“You’re joking, right? Please tell me this is some twisted prank,” Lucas muttered under his breath, his eyes never leaving the figure lounging by the fireplace.“I wish it were,” Jake replied quietly, jaw clenched. “But that’s him. That’s Rikkard.”Lucas swore under his breath. “Of all the days… why the hell would he show up in Venut?”“I don’t know,” Jake admitted, hands fisted in his jacket pockets. “But we need to play this smart. We can’t let him know about Lila.”Lucas inhaled sharply and nodded. “You sure he hasn’t seen her?”“Positive. He only saw us. Let’s keep it that way.”The plush lounge of the hotel was dimly lit, scented with expensive cologne, polished leather, and cigar smoke. Rikkard was seated casually on a velvet couch, legs crossed, swirling amber liquid in a crystal tumbler. His demeanor was relaxed, almost amused—but Jake could see it. The glint of calculated menace in his eyes.Jake took a breath and approached with Lucas, every step deliberate. They stopped jus
Jake didn’t move until the elevator doors slid closed behind Rikkard.Lucas let out a breath that was more of a growl. “He’s gone. For now.”Jake ran a hand down his face. “That was too close.”Lucas turned to him, voice sharp. “We need a plan, Jake. If he gets even a hint of the truth—about her—he won’t stop until he finds her.”“I know,” Jake muttered. “That’s why we’re going to give him something else to chase.”Lucas raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”“A misdirection,” Jake said, already walking toward the lounge bar where a bottle of aged scotch was quietly calling his name. “He’s desperate. He wants answers. We give him just enough to feel like he’s getting somewhere, but not enough to lead him to Lila.”Lucas followed him warily. “You want to lie to him.”Jake poured a finger of scotch and downed it. “Yes. I want to lie so well that he doesn’t think to look any closer.”Ten minutes later, they found Rikkard leaning against a column in the hotel lobby, like a man half-expect
Lila’s words lingered in the air like a challenge.“Let’s make a new plan. Because something tells me Rikkard isn’t the only ghost who’ll be showing up.”Jake gave her a cautious look, sensing something unspoken underneath her defiance. “You’ve been thinking about this for a while, haven’t you?”She didn’t answer right away. Instead, she walked back toward the small table near the window where her satchel lay. She reached inside slowly, fingers brushing past the notebook she’d been scribbling in since they arrived in Venut. But it wasn’t the notebook she was after.It was the small, battered silver device hidden beneath it—no bigger than a deck of cards. It hummed faintly in her palm, the casing warm to the touch.Jake’s brow furrowed the moment he saw it. “What is that?”Lila looked at him, then at Lucas, her eyes steady. “I wasn’t just sitting here waiting for you two to come back. While you were keeping Rikkard busy, I was busy too.”Jake crossed the room in two strides. “Lila—what
A Trap or A Chance:"She answered too fast," Lila muttered, pacing the room in tight circles."You’re thinking it’s a trap," Jake said, arms crossed as he leaned against the wall, watching her.Lucas frowned. "Could just mean she’s desperate, like you.""No," Lila shook her head firmly. "Desperation doesn't smell like this. This… this feels rehearsed."Jake pushed off the wall. "You set the bait. You knew this could happen.""I know," Lila snapped, then immediately softened. "I just didn’t expect her to bite so easily. Not after all these years."Lucas exchanged a look with Jake. "Maybe she’s been waiting too," he said carefully. "Maybe you’re not the only one who's been playing a long game."Lila’s hands curled into fists at her sides. "Or maybe I've been outplayed before the game even started."Jake’s voice dropped, serious now. "So what’s the move?"Lila stilled, her eyes distant. "We go. We see it through. But we don’t walk in blind."Lucas gave a sharp nod. "Backup plans?""Sever
The trap was set.Whether it was theirs—or Arika’s—only time would tell.---"Show us the message," Lucas said sharply, cutting through the heavy silence as they trudged through the abandoned streets.Lila hesitated, her hand instinctively brushing over the inside pocket where the device lay warm against her chest. She could feel their eyes on her—Jake’s heavy with concern, Lucas’s sharp with suspicion. The instinct to protect her secret, to keep the message to herself just a little longer, clawed at her gut.But they deserved to know.They were risking everything with her.With a reluctant sigh, Lila pulled out the device and held it between them. The cracked screen flickered to life under her thumbprint, revealing the first part of Arika’s reply.A simple map blinked into view—a set of old coordinates plotted across a gray, frozen landscape.Lucas leaned in immediately, his eyes narrowing. "That’s... north of the city," he muttered. "Past the trainyard."Jake scowled. "Way past. Tha
The clock ticked forward, dragging them closer to sunset, closer to whatever fate waited at the abandoned harbor.---"You’re not going alone," Lucas said flatly, his voice sharp enough to slice through steel.Lila flinched at the force of it but said nothing, fingers tightening around the hem of her jacket."I second that," Jake added, stepping in front of her, effectively boxing her between them. His expression was grim, his posture bristling with protective energy. "This isn’t up for negotiation, Lila."She opened her mouth to argue but found no words ready on her tongue. Their eyes burned into her, filled with something fiercer than anger—fear. Not for themselves. For her."I have to go alone," she whispered hoarsely, but it sounded weak even to her own ears.Lucas crossed his arms over his chest, a living wall of defiance. "Over my dead body."Jake didn’t speak this time—he didn’t have to. His glower said it all.Lila bit the inside of her cheek hard enough to taste blood, frustr
Lila's fingers twitched restlessly against her thigh, the room tightening around her as the conversation spiraled deeper into familiar but no less agonizing territory."If you come," she said, her voice breaking against the lump in her throat, "if either of you are seen—Arika could destroy everything. She won't hesitate, Lucas. You don't know her like I do."Lucas exhaled sharply through his nose, leaning forward, elbows braced on his knees. His gaze cut into her with razor precision, but there was no anger there. Only relentless, painful patience."I know you think she's a monster," Lucas said slowly. "But even monsters hesitate when they have something they value."Jake nodded, standing just behind Lucas like a second pillar of quiet strength. "She won't destroy the servers. She’s desperate for them. She made that clear when she sent you that message.""You’re wrong," Lila whispered, shaking her head. Her heart banged painfully against her ribs, desperate to be heard. "You’re both w
Through the Snow:"You're seriously doing this now? In this weather?" Jake's voice was low but taut, his breath misting in the cold air.Lila didn’t flinch. "The message said tomorrow. It’s already morning. Waiting is not an option."Lucas glanced toward the gray sky, his jaw flexing. "Visibility’s down to nothing. If this is a trap—""Then I’d rather spring it on my terms," Lila cut in, her arms crossed beneath her coat. The biting wind whipped strands of her dark hair across her face, but she stood her ground at the mouth of the estate garage, eyes fierce beneath the gloom."You’re making a mistake," Jake muttered, zipping up his jacket. "We could wait an hour. Maybe the snow will break."Lila turned to him. "Or maybe Arika will take the servers offline in that hour. We don’t know what she’s capable of anymore. We can’t afford to gamble."The heavy garage doors groaned open behind them, revealing three armed guards preparing the convoy. The steel-blue SUV at the front revved to life
The locket in Arika’s hand glinted one last time in the fading light before she tucked it into the folds of her coat, her fingers twitching as though the cold no longer bothered her—just the past that still clung to her skin.But Lila wasn’t finished.Not yet.She turned slowly, like a predator toying with a rival too confident for her own good. “You know,” she said conversationally, her voice laced with honeyed venom, “for someone who prides herself on good taste, I’m surprised you didn’t notice the warning signs.”Arika’s head tilted. “What signs?”Lila’s smile was all razor-edge charm. “Oh, just that Salicus was riddled with diseases. Biochemical ones. I should know—I left him with a few.”The blow landed with precision. A flicker of something passed through Arika’s expression—a stutter in her breath, a twitch at the corner of her mouth. She masked it quickly, but not quickly enough.“You’re bluffing,” Arika said, voice clipped.“Am I?” Lila stepped closer, letting her words drip.
Lila’s lips parted slightly, but no words came out. That sentence—so personal, so venomous—stuck in her like a blade wedged between ribs.Arika didn’t wait for her to recover. She turned and walked slowly toward the edge of the clearing, her fingers brushing the frost-covered rail of a long-abandoned cargo lift. The silence between them thickened.“I had a guest once,” Arika called over her shoulder, too casual. “You might know him. Salicus Grante.”Lila’s body snapped to attention.The name landed like a hammer.“You’re lying.”Arika looked back, one eyebrow raised. “Am I?”“Salicus is dead.”Arika gave a mocking little shrug. “Is that what you tell yourself to sleep at night? Or just what you hope is true?”Lila took a shaky step forward. Her pulse thundered in her ears. “Where. Did. You. See. Him.”“Here. There. Doesn’t matter,” Arika said. “He’s a wanderer. A very persistent one. Had a few... interesting stories about you, too. I see where you get your taste in men.”Lila’s hands
Chapter Title: Blood Tides and Buried Truths"You look older than I imagined. The cold's not kind to you, huh?"Lila’s voice cut through the air, sharp as shattered ice.Arika smirked, slow and poisonous. “And you still greet people like you’re handing out ultimatums.”“I only greet the ones who fake their deaths and sell lies for a living.”Arika’s eyes flicked down her nose, unfazed. “Still bitter, I see. At least that hasn’t aged.”The wind between them twisted, biting through cloth and bone alike. They stood ten paces apart in the heart of the abandoned clearing, surrounded by cracked concrete and frost-covered crates. The silence of the ruin only emphasized how violently the past clawed its way into the present.“You died,” Lila said, voice low now. Controlled. “That’s what they told me. What you let them tell me.”“They weren’t wrong,” Arika replied smoothly. “Not entirely.”Lila scoffed. “You faked your death and vanished. What else was I supposed to believe?”“That I had a rea
The cold gnawed at Lila’s exposed cheeks as she emerged from the warehouse’s side exit and stepped into the clearing.A vast, open yard stretched before her.Flat, white, endless.The area must have once been the central cargo bay—a wide slab of cracked concrete now buried beneath ice and powdery snow. Massive tracks were etched faintly beneath the layers, ghost-lines of long-dead machinery. Here, where shipments had once been loaded, goods transferred, and orders barked, now only wind howled and silence ruled.She stepped forward slowly.Her boots sank with every crunching step, leaving deep impressions behind her. The expanse was so open, it felt vulnerable. Naked. No cover. No shadows to slip into. Just the broad chest of the clearing exposed to the grey sky overhead.Lila exhaled through her nose, eyes scanning left to right, then back again.No movement.No signs.And yet her pulse wouldn’t slow.Something didn’t add up.If this was Arika’s meeting point, where the hell was the e
The snow swallowed their steps as they began to move again.None of them spoke.The world had gone eerily still, as if holding its breath. Lila led the way, eyes narrowed against the wind, with Jake close behind her left shoulder and Lucas covering their right flank. Their boots crunched against the crusted snow, the only sound in an otherwise dead landscape.With every step forward, the forest behind them shrank, consumed by the encroaching white.“This is madness,” Jake muttered under his breath, his voice muffled beneath his scarf. “Visibility’s garbage. We’re tracking straight into open ground. Arika wants us blind.”“She wants a meeting,” Lila shot back, not looking over her shoulder. “And I’m not turning back.”Lucas scanned the tree line one last time before sighing. “Yeah, well, if we die out here in the snow, at least it’ll be poetic.”The wind howled in answer.Their pace slowed as the ground sloped downward, snow now knee-deep. Every few steps, one of them stumbled. Lila’s
Lila froze.The crimson dot shimmered against her coat, small but deadly. Her breath caught in her throat, her muscles wound tight. Not a single sound echoed behind her—no footsteps, no shouts, no signs of the guards or her brothers intervening. Just that quiet, icy stillness and the whine of wind over rusted steel.Where are you, Arika? she thought, pulse hammering.She didn’t raise her hands. She didn’t flinch. Instead, she stared up at the ridge. “You’re not going to shoot me,” she said, her voice even despite the cold in her spine. “If you were, you already would have.”A long beat of silence. Then a laugh—faint, hollow, metallic.The laser dot vanished.Lila exhaled slowly. Her hand dropped to her side, fingers brushing the outline of her weapon, but she didn’t draw it. That would only escalate things. She was here for answers, not war. Still, her unease grew by the second. Not because of the target on her chest.But because her wolf was silent.Utterly.Painfully.Silent.Why ar
Through the Snow:"You're seriously doing this now? In this weather?" Jake's voice was low but taut, his breath misting in the cold air.Lila didn’t flinch. "The message said tomorrow. It’s already morning. Waiting is not an option."Lucas glanced toward the gray sky, his jaw flexing. "Visibility’s down to nothing. If this is a trap—""Then I’d rather spring it on my terms," Lila cut in, her arms crossed beneath her coat. The biting wind whipped strands of her dark hair across her face, but she stood her ground at the mouth of the estate garage, eyes fierce beneath the gloom."You’re making a mistake," Jake muttered, zipping up his jacket. "We could wait an hour. Maybe the snow will break."Lila turned to him. "Or maybe Arika will take the servers offline in that hour. We don’t know what she’s capable of anymore. We can’t afford to gamble."The heavy garage doors groaned open behind them, revealing three armed guards preparing the convoy. The steel-blue SUV at the front revved to life
Lila's fingers twitched restlessly against her thigh, the room tightening around her as the conversation spiraled deeper into familiar but no less agonizing territory."If you come," she said, her voice breaking against the lump in her throat, "if either of you are seen—Arika could destroy everything. She won't hesitate, Lucas. You don't know her like I do."Lucas exhaled sharply through his nose, leaning forward, elbows braced on his knees. His gaze cut into her with razor precision, but there was no anger there. Only relentless, painful patience."I know you think she's a monster," Lucas said slowly. "But even monsters hesitate when they have something they value."Jake nodded, standing just behind Lucas like a second pillar of quiet strength. "She won't destroy the servers. She’s desperate for them. She made that clear when she sent you that message.""You’re wrong," Lila whispered, shaking her head. Her heart banged painfully against her ribs, desperate to be heard. "You’re both w
The clock ticked forward, dragging them closer to sunset, closer to whatever fate waited at the abandoned harbor.---"You’re not going alone," Lucas said flatly, his voice sharp enough to slice through steel.Lila flinched at the force of it but said nothing, fingers tightening around the hem of her jacket."I second that," Jake added, stepping in front of her, effectively boxing her between them. His expression was grim, his posture bristling with protective energy. "This isn’t up for negotiation, Lila."She opened her mouth to argue but found no words ready on her tongue. Their eyes burned into her, filled with something fiercer than anger—fear. Not for themselves. For her."I have to go alone," she whispered hoarsely, but it sounded weak even to her own ears.Lucas crossed his arms over his chest, a living wall of defiance. "Over my dead body."Jake didn’t speak this time—he didn’t have to. His glower said it all.Lila bit the inside of her cheek hard enough to taste blood, frustr