MasukHaven’s POVBlue was finally better.Her small hand rested in mine as the doctor administered final scripts.I glanced at Aiden.He looked tired and distracted. But at least for once, he wasn't thinking about Rue. He was thinking of Blue. And as long as she was here, he wouldn’t leave.He couldn’t.“We should go,” I said softly.He nodded absent-mindedly.We stepped out of the hospital and out of the blue, hands grabbed me.“What...?!”I struggled immediately but it was useless.
Aiden’s POVI watched the car disappear into the distance and for a long moment, I didn’t move or speak. I couldn’t even breathe properly.My heart ached. And that went without saying.“She’s gone.”The realization came slowly, as something that had been building for a long time. Something I had refused to fully accept.Haven’s hand slipped into mine. It didn’t feel right,not anymore, but I couldn’t care less.“You should rest,” she said softly. “You’ve been through a lot.”Her voice was gentle but it didn’t reach me.“I wasn’t there.” I said absent-mindedly, almost to myself.“When Iris went missing…”My grip tightened unconsciously.“I should have been. She is my daughter yet...”I felt guilt settle deep within me. Because no matter how I justified it or explained it, the truth didn’t change. I wasn’t there.Haven squeezed my hand slightly.“You didn’t know.”But that wasn’t enough. It only meant that someone else was there for Iris. Someone else protected them. And it wasn’t me.“A
Rue’s POVI stood there, facing Haven. My chest rose and fell slowly, deliberately, as if I were forcing my body to remain steady. But inside, everything burned.“What did you say to him?” My voice came out low.Haven blinked. For the first time in a long time, I saw something unfamiliar in her eyes. Fear. The kind that came when someone realized they had crossed a line they couldn’t walk back from.“I—I don’t know what you mean…” Her voice wavered.“You don’t?”I stepped closer. The air between us tightened instantly.“You called him.”I took another step.“And right after that...he collapsed.”My gaze locked onto hers.“So I’ll ask you again.” I said through gritted teeth. “What did you say to my father?”She swallowed. Her fingers twitched at her side, betraying her composure.“I was just… informing him…” Her voice trailed off. “I didn’t mean anything by it.”“You didn’t mean anything?”My lips curved slightly in disbelief.“You expect me to believe that?”I could feel it now, the
Rue’s POVThe moment the coordinates appeared on the screen, I snapped into focus.“Stop the car.”Before the driver could even respond, I was already pushing the door open. The abandoned factory loomed ahead.I could feel the suffocating pressure in the air, the kind that clung to places where something wrong had happened.“She’s here.”I didn’t know how I knew but I did. And that certainty drove me forward.“Wait—Rue!”Percy’s voice came behind me but I didn’t stop. To me, every second I wasted was a second she suffered. And that thought alone was enough to make me run.The factory door creaked as I forced it open. Dust filled the air. The scent of rust and decay clung to every surface.“Iris…”I whispered her name before I even saw her. I felt her like a thread pulling me deeper inside.My steps slowed as fear caught up with me.What if I was too late?What if...I shut down the thoughts immediately.“Iris!” My voice echoed through the empty space but I received no answer.My heart
Chapter 214 She’s deadRue’s POVIris's disappearance has already left me overwhelmed, yet another unexpected blow came. Upon hearing the news of Iris's suspected disappearance, my father suddenly fell ill. I stood outside the medical ward for a moment longer than I should have. My hand hovered near the handle, but I didn’t push it open immediately.“Rue.”Percy’s voice came softly from behind me.I closed my eyes briefly then nodded and pushed the door open.The room was quiet, the only sounds being the soft humming of machines.My father lay on the bed. His face looked older than I remembered. Much weaker. Like time had caught up with him all at once.For a second, I couldn’t move or breathe. This wasn’t the man who commanded entire packs with a single word. This was just my father. And he was slipping away.“Rue…”His voice was faint, barely above a whisper but it pulled me forward instantly.“I’m here.”I moved to his side, taking his hand gently. It felt colder than it should ha
Percy’s POVThe next day, around 2 o'clock in the afternoon, just as I was preparing to get into my car, Rue rushed towards me.She didn’t slow down.The moment she reached me, she collided into my chest, her hands gripping my shirt like she needed something, anything, to hold onto.“Percy...”Her voice broke before she could finish.She cried. Her shoulders trembled violently, her breath uneven as she buried her face against me.“Iris… she’s missing…”The words came in fragments, barely held together. And for a second, my mind went completely blank. This was the one thing neither of us had prepared for.I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her closer to hold her together.“I’ve got you,” I said quietly. “We’ll find her.”She shook her head against me.“I should have been there… I should have—”“No.” I cut her off gently. “This isn’t your fault.”Her grip tightened. Like she didn’t believe me. Like she couldn’t. And I understood that because when something like this happened, blame a
Aiden’s POVI woke up with a groan clawing up my throat.My body rebelled the moment I tried to move, and pain flared through my ribs. My head throbbed, my vision swam but none of it mattered. The only thing that mattered was the name pounding in my skull relentlessly. Rue.I ripped the monitoring
Rue’s POVThe first thing I felt was breath on my skin. A hot, rotten, wet breath.It came in waves, accompanied by a low, vibrating growl that crawled into my bones and shook them from the inside. Even without seeing them clearly, my instincts screamed the reality of the situation.They were close
Haven’s PerspectiveI had always believed that if you wanted something badly enough, you didn’t wait for fate to hand it to you. You designed fate. Took charge of it and get what you want.That was what I was doing now.Everything had been arranged with meticulous care, so precise that even I felt
Percy’s POVHer blood soaked through my arms.It was warm at first, then slowly cooling, each passing second a reminder that time was bleeding out of her just as surely as she was bleeding into me. Rue’s head lolled against my chest as I carried her toward a nearby helicopter.Her breathing was sha







