“He wouldn’t just disappear,” Cruz muttered, pacing in front of the motel door like a caged animal. “Not without telling me. Not Blade.”I sat on the edge of the bed, holding Isla close, trying to steady my breathing. “What if he didn’t choose to disappear?”Cruz stopped pacing.His eyes snapped to mine, “You think they took him?”“I think they’re picking us off… one by one.”His jaw clenched. “Rafe’s not that subtle. If he had Blade, he’d make sure I knew it.”“Unless Blade found something he wasn’t supposed to.”There was silence, then Cruz’s hands balled into his fists.“I need to make a call,” he said, turning toward the window. “Watch the door.”I watched more than the door, I watched him.He was unraveling. The pressure, the blood, the choices he made — they were starting to close in.And it scared the hell out of me.Not because he was weak, but because he was about to snap.He ended the call two minutes later with a low curse. “No sign or calls. His phone’s been dead since las
The second we pulled into that old motel lot, I knew something was off because everywhere was just too quiet.Cruz killed the engine, his back tensing beneath my hands. “Stay here.”I didn’t argue.He silently stepped off the bike slowly, like the place held its breath.I glanced down at Isla in my arms, still asleep and unaware.Cruz turned back to me. “We’ll stay here tonight until I figure out our next move.”“Is this one of your safe houses?”“Not exactly. But it’s off the grid.”I narrowed my eyes. “So, it’s a maybe-safe house.”“It’s all we’ve got right now, Nova.”He wasn’t wrong, but I still hated every second of it.We got the room key from a dropbox behind the office — no one in sight. He opened the door first, stepped in, and swept the place with a glance before nodding for me to follow.It smelled like dust and old wood with a bedspread from the ’90s and one lamp flickering in the corner.I laid Isla down gently on the bed and stood back, with my heart pounding even thoug
I stepped out from behind the tree slowly..Cruz’s eyes locked on mine the second our gazes met.He looked wrecked, with mud on his jeans, a cut on his cheek, and blood on his knuckles.But none of that was what stopped my heart.It was the look in his eyes,like he’d been searching the ends of the earth for me… and still hadn’t prepared himself to find me.He stepped forward. “Nova.”I held Isla tighter.“Don’t,” I whispered. “Don’t say my name like that, like everything’s okay.”He blinked once. “What happened? Are you hurt?”I swallowed. “Lena called me.”He went still.“From a burner phone,” I added. “She risked everything to warn me. She said there’s a tracker on my car and Rafe knows about Isla.”Cruz’s jaw tightened. “I was trying to get to her. I didn’t know she’d reach you first.”“Well, she did.” My voice cracked. “And she might not make it out alive.”His face twisted. “I’m sorry.”“I don’t want sorry,” I snapped. “I want to know why the hell your enemies know what my daugh
My hands were still shaking when I locked the door.I stared at that note like it might bite me. Like if I blinked too long, the paper would vanish—and I’d wake up to find this nightmare had already started.But it was real.The warning was real.And someone had been close enough to this house to slip it under my door without me hearing a thing.You should’ve run farther.Not stay away, or we’re coming.That was personal, it was more like someone who knew me or someone who wanted me to panic.And it was working.I walked to Isla’s room and pushed the door open slowly.She was still asleep, tangled in the sheets with her favorite stuffed bunny pressed under her arm.I stood there watching her, praying to a God I hadn’t spoken to in years.Don’t let her wake up and see the fear in my eyes.Don’t let this be the night everything burns.My fingers gripped the doorframe until they ached.I needed to think.I needed to move.I needed Cruz.But he was out there chasing ghosts and death, and
“They said, ‘Next time, we take the girl.’”Cruz’s words hit me like a punch to the chest.I couldn’t breathe, and I couldn’t move either.My body went cold, and my arms instinctively wrapped around my middle as if I could shield Isla just by holding myself tighter.“No,” I whispered. “No, no—they wouldn’t.”“They would,” Cruz said flatly. “And they will if we don’t hit first.”I shook my head, pacing the kitchen. “We’re not safe here.”“No. We’re not.”“You said no one knew about this place.”“They shouldn’t. Which means someone close to me is leaking shit. Someone inside the Kings.”“And you brought us here?” I snapped. “You brought her here?”“Because until two seconds ago, it was safe.”“Well, it’s not now.”I saw it then—the shift in his eyes. From guilt to command, from lover to outlaw.The part of him I hated and the part I used to crave.Cruz Maddox, heir to the Hellborn Kings no one touches what’s his.He picked up his phone again. “I’m calling Blade.”“Do you trust him?“Wit
“I need you to grab Isla,” Cruz said,“Now.”I didn’t hesitate, I immediately grabbed her from the bed.“Baby,” I whispered, brushing her curls back. “Come on, we have to go.”She blinked up at me sleepily. “Mommy?”“I’ve got you,” I said, lifting her into my arms. “We’re just going for a little ride, okay?”“Is Mr. Cruz coming too?”“Yeah, baby. He is.”By the time I made it back downstairs, Cruz had already shoved a duffel bag by the door with guns, cash, burner phones—everything a man like him kept ready for war.Lena stood by the busted window, holding a baseball bat like she planned on using it.“You can’t stay here,” she said, eyes locked on Cruz. “They’ll torch the place.”“I know.”“Where are you taking them?”Cruz’s eyes flicked to me, then back to Lena. “Safehouse outside Ridgeway, off the grid without cameras, or neighbors.”Lena looked at me. “Do you trust him?”I shifted Isla’s weight in my arms. “I don’t have a choice.”She sighed. “Text me when you get there. And Cruz?