A fight for love

Laila and Daniel moved through the warehouse's maze-like interior with a silently but there was urgency in their steps, their path was illuminated only by the occasional shaft of moonlight that pierced the grimy windows. The air was thick with the smell of a machinery long silent and every step seemed to echo in the vast emptiness.

They hadn't gone far when the first sign of trouble presented itself, not as a sound, but as a sudden shift in the air, a tension that prickled the hairs at the back of Laila's neck. She raised a hand, signaling Daniel to stop.

"Looks like the welcoming committee finally noticed us," Laila murmured with her eyes scanning the darkness for any movement.

Daniel sighed in frustration of the delay and quipped, "Do you think they're upset we didn't RSVP?"

Before Laila could reply, shadows moved from the darkness, and it turned into the forms of Antonio's guards. They were fewer than the ones George and Alec had faced, but their intent was no less deadly.

The firs