Shannon Messenger Nightfall Novels & Stories

“You can purge it. End everything. Or lock it forever—take the burden. Your choice.” Emotional climax built slow—years of auctions, betrayals, viruses, deaths crashing together. Sofia’s flatline in Berlin. Nadia’s smile as she died. Anya’s fevered eyes in Port Harcourt. Dante and Rocco—my only constants—bleeding beside me through every hell. I pressed down—retinal scan flaring, heartbeat locking. “Final heir override. All remaining strains terminating. Global network permanent shutdown. Node self-destruct in sixty seconds.” The console flashed green—codes scrolling to zero. Servers began overheating—fans screaming, lights strobing red.

I'm quiet because I actually feel guilty about all of this, I feel like I would have been able to do something. “No, that's not it, mom. I'm not scared of the news, and I will not get any nightmares,” I say and mom smiles. “Goodnight honey!” mom says and I wave, “Goodnight mom,” I say. She flips my light switch off and darkness floods the entire room. I turn off my phone and now I'm in absolute darkness, the kind of darkness where I can't even tell whether I'm lying or standing. After a few seconds of counting sheep, I fade. into my subconscious, gradually.

"Make it fast." "We traced the uplink to a regional burst tower," Lucas reported. "We can't get an IP yet, but we have the destination coordinates for the data packets." Nathan’s hand stilled on my back. I felt the tension bleed back into him, turning his muscles to stone. "Where?" "The signal didn't leave the mountains, Nate," Lucas sighed. "The feed was being sent directly into Havenfall." Nathan’s POV The steam from the sunken marble tub swirled around us, thick with the scent of cedar and expensive oils. I sat in the deep water, the heat doing nothing to melt the ice in my marrow. Zack was draped across my chest, his body limp, his eyes staring at nothing.

“Listen up, I am Fenrir, Alcinder’s wolf speaking. I will not spare anyone who tries or even thinks of threatening my position as the incoming Prime Alpha of Alparo. We have a mate. There will be no discussion again of a new Alpha.” “Alcinder, why didn't you say that you had a wolf and a mate? When did this happen? I am so happy.” Luna got up to hug Alcinder but she stopped him and walked out of the room. Alcinder went to the Kitchen to get dinner. As he opened the fridge to get some apples, he received a message that everyone in the park was to assemble at the Auditorium immediately, it was a matter of great urgency.

Above us, the muffled, staccato roar of Dante’s rifle was the only thing standing between the past and the present. "The satellite uplink is flickering, Silas!" I shouted, my fingers caked in sweat and grit as I fought the widow’s dead-channel frequencies. "Arthur has the local cell towers jammed, but I’ve found a pinhole in the Sterling-Thorne private mesh network. I can send the 'Decouple' code, but I need a handshake from the New York end. I need Leo to authorize the severance."

I look at Nick with confusion "But you’re my brother, I will always love you. But you have to let me grow up and live a life." He shakes his head violently "I can't allow that, I already have lost Natalie! I can't loss you too." He notches another arrow and aims at me again. He whispers "I'm sorry" then he fires, I don't hear the twang of the bowstring, I only hear Aaron's scream. Before I realise what's happening, I feel a blinding pain as my head knocks against the tarmac road. At the same time I hear a loud snapping noise. The arrow falls to the ground in pieces beside me, and standing in front of me is Ash. All those superhuman reflexes must really be coming in handy.

He slammed his palm across the interface. *BEEP.* > **BROADCAST NODE: ONLINE** > SECTOR FEED: SHADOWFANG WILDS PUBLIC FREQUENCY > CHANNEL OVERRIDE: ACTIVE > Across the vast, rusted amphitheater below—and echoing through every tavern, black-market den, and syndicate outpost in the Wilds—the deafening crowd noise was suddenly cut short by a sharp, high-pitched feedback chime echoing through the heavy speaker-horns. Agnes reached for the central comms microphone, leaning down, her Fate-Ring glowing with a steady, silver light against the metal rim.

In remembrance! In remembrance! Lord Nox, the God of War, succumbed to the siege by the Ten Nations and perished in the treacherous Ocean of Death. The battleground witnessed not only the staining of azure waters but also a sea adorned with lifeless forms, as Lord Nox, with unmatched prowess, faced and conquered the formidable lions of the Ten Nations.Contrary to popular belief attributing Lord Nox's demise to the collective might of the Ten Nations, the truth unfolds that the one responsible for extinguishing his life was none other than the woman who held the deepest place in his heart.In the passage of time, Nox Greenshade stood atop the towering peaks, gazing upon the vast expanse below

"If anyone tries to breach our comms again, they'll regret it, and I updated our firewalls with a new ghost protocol. Mason won't see it coming." Noah glanced over at me, at the way my eyes narrowed with focus, at the weariness clinging to the sharp line of my jaw. I should have told him to rest, forced him into a few hours of sleep, but I knew time wasn’t on their side. "Thank you…very much" Noah said, voice low, genuine. It pulled my eyes away from the screen. "I don’t want a thank you. I want this over," I replied. "Before someone else dies."

Images flickered — Nathan’s secret orders, his first meeting with the Board, the classified directive stamped Project Prometheus — Recover and Replace. Her heart twisted, but she forced herself to look away. “He lied because he thought it was the only way to protect me. That’s what you’ll never understand.” The shards glowed, vibrating violently as cracks spread across the glass horizon. 6 — The Awakening Outside, Nathan watched the servers surge with light. The building shook. Lara screamed as a beam collapsed nearby. “Alina!” he shouted, gripping her shoulders. “Come back!” Her eyes were rolled back, her pulse rapid. The fragments in her pocket emitted a high, piercing tone — and then a se