2026-01-23 20:37:52
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CHAPTER 705
Caleb watched their display of defiance, his finger hovering over the trigger. He didn’t fire. Instead, he lowered the barrel and began to laugh, a deep, mocking sound that echoed beneath the dark canopy.“Oh, this is precious,” Caleb sneered. “The damsel in distress and the court jester think they’re a strike team. What’s the plan, Charlotte? You’re going to punch me with those delicate knuckles while the boy tries to prune me like a hedge?” He took a mocking step forward, completely unafraid. “Do you truly believe your fists and that rusted sliver of metal are faster than a 9mm round? I can put a hole in both your hearts before you even cross the three-yard line.”“Maybe,” Lottie said, eyes locked on his gun hand. “But you’re arrogant, Caleb. You want us alive so you can claim your prize. You won’t shoot to kill… not yet. And that’s your mistake.”Hugo tightened his grip on the knife, the rusted metal biting into his palm. He looked at Lottie, saw the unshakable resolve in her b
CHAPTER 704
Hugo’s chest heaved, his legs shaking from adrenaline and the long trek through the woods, but he stood like a stone wall. He blocked her completely, offering Caleb no line of sight to the Asset he so desperately wanted to reclaim.Caleb’s hand drifted toward the holstered Glock at his hip. A cold, predatory smirk returned to his face.“You think a bit of teenage bravado is going to stop a bullet? Move, boy. Or I’ll make sure your death is the last thing she sees before I take her back to the compound.”“Then start shooting,” Hugo challenged, his jaw set. “Because the only way you’re getting to her is over my corpse. And I promise you, by the time you’re done with me, the rest of our team will be here to turn you into Swiss cheese.”Lottie stared at Hugo’s back. For years, she had been the one shielding him, the one making the smart decisions while he played the fool. But looking at the breadth of his shoulders now, she realized Caleb was wrong. She wasn’t weak; she had simply ch
CHAPTER 703
"Go ahead. Push. Let's see if you have the stomach to break the skin of the man who used to feed you. Or have you forgotten that everything you are, every breath you take, was paid for by my hand?"Lottie’s face burned with humiliating heat. Every word was a lash, a reminder of the years she had spent under his thumb, beholden to his "generosity.""You didn't give me anything!" she hissed, her anger bubbling into a jagged, desperate rage. "You stole my life and called it a gift!""I gave you a name! I gave you a future!" Caleb roared. His voice turned thunderous as he stepped closer, forcing her to either stab him or retreat. "And look at you now. Cowering behind a tree, starving, bleeding, and holding a toy. We both know who is stronger here, Charlotte. You’ve always been the bird, and I’ve always been the sky. You can fly as hard as you want, but you’re still inside me."He reached out, his hand closing around her wrist with the crushing strength of a vise."Drop the toy before y
CHAPTER 702
Lottie froze.The tart juice of a wild berry stained her fingertips a deep, bruised purple, mimicking the dried blood on her thigh. The rustle in the undergrowth wasn't the light, hurried step of Hugo or the heavy tread of Marek. It was rhythmic, intentional, and chillingly confident.She pressed her back against the rough bark of the oak, her heart hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird. But she was too late. A beam of light, sharp and clinical, sliced through the dark and pinned her."Eating berries in the middle of a war zone," a voice drawled, smooth as polished stone and twice as cold. "You always did have a terrible sense of timing, Charlotte."Lottie’s blood turned to ice. She knew that voice.She squinted against the glare as a man stepped into the small circle of light. He was clad in high-grade tactical gear, but it was his hair, stark, shimmering white even in the gloom, that marked him. He was the commander who had ordered the strike on the clearing; the man wh
CHAPTER 701
She scanned the shadows, her pulse jumping at every snap of a twig. ‘Where are they?’ she wondered, her eyes burning with unshed tears. ‘Tedmond... Marek... Hugo?’She wanted to scream their names, but she knew better. The men with silenced rifles and thermal goggles were still out there. She was a target, and she had to stay small.**A mile away, near the scorched earth where the helicopter had fired its initial payload, two shadows moved cautiously through the smoke. Hugo was limping, his hand gripping Molly’s shoulder for support.When they reached the clearing, Hugo stopped dead, his face twisting.The area had been hollowed out by the blast; craters pocked the ground, and the trees were blackened skeletons."No," Hugo choked out. "Lottie was near here. She was supposed to be right here."Molly scanned the destruction, her heart sinking. "Hugo, look at this place. If she was caught in the blast...""No! Look there!" Hugo pointed toward the steep incline leading down to the dar
CHAPTER 700
“Fine,” Tedmond whispered, looking at Ivy with newfound respect. “Go on my behalf. Find them. Bring them to the clearing at the end of the tunnel. If you are not there in two hours...”"We'll be there," Ivy promised. She checked the clip of a sleek handgun pulled from her waistband, then glanced at Marek. "Come on, Heart-Blossom. Let’s see if you can keep up with a girl."Marek let out a short, grim bark of a laugh. "Try not to get in my way, Doc."As they disappeared into the hallway's shadows, Tedmond sank onto the edge of the bed, his hand finding his mother’s. The house felt suddenly hollow, the air thick with the realization that their escape, and the lives of their friends, now rested in the hands of a stranger and a man with a mangled hip.The door hissed shut, leaving the room in a heavy, echoing silence. The adrenaline that had propped Tedmond up began to drain away, leaving him fragile."I have so much to tell you, Mom," Tedmond rasped, his voice thick with the urge to b
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