Collateral Damage Book Novels & Stories

"I was always your enemy. I just didn't know it until I fell in love with the woman you tried to destroy." Thorne's finger tightened on the trigger. A shot rang out. I flinched. But the bullet didn't hit me. Thorne staggered. Dropped the gun. Blood bloomed across his shoulder—red against his grey coat. Behind him, Celeste stood in the doorway, her hands steady, her eyes cold. The gun in her grip was still smoking. "Collateral damage," Celeste said. "That's what you called the people you killed. My employees. My friends. Nadia Khalil."

the guards ask. That’s when it hits me. I reach under the collar of my shirt and pull out my small gold chain that says “Love”. I am so embarrassed. As I gather my things, I turn to the people behind me and mouth “I am sorry”. I walk towards the elevators, noticing there is an elevator already open, but it looks as if it’s about to close. “Please hold the elevator., I yell.

Extraction corridors soaked in blood. But this? Standing twenty floors below a billionaire’s glass palace, pretending to be just another security contractor? This was worse. Because Damon Moreau was alive. And Evelyn Moreau was dead. Luca closed his eyes briefly. He could still feel the trigger under his finger. Still see her stepping into his line of fire. Collateral damage, Adrian had said. Necessary. Luca swallowed hard. He had never missed a primary target before. Never hesitated. But something about Damon had broken his rhythm.

The collar around his throat and the platinum chain beneath it felt like the only steady things left in the world. Damian stood beside him, rifle slung across his back, blood streaking his face from a fresh graze above his temple. His own body showed the lingering effects of the clone’s neural attack—faint blue veins pulsing under his skin, eyes still flickering with residual red from the entity’s partial possession. The temporary tyranny had ended in fire and betrayal, but the cost had been high. Prime’s final act had torn open something far worse than physical wounds. The ground beneath their feet began to tremble.

I wake up extremely late the next day. And bump my head against the headboard, followed by a loud groan. I think that is the moment Robert stirs awake. But I am already stumbling off the bed. Sheet hooking around my ankle, and I stumble over, hands thrown forward to prevent my face from crashing against the white tiles. Left hip coming into contact with the hard floor. A sharp jolt of pain cruise through my entire left leg. Omph!

I honestly don't know what I keep expecting from him but if this is what marriage is well I have to take what I'm offered besides I was just collateral damage. ‎

"My dear Harrieta, did you know that your father killed my parents and my sister? Did you know that my sister was sleeping, clueless of the family business—innocent and helpless when your father decided to slit her throat?" "Your family died because they deserved to die," Harriet snaps behind me. I hear Freddy growl as he takes another step closer. I stood my ground but I still felt Harriet flinch behind me. "You're right. But that doesn't mean they have to kill my sister when all they wanted was me." "No one is innocent, Freddy," I interrupted. "Especially not in this business." "Of course," he scoffed. "Little Caterina knows everything about collateral. You're one yourself, am I right? You

| AVERYN | The title 'Shield of the Prince' sounds honourable, but it feels more suffocating than the palace. The marble floors gleamed, everywhere polished to perfection, yet all he could see when he looked down was blood. All that kept echoing in his head was her scream, her cries. Caleb clenched his fist as it played over and over in his head. He gritted his teeth and refused to swallow. They had become phantom stains that refused to wash away.

"Why? Why is this happening? I was reborn. I got everything I wanted. So, why did it still end like this?" I froze for a second. I never expected that Janet had been reborn, too. No wonder she had been so desperate in this life, so determined to chase everything she wanted. However, the darkness inside her had already sealed her fate. Watching as the officers forced her down and restrained her completely, I gave a small shrug and answered lightly, "Maybe you can figure that out in prison." The ambulances arrived quickly and carried the two injured people away. They survived. However, both of them had been blinded by shattered glass, and their faces were severely disfigured. What Janet had do

I thought of the world that was currently waking up to a silence it didn’t understand. But as I felt that tiny, second heartbeat pulse against my palm, I didn’t feel like a fugitive. I didn’t feel like a victim of a global conspiracy. I felt like an Architect. The first book was about the blood. It was about the betrayal and the breaking of the old world. It was about the trauma of the glass and the roar of the mountain. But the second book? The one we were starting right now, in this quiet French valley? That book was going to be about the Home.