Kael’s POVThe tunnel didn’t feel like an escape. It felt like a descent. Every step pulled me further away from the warehouse chaos, but the silence wasn’t comforting. It was wrong. Too controlled. Too intentional.Marcus walked ahead, his pace steady like he’d done this before. Raven stayed behind me, close enough that I could hear her breathing but not close enough to trust her fully. That thought alone made my chest tighten. A few hours ago, she was supposed to kill me. Now she was the only reason I was still breathing. That fact didn’t sit right. “Where does this lead?” I asked.Marcus didn’t turn back. “Away.” “That’s not an answer.” “It’s the only one you need right now.”Raven cut in immediately. “It leads under the old district. Abandoned transit lines. Old money routes.” “Old money?” I repeated. She didn’t explain further; of course she didn’t. The tunnel widened slightly, revealing rusted metal ribs and broken concrete reinforcement. Water dripped somewhere in the distance,

Kael’s POV“You’re not going.”Marcus said it immediately. Sharp. Final. Like he thought saying it firmly enough would somehow stop me. I kept staring at the message on my phone. Come Alone, Or She Dies. The words looked simple. That was the terrifying part.Lucien didn’t waste words unless he meant every single one.Raven stepped closer. “It’s bait.” “No shit.” My voice came out rougher than I expected. My chest felt tight in a way I couldn’t explain properly. Mira’s terrified face kept replaying in my head. The fear in her eyes looked real. Too real, and that scared me more than the guns tonight.Marcus moved toward me carefully. “Lucien wants you emotional.” “He already got that.” “You’re thinking emotionally,” he corrected. I laughed bitterly. “A girl I grew up with is tied to a chair because of me. What exactly am I supposed to think with?” Silence followed that, because nobody had an answer.Raven crossed her arms tightly. “If you walk into his hands willingly, you lose every ad

Raven’s POV“Federal agents don’t move this fast unless somebody leaked to us.”Marcus said it quietly, too quietly. That was the first thing that bothered me. The second was Kael. He looked stunned for maybe half a second after Hale’s announcement. Then something shifted behind his eyes, not panic, Calculation, Interesting.Outside the warehouse, headlights burned through the rain while armored vehicles blocked every exit. Men in tactical gear spread across the docks with military precision. This was real: not corrupt cops looking for bribes, not Lucien’s soldiers, Federal, and somehow that scared Marcus more than Lucien ever had. The warehouse speakers crackled again. “Drop your weapons and surrender immediately.”Adrian laughed once. “Yeah, that’s not happening.”Marcus ignored him completely. His focus stayed on the security monitors, thinking fast- too fast- which meant he already knew something the rest of us didn’t. I moved closer quietly. “You know Hale personally.” Not a ques

Kael's POVNobody spoke for several seconds after the call ended.Selena's terrified voice still echoed inside my head: one hour. That was it. One hour before Lucien decided what happened next.Marcus moved first. "We leave now." "No," Raven said immediately.Marcus snapped toward her. "We don't have time for another argument." "And walking straight into Pier 19 is exactly what Lucien wants." "She's right," Adrian added quietly. I looked toward the monitors again, and federal agents were still surrounding the warehouse outside.Lucien's convoy remained parked near the blockade. Rain hammered across the camera lenses hard enough to blur parts of the image, but even through the storm, Lucien looked perfectly calm, like the entire city belonged to him already. Director Hale's voice crackled through the radio again."Lucien Varez is stalling."Marcus laughed coldly. "No. He's controlling the pace."Hale ignored that."Kael," he continued calmly. "You still have options." "No, he doesn't,"

Kael’s POVThe world came back in pieces: rain, smoke, and pain.A sharp ringing filled my ears while upside-down lights blurred through shattered glass. For several seconds, I couldn’t breathe properly. Then reality slammed back hard. The SUV, the crash.I shoved against the twisted door beside me violently until it finally gave way and cold rain poured inside immediately. I dragged myself out onto the flooded pavement, coughing hard. Pain exploded through my ribs the second I moved. Great. Probably cracked something. Behind me, the SUV was half destroyed against a concrete barrier while steam hissed from the crushed engine.“Raven!” No answer; panic hit instantly. I stumbled toward the wreckage and saw Adrian crawling out from the front seat covered in blood. "Are you alive?” he coughed. “Barely.” “Good enough.” I looked around wildly. “Where’s Raven?” Before he answered, movement came from the opposite side of the SUV.Raven emerged slowly through the smoke, holding a pistol. Bleed