Chapter 7 Madeline
Madeline
I didn’t remember the drive. I remembered the sound of Vince barking instructions. Ordering the medics. Telling someone to unlock the elevator.
He carried me. Until he sat me down gently on a bed. Everything else blurred. But his voice didn’t.
“She’s not to be moved for the next hour unless I say so. I want that noted. Call Dr. Keller.”
I heard the beep of a phone. Another voice answered. People asking a question I couldn’t catch.
“No,” Vince’s voice was clipped in a way I hadn’t heard before. “You’re not asking restaurants to list it. You’re telling them peanuts are banned. If anyone has a problem with it—”
He paused. I turned slightly, opening my eyes, just enough to see him, sleeves pushed up, phone to his ear. He was standing at floor to ceiling windows. I didn’t recognize the room.
“—they can leave. I’m not risking her.”
I tried to sit up, to tell him he didn’t have to do all that, it wasn’t his fault, but my body betrayed me. My throat still itched. My chest ached with every shallow breath. In the end I gave up, trying to move.
“I want epinephrine pens issued to all staff. Front line, back line, chefs, security. I don’t care if they never use it. It’s not optional.”
Eventually he came over. Sat beside me. One hand brushed the hair from my temple. While his thumb gently moved over my wrist.
“You’re alright,” he murmured. “Just sleep I’ve got you.”
I didn’t answer. Part of me didn’t believe this was real to begin with. I don’t remember drifting off.
Slowly I was waking up, again. He was lightly tracing my arm.
“…why wouldn’t she have enhancements?” someone said in a low voice, across the room. “Allergies are optional. It’s stupid not to—”
“So Madeline should change her blood so you don’t have to change your menu?” Vince kept stroking my arm. No one answered immediately.
“She’s dynasty. You think her blood gets to be pumped full of synthetics? That it’s interchangeable? You think tech runs deeper than legacy?”
Someone else spoke. “It’s just…it would’ve avoided this. If she had the right mods—”
“Say it again.” His voice dipped to that low threatening tone. I had never heard him use before.
“You want to know why she doesn’t have enhancements? Because once you change one thing, where does it stop? You fix a gene, then a reflex, a flaw, traits. Until what’s left? You can’t track a lineage if you’ve overwritten it.”
A long silence followed.
“She doesn’t change. The world around her does. That’s dynasty, and bloodlines.”
No one dared interrupt.
“Dynasties don’t think like you. We don’t fix things to survive the day. We preserve things to survive the century. Track blood through generations.”
I let my eyes flutter open.
He exhaled through his nose.
“Whoever built the enhancements you pump into your veins, they own the patents, updates. The moment you let someone change your DNA, your body, you give them control of your inheritance. Of your children’s inheritance. And once they own your blood, they own you.”
Someone shifted awkwardly.
“That’s not how it works—” someone started to speak.
“And who do you think owns your tech?” he asked, his fingers paused on my arm. “The same people who tell you it’s harmless? Who sell it like it’s freedom?”
No one answered. But he waited giving them time to answer.
“Dynasties own it. The companies and the medical licensing. They know exactly what they’re doing. You take enough of it, your bloodline stops reproducing. So you add more tech to fix it. More DNA patches. Artificial replacements. Until you’re renting your own skin.”
The room went still. Even I felt the change and I was half asleep.
He gently brushed my arm.
“The Thorne Dynasty didn’t do anything wrong by keeping her unaltered.”
“Crows hate dynasties. Why are you defending the Sovereign Codex now?” Someone asked. I wasn’t sure where in the room. But it echoed slightly.
“This isn’t politics. And even the Crows understand the importance of lineage.” Vince voice dropped so low it was almost a growl.
They understood what he meant, that beneath empire, crime, power, legacy still ruled everything. Even in the Crows’ world.
The room cleared after that. When we were alone because he slid down the bed beside me.
“I’m sorry, Madeline,” he whispered, against my temple. “I’m so fucking sorry.” His voice dropped. “This is my fault. I shouldn’t have taken you there…”
But I was already drifting, so I didn’t hear the rest of it.
Later when I stirred he wasn’t beside me. I lifted my head slightly. His voice came from the other side of the room.
“I fucked up, Nik. I knew. I fucking knew she had the allergy.”
A pause. Something cracked.
“I banned peanuts from every menu in our portfolio before I even took her there. Had the kitchens flagged.”
He sounded furious.
“She would’ve died, Nik. If I didn’t have that pen on me, she’d be—” He paused, it sounded like he was choking up. “It would’ve been my fault.”
Another silence.
“Of course I had one. As soon as I heard she had the allergy, I made sure I carried it.” A longer pause this time. Vince exhaled.
“The medics gave her something to help her sleep. Before I could stop them. Said it would help stabilize her system, calm the adrenaline crash. I didn’t want it. But it was already in.”
Another pause.
“So I’m not taking my eyes off her.”
A soft, familiar “mmhmm” followed. Then nothing everything faded again.