Chapter 4: Fire Meets Frost*
Two days passed.
Two long, quiet days.
But in the world of shadows, silence never meant safety — it meant something was about to break.
Queenza stood in the vault room beneath her safehouse, the walls lined with intel files, surveillance feeds, weapons, and secrets. Her eyes locked onto a face on the screen.
One of *her own men* — caught exchanging information with Kael's enemies.
*"Traitor,"* she muttered coldly.
The demon inside her stirred — it *loved* betrayal. It craved vengeance.
But Queenza wasn't impulsive. She didn't lash out. She planned. She dissected. And when she struck, there was no second chance.
She picked up her phone and dialed only one word:
*"Burn him."*
Elsewhere, Kael sat in a leather chair inside a glass-walled room, overlooking his private war room. His second-in-command, Rylan, placed a report on the table.
*"The girl from the East — she's dead. And she was working for someone inside Queenza's crew."*
Kael's jaw tightened.
The trap had been real. Someone wanted them to destroy each other. But now… now it was personal for both of them.
He stood and simply said, "Call her."
**
When Queenza answered the call, her voice was calm — too calm.
*"Didn't expect you to be the type who calls before war, Kael."*
His voice was even colder. *"And I didn't expect you to be so careful. That almost makes you dangerous."*
*"Almost?"*
*"I don't deal in emotions. But this isn't business anymore. Someone wants us dead."*
*"Correction,"* she replied, eyes narrowing, *"They want us to kill *each other*."*
A pause.
Two powerful minds, calculating in silence.
Then Kael asked something unexpected.
*"Do you trust anyone?"*
Queenza actually laughed — bitter, short.
*"No. I trained myself not to."*
*"Good,"* Kael said. *"Then we're not blinded."*
They agreed to meet — alone. No guards. No weapons. Neutral ground.
Just power, face to face.
**
The abandoned cathedral on the city's edge was crumbling, its stained glass shattered, its silence sacred.
Queenza arrived first. Black boots. Blade hidden in her boot, just in case.
Kael arrived minutes later. Hands empty. Eyes unreadable.
They stood inches apart in the broken light, where saints once watched — now only shadows remained.
*"You look like someone who's walked through fire,"* Kael said.
*"I became the fire,"* she replied.
For the first time… his lips twitched. A *real* reaction. Not cold. Not cruel.
Something… human.
And she hated how her chest reacted to it.
*"If we team up,"* she said, *"there's no turning back."*
*"Then we don't turn back."*
Silence again.
But this time, it wasn't cold.
It burned.
Not war.
Not love.
Something in between.
Something that could destroy them both — or rebuild everything.
And the city…
wasn't ready.
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