stretched overhead while industrial floodlights flickered weakly through a massive underground cavern.

Water dripped steadily somewhere nearby.

The entire place smelled like rust, gasoline, blood, and river water.

Not a hospital. Not safety either. Panic surged instantly.

Where was Riven? I forced myself upright too fast and nearly threw up from the pain ripping through my ribs.

My chest burned violently. Bruises climbed across my arms and throat while dried blood coated the front of the tank top and leather jacket hanging off my body.

The crash came back in pieces. The black SUV.

Glass exploding. Riven screaming my name.

Then nothing. A sound echoed deeper inside the cavern.

Male voices. I slid off the narrow medical cot beside me, barely catching myself against the wall before my legs collapsed completely.

Every movement felt like knives sliding between my ribs. I moved anyway.

The cavern around me looked endless. Old mining tunnels branched through the mountain while rusted rail tracks disappeared into darkness beneath Blackwater Falls. Crates and abandoned medical equipment lined the outer walls beside old Olympus symbols carved directly into stone.

The pillar, the helmet, the staff. I swallowed hard. Then froze. Because somewhere ahead, I heard Riven screaming. Not words. Rage. Pure violent rage. Adrenaline hit hard enough to drown the pain immediately. I staggered toward the sound.

The deeper I moved into the tunnels, the louder the underground station became. Voices echoed through the cavern ahead while floodlights reflected against black water cutting through the center of the massive rail platforms below.

I stopped at the edge of the upper platform overlooking the station, and my entire body went cold. Riven. Deck. Roxy. Even Dion fucking Hattori. All chained to the platform floor beneath the floodlights. They were bruised, bleeding, and

restrained. But they were alive. Relief nearly dropped me to my knees.

Naoya stood in front of them calmly with his hands folded behind his back while the black river churned beneath the platforms below like something alive.

He looked untouched by the violence surrounding him.

Untouched by anything. Dion lunged violently against the restraints the second Naoya stepped closer.

“You son of a bitch!” Naoya barely looked at him.

“That temper is why you were never suitable.” Dion looked ready to kill him with his bare teeth. I searched the upper platform quickly.

Weapon, weapon, weapon, I needed a goddamn weapon.

Near one of the overturned supply crates, a dead Olympus guard slumped against the wall with a handgun still tucked against his vest. Thank fucking God.

I grabbed it carefully despite my shaking hands.

Down below, Naoya continued speaking calmly while everyone else fought uselessly against chains bolted into the concrete.

“Olympus built Stonebridge to feed itself.” My stomach twisted.

“The gangs were never kings.” Naoya’s gaze swept across them slowly.

“You were pawns.”

“Where is Nadia?” Riven snarled. Something dangerous flickered across Naoya’s face then.

“The girl survives everything.” He said quietly. My grip tightened around the gun instantly.

“Just like her father.”

That sentence made my pulse spike hard enough to hurt. Father. The archives. The photographs. The meetings. Ares. I stepped forward slowly from the shadows overlooking the station.

“You should’ve killed me properly.” Every head snapped upward instantly. Riven’s face lost all color.

“Nadia-” I zoned him out.

Ignored everybody except Naoya. I was beaten, half-dead, and barely standing. It didn’t matter. The gun remained steady, aimed directly between Naoya’s eyes.

“I knew you would wake eventually.”

“Shut up.”

“Nadia-”

“I said shut the fuck up!”

“That look in your eyes.” He said.

“You got that from him.” My spine went rigid, icy, cold fury freezing it straight.

“You don’t get to talk about my father.”

“You still believe he abandoned you. You spent your entire life searching for ghosts.” Naoya said calmly.

“And still managed to misunderstand every single one.”

“You trafficked people through my town.”

“Our town.”

“You don’t get to claim Stonebridge.” Naoya looked out across the cavern slowly.

“The gangs drew lines across streets and called it ownership. But Olympus built the foundation beneath them.”

“You should’ve buried the archives deeper.” I saw his eyes sharpen.

“I found the records. The shipments. The symbols. The photographs. The pillar. The helmet. Olympus and Ares. That’s what they mean.” I smirked just to piss him off.

“The wars between the gangs. The disappearances. And every trail led back to you. You built Olympus beneath Stonebridge.” Naoya’s smile returned slowly, impressed.

“You were always intelligent.”

“Don’t. Don’t stand there acting proud of me.”

“I watched you survive things that should’ve destroyed you.” That made me laugh.

“You watched me suffer.”

“The world is suffering.”

“Because of people like you.” Silence engulfed the cavern. Not a sound could be heard apart from the river below us.

“But I finally understand now. You took my mother from me. You buried her. You erased her and her people.” Every word came colder now.

“Took their land and their wealth. Chased them out and made those who stayed suffer. You killed her.” Naoya exhaled softly through his nose.

“You still believe death is the worst thing that can happen to a person.” I lifted the gun higher, standing a few paces in front of him now.

“The tunnels. The staff symbol.” Naoya stayed silent.

“It was all you… Hades .” Naoya smiled slowly, almost sad.

“She sees it all, but still so blind.”

I thought this was it. Thought we had won.

Thought I tore the mask off his face and exposed his true, ugly self for all to see.

All I had to do was put a bullet between his eyes.

All I had to do was put the slightest pressure on this trigger and the nightmare that consumed my life for the last twenty-seven years would be over.

I. Was. So. Fucking. Wrong.

“You’re wrong, my darling girl.”

I hadn’t heard that voice in over a decade, but it followed me everywhere I went.

The voice inside my head, breathing cutting words and biting disappointment into my ear.

The voice was the same, from the cadence to the tone, to the way he said each and every goddamn syllable.

I stood there and watched, petrified and frozen, as Anton Stonyanov stepped out of the shadows behind Naoya.

Anton Stonyanov stepped into the floodlights alive. The world tilted sideways instantly.

No, no, no. He was dead. Rainer killed him. I saw the blood. I saw what was left. But clearly… he wasn’t. Anton looked older now. Silver threaded

through the dark hair at his temples while his black coat hung immaculate against the cavern light. But his eyes?

Exactly the same. Cold. Sharp. Familiar. The gun in my hand trembled. Naoya stepped aside slightly. They weren’t equals. Never equals. How could I be so wrong? My whole life, I knew my father to be Ares. I’d been so confused, thinking Naoya was Hades, but no. I was wrong.

“Welcome to the Styx, Nadezhda.”

My heart stopped inside me. Nadezhda- when was the last time he called me that?

It was the long-form version of Nadia in Bulgarian.

He always told me he loved that name, but my mother loved ‘Nadia’ even more.

So, he gave her what she wanted, reversing the traditional system that had existed for generations.

“You’ve grown vicious.” My father smiled softly. The word ripped something open inside my chest.

“You’re dead.”

“Clearly not.”

“You let me think you were dead.”

“You needed to.” The answer hit like a slap. Riven snapped violently against the restraints.

“You sick fuck!” Anton ignored him completely. His entire focus stayed on me.

“The messages that sent me away from Stonebridge,” I said calmly, holding onto the edges of my fraying sanity with a tight grip.

“Those came from you.” My stomach twisted violently.

“Heirs shouldn’t be raised so far from home.” He replied.

“You chased me out.”

“No.” Anton stepped closer slowly.

“I hoped distance would retrain you.”

“What?”

“You loved this town too much.” Pain flickered across his face briefly.

“Just like Rainer.” The mention of my brother made something inside me crack.

“Don’t say his name. He’s locked up cause of you.” Anton ignored that too.

“I wanted you to return willingly after the transition.” Dion frowned violently from the floor.

“What transition?” Naoya answered this time.

“Olympus evolves.” The river thundered beneath us.

“The old gods step aside eventually. Zeus. Poseidon. Hades.” Anton’s gaze never left mine.

“And heirs ascend.” Horror crawled slowly up my spine.

“You wanted me to replace you.”

“I trained you to survive this world.”

“You scarred me.”

“I loved you.” The words echoed through the station like a gunshot. Raw. Certain. Terrifying. Anton stepped closer again.

“I loved your mother too.”

“You destroyed her.” Pain flashed across his face.

“No.”

“You destroyed all of us.”

“You were meant to inherit Olympus beside me.” My stomach turned violently.

“No.”

“Yes.” His eyes softened impossibly.

“You were always supposed to be my heir.” I fired.

The bullet tore through Anton’s shoulder. Chaos exploded instantly. Naoya reached for a weapon, but Dion moved first. He ripped the loose chain from the floor hard enough that the bolt snapped free before launching himself at Naoya with years of fury behind him.

“You were supposed to love me!” The impact drove Naoya backward into the platform railing.

Meanwhile, Anton rushed me. Fast. Far faster than he should’ve moved at his age. He slammed the gun from my hand before I could fire again and drove me backward hard enough that my injured ribs nearly collapsed beneath the impact. Pain exploded white-hot through my body.

Still, I fought. Because rage outweighed pain now. Always. I drove my elbow into his throat. He barely flinched. His hands grabbed my wrists violently.

“You fight exactly like her.”

“Fuck you!” I slammed my forehead into his nose hard enough that blood exploded across both of us.

Anton staggered backward once. Then, he smiled. God, I hated him. Behind us, Dion and Naoya fought brutally across the platform floor while Riven tore at his restraints hard enough that blood poured down his wrists.

“Nadia!” Anton shoved me hard into the railing overlooking the Styx.

“You could still inherit this.” I laughed breathlessly.

“You built your empire on corpses.”

“Survival requires sacrifice.”

“You sacrificed your children!” Something cracked across his face then. Not guilt, anger.

“Everything I did was for this family!”

The scream echoed violently through the cavern. For one terrible second, I realized he actually believed that. That was the worst part. Anton grabbed my throat suddenly. Not enough to kill. Enough to control.

“I watched over you every day of your life.” Tears burned hot behind my eyes instantly.

“You watched me suffer.”

“You survived.”

“You abandoned me.”

“No.” His voice softened horribly.

“I preserved you.”

Rage detonated inside me. I drove my knee directly into his ribs before shoving him backward

hard enough that both of us slammed against the rusted railing overlooking the Styx.

Metal groaned beneath us. Behind him, Dion finally buried Naoya’s knife directly into his father’s throat.

Naoya froze. Shock flickered across his face for the first and last time before blood flooded across the platform beneath him.

Dion stared down at him, shaking violently. Not relief. Devastation.

Ares had fallen.

Then the railing behind Anton snapped.

“Nadia!” Riven screamed.

Everything happened at once. His hand caught my arm instinctively as the rusted metal gave way beneath both of us. And suddenly we were falling together into the Styx below.

The river hit like concrete. Freezing black water swallowed me instantly while the current dragged violently beneath the underground cavern. My injured ribs screamed as I fought toward the surface, choking on river water.

Darkness surrounded everything.

Then a hand grabbed my wrist beneath the water.

Anton. Even now, even dying, he tried pulling me toward him.

Toward the depths. My father’s face surfaced briefly beneath the floodlights above us, blood pouring from the gunshot wound in his shoulder while the current slammed both of us against submerged rock.

“Nadia-” I shoved him away, but his grip remained strong.

“You are my legacy. I will not stop until you accept that.”

He took me by my shoulders, pushing me into the water and dragging me back up. I sputtered, coughing water out of my lungs.

“Not even if I have to drag you to the brink of death a hundred times over.” He shoved me back under, no matter how much I clawed at him.

“Not even if I have to eradicate this town and all the people in it.”

Something glinted in the water the next time he pulled me under. It’s a knife , I quickly realized. When he brought me back up to the surface, I stopped fighting him.

“I have made you in my image. You are ruthless, vicious, and cruel. You will make a fine ruler, a glorious god. You will make Olympus proud.” His eyes were reverent, always were when he talked about the opulence of Olympus.

“You don’t see it now, but this is what you want.” He promised, convincing me and me.

I saw it then. Anton has never seen me as anything human. I was his weapon, his prize for Olympus, the fruit born of his wife, his ticket to greatness. Tears stung my eyes.

“All I ever wanted was to be your daughter.”

That made him pause, hesitate. It was all I needed. I grabbed the knife still strapped against his ribs and drove it directly into his chest.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

Anton’s eyes widened slightly. Not fear, just surprise. The river churned violently around us while blood disappeared instantly into the black current. I stared directly into my father’s eyes as the life finally left them for real this time.

Then I ripped the knife free.

“Well… done… Nadezhda.”

Anton sank slowly beneath the Styx without another word. And this time? I made sure he stayed dead. Watching until the river swallowed him whole.