LOGINIVY’S POVI thought everything had finally changed.The thought came softly. Almost carefully. Like my mind was afraid to say it too loud in case it broke.I was still in Kai’s arms, my cheek pressed against his chest, his heartbeat steady beneath my ear. The night air felt colder now that the fire was gone. The sirens were still there, but farther away somehow, like they belonged to another world.I inhaled.The breath felt wrong.Too shallow. Too thin.The edges of my vision began to blur. The lights smeared into long streaks of red and blue. My head felt suddenly too heavy for my neck, like gravity had doubled without warning.“I’m fine,” I tried to say.The words barely made it out.The ground tilted.A wave of dizziness rolled through me, strong and fast, pulling the strength straight out of my legs. My fingers loosened their grip on Kai’s jacket.“Ivy.”Kai’s voice sharpened.“Ivy.”The world dipped.I felt his arms tighten, felt him shift to hold me up, but my body no longer li
IVY’S POVThe beeping did not stop.It stayed steady. Calm. Unbothered. Like the sound itself did not care that every breath in the room depended on it.Beep.Beep.Beep.Each sound landed inside my chest, sharp and exact, like a finger tapping against my ribs from the inside.Police sirens wailed outside now. Loud. Close. Too close. Red and blue lights flashed through the cracks in the warehouse walls, painting everything in broken colors that slid over faces and metal and concrete. Shadows jumped and shifted like they were alive.Someone shouted orders outside. Boots moved fast across gravel. Radios crackled with clipped voices and half sentences. Metal doors slammed somewhere down the dock.We had to go.I knew that with a certainty that did not need thought. My body knew it too. My legs trembled like they were begging to move. My hands shook at my sides, fingers curling and uncurling as if testing whether they still worked.My lungs burned even though I was breathing.But no one m
IVY’S POVThe room smelled like metal and old water.Every sound felt louder inside my body than outside it. The shuffle of boots. The low murmur of voices. The faint drip from somewhere in the ceiling. My heart beat hard enough that I was sure everyone could hear it.Damien stared at me like he was trying to burn my face into his memory.“You look smaller,” he said. His voice was rough. Mocking. “Not so brave without your little guards.”My fingers twitched at my sides.Kai shifted slightly beside me. I felt the change in his posture before I saw it. Protective. Ready.I lifted my hand just a little.He noticed.He stayed still.I took one step forward on my own.The concrete was cold under my sandals. The sound echoed. Damien’s eyes followed me, sharp and alert, like a trapped animal waiting for weakness.“You don’t get to talk to me like that,” I said.My voice surprised me. It did not shake. It did not rise. It landed flat and firm, like a statement that did not need approval.Dam
IVY’S POVThe phone stayed in my hand long after the call ended.The screen went dark but my fingers did not move. My ears were ringing like the words were still being said over and over again. We caught the bastard. Come to the dock now.My chest felt hollow. Not tight. Not heavy. Just empty. Like something had been scooped out of me and left space behind.Damien.The name floated in my head without meaning at first. Like a word spoken in a language I did not understand. I tried to connect it to fear. To anger. To relief. Nothing came immediately.My knees felt weak.I sat down slowly on the couch, careful like sudden movement might shatter something fragile inside me. The room looked the same. My walls. My curtains. My little living room that had survived everything even when I did not feel like I had.I stared at the door.Kai’s footsteps sounded from outside. Heavy. Careful. The scrape of boxes against the floor. Keys jingling. The door opened.He stepped in carrying bags and a bo
ASHER’S POVThe phone started ringing somewhere near my head.At first it blended into the noise inside my skull. A distant sound. A nuisance. I shifted on the couch and groaned, my mouth dry, my head pounding like it was split open.The ringing did not stop.I opened my eyes to darkness and ceiling light bleeding at the edges of my vision. My arm felt heavy as stone as I reached down blindly. My fingers brushed the floor, knocked the bottle, then finally found the phone.I brought it to my ear without checking the screen.“What” I muttered. My voice sounded wrong. Thick. Drunk.“Asher,” Levi said. He was breathing fast. Too fast. “Get up. Wake up. We’ve got a situation.”I frowned, trying to pull his words together. “It’s too early .”“That doesn’t matter. They found him.”The fog in my head shifted.“Found who,” I said.“Damien. We got confirmation ten minutes ago. One of our informants flagged movement at an old warehouse near the river. Same area he’s been circling for weeks. It l
IVY’S POVI woke up in the middle of the night.My eyes opened slowly.The room was quiet.Too quiet.I lifted my head a little.Kai was sleeping on the couch.His arms folded.His head resting back.His body looked uncomfortable but he did not move.I wanted to check the time.There was a wall clock somewhere in the room.But from the bed I could not see anything.Everything looked dark and blurry.I let my head fall back on the pillow.Sleep came again faster than I expected.When I opened my eyes the next time it felt like maybe thirty minutes had passed.But the sky through the window was already grey.Day was breaking.A small amount of morning light filled part of the room.Kai was up.He was already moving around.He folded clothes.He placed things in a small bag.He moved silently but one of the hangers made a soft noise and that woke me up fully.He turned around when he noticed my eyes open.“Sorry Princess. I did not mean to wake you. I wanted to tidy things up before you







