THE BASTARD THEY FEARED

CHAPTER 3: HUNTED

Kael’s POV

The door burst open, and three men stepped inside. They wore black suits and black gloves and had silenced guns. They were not cops or ordinary criminals either, and they moved too calmly and professionally.

The red emergency lights painted their faces like demons as terrified nurses backed away, screaming. One of the gunmen scanned the room before his gaze landed on me and he smiled. My blood turned to ice.

“There he is.”

Every instinct inside me screamed danger, and my mother gripped my wrist harder. “RUN!”

Gunfire exploded, and the doctor beside me dropped instantly, with blood spraying across the wall. The nurses screamed, and everything turned chaotic. I ducked on pure instinct as bullets shattered the glass behind me. “What the hell!”

A hand grabbed my hoodie suddenly, and I turned to see it was my mother. Her terrified eyes locked onto mine. “There’s a back exit,” she gasped desperately. “Go!” “I’m not leaving you!” “You have to!”

Another gunshot tore through the room, and the machines beside her exploded in sparks. The men were getting closer slowly, like they knew I had nowhere to go. One of them tilted his head slightly. “He has to be alive if possible.” Possible?

My pulse pounded violently as I thought. Why did they want me alive? Nothing made sense anymore. Alessandro Varez, hidden heir, and assassins. What the hell was happening?

A nurse cried out as another shot hit the wall beside her. I grabbed the metal IV stand and swung it blindly at the nearest attacker. The pole slammed into his arm hard enough to knock the gun sideways, and the shot missed me by inches. “Move!” my mother screamed.

Adrenaline finally took over, and I ran. I grabbed the terrified nurse near the emergency door and shoved her behind me as another bullet shattered the room behind us. Then I kicked the back door open, and cold rain slammed into me instantly. The alley behind the hospital was dark and empty, the perfect place to die.

I heard footsteps behind me coming closer fast, and I ran faster. My lungs burned immediately, but fear pushed me forward. The alley twisted sharply between buildings while thunder exploded overhead. Gunshots echoed behind me again, and one bullet slammed into a dumpster beside my head.

Holy shit! 

These people were actually trying to kill me. I nearly slipped on the wet pavement before forcing myself forward again.

Think, think!

I reached the main street seconds later and shoved through crowds of confused pedestrians while cars blared horns angrily. Behind me, the black-suited men emerged from the alley, still chasing me, and were calm like predators enjoying the hunt. One of them raised his gun again, and panic surged through me.

I dove behind a parked taxi just as the window above my head shattered violently and people started screaming everywhere. Good, at least the chaos helped.

I crawled across the wet pavement and bolted toward another street without looking back. My heart felt seconds away from exploding, and I didn’t understand any of this.

Why me? Why now? And why had my mother looked more terrified of those men than of dying?

A black SUV suddenly screeched around the corner ahead of me, and my blood froze. The tinted window rolled down slowly, and I saw another gun rolling out.

“Shit!”

I turned sharply and sprinted the opposite direction. The city blurred around me as the rain, sirens, headlights, fear, and everything became noise. I shoved past people desperately while my thoughts spiraled out of control.

Alessandro Varez. The name kept echoing in my head. That man was practically a myth in Blackthorn City, and nobody even knew what he truly looked like. There were just whispers about power, about bodies disappearing, and about politicians kneeling behind closed doors, and somehow my mother expected me to believe he was my father? That was impossible, completely impossible.

A sharp pain exploded in my shoulder suddenly, and I stumbled hard.

“What the heck." I looked to see blood oozing out of my shoulder. A bullet had grazed me.

“Fuck!”

The pain hit seconds later like fire tearing through flesh, and I almost collapsed. The men behind me were getting closer, and one of them spoke calmly into an earpiece. “He’s injured.”

Something cold crawled up my spine as I realized that these weren’t random killers but were organized and planned.

I turned another corner desperately and nearly slammed into a tall blonde woman. She was wearing a leather jacket and had piercing blue eyes, and for one strange second, she looked directly at my bleeding shoulder before meeting my gaze. Then her expression changed into recognition, and I froze as she knew who I was.

The woman suddenly grabbed my arm hard enough to hurt. “This way.” “What?”

“Move unless you want to die.”

Gunshots echoed closer, and that made my decision for me. She dragged me through a narrow side alley with shocking speed before pushing open a rusted metal door, and we entered an abandoned building. The woman immediately slammed the door shut behind us as darkness swallowed the room. I backed away instantly despite the pain shooting through my shoulder.

“Who are you?” Instead of answering, she pulled out a gun, and my pulse spiked violently. “What the hell?!” She aimed directly at my chest as her cold blue eyes studied me carefully and almost curiously. “You don’t look dangerous enough,” she murmured. My breathing stopped. Dangerous enough for what?

Thunder shook the building overhead as the woman stepped closer slowly, and I could see her properly now. She was beautiful but terrifying, not normal terrifying but controlled terrifying, like violence came naturally to her.

“You’re bleeding everywhere,” she said flatly. “You shot me?” “No.” “Then lower the damn gun.”

She ignored that completely; instead, she tilted her head slightly while studying my face.

“They’re moving faster than expected.” “Who?” I got no answer, and my patience snapped.

“I don’t know what the hell is happening tonight, but people keep trying to kill me; my mother just told me some psychotic billionaire is my father, and now a random woman points a gun at me in an abandoned building!” The woman remained completely calm, and that somehow made everything worse. Finally, she spoke.

“Alessandro Varez is dead.” The words hit me like another bullet. “What?” “He died tonight.” I stared at her blankly. Dead? The mysterious king of Blackthorn City was dead? My thoughts spiraled violently. “No,” I muttered. “No, that doesn’t make sense.” “It does if you understand what happens next.” I clenched my fists. “Start talking.”

For the first time, something dangerous flickered across her face. “Men are going to kill each other for control of his empire.” A chill slid down my spine. “And?” Her blue eyes locked onto mine.

“And according to certain information." She lowered the gun slightly. “You are part of the problem.” My chest tightened painfully. “I’m nobody.” “That’s what makes this interesting.”

Footsteps suddenly echoed outside the building, and the woman’s expression changed instantly. She became alert and dangerous and moved silently toward the dusty window and glanced outside.

"Shit!" she cursed softly.

“They found us already.” My pulse exploded again. “How?” She turned toward me sharply. “Do exactly what I say if you want to survive the next ten minutes.” Before I could answer, the front door downstairs exploded open, heavy footsteps flooded the building, and voices followed. “He’s inside!”

My breathing became uneven as the woman calmly checked the magazine while holding her gun before she looked at me.

“Congratulations, Kael Varez.”

The faintest smile touched her lips. “You just became the most hunted man in Blackthorn City.”