INICIAR SESIÓNAra's heart pounded as she stared at the feed of the top-floor corridor. Ronan was locked in it with Kayla, but he wasn't really fighting back—just blocking, deflecting, absorbing hit after hit. It was brutal to watch. Kayla had player speed and precision on her side. Ronan had nothing but training, instinct, and stubbornness. Every block cost him something, and he still wouldn't draw his gun on her. She was so locked onto that feed she almost missed what Silas found on the second monitor. "Ara, look!" he said, pointing. "The other four didn't stay with Kayla. They went around Ronan while she kept him busy—they're heading down the residential hall!" Her eyes snapped to the feed. Four armed VBNI operatives, moving fast, heading straight for the suite where most of the civilians were holed up. She opened the comms. "Daniel! Dain! Four agents just cleared the stairwell—they're coming right for you!" Inside the suite, the room went cold. Daniel didn't hesitate. He moved the fami
Ara's heart pounded as she stared at the feed of the top-floor corridor. Ronan was locked in it with Kayla, but he wasn't really fighting back—just blocking, deflecting, absorbing hit after hit. It was brutal to watch. Kayla had player speed and precision on her side. Ronan had nothing but training, instinct, and stubbornness. Every block cost him something, and he still wouldn't draw his gun on her. She was so locked onto that feed she almost missed what Silas found on the second monitor. "Ara, look!" he said, pointing. "The other four didn't stay with Kayla. They went around Ronan while she kept him busy—they're heading down the residential hall!" Her eyes snapped to the feed. Four armed VBNI operatives, moving fast, heading straight for the suite where most of the civilians were holed up. She opened the comms. "Daniel! Dain! Four agents just cleared the stairwell—they're coming right for you!" Inside the suite, the room went cold. Daniel didn't hesitate. He moved the fami
Ara's heart pounded as she stared at the feed of the top-floor corridor. Ronan was locked in it with Kayla, but he wasn't really fighting back—just blocking, deflecting, absorbing hit after hit. It was brutal to watch. Kayla had player speed and precision on her side. Ronan had nothing but training, instinct, and stubbornness. Every block cost him something, and he still wouldn't draw his gun on her. She was so locked onto that feed she almost missed what Silas found on the second monitor. "Ara, look!" he said, pointing. "The other four didn't stay with Kayla. They went around Ronan while she kept him busy—they're heading down the residential hall!" Her eyes snapped to the feed. Four armed VBNI operatives, moving fast, heading straight for the suite where most of the civilians were holed up. She opened the comms. "Daniel! Dain! Four agents just cleared the stairwell—they're coming right for you!" Inside the suite, the room went cold. Daniel didn't hesitate. He moved the fami
Just then, the emergency broadcast pulsed red across the wall monitor, throwing jagged crimson shadows over the mayor's office. "—confirming total structural collapse of the primary containment dome at the NexMind Mega Lab... the viral agent has breached all secondary barriers... I repeat, the apocalypse has officially—" The anchor's voice broke into static, but it didn't matter. The message had already landed. This wasn't a countdown anymore. It wasn't a secret buried in corporate servers. It was happening, right now, spilling into the streets of Telenburgh. The room went silent, thick and airless. Daniel stumbled back two steps, catching himself on the arm of a chair, gripping it hard enough that his knuckles went white. His hands were shaking and he couldn't stop them. Ara watched him, her chest tightening. Out of all of them, Daniel was the one who'd actually believed they could stop this. The one who still thought there was a future on the other side. Looking at his face no
Ara's heart pounded as she stared at the feed of the top-floor corridor. Ronan was locked in it with Kayla, but he wasn't really fighting back—just blocking, deflecting, absorbing hit after hit. It was brutal to watch. Kayla had player speed and precision on her side. Ronan had nothing but training, instinct, and stubbornness. Every block cost him something, and he still wouldn't draw his gun on her. She was so locked onto that feed she almost missed what Silas found on the second monitor. "Ara, look!" he said, pointing. "The other four didn't stay with Kayla. They went around Ronan while she kept him busy—they're heading down the residential hall!" Her eyes snapped to the feed. Four armed VBNI operatives, moving fast, heading straight for the suite where most of the civilians were holed up. She opened the comms. "Daniel! Dain! Four agents just cleared the stairwell—they're coming right for you!" Inside the suite, the room went cold. Daniel didn't hesitate. He moved the fami
Ara's heart pounded as she stared at the feed of the top-floor corridor. Ronan was locked in it with Kayla, but he wasn't really fighting back—just blocking, deflecting, absorbing hit after hit. It was brutal to watch. Kayla had player speed and precision on her side. Ronan had nothing but training, instinct, and stubbornness. Every block cost him something, and he still wouldn't draw his gun on her. She was so locked onto that feed she almost missed what Silas found on the second monitor. "Ara, look!" he said, pointing. "The other four didn't stay with Kayla. They went around Ronan while she kept him busy—they're heading down the residential hall!" Her eyes snapped to the feed. Four armed VBNI operatives, moving fast, heading straight for the suite where most of the civilians were holed up. She opened the comms. "Daniel! Dain! Four agents just cleared the stairwell—they're coming right for you!" Inside the suite, the room went cold. Daniel didn't hesitate. He moved the fami
Arianna's Pov By the time I knew what was happening, Nikolai crossed the room in three tides, cornering me, my back hitting the wall with a full force, his left hand on my waist, the right one resting on my neck deliberately. His lips found mine like he had been hungry for this, and had waited
Arianna's Pov I stared at him. A second passed, then another. The seconds stretched at the edges because my brain refused to process what it just heard."You're married," I said, not as a question, but to process what I had just heard."I'm aware." He responded like it meant nothing."You're stand
Arianna's Pov:Voss's wife? Was Nikolai married? When?I kept questioning myself. I didn't move, I didn't speak, I just stood there with the tray in my hands and the silence pressing in from every direction, and I told myself to breathe.Asher, the guy who had just said something about Voss's wif
Arianna's Pov The first thing I noticed when I woke up that morning was Noah's breathing. It was wet and sounded like he was having difficulty breathing. I pressed my hand to his forehead, and the heat burning through my palm confirmed what I already feared. He was running a fever. "Mama." His







