MasukKianna's POV:The girl in red — still nameless, still wrapped in that quiet, unbreakable confidence — moved through my dorm room like she’d been there a hundred times before. She didn’t ask permission. She simply opened my closet, pulled out the warmest clothes I owned (thick black leggings, a thermal long-sleeve, my heaviest hoodie, snow boots, and a waterproof jacket), and laid them on the bed in a neat stack.“Change,” she said, voice low but firm. “Layers….It’s colder where we’re going. Leave anything with a tracker behind, smartwatch, jewelry, anything.”My hands shook as I obeyed. The reality of what I was doing crashed over me in waves. I was leaving. Right now. With a stranger who worked for the masked Boss who had sent someone to stand over my bed while I slept. The countdown is finally here. The bond had been moved up. And I was walking straight into whatever plan they had to stop it.I stripped quickly, skin prickling in the cold dorm air, and dressed in the layers she’d
Kianna's POV:The girl in red — still nameless, still wrapped in that quiet, unbreakable confidence — moved through my dorm room like she’d been there a hundred times before. She didn’t ask permission. She simply opened my closet, pulled out the warmest clothes I owned (thick black leggings, a thermal long-sleeve, my heaviest hoodie, snow boots, and a waterproof jacket), and laid them on the bed in a neat stack.“Change,” she said, voice low but firm. “Layers….It’s colder where we’re going. Leave anything with a tracker behind, smartwatch, jewelry, anything.”My hands shook as I obeyed. The reality of what I was doing crashed over me in waves. I was leaving. Right now. With a stranger who worked for the masked Boss who had sent someone to stand over my bed while I slept. The countdown is finally here. The bond had been moved up. And I was walking straight into whatever plan they had to stop it.I stripped quickly, skin prickling in the cold dorm air, and dressed in the layers she’d
Kianna's PoV:I walked out of the school gates with my bag slung over one shoulder, the cold December wind cutting straight through my coat like it knew exactly where I was weakest. Snow crunched under my boots, and the sky hung low and gray, promising more by nightfall. The text from the Boss still burned behind my eyes: “Get prepared. The bond has been shifted to tomorrow. Full moon rises early. The girl in red will come to you. We’ll make sure Maddox doesn’t claim you.”Tomorrow.The word echoed with every step. Not four days. Not even three. Tomorrow. The battle had finally begun, and I had no idea whose side I was truly on.My fingers were numb by the time I pulled out my phone on the sidewalk leading back to the dorm. I typed the message to Mordred before I could second-guess it.“Just got a text from the Boss. The bond… it’s been moved up to tomorrow. Full moon. The girl in red is coming for me.”I hit send and kept walking, breath fogging in front of me. The reply came almos
Kianna's PoV:The dorm room felt like a cage as I shut the door behind me, leaning against it for a moment to catch my breath.The string lights cast a soft, mocking glow over everything—the cluttered desk, Lesley's unmade bed and the half-eaten bag of chips from our last movie night. I peeled off my snow-damp coat and boots, the cold clinging to my skin like a bad dream I couldn't shake. My phone buzzed in my pocket, but I ignored it for now. I needed a minute. Just one minute to process what Mordred had just told me.What type of Game is this man playing with us? It looks like we're just some play dolls or puppets and he's the master.Did I make a mistake by accepting his offer to help me? What if Mordred is right? He's just using us all.I sank onto my bed, knees drawn to my chest, and let the events replay in my mind. The black sedan. The red-dressed girl—still nameless, still enigmatic—leading me through that hidden marketplace like it was her personal kingdom. The stalls with
Mordred's PoV:The kiss lingered on my lips long after I'd dropped Kianna back at her dorm, the taste of her—sweet from the cotton candy, warm from the heat we'd built—clinging like a promise I wasn't sure I could keep. I'd held her against that cold metal wall in the changing area, her body arching into mine, her moans vibrating through me like they were my own heartbeat. Weeks of fighting, of silence, of watching her slip away to Maddox—it had all shattered in that moment. Reunion. Redemption. Whatever you wanted to call it, it felt like coming home.But as I rode back to the apartment through the snow-dusted streets, the high faded, replaced by a nagging itch in the back of my mind. Her words in the cafeteria earlier echoed: "Don’t worry about the bond. Everything will be alright." She'd said it with a smile, but her eyes had been distant and guarded. Like she was holding back a storm. Kianna wasn’t the type to brush off something like that—not with the deadline breathing down
Kianna's PoV:The snow had turned to slush by the time I trudged back to the dorm from the mysterious building, my boots squelching on the salted sidewalks. The city lights blurred through the falling flakes, but my mind was sharper than ever—racing, tumbling, questioning every step I'd just taken. I shoved my hands deeper into my coat pockets, the black card now crumpled in my fist like a talisman I wasn't sure brought luck or curse.What had I done? Joined hands with a stranger—a masked figure in a hidden community, surrounded by guards whose faces were concealed just like the stalker from the amusement park. The Boss's auto-tuned voice echoed in my head: "Do nothing. Let the day happen. The day will shock you." Shock me how? By stopping the bond? Severing it? Or something darker, something that would leave scars I couldn't see yet?I climbed the dorm stairs two at a time, the building quiet except for the distant thump of music from someone's room. Lesley was out—probably at a
Maddox's PoV:I woke up to my phone buzzing like a goddamn hornet's nest, notifications piling up faster than I could swipe them away. Groggy from last night's hangover—yeah, I'd partied a bit too hard at that shithole apartment with the guys. I grabbed the phone off the nightstand, expecting the
Mordred's PoV:The safe house felt like a tomb that night—cold and empty with the kind of silence that presses in on you until it hurts to breathe. I paced the living room like a caged animal, boots scuffing the hardwood and the echo mocking me with every step. The lights were off, but the city
Kianna's PoV:I stared at my reflection in the dorm mirror, tugging at the hem of the black dress Lesley had practically forced me into. It was simple—satin, off-the-shoulder, with a slit that felt far too daring for my mood—but she’d insisted it made me look “mysterious and untouchable.” Right n
Mordred's PoV:I stayed in the shadows across the street from the cinema, hood pulled low, hands buried deep in my jacket pockets against the December chill. The marquee lights cast everything in that sickly red-and-gold glow, turning the sidewalk into some cheap stage set. I hadn’t planned on fo







