The shattered window still rattled from the gunshot.
Cold air rushed into the cabin, carrying with it the sound of footsteps crunching through the leaves outside.
Lucien didn't hesitate.
He pulled Ava behind the thick wooden table and raised his pistol toward the door.
Aurora moved quickly to the side wall, grabbing a second weapon from her coat.
Ava stared at it.
"You carry a gun too?"
Aurora smirked.
"I'm not stupid."
Another shot exploded outside.
This time the bullet punched through the wooden wall.
Splinters scattered across the room.
Ava flinched.
Lucien stayed perfectly still.
His eyes were focused on the door.
Listening.
Calculating.
"How many?" Aurora whispered.
Lucien tilted his head slightly.
"Three."
Aurora sighed.
"Three armed hunters versus us."
Ava swallowed.
"That doesn't sound good."
Lucien's voice was calm.
"They don't know what they're walking into."
The door handle suddenly rattled.
A second later—
The door burst open.
A masked man rushed inside with a rifle raised.
Lucien fired instantly.
The shot hit the man square in the chest, knocking him backward out the doorway.
Ava gasped.
Lucien didn't even blink.
"Two left," he said calmly.
Aurora whistled softly.
"I always forget how fast you are."
Outside, another hunter fired through the doorway.
Lucien ducked behind the wall as the bullet struck the fireplace.
Aurora leaned around the corner and fired twice.
A scream echoed from outside.
"Maybe one left," she said casually.
Lucien shook his head.
"No."
A heavy shadow suddenly moved past the broken window.
Lucien reacted instantly.
He grabbed Ava and pulled her to the floor just as another shot blasted through the glass.
The remaining hunter jumped through the window, landing inside the cabin.
He was bigger than the others.
Stronger.
A tactical vest covered his chest, and a knife gleamed in his hand.
His eyes locked on Ava immediately.
"There you are."
Lucien stepped between them.
"You're not touching her."
The hunter laughed.
"You don't understand."
He raised the knife slightly.
"She's worth twenty million now."
Lucien's expression turned cold.
"You're not getting paid."
The man lunged.
Lucien moved faster.
The two men crashed into the wall as Lucien blocked the knife and drove his elbow into the hunter's ribs.
The man grunted but fought back hard.
Ava watched in shock as they struggled across the cabin.
Lucien fought like someone who had done this his entire life.
Precise.
Controlled.
Deadly.
The hunter swung the knife again.
Lucien caught his wrist and twisted sharply.
A loud crack echoed.
The knife fell to the floor.
The hunter roared in pain.
Lucien slammed him into the table and pinned him there.
Aurora leaned casually against the wall.
"Well that escalated quickly."
Lucien grabbed the hunter's collar.
"Who sent you?"
The man laughed despite the pain.
"You already know."
Lucien pressed harder.
"The Dominion."
The hunter's grin widened.
"They're watching everything now."
Ava's stomach tightened.
"Watching?"
The hunter looked directly at her.
"You should have stayed erased."
Lucien's patience snapped.
He knocked the man unconscious with a sharp strike.
Silence filled the cabin again.
Ava's heart pounded as she stared at Lucien.
"You… you fight like a soldier."
Lucien didn't answer.
Aurora did.
"Oh he's much worse than that."
Lucien shot her a warning look.
But Ava had already noticed something.
The way Lucien moved.
The way he stayed calm even in the middle of a fight.
"You've done this before," she said quietly.
Lucien finally looked at her.
"Yes."
Ava hesitated.
"How many people have you killed?"
The question hung in the air.
Lucien's expression didn't change.
"Enough."
Aurora stretched lazily.
"Well, the good news is we survived."
Lucien shook his head.
"No."
Aurora frowned.
"What do you mean no?"
Lucien pointed towards the unconscious hunter.
"Those men were only scouts."
Ava's chest tightened.
"What?"
Lucien's voice was quiet but serious.
"The Dominion never sends only three hunters."
Aurora's expression slowly changed.
"You're kidding."
Lucien looked toward the dark forest outside the broken window.
"No."
In the distance, faint lights moved between the trees.
More flashlights.
More hunters.
Ava felt her heart drop.
"How many this time?"
Lucien reloaded his pistol.
"Too many."
Aurora grabbed her coat again.
"Well," she said, "I guess we're running again."
Lucien grabbed Ava's hand.
"Stay close."
As they rushed toward the back door of the cabin, Ava realized something terrifying.
The Dominion wasn't just hunting her.
They were surrounding her.
And the night was far from over.