The midnight air was still and cold, biting through the cracks of the concrete bunker. The hours had dragged on in absolute silence, and nobody had come. The dead quiet of the forest only made Zeus more restless. He sat in the shadows, his eyes constantly shifting to Juliana.He could hear the faint rumble of her stomach. She was exhausted, hungry, and trying her best to look brave, but he knew she was terrified.Looking at her huddled in the dark triggered a familiar, suffocating ache in his chest. Years ago, he had left his wife and children alone, believing they were safe. He had returned to ashes and blood. That single mistake had broken his life into pieces. As he stared at Juliana now, his jaw tightened. He had lost his family because he wasn't there to protect them. This time, he wasn't letting her out of his sight. He was not going to lose her."The emperor's men aren't coming tonight," Zeus said, his low voice breaking the heavy silence. "Gabriel is a coward. He waits for rep

The dirt clearing was a storm of dust and raw emotion. Gabriel scrambled to his feet, his hands shaking as he reached into his muddy boots and pulled out a hidden, jagged dagger. His nose was bleeding, and his royal clothes were ruined, but his eyes were filled with the frantic, deadly energy of a cornered rat."I am the Emperor!" Gabriel screamed, his voice cracking with humiliation. "You are nothing but a slave! A ghost from the past!"Gabriel lunged forward, swinging the dagger wildly. Zeus stepped back, his face a mask of intense concentration. He was furious, his heart pounding with the painful memories of his murdered wife and son, but a deep, stubborn part of him was still holding onto the promise he had made to late Emperor Mathew. He didn't want to kill the man. He wanted to end the madness without shedding more blood than necessary.But Gabriel was not fighting to subdue; he was fighting to murder. He aimed straight for Zeus’s throat, his chest, and his eyes, thrusting the b