CHAPTER 54

Kael’s POV

She ran.

I let her.

Not because I couldn’t stop her. Because if I touched her again, I wouldn’t stop at that.

I stood there a second longer than I should have, jaw tight, breathing steady. The taste of her was still there. Annoying. Distracting. Unfinished.

“Staring at nothing won’t fix it.”

Lucian.

I didn’t turn immediately. “I’m not fixing anything.”

“Clearly.”

I looked at him then. He was leaning against the wall like he’d been there the whole time, watching, saying nothing when it mattered.

“You always watch first,” I said. “Then talk.”

“You always act first,” he replied. “Then talk".

I almost smiled. Almost.

Silence stretched for a second.

Then he glanced past me, toward the direction Vera ran. “You handled that… badly.”

“That’s your opinion.”

“It’s the correct one.”

I held his gaze. “Say what you came to say.”

He pushed off the wall slowly. “You didn’t have to corner her like that.”

“And you didn’t have to leave Aaron behind.”

There it was.

A flicker. Small. Controlled. But I saw it.

Lucian’s jaw tightened just enough to count.

I stepped closer, voice calm. “He’s not one of our men. You don’t give him orders like that.”

“He was injured.”

“He’s still one of the best fighters here,” I replied. “You know that.”

Silence.

I tilted my head slightly. “And he’s angry.”

Lucian didn’t respond.

Which meant I was right.

“Aaron doesn’t get angry easily,” I continued. “Especially not with you.”

He looked away for a second, then back at me. “I did what was necessary.”

I let out a quiet breath. “You always say that.”

“And you don’t?”

I didn’t answer.

Because we both knew I did.

I watched him for another second, then added, quieter this time, “You could’ve handled him better.”

Lucian’s expression didn’t change, but his voice dropped slightly. “I don’t like seeing him hurt.”

There it was.

Not loud. Not dramatic.

But real.

I didn’t push it further. Didn’t need to.

Instead, I smirked faintly. “You’re doing a terrible job at hiding that.”

His eyes narrowed. “Careful.”

“Or what?” I said calmly. “You’ll give me an order?”

That earned me a look.

Good.

Balance restored.

Then he spoke again, back to business. “There’s something you need to see.”

That got my attention.

“What.”

“Back at the building.”

Of course there was.

There’s always something left behind.

I nodded once. “We move now.”

---

The drive was quiet.

Three cars. Minimal headlights. No unnecessary movement.

Lucian sat in the front of the lead car. I didn’t ask to switch. Didn’t need to. We worked better this way.

My mind wasn’t on the road.

It was on two things.

The system we just destroyed.

And the one that didn’t feel destroyed at all.

We pulled up outside the building

The guards we left behind were already in position. Alert. Tense.

One of them stepped forward immediately. “Sir.”

“What did you find?” Lucian asked.

“Nothing moved,” the guard replied. “But we found a sealed section. Not part of the main structure.”

I stepped out of the car. “Show me.”

---

The door was hidden.

Not marked.

Which meant it mattered.

Two men stood by it. Armed. Waiting.

They stepped aside.

I pushed it open.

Inside—

Dark

Lucian stepped in behind me. “This wasn’t hit.”

“No,” I said. “It wasn’t meant to be.”

I moved toward the console. Powered it on.

It flickered once.

Then came alive.

A single file.

Left there.

On purpose.

Lucian crossed his arms slightly. “Too easy.”

“Exactly.”

I opened it.

Names filled the screen.

Coordinates.

Dates.

Patterns.

“They were tracking something,” Lucian said.

“They were tracking people,” I corrected.

I scrolled.

Then stopped.

My expression didn’t change.

But I felt it.

Lucian noticed. “What.”

“They weren’t just tracking targets,” I said quietly.

I stepped aside slightly so he could see.

“They were tracking us.”

Lucian’s gaze sharpened. “For how long?”

“Long enough,” I replied.

That meant one thing.

This wasn’t the full system.

Just a piece.

“We didn’t end it,” he said.

“No,” I agreed. “We exposed it.”

One of the men shifted behind us. “Sir… there’s something else.”

I didn’t turn. “Say it.”

“System logs show access.”

That made Lucian look back.

“When.”

The guard swallowed slightly. “Recent. Minutes before we got here.”

I shut the screen off immediately.

Decision made.

“We leave,” I said.

We walked out.

Outside, the air felt different,

Like something was watching and didn’t care if we knew.

We got back into the cars.

Before the door shut, I spoke to the men left behind.

“Double the guards at the house,” I said. “No one in. No one out.”

Lucian added without looking back, “Especially them.”

We both knew who.

Vera.

Aaron.

Lina.

I leaned back in the seat as the car started moving.

Then added, calm, final, “If any of them try to leave—stop them.”

The engine picked up.

We drove off to the only person who would understand that is finally happening all over again.

Prepare the jet "Lucain ordered"

And for the first time since this started—

It didn’t feel like we were ahead anymore.

This is how I want it to be, I hv corrected and written it how I like.