All Chapters of SHADOWS OF THE OAT : Chapter 181
- Chapter 190
220 chapters
CHAPTER 181
The MirrorI grip the edges of the sink so hard my knuckles turn white. The cold porcelain bites into my palms, but I don’t let go. I can’t. If I do, I might shatter into a thousand pieces like the mirror in front of me should.My reflection stares back, hollow-eyed and ruthless. A stranger.The bathroom light flickers, casting shadows across my face. The man in the glass mimics my every move, but I don’t recognize him. His jaw is sharper than I remember, his eyes darker, filled with something… unrelenting. The scars on my knuckles are fresh reminders of a battle fought too many times, of fists thrown in anger, of a past that won’t let go.I clench my fists. The past isn’t just behind me. It’s inside me.A knock on the door yanks me from my thoughts.“Nate?” It’s Olivia. Her voice is hesitant, careful. Like she knows she’s stepping onto thin ice. “Are you okay?”I don’t answer right away. I stare at the mirror a moment longer, half-expecting the man in the glass to smirk, to mock me.
Last Updated : 2025-03-08
CHAPTER 182
The Echo of JulianI wake up choking on air.Sweat clings to my skin, soaking through my shirt, cold against my back. My chest heaves, lungs fighting for breath that won’t come fast enough. The room is dark, the kind of suffocating darkness that feels like it's pressing in from all sides. My hands tremble as I push myself upright.The dream lingers.No—not a dream. A memory dressed as one.Julian’s voice slithers through my mind, sharp and familiar as ever."You can never escape what you are."I squeeze my eyes shut, but it doesn’t help. His voice is inside me, woven into my bones, stitched into the cracks of my soul. It doesn’t fade. It never does.I shove the sheets off and swing my legs over the edge of the bed. My feet hit the cold floor, grounding me. My breath slows, but my pulse still thrums like war drums beneath my skin. I flex my fingers, clenching, unclenching. The tremor is still there.I don’t want to be this.I don’t want to be him.The clock on the nightstand blinks at
Last Updated : 2025-03-08
CHAPTER 183
The Final TestThe name on the screen doesn’t change.Riley.I read it again, slower this time as if that would somehow make sense. As if the letters will rearrange themselves into something else—something easier.They don’t.The briefing is simple. Direct. Brutal.Target: Riley.Status: Eliminated.My stomach knots. The air in the room turns dense, pressing against my ribs. My fingers curl around the edges of the file, gripping too tight.I force myself to breathe.Riley was one of us once. Part of The Oath. A fighter. A strategist. Someone I trusted with my life more times than I can count.She left. Disappeared. Ghosted into thin air like she was never there at all.And now, she’s resurfaced.A threat.A loose end.The weight of the words makes my skin crawl.My first instinct is to deny it—to tell myself there’s been a mistake. But I know better. The Oath doesn’t make mistakes. If her name is here, it means someone higher up decided she was a problem.And problems don’t get warnin
Last Updated : 2025-03-08
CHAPTER 184
The Hunt BeginsI move through the city like a shadow, my steps silent, my presence undetectable.Riley thinks she’s free.She isn’t.She’s careful, but not careful enough. I’ve been doing this too long—tracking people, learning their patterns, anticipating their moves. And despite everything, despite the history between us, she’s just another target now.That’s what I keep telling myself.Another target.Another job.The Oath has made its position clear. I hesitated. I failed. And there’s no room for failure in this world. They won’t stop coming for me. The only way to stay ahead is to finish what I should have done the first time.I tighten my grip on the gun inside my jacket. The weight of it is familiar. Steady. But for the first time in a long time, it doesn’t feel like an extension of myself.It feels like a chain.Still, I follow her.She weaves through the streets with purpose, ducking into a small café on the corner of 9th and Harper. I watch from across the street, leaning a
Last Updated : 2025-03-08
CHAPTER 185
The WarningRiley runs.Not aimlessly. Not in fear.She knows exactly where she’s going.But so do I.Her boots pound against the wet pavement, splashing through puddles as she weaves between buildings, slipping through the city’s dark veins like she belongs here. Like she knows every alley, every hidden escape.And she does.That’s what makes her dangerous.That’s why I have to stop her.I move faster, cutting through a side street, anticipating her route. She’s good, but I know her tells—the way she glances left before taking a sharp right, the split-second she hesitates before committing to a path. I read her movements before she even makes them.And then, I see my opening.I push forward, closing the distance.She doesn’t even get the chance to turn before I grab her arm and slam her against the brick wall of the alleyway. The impact knocks the breath from her lungs, but she doesn’t struggle. Doesn’t panic.She just looks at me.Calm. Expectant.Like she knew this was coming.Like
Last Updated : 2025-03-08
CHAPTER 186
The ChaseRiley vanishes like smoke.One second she’s there, standing too close, whispering impossible things. The next—gone.My pulse hammers against my ribs.I spin, scanning the alley. Dark walls, rain-slick pavement, city noise echoing in the distance. No movement. No sound.But she’s here.Somewhere.I know how she moves. How she thinks. She didn’t run blindly—she had an exit plan before she even opened her mouth.I grit my teeth.Damn it, Riley.A crack of movement to my left. A shadow slipping through the narrow space between two buildings. I bolt after it, boots slamming against the pavement, lungs tightening against the cold.I don’t think. I move.The chase begins.She’s fast. But I’m faster.She cuts through an abandoned construction site, darting between stacks of rusted metal and forgotten machinery. Rain slicks the ground, turning dirt into mud, making every step a risk. She leaps over a pile of broken wood, using her momentum to swing herself onto a low ledge.I follow.
Last Updated : 2025-03-08
CHAPTER 187
The ConfrontationThe storm outside howls like a wounded animal. Wind rattles the broken windows, sending shards of moonlight slashing across the floor.Riley stands in the center of the abandoned building, breath steady, shoulders squared.She’s not running anymore.I step closer, gun raised, finger resting on the trigger. My arm is steady, trained by years of discipline. But inside, something is unraveling.She doesn’t flinch. Don’t beg.She just looks at me."Is this really who you are now?"My grip tightens.The rain drips from my jacket, soaking into the dust-covered floorboards. The scent of mold, rust, and old memories clings to the air.I don’t answer.Because I don’t know.The Oath’s orders are absolute. No hesitation. No emotions. No second chances.But here I am.And she sees it.Her voice is quieter now, threading through the silence like a knife slipping between ribs. "You can still make a choice, Nathan."Choice.That word doesn’t belong in my world."You know how this e
Last Updated : 2025-03-08
CHAPTER 188
The Breaking PointSilence.Just the rain, soft and relentless, tapping against the shattered glass, pooling around my boots. The scent of blood and gunpowder thick in the air.My finger hovers over the trigger.One pull. That’s all it takes.I’ve done this a hundred times. A hundred different ways. I know the rhythm, the breath control, the split-second calculation of a clean kill.It should be easy.But this time…This time is different.Riley stares at me, chest rising and falling in measured breaths, her eyes locked onto mine.No fear.No begging.Just that same look she always had—the one that sees too much.I shift my grip on the gun, tightening it, trying to ignore the tremor in my wrist."You should’ve run," I say, my voice quieter than I meant it to be.She exhales sharply, almost like a laugh, but there’s nothing amused about it. "You knew I wouldn’t."Of course, I knew. Riley’s never been the type to back down. It’s what got her into this mess. It’s what’s going to get her
Last Updated : 2025-03-08
CHAPTER 189
The Choice That Changes EverythingI exhale slowly. My grip on the gun loosens. The weight of it, the finality it promises, is crushing. But I lower it anyway."Go," I say.Riley doesn’t move. Doesn’t run. Just stares at me like she’s trying to figure out if this is real or just another illusion."They’ll come after you next," she warns. Her voice is calm, but I know her well enough to hear the strain underneath.I smirk, but the expression feels foreign on my face. Like something I used to wear, but it doesn’t fit anymore. "Let them try."Riley’s jaw tightens. "This isn’t a joke, Nathan. You’re turning your back on The Oath. That’s a death sentence."I shrug, but my pulse is pounding. I feel it in my throat, in my fingertips. "I was dead the moment I pulled that first trigger for them. This? This is the first real choice I’ve made in years."Her eyes search mine. She’s looking for something—doubt, regret. Maybe she’s waiting for me to snap back into the man they turned me into.But t
Last Updated : 2025-03-08
CHAPTER 190
The Last ChoiceThe Oath will know.They probably already do.I can feel it in my bones, in the way the night presses against my skin, thick and suffocating. It’s the weight of a decision that cannot be undone, the weight of years spent following orders, of erasing names and faces like they never existed. But this one—she—will exist. Because I let her go.Because I made a choice.A mistake, by their standards. A death sentence, by mine.Riley and I move fast, cutting through back alleys and slipping between broken-down cars and deserted buildings. The rain hasn’t let up, and every drop feels like it’s trying to drag me back, trying to remind me that I was never supposed to leave.But I have.For the first time in years, I’ve made a choice that wasn’t theirs.And now, I’m free.But freedom always comes with a price.And I’m ready to pay for it."Where are we going?" Riley asks, her voice low but sharp. She keeps pace beside me, her eyes scanning every shadow, every doorway. She knows t
Last Updated : 2025-03-08