Chapter: Chapter 75 – Veils of the Past Dawn was a thin line of gray over the horizon, casting long, ghostly shadows across the clearing. The forest still smelled of gunpowder and sweat, the echoes of the night’s battle lingering in every twisted branch and trampled leaf.Nova held Isla close, both of them trembling, but alive. I pressed my hand to my ribs—every breath reminded me of the knife, the shot, the way death had brushed past me—but there was no time to linger on pain. Not yet.Blade scanned the perimeter, eyes sharp, every muscle taut. “We need to move. Now,” he said, voice low, commanding. “There’s no telling how long he’s watched, how many others he has waiting.”I nodded, still catching my breath. “Agreed. But first…” My gaze swept the forest, catching the remnants of our battle: boots, knives, scattered Hellborn jackets. Every piece a story of near-death, of choices made in a heartbeat. “We need a plan. We can’t just run blindly.”Nova lifted her head, brushing mud from her cheek, eyes fierce even through the
Last Updated: 2025-10-03
Chapter: Chapter 74 – Fractured Shadows The forest felt alive, watching, breathing. Every rustle of leaves, every snap of a twig made my senses tighten like coiled steel. I carried Isla in one arm, Nova’s hand locked with mine, and Blade moved a step ahead, cutting through shadows like a predator. But something in the air told me this wasn’t over—far from it.Nova whispered, voice barely above the sound of our boots crunching leaves, “Cruz…do you think he’ll come back?”“I don’t know,” I said, scanning the darkness. “But we’ll be ready if he does.”Isla stirred, small face buried against Nova’s chest. Her tiny fists gripped the fabric of Nova’s jacket. I felt a surge of protectiveness so fierce it made my jaw ache. Nothing would touch her. Nothing—not tonight.Blade’s voice cut the silence, low and sharp. “We’re not out of the woods yet. Literally.” He paused, eyes narrowing into the black. “There’s movement. Up ahead.”I froze, instincts screaming. There it was—a faint shimmer, a shadow slipping between trees, careful, cal
Last Updated: 2025-10-03
Chapter: Chapter 73 – Shadows Collide The forest felt alive. Every crack of a branch, every whisper of leaves, set my nerves on fire. Isla clung to Nova’s side, tiny hands gripping her jacket like it was the only thing keeping her tethered to safety. Blade and I moved in near silence, the only sounds the soft padding of boots on dirt and the occasional distant cry of an animal startled by our passage.I could feel it before I saw it—a cold, calculated awareness brushing against the back of my neck. That presence hadn’t vanished. It had merely repositioned, waiting for the perfect moment. Waiting for me to make a mistake.“Cruz,” Blade muttered, voice low, cutting through the tension. “He’s close. Too close. Eyes on us, always watching. We can’t afford to split up, not even a step.”I nodded, tightening the grip on the gun I had set aside earlier. My ribs throbbed, still aching from the last fight, but the pain was secondary. Nova’s safety, Isla’s life, were primary. Everything else—every ache, every worry, every shadow—wa
Last Updated: 2025-10-03
Chapter: Chapter 72 – Embers in the Dark The treeline swallowed us, Nova clutching Isla, every step a careful calculation. My ribs screamed with pain, my shoulder throbbed from the knife graze, but none of that mattered. Not now. Not while they were alive and with me.Blade brought up the rear, silent as ever, eyes scanning the darkness, muscles coiled like a spring. “We’re not safe yet,” he murmured, voice low, threading through the night.I nodded, every nerve alert. “I know. That shadow…he didn’t leave.”“Good,” Blade said, almost a grin in his tone. “Means he has a reason. And we’ll know it soon enough.”Nova glanced at me, pale in the moonlight. “Cruz…you okay?”I forced a smile, though it was raw, jagged. “I will be. Just…keep Isla close.”She nodded, stepping closer, tiny body pressed against mine. Isla yawned quietly, exhausted but unaware of the danger still brushing against the edges of the forest.A rustle—soft, deliberate—made me freeze. My hand went to the gun at my hip, eyes scanning the shadows between trees.
Last Updated: 2025-10-03
Chapter: Chapter 72 – Embers in the Dark The treeline swallowed us, Nova clutching Isla, every step a careful calculation. My ribs screamed with pain, my shoulder throbbed from the knife graze, but none of that mattered. Not now. Not while they were alive and with me.Blade brought up the rear, silent as ever, eyes scanning the darkness, muscles coiled like a spring. “We’re not safe yet,” he murmured, voice low, threading through the night.I nodded, every nerve alert. “I know. That shadow…he didn’t leave.”“Good,” Blade said, almost a grin in his tone. “Means he has a reason. And we’ll know it soon enough.”Nova glanced at me, pale in the moonlight. “Cruz…you okay?”I forced a smile, though it was raw, jagged. “I will be. Just…keep Isla close.”She nodded, stepping closer, tiny body pressed against mine. Isla yawned quietly, exhausted but unaware of the danger still brushing against the edges of the forest.A rustle—soft, deliberate—made me freeze. My hand went to the gun at my hip, eyes scanning the shadows between trees.
Last Updated: 2025-10-03
Chapter: Chapter 71 – The Edge of Fire The air was too still.That kind of quiet that doesn’t feel safe, just loaded, like the world itself was waiting to snap. My ribs ached every time I breathed, and the scar down my side felt like it was splitting open with each step. Blade walked a half-step ahead of me, jaw tight, scanning shadows like they owed him answers. Nova was behind us, carrying Isla close, whispering to her just low enough that I couldn’t hear the words. Comfort, maybe. Or prayer.“Tell me you’ve got a plan,” Blade muttered.“Walk straight through,” I said. My voice came out rough, cracked. “And if anyone blocks us, we burn through ’em.”“That’s not a plan. That’s suicide.”I glanced at him, managed half a smirk. “Since when did that stop us?”He didn’t smile back. His hand flexed on the hilt of his knife, his eyes still on the dark line of the road ahead. The headlights from our bikes threw just enough glow to stretch shadows into monsters.Nova broke the silence. “You two ever think about how this ends?”Ne
Last Updated: 2025-10-03
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