Suki remained on the concrete for several seconds, one hand pressed against her stomach as she slowly dragged herself upright.Her breathing was uneven, and a few strands of hair had fallen across her face, but it was the thin line of blood running from her nose that made the change in her expression unmistakable.She lifted her head and stared directly at Ethan.Her eyes were burning with anger.A small drop of blood gathered beneath one nostril before sliding down toward her upper lip. Another followed, tracing a thin red line across her skin.Suki raised the back of her hand and wiped the blood away in one sharp motion, then looked at the smear across her knuckles.For a moment, she simply stared at it. Then her fingers slowly curled into a fist.When she looked at Ethan again, the anger in her eyes had become something far more dangerous.“You...” she breathed, her voice trembling with restrained fury.She wiped the remaining blood from beneath her nose and rose to her feet, refus

Ethan remained exactly where he was long after Suki disappeared into the night.The last faint glow of fire had already vanished beyond the distant buildings, leaving the rooftop covered in darkness. Only the cold wind remained, sweeping across the concrete and carrying away the last traces of smoke from Suki's flames.For several seconds, Ethan simply stood there, staring into the empty sky as though some part of him still expected her to turn around and come back.She did not.The rooftop slowly returned to an eerie silence. Apart from the soft whistle of the wind moving through the broken sections of concrete, there was almost no sound. A few small patches of fire still flickered inside the cracks around him, casting weak orange light across the ground before gradually dying out.Ethan finally lowered his gaze.His breathing was still heavy, and every breath pulled painfully against his ribs. His back ached whenever he moved, while his exhausted muscles felt as though they had been

The lobby was almost empty at that hour.Most of the lights were still on, but the brightness felt different at night. Instead of making the hospital feel lively, the pale fluorescent lights only made the empty corridors seem longer and colder.The reception desk stood beneath a large wall clock, and the receptionist sitting behind it was struggling to keep her eyes open. She wasn’t the same receptionist Ethan knew. She was a different one. A paper cup of coffee rested beside her keyboard, forgotten long enough for the steam to disappear.Several meters away, a security guard leaned against a pillar with his arms folded loosely across his chest, his attention fixed on the phone in his hand.Sarah walked ahead with the takeout bag held carefully in one hand, completely focused on getting back to their mother's room.Ethan followed.But he was no longer experiencing the hospital the way he had before.His senses had changed too much.He could hear the faint movement of shoes against the

The room was warm and dimly lit, and for one strange moment, it looked almost like an ordinary hospital room.The bed stood against the far wall beneath a small wall lamp, while a heart monitor beside it gave off a slow, steady rhythm that filled the quiet room. The blinds were drawn tightly over the windows, keeping out the darkness of the hospital corridor, and the soft yellow light from a single lamp made everything appear strangely peaceful.But Ethan knew better.There was nothing peaceful about the room.His eyes immediately found the woman lying on the bed.She was propped against several pillows, her thin body almost swallowed by the white sheets. Grey strands had begun to spread through her dark hair, and years of illness had hollowed her cheeks and weakened the body Ethan remembered as strong. Yet even after everything the disease had taken from her, he could still recognize her instantly.His mother.For a moment, Ethan could not breathe.He had spent years watching her gro

Thorne leaned forward slightly, resting his forearms against his knees as he studied Ethan with the calm patience of a man who already believed the outcome had been decided.“You want your mother to live,” he said softly, his voice almost gentle beneath the cold atmosphere of the room. “I can make that happen. You want your sister to remain safe. I can make that happen too. And you want answers about the people hunting you. I can give you those answers.”His pale eyes remained fixed on Ethan as he allowed the words to settle.“All I am asking for is your cooperation.”Ethan did not move.He could not afford to.Every muscle in his body screamed at him to act. He wanted to cross the room, seize Thorne by the throat, tear his hand away from his mother's IV and smash his head against the wall until that calm expression disappeared. The urge was so strong that his fingers curled tightly at his sides, his nails pressing into his palms.But Ethan knew better.One wrong move could cost his m