What's Left Of Noah

The creature's arm came down.Right onto the platform where Noah stood.The impact tore through the metal like paper. For one horrible second the whole structure dropped, half of it swinging loose on broken supports, Noah somewhere inside the wreckage."NOAH!" Lena was already moving, ankle forgotten, half-falling across the gap toward him."Wait—" Riven's voice, sharp behind her. Then he wasn't behind her anymore. He was past her. Already there.The platform groaned under its own weight, tilting further, threatening to give completely."He's under it!" Kai dropped to his knees at the edge, hands tearing at twisted metal. "Noah — can you hear me?!"A groan. Weak. But real."He's alive!" Kai's voice cracked with a relief he had no time to feel. "ELARA! Get over here!"She was already running, her calm cracking at the edges for the first time in longer than Lena could remember."Move him?" Kai asked, breathless."Not yet — not until I see how bad—" Elara dropped beside him, fingers alre

Partial Success

**CALCULATING PENALTY…** The words hung there. Nobody moved. "Here we go," Kai muttered, bracing like he expected the floor to open under them again. The screen flickered. Static crawled across the letters, breaking them apart and pulling them back together. **PARTIAL SUCCESS REGISTERED.** Noah, still flat on the ground with Elara's hands pressed to his ribs, let out a shaky breath. "Partial's good, right? Partial sounds good." "Partial sounds like a trap," Jax said. The screen answered for itself. **ONE LIFE MEDAL WILL BE CONFISCATED FROM EACH SURVIVOR.** For a second, nothing happened. Then a soft chime rang out — once, twice, over and over, stacking on top of itself until it sounded less like a notification and more like something laughing quietly in a language none of them spoke. Above every head in the chamber, the glowing numbers flickered. And dropped. Kai's went from three to two. He stared up at it like it had personally insulted him. "Hold on." His voice cracked

A Stolen Quiet

**ONE PLAYER HAS TRANSFERRED.**Nobody moved for a long moment. Then the screen dimmed and faded out, and the chamber lights flickered back to something almost normal — dull amber instead of the harsh white that had been burning down on them for the last hour."That's it?" Noah's voice came out hoarse. "No explanation? She just... transferred, and we're supposed to figure it out ourselves?""That's how it always works." Mira didn't sound convinced of her own answer. "You don't get explanations. You get results."Nobody had anything better. Nobody had the energy left to look for one either.The wall groaned, low and long, like something exhaling after holding its breath too long. Then a section of it simply opened. No countdown. No warning. Just a gap in the metal, wide enough to walk through, leading somewhere that didn't hum with danger the way everything else on this level had.Jax moved toward it first, blade still loose in his hand, checking the space before letting anyone near it

The Stranger Who Knows Her

"Something's here," Riven said. The wall groaned — not like it was exhaling this time. Like it was waking up. "Positions," Jax snapped, already moving. Elara hauled Noah upright by the arm. He hissed through his teeth. Kai planted himself in front of them without being told to. Zane slipped into the dark corner of the room, gone before anyone noticed him leave. "Stay close," Riven said. "You always say that." "It always works." The wall tore open. Sound poured through — screaming, snarling, a fight already in full swing somewhere close. "That's not for us." Noah sounded hopeful. "Right? That's happening somewhere else." It got louder. "It's for us," Jax said. They pushed into the corridor together, and what Lena saw stopped her cold. One man. Alone. Six, maybe seven twisted things closing in around him at once. He wasn't dying. He was fighting like his life depended on it — because it did — fast and mean, no wasted motion, a blade in each hand, his face locked in the kin

What He Doesn't Says

"Not again."The words hung there, small and quiet, but Lena felt them land somewhere she couldn't name — a bruise pressed on before she even knew it existed."Not again what?"Dante didn't answer. He was already walking, already putting distance between them, catching up to the front of the group like the conversation had never happened, like she'd imagined the whole exchange."Dante.""We should keep pace." He didn't look back. "Falling behind gets people killed."She caught up anyway, matching his stride even with her ankle protesting every other step, teeth gritted against the throb of it."You almost called me something back there. Before you caught yourself.""Did I.""You know you did.""Doesn't matter what I almost said.""It matters to me."His jaw tightened. For a second she thought he'd give her something real — some crack in the surface she could work her fingers into. Then his face closed over — smooth, practiced, a door someone had learned to shut fast, and shut often, l

All Chapters of Love In A Deadly Game : Chapter 31 - Chapter 35

What's Left Of Noah

Partial Success

A Stolen Quiet

The Stranger Who Knows Her

What He Doesn't Says