Saintess's Worthless Husband Turned Dragon Commander novel Chapter 82

CHAPTER 82 PART 1

Frank Morrison stood with his hands raised, his assault rifle lying useless in the dirt, surrounded by Marcus Steel and his men. The forest clearing had become a killing ground-six of his squadmates already dead, the rest wounded or terrified.

But Frank hadn’t survived two decades as a mercenary by giving up easily.

His eyes darted to the tactical vest of a fallen comrade three feet away. Inside that vest was a smoke grenade- standard issue for Crimson Gorge operations. And holstered at his ankle, hidden beneath his pant leg, was a backup pistol that Marcus’s men hadn’t found during their cursory weapon check.

One chance, Frank thought desperately. Get the grenade, create chaos, grab Steel as a hostage, force them to let us leave.

It was insane. It was suicidal. But it was the only option left.

“You know what’s funny?” Marcus said, walking slowly toward the surrendered mercenaries, his dragon aura still flickering around him like ghostly fire. “You people thought you were professionals. Elite Shadow Warriors. The best money could buy.”

Frank’s hand inched toward the fallen vest.

“But you kidnapped a Sacred Saintess,” Marcus continued, his voice carrying ancient contempt. “You put your filthy hands on divine bloodline. You committed a crime against heaven itself. What did you think would happen?”

“We didn’t know!” Frank shouted, using the outburst to cover his movement as he dove for the vest. His fingers closed around the smoke grenade, pulled the pin-

And hurled it directly at Marcus’s feet.

Gray smoke exploded outward in a thick cloud, instantly obscuring vision. Frank rolled, yanked the backup pistol from his ankle holster, and came up firing blindly into the smoke.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

“Eric! Victor! Now!” Frank screamed to his two surviving squadmates. “Kill Steel! Kill him NOW!”

The two mercenaries, desperate and terrified, opened fire into the smoke cloud, their training taking over despite their fear.

For three seconds, the clearing was chaos-gunfire, shouting, smoke so thick you couldn’t see your own hand.

Then the smoke began to clear.

Frank stood in the center, his pistol raised and pointed directly at-

Empty space.

Marcus Steel was gone. Vanished like a ghost.

“What the–” Frank spun around, searching frantically. “Where is he?! WHERE—”

“Looking for me?”

The voice came from directly behind him. Frank whirled-

Marcus stood there, utterly calm, his dragon eyes glowing faintly in the darkness. In his hand, he held Frank’s

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ANTES 82 PARTY

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pistol magazine.

“How did you-when did you-” Frank looked down at his gun. The magazine was gone. He’d been firing an

empty weapon.

“The moment you pulled it from your ankle holster,” Marcus said conversationally, tossing the magazine aside. ” My senses detected the movement. I disarmed you before you even took your first shot.”

“That’s impossible! Nobody’s that fast-”

“I’m not ‘nobody,'” Marcus interrupted, his dragon aura flaring brighter. “I’m the man whose wife you kidnapped. And your primitive techniques? They look like slow motion to me.”

Eric, one of Frank’s surviving squadmates, raised his rifle with shaking hands. “Stay back! I’ll shoot! I swear I’ll-

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He fired.

The bullet went wide, missing Marcus by three feet-

And struck Frank Morrison directly in the shoulder.

Frank screamed, stumbling backward as blood sprayed from the wound. “You idiot! You shot ME!”

“I-I didn’t mean-“Eric’s voice was panicked. “He moved! I was aiming for him!”

Aaron Jackson appeared from the shadows, moving with deadly precision. His hand shot out, grabbed Eric’s rifle, and twisted. The weapon clattered to the ground, and Aaron’s follow-up strike-a devastating palm to the chest- sent Eric flying backward to crash against a tree trunk.

Victor, the last surviving mercenary, tried to run. Dominic Martinez emerged from the eastern position, his leg sweeping out to catch Victor’s ankles. The mercenary went down hard, and Dominic’s boot came down on his spine, pinning him to the ground.

“Going somewhere?” Dominic asked mockingly.

In fifteen seconds, Frank’s desperate gambit had failed completely. His men were disarmed and crippled, scattered across the clearing like broken toys.

Marcus walked toward Frank slowly, his dragon-enhanced presence making the air itself feel heavy.

“Did you really think,” Marcus said quietly, “that smoke and bullets could save you from me? You’re not dealing with some street gang or corporate security. You kidnapped the wife of the Ten Thousand Mountain Alliance Young Master. Did you think there would be negotiation? Mercy? A chance to escape?”

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CHAPTER 82 PART 2

Frank clutched his bleeding shoulder, backing away until his back hit the van. “Please-we were just following orders! The client paid us! We’re soldiers-we do what we’re told!”

“Soldiers follow orders,” Marcus agreed, his dragon aura condensing around his fists until they glowed like molten gold. “But you’re not soldiers. You’re mercenaries. You chose to accept a contract to kidnap a Sacred Saintess. You chose to drug her, restrain her, terrify her. Every choice, every action-that’s on you.”

“It was just a job!” Frank screamed desperately. “Just business! Nothing personal!”

“NOTHING PERSONAL?!” Marcus’s voice carried such fury that Frank flinched like he’d been struck. “You put your hands on my wife. You made her scream with fear. You delivered her to animals who planned to assault her. And you call that ‘business’?!”

Dragon power exploded from Marcus’s body in a visible shockwave. The van’s windows shattered. The trees around the clearing swayed violently.

“Let me show you what ‘personal’ looks like.”

Marcus moved with dragon speed, crossing the distance in a blur. His hands shot out, grabbed Frank’s wrists-

And crushed.

The sound of bones shattering was like dry twigs snapping. Frank’s screams tore through the forest, raw and agonized, as every bone in both hands pulverized under Marcus’s dragon-enhanced grip.

“This is for Quinn,” Marcus said coldly, maintaining the pressure even as Frank writhed and shrieked. “For every second of terror you put her through. For every moment she thought she’d never see me again.”

Frank’s hands were ruined-twisted, broken, useless. Blood ran from where shattered bone fragments pierced through skin. The pain was so overwhelming that his vision went white, consciousness threatening to flee.

“Please!” Frank gasped between screams. “Please, just kill me! End it! I’m begging you!”

“Kill you?” Marcus released Frank’s mangled hands, letting the mercenary collapse to his knees. “You think death is punishment? You think a quick bullet is justice for what you did?”

He crouched down, meeting Frank’s eyes at level. “My wife is cold and indifferent by nature-a Sacred Saintess who maintains perfect composure in any situation. But when I found her, she was crying. Actually crying. Do you know how much trauma it takes to break through a Saintess’s emotional control?”

Frank could only whimper, cradling his destroyed hands against his chest.

“So no,” Marcus continued, his dragon eyes blazing with inhuman fury. “You don’t get a quick death. You don’t get mercy. You get to suffer as she suffered. Fear as she feared. And only when you’ve experienced a fraction of what you put her through-only then-will I grant you the release of death.”

“You… you’re a monster…” Frank gasped.

“I’m a husband,” Marcus corrected. “Protecting what’s mine. And you? You’re a dead man who just doesn’t know it yet.”

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