Novel-novel oleh Sharon russell

Chapter 54 – The Knock at the SafehouseThe sound of her voice fractured the silence.Elena.It wasn’t loud. It wasn’t desperate. It wasn’t even angry. It was soft, feminine, calm—as though she were simply stopping by for tea.But Edward froze like he’d been shot.Abby gripped the blanket in her lap, knuckles white. Daniel muttered a curse under his breath, reaching for the knife tucked into his boot. Ivy sat bolt upright on the couch, her face pale, her wide eyes darting toward the door like a rabbit trapped in a snare.Edward didn’t move for several long seconds. His hand hovered just above the gun at his hip. He looked like marble—cold, carved, unyielding—but Abby could see the tension in the way his jaw locked, the vein in his neck that pulsed.The woman outside waited.“Edward,” Elena’s voice called again, a little softer this time, as if she were coaxing him. “Don’t make me stand in the dark. Let me in.”Daniel stepped forward, low and tense. “Don’t. It’s a trick. You know it is

Chapter 53 – The House That WaitedThe safehouse sat on the edge of the city, tucked behind rows of warehouses that looked like nothing but steel skeletons and dust. From the outside, it wasn’t anything worth noticing—a faded brick building with boarded-up windows, an old padlock on the front gate, weeds curling through cracks in the asphalt. To a stranger, it looked abandoned. But as Edward slid his black car into the narrow alley and pressed a hidden button on his key fob, the iron gate clicked open with a quiet snap.Daniel drove in behind them, his headlights dimmed, his shoulders hunched forward like he expected someone to jump out at them. Abby sat in the passenger seat of Edward’s car, her hands clenched in her lap. Ivy leaned between them from the backseat, peering out the tinted window, her face pale.The gate rolled shut behind them, and Edward parked close to the entrance. The place loomed around them, strange and silent, yet alive with the weight of secrets.Edward killed

Chapter 52 – The Move The morning light should have brought relief. It didn’t. The pale glow creeping through the blinds only revealed how drained they all looked, faces sharp with exhaustion, eyes shadowed from a night without rest. Abby sat on the couch, Ivy leaning against her shoulder, small and trembling despite the blanket wrapped around her. Abby stroked her hair in slow, soothing motions, though her own hands trembled. Edward hadn’t sat once. He prowled the length of the room, phone pressed to his ear, voice low and lethal as he issued orders. Abby couldn’t make out every word, but the tone told her enough. He was already mobilizing—already summoning his resources, reaching into that shadowy network of power he carried as easily as others carried air. Daniel leaned in the corner near the window, his arms crossed. His knife rested on the table beside him, gleaming faintly in the gray light. He didn’t look at Edward, but Abby could feel the crackling current between them. D

Chapter 51 – In the Dark The darkness swallowed the apartment whole. For a moment, no one moved. Abby’s breath hitched in her throat, and she felt Edward’s grip tighten around her hand, grounding her, holding her in place as though sheer force could keep the shadows at bay. Ivy stirred on the couch, mumbling in her sleep, but didn’t wake. Daniel was the first to move—he flicked on his phone screen, the pale blue glow painting sharp lines across his face. “Power’s out for the whole block,” he muttered after a glance through the window. “Streetlights too.” Abby’s skin prickled. “That’s not an accident.” Edward’s jaw clenched. “No. It’s not.” He pulled her closer, his other arm circling her shoulders protectively. Abby could feel the hard thrum of his heart against her temple. He was calm on the surface, but inside he was all steel and fire. Daniel moved quickly, gathering the few candles Abby had in a drawer, lighting them one by one until the tiny flames threw shaky golden halos

Chapter 50Edward didn’t sleep that night.Abby could tell, even though he tried to stay quiet beside her on the couch, his movements careful as though he didn’t want to wake her. His body was tense—like a bowstring pulled too tight, ready to snap. Every so often, he would get up, stride to the window, and look out through the blinds as though expecting to see a shadow waiting there.Abby lay still, her head against the pillow, her hand instinctively resting against her stomach. Her pulse hadn’t slowed since the phone call earlier. The voice, that low, venomous laugh—it still hissed in her ears no matter how many times she told herself it was just a threat, just words.But words could wound deeper than knives when they were whispered with that kind of hatred.When Edward finally returned to her side, she opened her eyes. He crouched down, meeting her gaze in the dim light.“You should rest,” he murmured.Her throat was dry. “You didn’t.”His lips curved in the faintest shadow of a smi

Chapter 49The morning came heavy. Abby barely noticed the pale sun climbing through the blinds, weak light dripping across the tiny apartment floor. She hadn’t really slept. Her eyes burned, her body sore from shifting between Edward’s chest and the edge of the couch. She could hear Ivy in the bedroom, soft movements as she dressed for school, and the faint scrape of Daniel’s chair in the kitchen. He had been awake most of the night, too.Edward had stayed up until dawn, pacing the apartment, phone pressed to his ear as he spoke with his security team. He looked worn now, though he tried not to show it, jaw set, tie crooked, his shirt clinging to his body in that careless way that made Abby ache even when she didn’t want to.“Eat something,” Daniel said, setting down two plates of toast and eggs. His voice was gentle, but his eyes darted toward the window like a soldier used to scanning battlefields. He’d been different since last night—less playful, more watchful.Abby sat down slow

Chapter 4 – Into the Lion’s Den Jenna’s breath came in shallow bursts as she crouched behind a thick hedge at the edge of Nathan Vale’s sprawling estate. The night was thick with fog, a cold dampness clinging to her skin and chilling her bones. Every distant sound—the rustle of leaves, the soft footsteps of guards—felt amplified in the heavy silence. Beside her, Mara’s eyes scanned the perimeter, sharp and focused. “We don’t have much time,” she whispered. “Vale’s men rotate patrols every fifteen minutes. After that, there’s a narrow window.” Jenna nodded, her heart hammering in her chest. This was the moment she’d been dreading—the moment when all her fear and desperation would be put to the test. To survive, she would have to be clever, fast, and silent. They slipped forward, melting into the shadows. The iron gates loomed ahead, guarded by two burly men who barely glanced at the empty road beyond. Jenna’s palms sweated, fingers twitching with nerves. “Stay close,” Mara hissed.

Chapter 3 Jenna sat in the dimly lit room, the walls close enough to feel like a cage. The rain outside tapped steadily against the grimy windowpane, a slow, relentless rhythm that matched the pounding in her chest. The flash drive lay heavy in her palm—small, unassuming, but packed with secrets she didn’t yet understand. Mara moved quietly around the room, setting down a steaming cup of coffee on the cracked wooden table. Her eyes never left Jenna’s face, sharp and guarded. “You can’t trust anyone right now,” she said softly, voice low as if speaking too loud might bring the walls crashing down. Jenna nodded, swallowing the lump in her throat. She wanted to believe Mara—needed to—but every shadow outside the safe house whispered danger. Every noise was a threat. She pulled out her phone, fingers trembling, and tried to access the flash drive. Encryption blocked her at every turn. This wasn’t just data—it was a locked box of power, coded to keep secrets safe. Secrets people were w

Chapter 2 Jenna stepped out into the cold night, the rain having eased to a steady drizzle that slicked the streets like glass. The neon lights from the rundown shops flickered above her, casting distorted shadows that danced along cracked sidewalks. The city felt different now—less familiar, more like a trap closing in around her. She pressed the black envelope tighter in her palm, the paper still stiff from the dampness inside the hotel room. Forty-eight hours. The words echoed in her mind. Forty-eight hours to find Nathan Vale’s “package” — whatever that was — and survive the hell that promised. Her steps led her toward a small café nestled between a pawnshop and a shuttered laundromat. The place reeked of stale coffee and cigarette smoke. Jenna had heard whispers that this was where Nathan’s contacts met, exchanged secrets, and planned moves in the city’s shadows. If she was going to find him, this was the place to start. The bell over the door jingled as she slipped inside. T

CHAPTER 1Jenna had stopped counting the days a long time ago. Time had become a loop of darkness and stale air, broken only by the sound of footsteps outside the locked door. She sat in the far corner of the room, knees pulled tight to her chest, the concrete cold beneath her. Her wrists still carried the bruises from the first night they’d brought her here, and her voice—once loud, quick to laugh—had grown hoarse from too many questions that went unanswered. It wasn’t a basement exactly. The place felt too clean for that—sterile, almost surgical. A single lightbulb swung above her, buzzing faintly, the only company she had. The walls were metal, not brick, which meant the sounds of the world outside didn’t reach her. She didn’t know if it was day or night anymore. The lock scraped. Her body stiffened. There was a pattern to the visits: two men in black, no faces she could remember because they never stayed in the light long enough. They’d bring water, sometimes food, and leave w