Page 27

“All clear!” The shout rolls over the carnage, its echo hard and certain.

The room reeks of hot iron and fresh blood, punctuated by our sharp breaths. Off in the distance, the low rumble of approaching engines echoes through the wilderness—a reminder that we've overstayed our welcome.

I nod to Kellan, decisive and unyielding. "Time to go. Grab what you can."

“On it.” He moves effortlessly through the routine, and we gather essentials using the honed muscle memory of seasoned warriors.

We're already heading toward the rear exit. Serenity keeps up, her presence a volatile, luminous fixture at my side.

“More agents are on the way,” Kellan reports, low but urgent. “PGC forces too.”

“Then we move fast.” I glance at Serenity while tucking her closer as we slip into the shadows outside. “We’ll keep you safe. But this—” gesturing to the chaos we've left behind—“this is far from over.”

We navigate through dense undergrowth for what feels like hours before reaching Kellan's backup vehicle—a nondescript SUV hidden beneath camouflage netting half a mile from the compromised motel. The distance proves wise. Reaching out with my wolf senses, I find the surrounding woods motionless, filled only with the gentle rustle of leaves and the quiet rhythm of the wilderness, confirming we’ve successfully secured our escape and left the chaos far behind.

"Nice work on the positioning," I tell Kellan as he strips away the concealment.

"Paranoia pays." Kellan tosses me the keys. "You drive. The next coordinates are programmed into the GPS. I need to make some calls." He opens the rear door and climbs into the back, bringing his phone to his ear as I take the wheel.

Serenity slides into the passenger seat without argument, which puts me on edge. She's been unnaturally quiet since we left the motel, her usual sharp commentary replaced by an unsettling mute reserve.

"What happened back there?" I start the engine and steer onto a dirt road that winds further into the forest. "When you froze, what did you see?"

Her fingers twist her metal rings, a nervous habit I've noticed whenever she's processing something difficult.

"I saw something. During the fight, when my magic spiked. Visions, maybe. Ancient underground ruins carved from black stone. Moonlight streaming down through cracks in the earth, illuminating pools of blood."

Kellan looks up from his phone. "Prophetic visions run in your bloodline?"

"Nothing like this." Serenity's laugh is an empty thing. "This felt real. Like I was standing there, breathing that stale air. The walls were covered in symbols—the same moonly markings from the subway tunnel."

My hands clench the steering wheel as pieces click together brutally and clearly. "They're not trying to kill you."

"What?"

"The restraints from the capture spell they tried to use." I meet her eyes in the mirror. "Everything they've done has been about taking you alive. I've been doing some thinking. If they wanted you dead, we'd have found your body in that subway tunnel weeks ago."

Sudden clarity hardens Kellan’s expression. "He's right. Those were strategic extraction operations."

"But why? What could they possibly want with⁠—"

She stops mid-sentence, her face going pale as understanding dawns. The vehicle falls eerily quiet, the air thick with implications none of us want to voice.

"It doesn't make sense unless..." Serenity swallows hard, her eyes meeting mine in the reflection. "I think I'm the center of it, Darius. The actual center."

The SUV's engine whirrs beneath us. Kellan's phone call has gone silent in the back seat. Nobody speaks for a long time, because the truth doesn't need embellishing. Every attack and every tracking mercenary squad—all of it orbiting one person.

I look at Serenity in the seat next to me. She stares straight ahead through the windshield, pale irises illuminating the headlights of oncoming traffic, her lips compressing into a tight line to master a tremor she's trying to hide.

I drive faster.

"We need to go to ground. Kellan has safehouses set up, but we'll need to keep moving. A couple of days bouncing between locations, shifting every six hours so they can't lock onto your magic. And then... we figure out what the hell this is."

"Agreed," she murmurs, still staring out the window. "But eventually, we're going to need answers."

11

SERENITY