Chapter 61

Chapter 61

“…the second division.”

Gunfire tore through the warehouse as Luca’s voice disappeared beneath the chaos.

Damon grabbed his arm immediately.

“What does that mean?”

Luca looked genuinely shaken for the first time since Hale appeared.

Not angry.

Not triggered.

Afraid.

And that terrified Damon more than the bullets.

The warehouse exploded into violence around them.

Operatives shouting.

Concrete shattering.

Red emergency lights flickering through smoke and muzzle flashes.

But Hale

Hale remained completely still.

Watching the new attackers descend from the upper walkways.

For the first time since Damon met him

Hale looked irritated.

Not scared.

Worse.

Prepared.

Elias cursed beside him.

“They found us too early.”

Too early.

The words hit Damon instantly.

This wasn’t random.

Even Hale had been moving against something else.

Luca shoved Damon lower behind the steel barrier as bullets ripped overhead.

“Stay down.”

Damon grabbed Luca’s wrist before he could pull away.

“You’re explaining right now.”

Luca’s breathing was uneven.

His eyes locked on the symbol across the attackers’ uniforms.

A white serpent circling a black crown.

“The second division was never supposed to exist anymore,” Luca said tightly.

Another explosion shook the warehouse.

Dust raining from the ceiling.

“Hale created multiple programs years ago.”

A pause.

“I was first division.”

Damon’s stomach dropped.

No.

Luca glanced toward the attackers again.

Voice lower now.

“The second division was worse.”

The words barely escaped him.

And suddenly Damon understood.

If Luca feared them

Then Hale had created something even more broken than Luca.

One of the attackers moved through Hale’s operatives with terrifying precision.

Efficient.

Fast.

Emotionless.

Luca went still watching him.

Because he recognized that fighting style too.

Not memory.

Training.

Shared conditioning.

“They were built after me,” Luca whispered.

“Hale thought I became unstable.”

Damon looked sharply toward him.

“Because of emotion?”

Luca nodded once.

“He thought attachment made me defective.”

So Hale built soldiers without it.

The realization turned Damon cold.

Another operative lunged toward their cover point suddenly.

Gun raised.

Luca killed him instantly.

No hesitation.

One clean shot.

Then froze afterward.

Breathing hard again.

Damon touched his shoulder carefully.

Grounding him.

Luca looked at him immediately.

And the panic in his eyes softened just slightly.

Because Damon was still here.

Still touching him.

Still choosing him.

A sharp scream echoed across the warehouse.

Seraphine.

Damon turned instantly.

She was pinned behind collapsed metal debris while two second division operatives advanced toward her.

Before Damon could move

Hale shot them both.

Silence cracked violently through the warehouse.

Everyone froze.

Even the attackers.

Hale lowered the gun calmly.

Expression unreadable.

Damon stared at him.

Confused.

“You just killed your own people.”

Hale’s voice remained cold.

“No.”

A pause.

“They stopped being mine years ago.”

Luca’s pulse slowed.

Because suddenly

He understood something horrifying.

The second division wasn’t loyal to Hale anymore.

They were hunting everyone.

Including him.

One of the masked operatives stepped forward through the smoke slowly.

Taller than the others.

More controlled.

The warehouse quieted around him instinctively.

Leadership.

The man removed his mask.

Luca’s face lost all color.

“No…”

The man smiled faintly.

Cruelly.

“Hello, brother.”

Damon looked sharply between them.

Same sharp features.

Same cold eyes.

Same deadly stillness.

But where Luca carried pain

This man carried nothing.

Empty.

Luca whispered the name like a nightmare returning.

“…Cassian.”

Cassian tilted his head slightly.

Studying Luca carefully.

“You look disappointing.”

Luca stepped in front of Damon immediately.

Protective instinct overriding everything else.

Cassian noticed.

And laughed softly.

“There it is.”

A pause.

“The defect.”

Damon’s jaw tightened instantly.

“Try saying that again.”

Cassian’s gaze shifted toward Damon lazily.

Almost amused.

“So this is the obsession.”

Luca’s voice sharpened violently.

“Don’t look at him.”

The warehouse fell silent again.

Because the threat in Luca’s tone was unmistakable.

Cassian smiled wider.

Interesting.

“You really did break,” Cassian said softly.

Luca’s finger tightened on the trigger.

“No.”

A beat.

“I escaped.”

Something dark flickered behind Cassian’s expression.

Then

He looked toward Hale.

And suddenly Damon realized something terrifying.

Cassian hated Hale too.

“Your experiment failed,” Cassian told Hale calmly.

Hale met his gaze without emotion.

“No.”

A pause.

“It evolved.”

Cassian looked back at Luca.

“No,” he said softly.

“He weakened.”

Luca’s breathing slowed again.

Cold now.

Deadly.

Because Cassian represented everything Luca could have become if Damon never existed.

A perfect weapon.

No guilt.

No love.

No hesitation.

Cassian’s eyes shifted toward Damon once more.

“And you,” he said quietly, “are the reason he’ll die.”

Damon stepped forward beside Luca.

Not behind him.

Beside him.

“Then come try it.”

For the first time

Cassian smiled like he found something genuinely entertaining.

And somewhere behind them

Hale watched silently.

Like this was exactly what he wanted all along.