로그인The ghosts of the past have finally surfaced, and this time, the war is personal! What do you think Aryan has been hiding, and what does that mysterious name mean? Share your theories in the comments! If you enjoyed this chapter, please show your support with likes, comments, shares, ratings, reviews, and gems. Every bit of support helps the story reach more readers and keeps me motivated to bring you the next chapter. And if you haven't subscribed yet, consider subscribing to stay with Aryan and Riya as their battle takes an even darker turn. Thank you for reading and supporting my work!
Chapter 69: The Ones Who Taught Him How to BleedRiya’s POVThe second phone kept ringing like it had all the fucking time in the world.I didn’t move. Neither did Aryan. His hands were still pressed against the pad on my side, fingers sticky with my blood, jaw locked so tight I could hear his teeth grind. The bruise along his ribs looked almost purple under the wet black fabric. Every shallow breath he took made something pull wrong under the skin. He felt it. I saw it. He just refused to give it room.Ananya’s voice cut through the rain from the doorway, low and flat. “Still alone out there. No second vehicle. No movement from the east lot. Whatever the fuck that message meant, they’re not announcing themselves yet.”“Keep the sweeps,” Aryan said without looking up. His voice had that dead quality again, the one that meant every soft thing inside him had been locked behind steel. “Anything bigger than a rat, put it down before it gets close enough to breathe on us.”She melted back i
Chapter 68: The Names That Still Breathe**Riya’s POV**The phone kept ringing.Not loud. Not frantic. Just steady and patient, the way a blade is patient when it already knows the softest place to cut. One long tone after another against the scarred wood of the table while rain tried to erase the tire tracks outside and the three bodies on the concrete kept cooling like they had nowhere better to be.Aryan’s hands were still on me. One pressing the fresh pad hard against the wound in my side, the other tearing tape with his teeth. His mouth was a hard line. The bruise along his ribs looked almost black under the wet black fabric. Every time he reached, I saw the careful way he moved—like the ribs were reminding him they still belonged to someone who had been hit hard and recently.I didn’t reach for the phone.Neither did he.Ananya’s voice came low from the doorway, rifle still up, eyes still cutting the dark. “She’s gone. Single vehicle. No tail I can see. Rain’s thick enough to hid
Chapter 67: The Dead Don’t Knock Twice**Riya’s POV**The third set of tires didn’t announce itself with the same soft, wet thump as the first two. It was quieter. More careful. Like the driver already knew the ground was soft with rain and blood and didn’t want to wake whatever still slept under it.Aryan’s hand left mine the second the sound reached us. He was already moving, already angling his body between me and the open side door, Glock low and ready. Ananya had frozen halfway across the room, rifle half-raised, eyes cutting toward the entrance.I stayed where I was. Sitting on the edge of the mattress with the fresh pad pressed hard against my side, the med kit open beside me, the taste of Aryan’s blood still ghosting the inside of my mouth from where I’d bitten him. The wound had opinions. I told it to shut the fuck up and keep the rest of the blood inside where it belonged.Outside, the engine cut.One door opened.One.Not six. Not four. One.Aryan’s shoulders didn’t relax. I
Chapter 66: The Ghost’s Bloody Fucking Teeth Just Bit the Wrong Pair of Bastards**Riya’s POV**The tires stopped like a held breath.Not a squeal. Not a dramatic slam. Just that soft, wet *thump-thump* of rubber kissing concrete that had already given up fighting the rain. Two vehicles. Lights off. East approach. Exactly where Ananya said they would be.Aryan’s body went from warm to weapon in the space between one heartbeat and the next. His hand left the bandage like it had never been gentle. One second he was still half-hard against my thigh, the next he was already rolling, already reaching, already becoming the thing the old network used to whisper about when the lights went out.I sat up slower. The fresh tape pulled. The wound protested. I told it to shut the fuck up and keep the blood inside where it belonged.Ananya’s voice crackled again, lower, tighter. “Two SUVs. Blacked out. No plates I can read from here. Four doors opening. Six bodies. Moving like they’ve done this befo
Chapter 65: The Ghost Still Has TeethRiya’s POVThe rain did not ease. It only changed its mind about how it wanted to kill the city. One minute it came in sheets that made the corrugated roof sound like a drumline of the damned. The next it turned into a steady, spiteful hiss that worked its way through every crack and dripped somewhere in the dark like a clock counting down how long we still had to live.Aryan’s hand stayed over the fresh bandage the entire time. Not gripping. Just resting there like the weight of his palm could convince the wound to behave. His thumb moved in the smallest circles against the edge of the tape. I could feel every careful pass of it. I could also feel the way his body stayed coiled even in the afterglow, every muscle still listening for the next thing that wanted to crawl out of the past and bite.I let the quiet stretch until it started to itch.“You’re doing that thing again,” I murmured against his throat.His voice came out low, still rough from e
Chapter 64: Teeth of the GhostThe tablet still glowed when Ananya locked the last window shutter. That single surname sat there like a loaded chamber. Aryan hadn’t moved from the scarred table. Rain water dripped off the ends of his hair and hit the floor in slow, irregular ticks. My side burned under the fresh tape, a wet heat that pulsed every time I shifted my weight. I stayed on my feet anyway. Sitting felt like surrender.Ananya laid out magazines in neat rows on a second table, movements sharp and economical. “Two hours of quiet if we’re lucky. Residual will start flooding the river routes once they finish counting bodies. We move before dawn or we dig in and bleed for every meter.”She clipped a radio to her vest and checked the frequency twice. “I’m on the roof. Perimeter cams are live. I’ll call the second anything bigger than a rat crosses the jetty line.” Her eyes flicked between us—Aryan’s rigid shoulders, the fresh red already blooming through my bandage—then she climbed







