The truck rumbled under us, the smell of smoke still thick in the air, when the broken phone in my hand buzzed weakly.
Its screen was cracked beyond recognition, barely functional — but somehow, a call was coming through.
Unknown number.
My fingers hesitated. Then, without thinking, I picked it up.
"Hello?" I asked, confused, voice still rough from sleep and smoke.
For a moment, all I heard was heavy breathing — gasping, trembling — like the caller was running for their life.
Then a voice.
Broken.
Familiar.
"C-Callista…"
My chest tightened.
"Caleb?" I breathed out, recognizing my cousin's voice instantly.
He sounded awful — like he was on the verge of collapse.
Relief rushed through me too fast, too foolish.
"Oh, hey Caleb! How are you? How have you been? How's LUMENN right now?" I asked too many questions, too excited, too desperate for something good — something normal.
I turned my head and whispered to Aurelius, "You can let me go now," and after a moment's hesitation, he slowly loosened his grip.
But Caleb's next words smashed whatever hope I had left.
"LUMENN… has collapsed," he said.
Shaking. Broken.
It was like the earth split beneath me.
I sat there frozen, unable to even breathe properly.
"What?" I whispered, not believing — refusing to believe. "What do you mean?"
His voice cracked more, like he was holding back sobs.
"You have to run, now! Victor... Victor Valemont is targeting you. Not just you, but Aurelius too."
Aurelius stiffened beside me at the name.
"And Phelia, Simon, Xavier… they're on their way to you, but..." Caleb coughed violently, the sound of him stumbling. "...I don't think I can make it there."
The world around me blurred. My hands shook so hard I nearly dropped the phone.
This had to be a nightmare.
It had to be.
"Caleb..." I croaked.
He wasn't done.
"My mom... and your mom..." His voice cracked fully, breaking apart into a whisper.
"...they're dead."
The words sliced me open like knives.
No.
No.
No no no no no —
A sharp bang exploded through the speaker — a gunshot — loud enough for both me and Aurelius to hear it.
I screamed into the phone, "CALEB?!"
But the call was already dead.
The truck jolted forward sharply as Aurelius leapt into the driver's seat without hesitation, flooring the gas pedal.
I sat there, paralyzed, the phone slipping from my numb fingers, hearing nothing but the ringing silence of a world that had just shattered.
The fall of LUMENN wasn't a metaphor.
It was real.
It was happening.
And now...
we were next.
The second explosion hit harder — the shockwave shaking the ground beneath us.
Aurelius grabbed my wrist tightly, his voice a sharp roar against the chaos.
"Run! Hide!"
His remaining bodyguards threw themselves between us and the advancing enemies.
I stumbled forward, my heart hammering in my chest, when I saw them — uniforms marked with a familiar, hateful symbol.
VARAK.
The twisted creation of Victor Valemont — Aurelius's own father.
Gunfire cracked in the night air. Bodies dropped.
Aurelius's men were dying one by one.
We were completely surrounded — a brutal, merciless trap.
I froze for a moment, despair clawing at my throat.
There were too many of them.
Just me and Aurelius now — and not enough time, not enough strength.
I almost surrendered.
Almost.
Until —
Three figures burst through the smoke, weapons raised.
Phelia. Simon. Xavier.
LUMENN's last hope.
Tears blurred my vision as they fought their way toward us.
Phelia, with a gun trembling slightly in her hands but firing true.
Simon, fierce and determined despite the blood already staining his shirt.
Xavier, moving with lethal precision, guarding my side as if nothing else mattered.
Aurelius fought too — dagger flashing, his movements ruthless and desperate.
I stayed behind them, my body tensed and ready — not because I was weak.
But because I was the target.
If I fought, I'd lose more than just my life — I'd lose their trust, their sacrifice.
I had to survive.
Chaos reigned around us — gunfire, screams, smoke.
Then —
A gunshot.
A splatter of blood.
I turned just in time to see Simon stumble backward, a crimson stain blooming across his chest.
"SIMON!" I screamed, tears flooding down my cheeks.
Xavier grabbed my wrist harder, practically dragging me through the chaos.
"We have to go!" he shouted, voice breaking.
Aurelius's voice cut through the madness behind us — shouting something desperate to Xavier.
I barely caught the words through the noise.
"Protect her. Protect her like your life depends on it!"
I wanted to look back.
I wanted to run to them.
But Xavier didn't let me.
Gunfire rained around us.
I looked over my shoulder — just once — and saw Aurelius.
Surrendering.
Dropping his dagger.
Falling to his knees.
And then —
Phelia.
A clean shot through her head.
Her body crumpling.
My legs almost gave out.
I let out a sob, but Xavier didn't let me stop. He hauled me forward, faster, deeper into the night, away from the burning mansion, the screams, the death.
We were still being chased.
VARAK wasn't giving up easily.
My mind whirled, barely able to think.
Mom's gone.
Aunt's gone.
LUMENN fallen.
Simon shot.
Phelia gone.
Aurelius surrendered.
And me — just trying to survive, dragged along by Xavier's desperate strength.
I wasn't weak.
But tonight, I had to be protected.
Tonight, I had to live.
Even if it meant losing everything I loved.
As we ran through the smoke and wreckage, I glanced sideways — and my heart sank.
Xavier's arm was soaked in blood, a deep, ugly wound blooming just above his elbow.
A gunshot.
He was wincing hard, his breath ragged, his steps uneven.
Every few strides, he stumbled — but he never let go of me.
Never stopped pushing forward.
Even when his stamina was clearly crashing, even when the pain was breaking through his strong front.
"Xavier—!" I gasped, but he shook his head sharply.
"Keep... moving..." he panted, voice strained and rough, teeth gritted against the pain.
"I promised him. I promised I'd protect you."
Tears blurred my vision again.
This wasn't fair.
None of this was fair.
Behind us, the burning ruins of the mansion lit the night sky — a grave for everyone we had failed to save.
I squeezed Xavier's hand tighter, trying to help him without slowing us down.
His body was shuddering from blood loss, yet he still shielded me with everything he had.
We ducked through the wreckage of a collapsed fence, the sharp edges of broken wood scraping at our skin.
Smoke burned my lungs. The world spun dizzy around me.
But we kept running.
We had to.
Gunfire echoed behind us, but it was fading, swallowed by distance and the walls of the surrounding woods.
Still, every step felt like a lifetime.
Every breath a battle.
And Xavier — bleeding, limping, gasping — refused to fall.
He was risking everything, pouring the last of his strength into protecting me.
And I realized —
It wasn't just a promise to Aurelius he was keeping.
It was a promise to himself.
The only thing stronger than his pain...
was his loyalty.
End of chapter 29.