The warning wasn't an idle threat.
By the time Reyna, Avery, and Nova returned to the garage, drones were already circling overhead. The place hummed with tension, crews arming themselves, locking down bays, activating defense grids.
Avery helped Nova secure the north entrance, fingers nimble but heart racing.
"Any chance they'll just walk away?" she asked.
Nova shot her a look. "This is the future. No one walks. Everyone runs—toward blood or away from it."
Reyna was barking orders at her crew, more commander than racer now. Her voice was sharp steel.
"Load EMP charges on the south wall. I want kinetic shields on all bikes. And if anyone isn't ready to fight—they stand back."
Avery watched her with awe. This Reyna—the one unafraid, unyielding—wasn't the cold racer she'd met weeks ago.
She was fire incarnate.
But fire could burn.
"You sure about this?" Avery asked when Reyna finally came to her.
Reyna placed her hands on Avery's shoulders. "If I run now, I'll never be able to stop looking over it. They need to know: this garage isn't just steel and circuits. It's family."
Avery swallowed the lump in her throat. "Then let's protect it."
The first shot came at midnight—a blast against the west wall. Sparks showered the entry gate. Shouts followed. Bikes screamed into the alleyways, engines howling like wolves.
Reyna vaulted onto her bike.
Avery jumped onto hers.
"No," Reyna snapped. "You're staying inside."
"I can fight."
"I know. But I need you alive more than I need you out there."
Avery hesitated, then nodded. "Then come back. Or I'm burning the whole city down to find you."
Reyna's smile was sharp. "Deal."
And then she was gone—vanishing into the chaos.
The garage roared with sound and fury, and above it all, Avery waited, hands trembling over a plasma wrench.
Love wasn't just kisses and whispered promises.
It was staying. Even when the storm came knocking.
And Avery? She would hold the line.
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Chapter 15 will ride us straight into the heart of the siege. Ready to see who makes it through