Darkness cradled him. Warmth wrapped around him like a cocoon, muffled and rhythmic. Every sound came distorted echoing through liquid and heartbeat.For a moment, James believed he was floating again, still trapped between life and death. Then he tried to move. A tiny limb twitched. Not an arm. Not his arm. Something smaller. Softer. Weak.“What… what is this?” his thoughts echoed through the enclosed space. His body curled itself instinctively, folded tight in the fetal position. He wasn’t floating anymore. He was anchored. Growing. Alive. Inside someone else. Inside another life. A fetus.The horrifying realization rippled through him like a surge of electricity. “No. No, no, no, this isn’t real. This can’t be real.”But the heartbeat surrounding him said otherwise. Two heartbeats. One enormous, steady one, belonging to the woman carrying him. And his own, faint and racing. He tried to stretch again. A tiny foot bumped into one wall of the womb.He was trapped. Reincarnated. Reborn

Rosa didn’t sleep that night. Every creak of the hospital building made her flinch. Every shadow beyond the curtain sent her heartbeat racing.She curled around Evan protectively, as though her fragile arms could shield him from the world.Evan, though an infant, felt every tremor of her fear vibrate through her body. He was painfully aware of her heightened heartbeat, fast, uneven, terrified. The man from earlier lingered in his mind. “That child is a target now.”The words looped like a curse. A target. Why?For what? He needed answers, but he couldn’t speak, couldn’t move properly, couldn’t even hold his own head up. It was maddening. Powerlessness, something he’d never experienced in his old life, now wrapped around him like chains.And still, he watched Rosa. She whispered into the dim light, “I don’t know what to do… I don’t know how to keep you safe.” Evan listened, absorbing her fear.He would not let danger follow him into this second life… nor destroy the only person who sh

The abandoned rest stop was silent. Too silent.Wind whispered through a broken billboard, carrying dust across cracked pavement. The buzz of a distant streetlight flickered over the empty parking lot.Evan felt the tension vibrating through Rosa’s body as she held him against her chest, arms locked protectively. Leah stood in front of them, pale and shaken.“Rosa…” Leah whispered, “you said Evan wasn’t supposed to exist. What do you mean?”Rosa swallowed, eyes full of fear she had clearly carried for years. “Because his father” Her voice cracked. “Evan’s father… is a dangerous man.”Leah stepped closer. “Dangerous how? Criminal? Gang member? Someone powerful?”Rosa looked down at Evan, tears dripping onto the blanket. “He’s one of the highest-ranking men in Castillo’s organization.”Leah froze. “Castillo… that Castillo?! The one the news calls ‘The Phantom’?”Rosa nodded, trembling. Evan studied her expression, memorizing the horror etched in her features. Castillo. The man whose nam

The night swallowed their footsteps as they hurried away from the crashed sedan. Rosa limped, clutching her ribs, eyes locked on the hooded man carrying Evan.Leah followed close behind, trembling but determined. “Slow down!” Rosa gasped. “I—I can’t keep up!”The hooded man didn’t stop. “You have to.”“I just gave birth !”“I know,” he said sharply, “but if we stay here, three more cars will arrive. They were tailing the first ones.”Leah stumbled. “Three more?! How do you know?”He glanced over his shoulder, voice low. “Because I intercepted their radio chatter before I left. They’re sweeping this entire region.”Rosa’s breath hitched. “Are they coming for Evan… or for you?”“Both,” he answered. “But they won’t kill Evan. They’ll kill you two first.”Rosa flinched. Leah whispered, “This… this is too much. How do we even know we can trust you?”The hooded man didn’t look back. “You don’t,” he said. “But the alternative is dying here.”In his arms, Evan stirred. His tiny body tensed ag

Gunfire shattered the night.The first shot cracked like thunder outside the crypt, echoing through the cemetery stone. Rosa jumped violently, her grip tightening around Evan as Mateo pushed the heavy crypt door shut behind him.Elias grabbed Rosa’s wrist. “Move. Now.”Leah trembled, backing toward the stairs leading deeper underground. “W-wait, he’s out there alone”Mateo’s voice roared from outside the crypt: “COME THEN!”A second gunshot followed. Then a scream. Rosa choked on a sob. “He’s going to die”“No,” Elias said sharply. “Mateo Castillo doesn’t die. That’s the problem.”But Rosa could still hear it, the unmistakable sound of boots crunching over dead leaves, men shouting in coded signals, the rustle of weapons being raised. They were here. Close. Hunting.Elias dragged Rosa toward the dark stairwell. “We go now unless you want Evan taken.”Leah swallowed hard, tears streaking her face. “Rosa, come on!”Rosa hesitated, one last terrified look toward the crypt door, then foll