Chapter 106

Chapter 106

Please come back to me.

The thought repeated in Damon's head for the entire drive.

Again.

And again.

And again.

The storm hammered against the windshield.

Rain reducing visibility to almost nothing.

The convoy tore through the darkness anyway.

Because caution had already lost the argument.

Nobody said it aloud.

Nobody needed to.

This wasn't a rescue mission anymore.

Not for Damon.

It was Luca.

Only Luca.

Cassian sat in the passenger seat unusually silent.

No jokes.

No teasing.

No commentary.

Which was somehow more alarming than his normal behavior.

The radio crackled intermittently.

Static.

Fragments.

Nothing useful.

Nothing from Luca.

Every minute stretched into an hour.

Every mile felt endless.

Until finally

The facility appeared.

A ruined industrial complex hidden deep within the forest.

Dark.

Silent.

Wrong.

Very wrong.

The gates had already been blown apart.

Bullet impacts scarred the walls.

Smoke drifted through the rain.

Evidence of a fight.

A bad one.

The convoy stopped.

Everyone moved immediately.

Weapons drawn.

Positions assigned.

No hesitation.

No fear.

Only urgency.

Damon was already running before Seraphine finished giving instructions.

Naturally.

The interior looked like a battlefield.

Broken glass.

Spent shell casings.

Blood.

Too much blood.

Damon's pulse became a problem.

"Nova!"

No answer.

"Luca!"

Nothing.

The silence felt suffocating.

Then

A gunshot echoed somewhere deeper inside.

Everyone froze.

Another shot.

Closer.

Damon sprinted.

Ignoring everything.

Ignoring everyone.

Following the sound.

The corridor twisted deeper underground.

The emergency lights flickered red.

Painting everything in blood-colored shadows.

The atmosphere felt eerily familiar.

Like the Program.

Like nightmares.

Then Damon turned a corner.

And stopped.

Immediately.

Luca.

Alive.

The sight hit so hard it nearly brought him to his knees.

For one brief second

Relief overwhelmed everything.

Luca was standing.

Breathing.

Alive.

Then Damon noticed the blood.

A lot of blood.

Too much blood.

Running down Luca's arm.

Staining his side.

His clothes.

His hands.

And suddenly relief transformed into something dangerous.

Something sharp.

Something terrifying.

"Luca."

Luca looked up.

Shock crossing his face instantly.

"Damon?"

The expression alone was enough to make Damon angry.

Not at Luca.

At the situation.

At the universe.

At anyone who had dared hurt him.

Because Luca looked exhausted.

Pale.

Injured.

And Damon hated it.

Absolutely hated it.

A body hit the floor nearby.

One of the attackers.

Unconscious.

Or worse.

Damon didn't care.

The only thing he cared about stood directly in front of him.

"You came."

Luca's voice sounded softer than expected.

Almost disbelieving.

Like he hadn't expected it.

The thought irritated Damon immediately.

"Of course I came."

Silence.

Rain battered distant windows.

Emergency lights flickered.

Neither looked away.

The world narrowed.

Shrinking.

Until nothing existed except the space between them.

Luca swallowed.

"You shouldn't be here."

Damon laughed.

A short, humorless sound.

"Too late."

Luca stared at him.

Then shook his head slightly.

Almost smiling.

Even injured.

Even exhausted.

Still Luca.

The sight made Damon's chest ache.

Then Luca suddenly swayed.

Just slightly.

Enough.

Damon moved instantly.

Catching him before he could fall.

The contact sent a shock through both of them.

Because neither had expected it.

Not like this.

Not so close.

Not with Damon’s arm wrapped around his waist.

Not with Luca's hand gripping his jacket.

For one suspended moment

Neither moved.

Neither breathed properly.

The world disappeared.

The storm disappeared.

The mission disappeared.

Everything vanished.

Leaving only this.

Damon looked down.

Luca looked up.

Too close.

Dangerously close.

The realization hit both of them at exactly the same time.

Luca's pulse was racing.

Damon could feel it.

His own wasn't any better.

The tension stretched.

Building.

Years of loneliness.

Months of trust.

Weeks of longing.

Everything gathering in one impossible moment.

Then footsteps echoed from the corridor.

The spell shattered instantly.

Nova appeared.

Covered in dirt.

Blood.

And entirely too observant.

She stopped.

Looked at Damon.

Looked at Luca.

Looked at Damon's arm around Luca.

Then slowly turned around.

"Nope."

She immediately started walking away again.

"Nova."

"No."

"Nova."

"I am respecting the moment."

Luca looked like he wanted the ground to swallow him.

Damon was considering helping.

Unfortunately

Nova wasn't finished.

As she disappeared around the corner she shouted:

"IF YOU TWO DON'T KISS SOON I'M GOING TO COMMIT A CRIME."

Her voice echoed throughout the facility.

Several surviving operatives heard it.

Probably.

A tragedy.

An absolute tragedy.

Luca covered his face.

Damon laughed despite himself.

And suddenly

The fear.

The panic.

The terror of the last few hours

Faded.

Because Luca was alive.

Still here.

Still with him.

And as Damon looked at him

Really looked at him

He realized something.

The next time they found themselves this close

He wasn't planning to stop.