The warehouse door shook with the first hit.
Serena's breath caught in her throat. Aria already had her knife out, shoulders squared, every muscle coiled like a wolf cornered.
"Back," Aria hissed, shoving Serena toward the cot.
"I'm not hiding," Serena snapped.
"Not hiding. Staying alive."
The second hit splintered the wood. Metal screamed against metal. A boot crashed through the bottom panel, kicking it wide open.
Three men flooded inside. Black coats. Knives flashing. One with a pistol already raised.
Aria moved first—fast, feral. She hurled the lantern. Glass shattered, flames licking across the floor. The sudden burst of fire made the men flinch, shadows jumping. Aria lunged, knife catching the closest in the thigh. He screamed, dropping.
The gun barked. The shot sparked off the wall inches from Serena's head. She hit the floor, palms stinging, adrenaline flooding.
"Serena!" Aria's shout cut through smoke.
Another man grabbed her from behind, dragging her back with a chokehold. She clawed at his arm, teeth bared. "Fuck off!" She stomped down on his boot, hard enough to crack bone. He roared, loosening his grip. Serena tore free and swung the nearest thing she found—an iron rod from the cot frame. It crunched into his jaw. He dropped like dead weight.
The pistol man was still standing. He didn't rush. He aimed. Calm. Steady.
Aria turned in time, knife raised, but Serena's stomach dropped. She wasn't close enough—
The shot thundered.
Aria twisted. The bullet ripped past, tearing fabric, grazing her ribs. She staggered, hissing through her teeth, knife slipping from her bloody grip.
"Aria!"
The gun swung toward Serena now.
Her chest froze. The iron rod was heavy in her hands, useless against a trigger pull.
"On your knees," the man ordered, voice flat. "Both of you. Orders are alive, not pretty. Don't make me test the limit."
Serena's hands shook. She could drop the rod, let them take her, let Aria bleed out at their mercy. It would be easy.
"Serena," Aria groaned, bracing against the wall. "Don't."
Serena's throat locked. "Don't what?"
"Don't let them decide."
The pistol man smirked. "Decide what? You don't have a choice."
And that was it. That was the moment something broke.
Serena lifted the rod, grip white-knuckled. "I'm done being a pawn."
The smirk slid. "Stupid girl."
He started to squeeze the trigger—
The warehouse window exploded.
A rock smashed through, trailing fire. Then another. Molotovs. Flames spread fast, smoke thickening, heat slamming into the room like a wall.
The men cursed, distracted, backing away from the blaze.
"Now!" Aria shouted.
Serena didn't think. She rammed the iron rod into the gunman's wrist. The pistol clattered to the floor, spinning across concrete. Aria dove for it, blood soaking her shirt, hands slick, but she raised it anyway, steady enough.
"Out," she snarled at the men. "Or burn."
They hesitated. The fire wasn't.
They bolted, dragging the bleeding one with them, disappearing into the night.
The warehouse filled with choking black smoke. Aria dropped the pistol, coughing, grabbing Serena's wrist. "Move!"
They stumbled out through the back door, smoke clawing after them, fire lighting the night behind.
Cold air hit Serena's lungs like knives. She doubled over, coughing hard, tears streaming from the burn. Aria shoved her forward, both of them staggering down the gravel path behind the warehouses.
Sirens wailed in the distance. Fire engines. Police. Maybe Vale men too.
Aria's steps faltered. Serena looked down—her shirt was soaked red, dark and spreading.
"Fuck—" Serena caught her, arm around her waist. "You're hit bad."
"I've been worse." Aria's smirk was weak, teeth blood-stained. "Don't cry about it."
"Shut up." Serena dragged her along, panic clawing her chest. She couldn't lose her here, not now, not after—
A car screeched around the corner. Black. Tinted windows.
Serena froze, heart seizing. Another Vale car.
Aria groaned, knife already in her bloody fist again. "Round two."
But the back door popped open, and a woman leaned out—sharp jaw, scarred cheek, eyes that cut like Aria's.
"Get the fuck in if you want to live," she barked.
Serena hesitated. "Who—"
"Friend," Aria rasped. She didn't sound sure.
The sirens grew louder. The fire roared higher. The Vale car doors slammed open on the other end of the block.
Serena clenched her jaw, tightened her grip on Aria, and shoved her into the waiting car.
The door slammed shut. Tires screamed.
The city blurred away in streaks of firelight and smoke.