Novel-novel oleh DEBORAH BASSEY

"Feeding off what?" Caleb asked, his rifle sweeping the area.Before Finn could answer, a low growl echoed through the village. The team froze, their weapons trained on the source of the sound. From the shadows emerged creatures unlike any they had faced before. Their forms were barely humanoid, their bodies composed of writhing tendrils and jagged shards of obsidian. Their glowing eyes burned with malice."Contact!" Ruby shouted, firing the first shot.The creatures attacked with terrifying speed, their movements unnatural and erratic. Caleb fired at the nearest one, his bullets shattering its obsidian exterior but failing to slow it down. Selene charged forward, her blade glowing as it sliced through a tendril that lashed out at her."Aim for the cores!" Finn yelled, his device beeping wildly. "The glowing spots in their chests!"Ruby adjusted her aim, firing at a creature's core. The shot landed true, and the creature let out a guttural scream before collapsing into a pile of ash a

breath felt empty like the air was too thick to breathe. ''I'll feel better if I sleep, I told myself.Ghb yuu yuu y7u rrd tre oil uiuBut immediately as I was about drifting into sleep, I heard a sound that made me jump right up from bed.Asher's ears sparked in defense, his growl filling the whole room. The sound alone sent a chill running through my spine, but I couldn't look away from the window. There was a shadow outside that seemed to shift, stretching and bending unnaturally than they should have.I stood in fear, not being able to feel my legs which felt heavy. All I could hear was the sound of my heartbeat which kept on thundering in my chest. A loud bang at the door made me jump from my bed. I gasped out of shock, crawling on my knees in order to peep through the door. before I could even make it, the door burst open with enough force to slam against the wall. Two figures stood in the doorway, covered in dark shadows.GyyTheir eyes were glowing with yellow, a sight that

"Another kilometer," Finn replied, adjusting the scanner. "But the energy is… erratic. It's like the cluster is unstable, but it's pulling resources from somewhere."Ruby nodded, her grip tightening on her rifle. "Stay alert. The Shadow never makes things easy." The whole team were on high alert as they lifted their weapons higher ready to attack at the slightest movement The cluster appeared suddenly, nestled within a narrow gorge. Tendrils of dark energy snaked along the ground, pulsating faintly. At its center was a twisted structure, a crude spire of shadow and stone that seemed to breathe with unnatural life."Looks like a smaller version of the core," Finn murmured. "But it's… fractured. If we can destabilize it, the whole thing should collapse."Ruby surveyed the area. "Let's make it happen. You handle the spire. I'll cover you."As Finn approached the structure, the ground trembled. Creatures emerged from the shadows, their forms misshapen but vicious. Ruby fired a quick burs

Finn's scanner beeped intermittently, struggling to maintain accuracy. "The interference is worse than I expected," he admitted, frowning at the flickering display. "We're flying blind out here."Selene's eyes scanned the horizon. "Then we rely on instincts. This isn't the first time we've worked without a map."Zoe smirked faintly. "She's right. Besides, if anything jumps out, I'll just cut it down."Ruby kept her rifle at the ready, her voice cutting through the tension. "Stay sharp. Whatever's waiting for us, it knows we're coming."The signal led them to an ancient ruin, partially buried beneath layers of shadow-infused earth. The structure was unlike anything they'd encountered before—crumbling stone walls laced with veins of pulsing dark energy. Tendrils of shadow coiled and twisted through the air, moving as if alive.Finn's eyes widened as he studied the ruin. "This place… it's amplifying the signal. The core's energy is dormant but concentrated here. If we can disable it, we'

Ruby led the way, her voice cutting through the chaos. "Stay together! Keep moving!"A massive tendril slammed into the path ahead, cutting them off. Selene darted forward, her blade slicing through the tendril in a single, decisive strike. "Go! I've got this!"The team pushed forward, the exit coming into view just as the chamber let out a deafening roar. They burst into the open air, the ground beneath them trembling as the chamber collapsed entirely.Finn stumbled to his knees, his scanner clutched tightly in his hands. He stared at the screen, his face pale. "The energy… it's… it's heading somewhere else."Ruby turned to him, her expression grim. "Where?"Finn looked up, his voice shaking. "I don't know. But whatever it is, it's not good."The team's breaths came in heavy gasps as they stared out over the Wastes. The Shadow's remnants weren't just lingering. They were regrouping, gathering strength for something far worse.Ruby's grip tightened on her rifle. "We'll stop it. Whatev

Isabel POVExplosions and gunfire ricocheted off concrete walls, punctuated by shouts and screams. Isabel POVExplosions and gunfire ricocheted off concrete walls, punctuated by shouts and screams. The mechanical voice over the intercom had been haunting in its finality: "Containment protocol initiated. No one leaves."I bolted from the server room with my laptop clutched to my chest, my mind racing. Somewhere in these files was a way out, a weakness in the system I'd unwittingly helped build."Miguel!" I called, spotting him barricading the main corridor. His eyes snapped to me."What did you find?" he demanded, not pausing in his task of positioning wreckages for cover."More data on the project—but it's a mess. They've buried the important files under layers of encryption.""Then unbury them," he snapped. "We're running out of time!"I didn't argue. My hands shook as I knelt beside him, setting up my laptop on a nearby crate. The battle outside raged, but my focus was on the scre

Alexander's PovElena arrived at the hospital within the hour, summoned by a call I made with hands still trembling from David's revelation.She looked older suddenly, the weight of years of silence visible in every line of her face as she sat across from David and me in a private consultation room."I need to tell you both something I should have said months ago," she began, twisting her hands in her lap. "I saw something that night. The night everyone's been calling a mistake.""Tell us everything, Elena. Please.""I was doing my final rounds before bed. I saw Mr. Chen in the kitchen around eleven, looking unsteady, holding a glass of water Cassandra had just handed him. She left immediately after, and a few minutes later, I saw him head toward the guest wing instead of his usual office, walking like a man who'd had far too much to drink, though I know now he hadn't been drinking at all."David's jaw tightened. "The guest wing. That's near Lily's room.""I assumed he was simply conf

Not MineAlexander's PovDr. Mitchell closed the door behind her, her voice gentle but direct in the way I imagined she delivered every piece of devastating medical news."Given the complications and the legal questions around your marriage, we ran paternity testing automatically as part of the delivery protocol. I need you both to prepare yourselves for what I'm about to say."Lily's hand tightened around mine. "Just tell us.""Alexander isn't the father." Dr. Mitchell let that settle before continuing. "The results are conclusive. The baby's biological father is David Chen."The room went silent except for the steady beep of hospital monitors. I stared at Dr. Mitchell, certain I'd misheard her."That's impossible," I said. "David wasn't even at the penthouse that night.""I can only report the results, Mr. Hunt. I'd recommend speaking with Mr. Chen directly about the circumstances."Lily's face had gone bone white against the hospital pillow. "I don't understand. I thought it was yo

Alexander's PovThe next four hours blurred into a single unbearable stretch of fluorescent lights and hushed medical voices.Dr. Sarah Mitchell emerged once, briefly, her scrubs stained and her face tight with concentration. "She's stable for now. The baby's heart rate dropped twice, but we've got it steady. I need you all to wait here.""Can I see her?""Not yet. Give us time to make sure she's out of danger first."I sat beside Rachel in the waiting room, my hands shaking in a way I couldn't control no matter how hard I tried."I shouldn't have told her like that," Rachel said quietly, guilt written across every line of her face. "I panicked. I thought she deserved to know before it came out some other way, but I should have waited. I should have found a gentler way.""This isn't your fault, Rachel.""Isn't it? I've spent months protecting her, and the moment it mattered most, I broke her instead."David appeared with coffee none of us touched, sitting heavily beside me. "Any word?

Alexander's PovI liquidated forty million dollars in assets within thirty-six hours, moving faster than I had for any business deal in my entire career.David watched me sign the final transfer with a grim expression. "You realize this puts serious pressure on the company's liquidity right before the shareholder meeting.""Let them worry about liquidity. I'm worried about Sophie getting home safely from school."We arranged the exchange at an abandoned warehouse near the docks, per Vincent's instructions, with two undercover officers David had quietly brought in through a contact from his college roommate, now a detective with the fraud division.Vincent arrived exactly on time, flanked by two men I didn't recognize, his smile as oily as I remembered from Lily's old stories about him."Mr. Hunt. Punctual. I respect that in a man.""The money's confirmed in the account. We're done here.""Almost done." Vincent's eyes glittered with something that made my skin crawl. "You know, I alway

Alexander's PovDavid arrived at my apartment the next evening looking like he hadn't slept in days, a thick folder clutched against his chest."Sit down," he said. "You're going to need to.""Just tell me.""Cassandra Vale isn't her real name. Her birth name is Cassandra Shaw." David let that settle before continuing. "She's Vincent Shaw's niece, Alexander. Placed inside Hunt Corporation five years ago, specifically to work her way into your life and destroy the company from the inside."The room tilted slightly around me. "Why? What does Vincent Shaw have against my family?""Your father, apparently, ruined more than just Robert Morgan over the years. Vincent worked for James decades ago, doing exactly the kind of dirty work that bankrupted Lily's father. James cut him loose eventually, used him up and discarded him without a second thought, the same way he does with everyone." David's expression darkened. "Vincent spent years planning revenge. Placing his niece close to you was the

The FootageAlexander's PovElena called me that same night, her voice tight with an urgency I'd never heard from her before."Mr. Hunt, I need you to come to the mansion. There's something you need to see, and I've been too afraid to show anyone until now."I drove through the dark with Vincent's threat still burning in my pocket, my mind racing through every possible way to protect Lily and Sophie before dawn.Elena met me in the security office, a small room off the kitchen I hadn't visited in years. She pulled up old footage on the ancient monitor, her hands trembling slightly."I saved this after your grandmother passed. I didn't know what it meant then. I think I do now."The grainy footage showed Cassandra in Margaret's room late at night, carefully measuring something into a small cup beside the water pitcher, checking over her shoulder before slipping out."That's from three weeks before your grandmother's heart failed completely," Elena said quietly. "I compared the dates wi