Chapter 48: The Fallen

The forest swallowed the echo of the gunshots.

Then silence.

A horrifying, suffocating silence.

Lena dropped to her knees beside the fallen body, hands shaking so violently she could barely breathe.

“Please—please—no—” she sobbed, reaching out.

Alexander stumbled forward, chest heaving, his gun falling from his hand. “Lena—Lena don’t—tell me it’s not—”

Victoria was on the ground.

Her blade beside her.

Her hand pressed weakly against her stomach, blood seeping through her fingers.

She had taken the bullet meant for someone else.

Again.

Lena’s breath stuttered. “Victoria—oh God—Victoria—”

Victoria coughed, blood staining her lips. “I told you… child… I wouldn’t let him take you…”

Elias froze.

Gun lowered.

Shock carved across his face — real shock, raw and unmasked.

“Victoria,” he breathed. “Why would you—”

Victoria laughed painfully. “Because you miss… every time it matters.”

She winced, eyes fluttering closed for a moment.

Alexander knelt on her other side, hands shaking as he tried to apply pressure. “Stay with us. Don’t close your eyes. Don’t you dare—”

Victoria smirked up at him, weak but still sharp. “Relax, Knight. I’m too stubborn to die that easily.”

But Lena could see the truth.

Victoria’s skin was turning pale.

Her breaths were shallow.

Blood soaked the ground beneath her.

Lena grabbed her hand. “Why did you save me?”

Victoria’s eyes softened — something rare, almost impossible from the woman who had spent years wrapped in shadows and secrets.

“Because,” she whispered, “your mother loved you… more than anything. And I failed her once. I wasn’t going to fail her again.”

Tears streamed down Lena’s cheeks. “You didn’t fail her. My mother made her own choices—”

“No.” Victoria shook her head, tears shining in her eyes. “I made the wrong ones. I chose the Circle. I chose survival. She chose you.”

Lena’s chest cracked with grief.

Elias stood a few feet away, watching the woman he once worked beside bleed out. His jaw clenched, fists tight, shoulders trembling.

Victoria turned her head slightly toward him.

“Don’t… don’t look at me like that,” she rasped.

Elias swallowed hard. “I didn’t mean to kill you.”

“Well…” She coughed, wincing. “You were always a terrible shot.”

Alexander’s voice hitched. “Victoria, please—let me—let me help you—”

She shook her head.

“No hospital. No Circle medics.”

Her voice trembled.

“I’m done running from them.”

Lena sobbed harder. “We can save you. Elias knows first aid, he can—”

Elias stepped forward, kneeling slowly. “Let me see—”

Victoria slapped his hand away with surprising strength. “Don’t touch me.”

Elias froze.

Victoria’s voice wavered — filled with pain and something deeper.

“You don’t get to save me now,” she said weakly. “You should’ve saved her.”

Elias’s face cracked — the closest thing Lena had ever seen to him breaking.

“I know,” he whispered, voice raw. “I know, Victoria. And I’m sorry.”

Victoria stared at him for a long moment.

Then she sighed softly.

A sound of exhaustion.

And acceptance.

“You always were a coward when it mattered most…”

Elias closed his eyes.

Victoria looked at Lena again, squeezing her hand.

“Don’t let either of them decide your fate,” she whispered. “Not him…”

Her gaze flicked to Elias.

“…and not him.”

She nodded gently toward Alexander, who was trembling beside her.

“You are your mother’s daughter,” Victoria breathed. “Finish what she started.”

Her eyes began to close.

Lena shook her. “Victoria—Victoria, stay awake—”

Victoria smiled faintly, almost peacefully.

“I’m tired, child…”

“Victoria—NO—”

Her hand slipped from Lena’s.

Her head fell back.

And the forest went painfully still.

Lena collapsed forward, sobbing against Victoria’s shoulder. Alexander wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close, burying his face in her hair.

Even Elias turned away, jaw clenched, eyes shining in the moonlight.

A woman they all feared.

A woman they all needed.

A woman Lena’s mother once trusted—

Was gone.

Lena wiped her face, heart shattered, voice hoarse. “Elias… look at me.”

He turned slowly.

And Lena’s expression transformed.

All grief.

All pain.

And something harder.

Stronger.

“You’re done,” she whispered. “No more lies. No more running. You tell me EVERYTHING now.”

Elias nodded — slowly, solemnly.

“I will,” he said. “But first—”

He looked toward the distant trees.

“We have company.”

Dozens of red targeting laser dots appeared on the trunks.

Circle kill team.

Surrounding them.

Alexander grabbed Lena’s hand. “Get behind me.”

Elias lifted his gun. “Too late for that.”

Lena stepped between them both.

“No,” she whispered, swallowing her fear. “We face them together.”