2025-08-10 00:07:48
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Chapter 209The first hound hit me like a battering ram. Its weight drove me back, its claw tearing at my arm as its hot, rancid breath filled my nose. I jammed my dagger upward, the blade sinking into the soft spot under its jaw. Black vapor burst from the wound, and the creature convulsed before collapsing at my feet. I looked at the beast and kicked it so hard that it burst into bits. I didn’t have time to pull the blade free before another came at me. This one leapt, jaws snapping, and I threw myself sideways. Its teeth scraped my shoulder, hot blood spilling instantly.My healing was speedy now, the wound immediately healed up by itself. Beside me, Silas was a whirlwind—slashing, ducking, shoving his little sister behind him every time a hound got too close. But there were too many. Every time we cut one down, two more seemed to surge forward.The Warden hadn’t moved from the tunnel entrance. He just watched, arms crossed, like a man enjoying a show. His eyes glowed with a sic
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Chapter 208My heart heaved up and down as I stared at the Warden, who was now looking at us like a cornered mouse. The Warden’s smile widened, a slow, predatory curl of lips that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. His voice rolled through the dungeon like a storm front, each word laced with amusement and something darker.“You’ve come a long way,” he said, stepping forward. The torchlight flickered over his features, catching the edges of scars that crisscrossed his jaw and neck like old, unfinished maps. “Shame it ends here. You should have run when you had the chance to.” I looked at Silas, and a part of me wanted to tell him, ‘ I told you so...’ But we both said nothing.Silas moved without hesitation, stepping in front of me, his blade angled low.“You’re going to give me my sister,” he growled.The Warden tilted his head, a look of mock curiosity in his glowing eyes. “And if I don’t?”“You die.”That was it. I don't know what it was, but I could feel Silas'
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Chapter 207My eyes darted back and forth, and we were not sure of where to move. “ What do we do?” I shouted, looking at Silas, who seemed to be lost just the way I was. “ You fucking said that you know the way around here! That is what you told me.” I yelled at him. “ There is no time for all of this, Adrain. We either move or we all die here, and trust me, I don't want to die in this place.” Elira said with blood like sweat dripping down her jawline. “ Are you telling me to leave my sister behind? We came here because we wanted to find both of them, and now that you found her, you are just going to leave my sister and bounce?” Silas said with his mouth twitching. I could see the bitterness, the anger in his voice, but then, we had walked into the lion's den, and it was obvious that if we didn't leave now, we were soon going to become his food.“ We don't have the time for any of this, Silas. You see what we are up against. I can't take on the Warden alone, and neither can you.
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Chapter 206My face went pale. Like life had flown from my body. The look on her face showed she was devoid of any emotions.It was like I was seeing another Zee right in front of me, although I was not sure if I was the one taking things too far. For a heartbeat, I couldn’t breathe. My mind refused to connect the woman I’d been risking my life for with the thing staring back at me.Her voice—so familiar, so warm in my memory—was colder now. It curled through the air like smoke, soft but carrying a weight that made my skin prickle.“Zee…” My voice cracked, and I hated myself for it.She tilted her head, the chains clinking lightly against the wall. “You still call me that?” Her lips curved, not in the way they used to when she laughed, but into something slow, deliberate, and dangerous.Elira stepped forward, blade in her good hand. “What did he do to you?”Zee’s gaze flickered to her, then back to me. “He didn’t do anything I didn’t allow.”Behind us, Silas hissed, “We don’t have ti
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Chapter 205As we stood before the Warden, who was the only thing standing between me and my girlfriend. I felt like I should charge forward, but then I knew it was going to be stupid of me, or probably be my death. The Warden stood with reassurance, and that scared the shit out of me. The Warden’s voice rolled through the corridor like distant thunder, low and vibrating in my bones. Every instinct screamed at me to move, but my legs felt rooted to the spot.Elira’s hand inched toward her blade. Park stepped forward, squaring his shoulders. The dim light from a flickering bulb above cast our shadows across the Warden’s frame, making him seem even larger.Silas’s breath hitched beside me. “That’s him,” he whispered, his voice tight with remembered terror.“ Looks like you came back with the company.” The Warden tilted his head slightly, as if examining a particularly interesting insect. “Three intruders… and a rat who knows the way in.” His gaze lingered on Silas, and I felt the bo
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Chapter 204Silas tapped his finger against a darkened section of the map, a patch of land tucked near the city’s industrial outskirts.“If they’re back, and if they’re hunting keys… they’ll be somewhere people don’t go. Places forgotten.” His voice was low, almost a whisper, as though speaking the words aloud might draw the Hollow Guard straight to us.I leaned closer, my gaze darting over the map like I recognised it. My gaze caught a section of it, and my hand landed on a spot. “That’s an abandoned factory district. It’s been sealed off for years.”Elira didn’t look convinced. “Sealed off from civilians, maybe. Not from the Guard. They like isolation. It’s easier to break people without the sound carrying.”The idea of Zee alone in a place like that made my stomach churn. I clenched my jaw and studied Silas. “And you’re sure?”He shrugged. “I’m not sure of anything except that if she’s still alive, they’re using her. Either as bait… or to drain her.”Park’s hands curled into fists
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