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Chapter 10
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2025-11-18 03:20:59Ember’s POV
The smoke burned my lungs, thick and bitter as ash. My legs buckled halfway down the cliff, but I forced them to move. Every rock scraped my palms raw, every breath tasted like fire.
And then that voice.
That voice I hadn’t heard since the night everything was stolen from me.
“Hello, Ember.”
My head whipped up.
Through the curtain of smoke and flame stood a figure carved from my past broad-shouldered, unhurried, smiling like he’d been pulling the strings all along. My heart stopped.
“James,” I whispered.
Not possible. Not him. He was dead. He had to be dead.
But the man on the ledge was alive, very much alive, and watching me like a spider watches a fly that’s already tangled in its web.
The quarry shook again as another explosion thundered from somewhere deep in the pit. My ears rang. I turned back to the ground below Kade, bleeding and staggering, Aaron stalking behind him with that cold precision.
I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t choose.
“Kade!” I screamed, voice cracking.
The repairman’s grip latched onto my arm, iron tight. “Don’t! You’ll get yourself killed!”
“Let me go!”
He dragged me hard against the rocks, shielding me as shrapnel hissed past. My chest heaved, my eyes searching desperately for Kade’s silhouette in the smoke.
Two bodies on the ground. One still. One barely moving.
“Please, no” I choked.
Above, James’s silhouette leaned forward, his voice cutting clean through the chaos.
“You always were stubborn,” he called. “I warned you the fire would come for you one day. Now it has.”
I shook my head violently. “You’re dead. I saw”
“You saw what I wanted you to,” James said smoothly. “And you ran, exactly as I knew you would. Do you know how long I’ve waited for this moment?”
The repairman snarled under his breath. “Not him. Anyone but him.”
“You know him?” I demanded, clutching his sleeve.
His jaw flexed. He didn’t answer.
Gunfire ripped the air again. My head snapped down just in time to see Kade lunge, tackling Aaron into the dirt. They rolled in the mud and firelight, fists and steel and blood.
“No!” I screamed, half-scrambling, half-sliding toward them.
The repairman cursed, following.
Every second stretched razor-thin. Sparks rained from a burning truck, embers settling in my hair. Kade’s blade flashed, Aaron’s gun swung wide.
And then a shot.
Kade jerked back, clutching his side.
The world tilted. My scream ripped raw from my throat.
Aaron rose slowly, smoke haloing his figure, pistol aimed squarely at Kade’s head. His lips curled.
“This ends now.”
Before I could move, before I could even *think*, another voice cut through the chaos, commanding, venom-laced.
“Drop it, Aaron.”
James.
Aaron froze. The gun didn’t waver, but his head turned, disbelief flashing across his features.
“You,” Aaron spat. “You should be on the ground.”
James stepped down from the ledge, calm as if walking into a boardroom. “Funny. I could say the same.”
Their eyes locked two predators circling the same prey.
And in that instant, I realized something colder than the rain dripping down my spine.
James hadn’t come to save me.
He’d come to claim me.
And the worst part?
Aaron knew it.
They both did.
Latest chapter
Entanglement Chapter 10
Ember’s POVThe smoke burned my lungs, thick and bitter as ash. My legs buckled halfway down the cliff, but I forced them to move. Every rock scraped my palms raw, every breath tasted like fire.And then that voice.That voice I hadn’t heard since the night everything was stolen from me.“Hello, Ember.”My head whipped up.Through the curtain of smoke and flame stood a figure carved from my past broad-shouldered, unhurried, smiling like he’d been pulling the strings all along. My heart stopped.“James,” I whispered.Not possible. Not him. He was dead. He had to be dead.But the man on the ledge was alive, very much alive, and watching me like a spider watches a fly that’s already tangled in its web.The quarry shook again as another explosion thundered from somewhere deep in the pit. My ears rang. I turned back to the ground below Kade, bleeding and staggering, Aaron stalking behind him with that cold precision.I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t choose.“Kade!” I screamed, voice cracking
Entanglement Chapter 9
Ember’s POVThe river swallowed us whole.Spray slapped my face as the speedboat tore through the current. Every jolt rattled my bones, but I didn’t loosen my grip on the gunwale or the flash drive clenched in my fist. The ledger was pressed under my shirt, soaked but still intact.Behind us the jetty shrank to a smear of wood in the darkness. No gunfire now—just the roar of the engine and the hiss of rain. My ears rang with the echo of that last shot, the one Aaron had fired at Kade.I twisted around, straining for one more glimpse, but the bend in the river had swallowed them. Nothing but black water and trees.Kade.The name hurt more than the cold.The repairman kept his eyes on the channel, hands sure on the wheel. His shoulders were hunched, as though expecting a bullet in his back at any second.“Sit lower,” he shouted over the wind. “If they’re still shooting, you’re a beacon.”I crouched in the footwell, arms wrapped around my knees. Rain plastered my hair to my skull. My bod
Entanglement Chapter 8
Ember’s POVThe world went sideways.For one dizzy heartbeat there was only air and rain and the sickening sense of falling. Then my feet hit the slope of wet gravel beyond the wall and slid out from under me. I tumbled down the embankment, stones scraping my palms, the ledger thudding against my ribs like a second heart.I landed hard on my side at the edge of the road. The smell of tar and rain filled my nose. My ears rang. Somewhere behind me—on the other side of the wall—Aaron shouted my name, voice sharp enough to cut the storm.Headlights seared my eyes. A black SUV hurtled toward me, tires spitting up water. For a split second I thought it was one of Aaron’s, that I’d leapt straight into his jaws. Then the vehicle braked hard, skidding to a stop so close I could see my reflection in its chrome grill.The driver’s door flew open. A man jumped out, tall, lean, a hood shadowing his face. He scanned me once, quick, efficient, then jerked his head toward the passenger side. “Get in!
Entanglement Chapter 7
Ember’s POVThe first thing I noticed wasn’t the gun. It was his smile.It wasn’t wide or cartoon-villain sinister; it was small, measured, like someone closing a box and clicking the latch. Rain dripped from his hair onto the collar of his dark coat. The smell of wet wool and gun oil rolled into the shed, mingling with the scent of old wood and grease.I froze, one hand still clamped around the warning note. My mind ran in frantic circles: How did he find me? Where was the repairman? Did Duke know? Had Duke told him?Aaron stepped fully inside, the door swinging shut behind him with a soft thud that sounded louder than a gunshot. He didn’t raise the pistol. He didn’t need to.“I give you a room, food, safety,” he said mildly, as if rehearsing lines. “And you repay me with this little… field trip?”“I” My voice cracked. “I was only”“Spare me.” His gaze flicked to the crumpled note in my fist. “Where’s the old man?”“I don’t”Aaron moved faster than I expected. In two steps he was in
Entanglement Chapter 6
Ember’s POVI woke to the sound of rain hammering the roof like a thousand small fists. It was still dark somewhere between night and dawn when I slipped out of bed and crouched beside the wardrobe where the ledger lay hidden. My fingers brushed the stiff paper and for a second I imagined it pulsing like a living heart. Every time I touched it I felt that same tremor of danger and possibility.Today, I told myself. Not escape,not yet but a step.I dressed in my plain uniform, hair tucked back, and padded barefoot to the kitchen. Mrs. Ejiro would not arrive for another hour; Duke was still snoring in his narrow cot off the pantry. The mansion was quiet except for the hiss of the rain and the faraway hum of the generator.I poured a mug of lukewarm water and sat at the long prep table, spreading out the tiny scrap Duke had given me last night. A single name. A possible crack in Aaron’s armor.I whispered it under my breath like an incantation. Duke had told me Forrester was an investor
Entanglement Chapter 5
Ember's PovThe slip of paper trembled in my hand like a thing with a pulse. I should have left it where it lay, let someone else’s secrets stay theirs. But curiosity and a tiny, stubborn part of me that had learned to survive by knowing the smallest details of other people wouldn’t let me.It wasn’t a note, not in the sentimental sense. It was a ledger: neat columns, numbers, names. “INVESTORS,” stamped in bold across the top. Beside each name was a number. Beside my name: Ember Leighton, or at least the false name Aaron’s men had pinned to me a figure I could not translate into anything but a price. My stomach dropped like I’d been thrown down the stairs.Duke found me in the living room, hands full of groceries, and froze when he saw the expression on my face. He plunked the bags down like he’d been hit, then managed a joke that missed by miles. “You okay, Princess? You look like someone drained you of colour.”“Is that his” I held the ledger out. He peered at it, then flinched the
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