The moment Darian said "They found us," something inside me froze… then snapped awake and he didn't waste a second.
"Adanna..... move."
His hand closed around my wrist firmly but not harsh, guiding me backward from the rooftop edge.
The rain had stopped but the ground was still wet, slick, and cold under my shoes. My breath came short, loud in my ears as Darian pulled me toward the metal door leading to the lower access floor.
He wasn't panicking, and wasn't rushing blindly but he was calculating.
I could feel it in the way his grip tightened and loosened at the right moments, the way his steps were quick but quiet, the way his eyes never stopped scanning.
"Darian… who placed the tracker?" I whispered.
He didn't answer immediately, he only pushed the door open with his elbow and guided me inside the dim stairwell.
Then he whispered, "Someone inside the Syndicate who wants me alive. They tagged the place to lead others here." His jaw tightened. "They want to flush me out… not kill me."
"Then what about me?" I asked with my voice cracked.
Something dark flashed in his eyes. "You're the leverage."
The door behind us gave a soft metallic click.
Darian froze and slowly he released my wrist… only so he could step in front of me, shielding me completely.
I heard boots on the rooftop, steady… deliberate.
Then the door pushed open again and a man stepped in. He's tall, wore a black jacket and his face sharp and expressionless.
A Syndicate operative. He didn't shout nor did he didn't pull a gun immediately. He just smiled like he'd been expecting us.
"Well, Darian," the man said quietly. "You're harder to corner than the rumors say."
Darian didn't move.
"Who sent you?" he asked, voice low and dangerous.
The man's eyes flicked to me. "She looks just like her father."
Something in my chest tightened painfully.
Darian's arm lifted slightly, blocking the man's view of me.
"Don't look at her," he warned.
The operative laughed softly. "Still protecting her? Even after what she knows?"
Darian's shoulders tensed.
I saw his hand twitch and ready to reach for his knife, or the gun tucked behind him, but the man raised a hand slowly.
"No weapons, I'm not here to kill you."
"Then why are you here?" Darian asked.
"To deliver a message," the man said. "They want the girl, and they want you to bring her."
My heart dropped as Darian stepped forward a little, enough that I could only see the side of his face but I saw the storm in his eyes.
"No," he said.
"It's not a choice, Darian."
"I said no."
The man sighed. "You're making this harder."
"And you're wasting time," Darian shot back. "If you really wanted to take her, you wouldn't be here alone."
Something flickered on the operative's face.... surprise! Which is a small victory for Darian, but it didn't last because the man suddenly reached behind him and pulled out something small and metallic.
Not a gun.... but a remote.
Darian reacted instantly, grabbing my hand and yanking me backward down the stairs.... but the man pressed the button first.
A sharp beeping sound echoed overhead.
Darian's eyes widened. "He called backup!"
The operative smiled again. "You have thirty seconds before they reach every exit."
Darian didn't wait for more, he grabbed my waist with one arm, holding me steady as he bolted down the stairs, guiding me so fast my feet barely touched every step.
"Darian!" I gasped. "You're hurting your shoulder!"
"I'm fine," he growled, but it wasn't anger. It was fear.... fear for me.
The stairwell shook slightly as more boots hit the rooftop above us.
"They're surrounding the building," he muttered. "Dammit."
"Darian, what do we do?"
He didn't answer.
He suddenly turned left into a narrow maintenance hallway I'd never noticed.
The space was tight, dark, the smell of dust filling my nose.
"Stay behind me," he whispered.
"I'm literally glued to you," I whispered back.
Even in that moment, his lips twitched.
Then..... a shadow moved ahead of us.
Another operative stepped out from behind a fuse box.
Darian stopped so suddenly my body pressed into his back. I felt the warmth of him, the steady rise and fall of his breath even in danger.
He raised his hands slightly....not surrender, just preparation.
"Last warning," Darian said quietly. "Walk away."
The man didn't buh he lunged and everything blurred.
Darian pushed me aside gently but fast, shoving me toward the wall.
He blocked the attack with his forearm, twisted the man's wrist, and slammed him into the fuse box hard enough to rattle it.
The operative swung again, aiming for Darian's injured shoulder, i felt rage spark inside me and before I could stop myself, I grabbed a metal pipe lying on the floor and swung it...
CLANG!
The man stumbled as Darian's eyes flew to me. "Adanna....!"
But he didn't get to finish because the man lunged again, and Darian used the opening to elbow him in the jaw, knock him to the floor, and silence him completely.
Breathing hard, he turned to me, his chest rose and fell, his hair was messy and his shirt clung to his body with sweat and rain.
"You could have gotten hurt," he whispered.
"You could have gotten killed," I shot back.
His eyes softened, slow… dangerous.
He stepped closer, cupping my face with one trembling hand.
"Don't ever scare me like that," he breathed.
"I'm not leaving you," I whispered. "Not when they want you dead."
His forehead pressed to mine, warm, grounding. The sounds of boots echoed closer, but for a second… just one second… it felt like time stopped.
"Adanna…" My name in his mouth sounded like something holy, something broken, something he needed more than air.
I closed my eyes as his thumb stroked my cheek gently, almost painfully soft in the middle of chaos.
"We have to move," he whispered against my lips but he didn't move and neither did I.
For one heartbeat, we stayed there, breathing each other in, like the world wasn't collapsing around us.
Then.....he pulled back, grabbed my hand tight, and whispered...
"This way, and no matter what happens, don't let go." and i nodded.
And together, we ran straight into whatever waited next.
The hallway narrowed as we ran, the walls closing in like the building itself was trying to trap us. Darian's fingers were tight around mine, his grip steady, strong… almost desperate.
I could hear voices behind us now.
Fast footsteps with commands being whispered sharply.
"They're gaining," I whispered.
"I know," he murmured, pulling me with him. "But we're not letting them catch us."
We reached another steel door, this one rusted, unused. Darian pushed it open with his shoulder and we slipped into a darker passage. A single flickering bulb hummed above us.
He let the door fall shut softly, then pulled me into the shadowed corner.
"Slow your breathing," he whispered.
"My breathing is not listening to me," I whispered back.
Even in the darkness, I saw the faint curve of his lips, that small, helpless smile he only gave when he was trying not to worry out loud.
He moved closer, one hand coming up to press gently over my chest.
"Follow my rhythm," he whispered.
The warmth of his hand burned through my shirt. His heartbeat was steady… mine was wild. I tried to match him. Slowly, the panic eased. The fear softened.
His eyes stayed on mine the whole time.
"You okay now?" he murmured.
"Only because you're here."
That made something flicker in him, a softness he always tried to hide but never fully succeeded.
He dropped his hand reluctantly.
"We keep moving," he said, his voice low.
We slipped deeper into the passage.
The lights buzzed and the air felt heavy.
My hand was still in his… he didn't let go once.
"Darian," I said quietly, "that first man… he said they want you to bring me. Why?"
His jaw flexed. "They think using you will force me to come back."
"Come back to what?"
"To the Syndicate I walked away from," he said flatly.
I swallowed hard.
"And your father…?"
Darian didn't stop walking, but his grip tightened.
"Your father never sent me into the Syndicate," he said. "He pulled me out, he wanted me far from them and he only asked me to protect you."
"So the Syndicate is twisting the story."
"They always do."
We turned a corner, then everything changed and a beam of light flashed ahead.
Darian stopped instantly and pressed me back against the wall, shielding me with his body again. His breath brushed my cheek, warm and quick.
"Stay behind me," he whispered.
I nodded even though my heart hammered as two Syndicate operatives stepped into the passage, their weapons weren't drawn yet, but their stance said they were ready.
Darian didn't hesitate and pushed me gently behind a broken metal shelf and stepped forward.
"Two against one," one of the men said mockingly. "Unlucky today, Darian."
He smirked. "You'll need more than two." he said and the first man lunged.
Darian moved like shadow and lightning at the same time, twisting, blocking, striking. The second man rushed in, and suddenly it wasn't a fight… it was survival.
The hallway echoed with fists hitting walls, grunts, sharp breaths. The second man grabbed Darian's injured shoulder.
Darian hissed in pain, knees bending slightly.
"Darian!" I cried.
The man grinned and tightened his grip.... and something inside me snapped again.
I didn't think....I just moved.
I picked up a loose construction tile from the floor and swung it with all the fear and anger in my body.
It hit the man in the back of the head, he stumbled, releasing Darian.
Darian didn't waste the second, he elbowed the man in the throat then kicked the other one to the ground.
Both men dropped as silence filled the passage again… thick and shaking.
Darian turned to me slowly. "Adanna," he breathed.
I dropped the tile, chest heaving. "I'm sorry, I just..... he grabbed you, and..."
He reached me in three steps, and his hands came up to my face, his forehead pressing against mine, his breath unsteady and warm.
"Don't apologize," he whispered. "You saved me."
"I thought he was going to....." My voice broke.
His thumbs wiped the tears I didn't realize were there.
"I'm fine," he whispered. "Because of you."
His lips brushed my cheek, not a kiss, but close enough to burn through me and close enough to tell me everything he couldn't say yet.
Then he pulled back slightly, eyes still on mine.
"We have to keep moving," he murmured, voice rough. "More will come."
"Together," I said, and his hand found mine again. He squeezed it once, firm. "Always."
We ran again and this time closer, faster, our hands locked like we were the only two people left in the world, but danger wasn't done with us.
As we approached the end of the passage, Darian slowed, light leaked from under the next door.
"He's cornered on the maintenance level," one said.
"We close in from both
sides," another replied
Darian's eyes narrowed.
"They're trying to trap us."
"How do we get out?"
His gaze dropped to my lips for a second, the way it always did when he was thinking too fast and too hard, then lifted again, sharp and focused.
"We make our own exit."
He pulled me close, his hand sliding around the back of my waist and with that..... he kicked the door open.....
To be continued...