LOGIN“Damian!”Sera’s voice cut through immediately as she moved, Nikolai pulling back in alarm.“Hey, hey, don’t move!” she said quickly, already crouching beside him, her hands hovering before settling firmly on his shoulders.Nikolai stood frozen for a second then rushed closer.“Are you okay?” he asked, panic creeping back into his voice.Damian exhaled sharply, his jaw tightening as he tried to push himself up again out of pure instinct.“I’m fine,” he muttered.He wasn’t, not even remotely.“Stop,” Sera said immediately, her tone shifting.She pressed a hand lightly against his chest, keeping him down. “I said don’t move.”Damian frowned slightly, stubbornness flickering through the pain.“I can get up,” he said, already trying again.“Damian,” she said his name sharper this time.He paused.Her eyes locked onto his. “You’re not getting up like that again,” she said. “You’ve already pushed past your limit.”He let out a quiet breath, frustration evident. “I needed to stand.”“You did
The ward was quiet.Damian was wheeled in slowly, his eyes already on Sera before the nurse even stepped aside.Sera sat on the edge of the bed, her forehead freshly bandaged, a faint bruise blooming beneath the gauze like something trying to surface.She looked there but not fully like part of her was still in that warehouse.Still on her knees.Still hearing that laugh.Damian watched her for a moment before speaking.“They cleared you,” he said quietly. “No internal damage. Just shock and the head injury.”Sera nodded faintly. Her hands were still trembling.Not as violently as before but enough.She hadn’t looked at him yet.“I...” he started, then stopped himself.There were too many things to say.Too many things that didn’t fit into words right now.So he chose something else.“Adrik is here.”That made her look up immediately.Her eyes sharpened, fear replacing the numbness.“Where?” she asked, already moving.“I’ll take you,” Damian said.Adrik’s room smelled like antiseptic
The silence stretched.An older man stepped forward.His presence alone shifted the space, power, authority and loss.“You should be dead,” he said.Lysandra’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Excuse me?”Another man spoke from the side, his voice colder. “You had one job.”Realization flickered.“…you’re upset?” she said slowly, almost disbelieving. “Because I didn’t finish her?”A humorless laugh left one of them.“Because you failed,” he corrected.Lysandra’s expression hardened instantly.“Failed?” she repeated, her voice sharpening. “I had her. She was seconds away from...”“And now she’s alive,” the older man cut in.Lysandra looked between them. “…why do you care?” she asked.That was the wrong question because it pulled everything to the surface.The older man stepped closer, his gaze locking onto hers.“Do you know what it means,” he said slowly, “that Seraphina Vale is alive?”Lysandra didn’t answer but she knew. Still she didn’t speak.Another man stepped forward, his voice tight w
Sera frowned faintly, her mind struggling to keep up.Lysandra’s smile sharpened. “Bow.”Sera didn’t move.“I said bow,” Lysandra repeated, her tone colder now. “And not just that…” She leaned closer. “Apologize.”Sera’s heart pounded louder.“Apologize for coming between me and Damian,” Lysandra continued, her voice almost sing song now. “And thank me… for ending your life.”Sera stared at her. Stunned. Because this wasn’t just cruelty anymore. This was madness.“You’re insane…” she breathed, her voice shaking.Lysandra’s smile widened.“Maybe,” she said. “But you’re still going to do it.”Sera shook her head weakly. “No…”Lysandra didn’t even react. She simply glanced at the men and that was enough.They moved.They forced her down hard. Her knees slammed into the concrete, pain shooting up her legs as she gasped sharply.“Do it,” Lysandra said softly.Sera resisted for half a second.That was all she got.A hand grabbed the back of her head and slammed it down.Her forehead hit the
Sera broke completely.“Please!” she screamed, her voice raw, desperate, echoing through the empty warehouse. “Please don’t do this, take me, just me, leave him out of this,please...”Her body shook with the force of it, tears falling uncontrollably now.“I’ll disappear, I swear, I’ll make sure Damian never finds me, I won’t come back, I won’t exist, just let him live...”Her voice cracked.Lysandra watched. Every second of it, every tear, every plea and her smile only grew.Because this was exactly what she wanted.“See?” she said softly, almost pleased. “This is what happens when you don’t listen.”She turned slightly, her voice shifting back into command.“Get ready.”The men moved and Sera could only sit there, trembling with her heart pounding.Metal scraped against concrete as a machine was dragged into place.It was crude, industrial. The kind used on construction sites to chew through debris like it meant nothing.Sera’s breath came in broken pieces as she watched them set it
Meanwhile Sera’s body slammed forward as the door was yanked open before she could even catch her breath.“Please, please, I have a child...” her voice cracked as she struggled, her wrists bruised from the grip holding her. “I have a son, you can’t...”Rough hands grabbed her and dragged her out.Her feet barely touched the ground as they pulled her across gravel, her dress catching, tearing slightly as she stumbled.“Please!” she cried again, her voice breaking sharper this time. “I’ll do anything, just don’t...”No one answered.The warehouse loomed ahead, abandoned and dark. Its doors already open like a mouth waiting to swallow her whole.They dragged her inside.The air was cold, empty and echoing.Then she saw her, Lysandra, seated, calm and perfect. Like she had been waiting for her.A slow, satisfied smile curved her lips as she leaned back slightly, watching Sera being dragged closer.And when Sera was finally thrown to the ground, Lysandra laughed.“Oh please, please, I have
Sera's arms shot out suddenly and wrapped around him, pulling him close, too close, burying her face in his neck as relief and love collided hard in her chest.“Oh no you don’t,” she said, voice thick, kissing his cheek, his hair, his temple, everywhere she could reach. “You’re not leaving without
“Sera?”The apartment was quiet but not empty. He heard movement from the bedroom. A drawer closing. Footsteps.She appeared in the hallway a moment later, hair damp, dressed in dark clothes, passport and phone in her hand.“You’re back early,” she said.“So are you,” he replied, eyes narrowing sli
“Come on,” she whispered under her breath, not sure who she was speaking to. Her hands moved with fierce precision, correcting, repairing, rerouting what had been destroyed by violence.The monitors screamed suddenly.A flat, piercing alarm cut through the room.“Cardiac arrhythmia!” a voice shoute
They moved fast.No lingering. No ceremony.The moment Sera stepped through the hospital doors, she was ushered down a private corridor, badges flashing, doors unlocking before she reached them. A nurse pressed scrubs into her hands, another guided her toward a changing room.“Five minutes,” someon







