Shadows of the General

Chapter Four – Fault Lines

The silence after Adrian’s vow was suffocating. Selene’s pulse pounded in her ears, the weight of his words sinking into her chest like stones, If Damon has touched you, I will kill him.

The words didn’t sound like a threat. They sounded like a promise, a cold, merciless promise from a man who had spent years hiding his true face.

Selene forced air into her lungs, her voice trembling. “Adrian… you don’t get to say that. Not anymore.”

His eyes locked on hers, burning with an intensity she couldn’t hold for long. “The moment he came to your door, Selene, it became my business again.”

Her throat closed. He knew. Somehow, he already knew.

Director Hale leaned forward, her tone sharp enough to slice the tension. “General, Mrs. Carter’s safety is not optional. Damon Locke has already positioned himself to exploit her. Whether you approve or not, she’s involved.”

Selene’s head snapped toward the director. “Exploit me how?”

Hale slid the folder across the table. Selene hesitated before flipping it open. Inside were photographs, grainy surveillance shots, angles from a distance.

Her, Leaving her apartment. Walking to her car. Standing in her kitchen window.

Her blood went cold.

“This is illegal,” she whispered.

“This is war,” Hale corrected. “And in war, legality is flexible.”

Selene’s hands trembled as she shut the folder. Every wall of safety she thought she had was gone.

Adrian’s jaw flexed, his hands still fisted. But beneath the fury, she caught it, a flash of something raw. Fear, For her.

The meeting dissolved into clipped instructions. Hale’s voice was a constant thread, precise and commanding, laying out strategies and contingencies that Selene barely heard. Her world had tilted too far off its axis.

When they finally left her alone, Adrian stayed behind.

The door closed with a dull thud.

The air between them was thick, alive with words unsaid.

“You should have told me,” Selene whispered, unable to meet his eyes.

“Told you what?” His voice was low, sharp. “That every insult I took was calculated? That every silence was a shield? That every time you begged me to explain, I wanted to, but couldn’t, because one wrong word would put a target on your back?”

Her chest burned. “Yes! I needed something, Adrian. Anything. Do you know what it was like for me? Standing in front of my family, defending you while you said nothing? Do you know what it cost me?”

His silence stretched.

Selene’s anger cracked, spilling into grief. “You let me think you didn’t care. You let me walk away.”

Finally, he stepped closer, close enough that the heat of him pressed against her skin. His voice dropped to a rasp.

“I let you go because I loved you too much to let this world destroy you.”

Her breath caught, her heart betraying her with a painful rush.

She should have turned away. Instead, she froze, trapped by the raw confession in his eyes.

But then Adrian pulled back, armor sliding back into place. “Stay away from Damon. That’s all that matters now.”

He left before she could answer.

That night, Selene couldn’t sleep. The city outside her apartment pulsed with its usual life, horns, laughter, the hum of neon, but all she could hear were Adrian’s words, And Damon’s voice.

She replayed the intercom call in her head, the smooth menace threaded through every syllable. Adrian was right: Damon wouldn’t stop.

The thought made her skin crawl.

So when her phone buzzed on the nightstand, she grabbed it immediately, heart in her throat.

Unknown number.

She answered, whispering, “Hello?”

“Selene.” The voice was smooth, chillingly familiar. Damon Locke.

Her grip on the phone tightened. “How did you get this number?”

He chuckled softly. “I have all your numbers. Your home. Your office. Your heartbeats.”

Her stomach knotted.

“Why are you doing this?” she demanded.

“Because you fascinate me,” Damon said simply. “The woman who could walk away from a man like Adrian Kane, either you’re a fool, or you’re the bravest woman I’ve ever known. I intend to find out which.”

Selene’s hand trembled, but she forced her voice steady. “Stay away from me.”

“Do you want me to?” Damon’s tone was silk and steel. “Because I think you’re more curious than you admit. And curiosity, Selene, is how wars are lost.”

The line went dead.

Selene’s breath shook, her heart racing. She slammed the phone onto the bed, but the fear clung to her like ice.

A sharp knock rattled her front door, Selene froze. Midnight. Too late for neighbors, too sudden for family.

The knock came again, harder, more insistent, Her pulse thundered as she crept toward the door, every instinct screaming danger.

She pressed her eye to the peephole, Her breath caught, On the other side of the door stood Damon Locke, Smiling.