Semua Bab Broken Vows, New Promises: Bab 131 - Bab 140

The storm was coming.Not the kind that whipped through the trees with howling wind or crackling thunder. This storm was born of choices—of old wounds reopening and futures clawing at the horizon, desperate for resolution. Damien could feel it in the air as he ran, sweat stinging his eyes, muscles burning with each stride. The weight of the case, the responsibility of keeping Sigma safe, and the burden of what he had just uncovered—everything settled in his chest like a rock, unshifting, unyielding.But there was no room to stop. Not now. Not with Aetheris so close.Aurora’s steady pace kept beside him. Despite the urgency, she was calm, too calm for someone with so much on the line. Her presence steadied him. He could feel her focus, that quiet strength that didn’t waver even as the woods around them seemed to come alive with something darker.Behind them, the muffled sounds of pursuit grew louder—agents, more of them. Not just the physical ones they had already dispatched, but somet

The first light of dawn crept through the thinning mist, painting the sky in pale hues of rose and amber. Damp grass clung to Damien’s boots as he stepped outside the cave, the cool air prickling at his skin. The storm that had crashed around them last night felt like a distant memory—yet its echoes still reverberated in his bones.Aurora was already awake, kneeling beside Sigma, whose breathing was steadier but shallow. Null hovered nearby, his expression anxious and uncertain. For a moment, Damien paused at the threshold, taking in the fragile tableau: their makeshift family, bruised but unbroken, bound together by choices that had cost them everything.He cleared his throat softly. “We need to get moving.”Aurora looked up, meeting his gaze. “We’ll leave in ten,” she said. “Let me help him.”Damien knelt beside Sigma and offered a hand. “We’ll take her in the case for now,” he said. “There’s a med station at Sanctuary—Eve’s old infirmary.”Sigma managed a faint nod. “You’ll know wh

The cold air cut through the trees as dawn's light broke over the horizon. In the stillness of the forest, the world felt suspended—an uneasy calm before the storm. The forest was alive with the quiet rustle of leaves, the occasional snap of a twig beneath the feet of the four figures moving in tandem.Damien, Aurora, Null, and Elias advanced through the underbrush, their movements careful but swift. There was no room for hesitation, no luxury of second thoughts. The mission ahead would require precision and unity, and all of them were determined to see it through.The ruins of the monastery rose in the distance, an ancient silhouette against the fading stars. Once a place of worship, it now stood as a silent monument to secrets buried deep beneath the earth. Beneath those ruins lay the heart of the Aetheris network—the data nexus they had to breach to cripple Monroe’s final stronghold.Elias walked in the lead, his posture tense but resolute. The weight of his purpose was heavy on hi

The morning after the explosion was strangely still.The mountain air carried a brittle chill, brushing against the scorched earth where the Aetheris network once stood. Smoke still curled upward in delicate wisps, as though the ruins hadn't yet accepted their own end. Birds circled overhead, tentative and cautious. Nature, it seemed, was holding its breath.Inside the safehouse nestled at the base of the ridge, silence had taken on a different shape—calm, measured, almost sacred.Damien sat at the edge of the makeshift balcony, elbows on knees, watching the sunrise paint the valley in gold. His fingers were wrapped loosely around a steaming mug of black coffee, though he hadn’t taken a sip. He didn’t need the heat. He needed the stillness.Behind him, the door creaked softly open.Aurora stepped out barefoot, wrapped in a loose sweater that hung off one shoulder. Her hair was still damp from the quick shower she'd taken to scrub off the soot and blood. She paused when she saw him—his

The explosion echoed through the Carpathians like a buried heartbeat being silenced for good. Smoke rose from the ridge, curling toward the cold sky as if even the heavens exhaled relief.Damien stood at the edge of the cliff, watching the plume dissipate into the wind. His jaw was locked, his expression unreadable, but his eyes—those always gave him away. They were distant, full of storm-tossed reflections. Of Seraph’s soft voice. Of her last smile. Of what it meant to end something that had never truly begun.Aurora approached quietly, the silence between them laced with something deeper than words. She stood beside him, their shoulders just brushing.“She called him father,” Damien murmured. “And still chose me.”Aurora’s voice was soft, almost reverent. “Because you were never like him. You gave her something Monroe never could.”He turned to look at her. “What if that’s not true? What if all I’ve done is bury the sins of my creation in silence? I didn’t save her. I ended her.”“S