All Chapters of Ghost on the highway : Chapter 81 - Chapter 90

CHAPTER 81 — THE CHOICE THAT BLEEDSTime didn’t stop.It stretched.Like skin pulled too tight over bone.Tessa knelt between two Serpents, blood matting her hair, wrists bound behind her back. Her breathing was shallow but steady—defiant even now. She lifted her chin when our eyes met.And in that look, I saw it.Acceptance.Not fear.Not pleading.Choice.Bishop watched me with predatory patience, hands clasped behind his back like a priest waiting for confession.“Well?” he asked softly. “The bond is listening.”The air vibrated.The entity pressed closer, coiling around my spine, whispering into every crack it had ever carved inside me.Choose.Prove devotion.Blood opens the path.My hands shook.Wolf stepped forward. “Riven, don’t—”Saint caught his arm. Hard. “If he interferes, Bishop gives the location.”Wolf froze, rage burning in his eyes.I hated Bishop for that smile.I hated the bond more for how calm it felt.I took one step toward Tessa.The bond purred.I took another.

CHAPTER 83 — THE MARK THAT BREATHESThe mark pulsed.Not visibly—not like light or flame—but Luca felt it, deep beneath the skin of his wrist, a slow, steady thrum that didn’t belong to his heartbeat.Riven noticed before Luca said a word.“Don’t move,” Riven murmured, fingers tightening instinctively around Luca’s arm as if he could hold the thing still through sheer will.“I’m not,” Luca replied, though his body betrayed him with a faint shudder. “It’s… cold. And warm. Like it can’t decide.”Saint crouched in front of them, eyes fixed on the mark, face drawn and pale. “That’s because it’s stabilising.”Wolf swore. “I don’t like the sound of that.”“You won’t,” Saint said grimly. “The bond failed with Riven because he broke its emotional anchor. Luca didn’t reject it.”Luca stiffened. “I didn’t accept it either.”Saint met his gaze. “No. You endured it. That’s worse.”The refinery groaned around them, metal complaining as distant fires ate through weakened supports. Sirens wailed clo

CHAPTER 85 — FLAMES OF THE BONDThe safehouse shook.Not the slow, trembling kind of shaking that comes from old foundations settling. This was violent and deliberate—metal groaned, glass shattered, and every instinct screamed at Luca and Riven that they were no longer safe.Bishop stepped through the doorway like a storm incarnate, shadows writhing around him, merging with the darkness of the night. He was unharmed, impossibly composed, but every movement radiated lethal intent.Riven moved instinctively in front of Luca, fists tight, eyes locked on Bishop. “Stay behind me,” he growled.Luca didn’t. The mark pulsed—hot, alive, insistent. It was no longer just a reminder of what he felt; it was feeding, straining toward the threat, demanding action.“I… I can feel it,” Luca said, voice low, trembling. “It wants to fight. Bishop—it wants him.”Riven’s jaw clenched. “Luca, no. Not like this. You don’t know what it can do.”But the bond didn’t care.A tendril of shadow shot from Bishop’s

CHAPTER 87 — ASCENT OF THE VESSELThe safehouse was barely standing.Dust hung like smoke in the air, and every surface was scarred with cracks from the explosion of power moments before. The shadows writhed, pulsing with energy that seemed to hum in sync with Luca’s heartbeat. He was kneeling now, hands pressed to the floor, gasping as the mark flared violently.Riven stayed by his side, fingers gripping Luca’s shoulder. “Breathe. Focus. You’re not alone,” he whispered, voice calm but urgent.Luca’s eyes were wide, almost glowing in the low light, and he shook his head. “It’s too much… I can feel it inside me, Riven. It wants… it wants to take over. It doesn’t just want me—it wants everything I love.”The shadows around them twisted and coiled, reacting violently to the words, and Riven realised just how fragile control really was. One wrong thought, one spark of fear—and the entity would erupt, consuming them all.From the far end of the room, Bishop crawled to his feet, blood strea

CHAPTER 89 — INTO THE HEART OF DARKNESSRiven stumbled through the void, every step a battle against gravity and instinct alike. The air—or what passed for air—was thick with shadows, each pulse of darkness tugging at him, whispering doubts into his mind. He’s gone. He’s lost. You can’t save him.But Riven refused to listen.“He’s not gone!” he shouted into the void, voice cracking with desperation. “Luca! I’m coming for you! Hold on, damn it!”The faint pulse of Luca’s mark guided him like a lighthouse in the black. It was weak and erratic, but it was there—alive. And it was enough.Every shadow he passed seemed alive, twisting into shapes that resembled memories he didn’t want to confront. Bishop’s sneer, Vex’s cold betrayal, the night Saint died—all of it warped into claws and faces that tried to claw him down, drag him away from Luca.Riven swung his arms, forcing himself forward. “I don’t care what you are. You don’t get him. Not like this. Not ever!”Then he saw it. A ripple of