I tore through the forest undergrowth, my hands shaking as I gathered whatever herbs and clean cloth I could find. Xavier sat against a tree, teeth clenched, blood trailing down his arm and soaking into his shirt. He said nothing, just watched me—his breath ragged, his body trembling not from fear, but from pain and exhaustion.
"Stay with me, okay? Just... stay," I murmured, my voice cracking as I pressed down on the wound with trembling hands.
He gave me a faint nod, biting his lip hard enough to bleed.
I tore the bottom hem of my shirt, wrapping it tightly around his upper arm to slow the bleeding. Then I crushed the bitter-smelling herbs between my palms, praying my rushed memory of first aid and LUMENN survival training wouldn't fail me now. My eyes stung, not just from the smoke and dust still hanging in the air, but from something far deeper.
"It should sting, just a little," I whispered, placing the crushed poultice against the wound.
Xavier let out a quiet grunt but didn't complain.
And then, silence fell.
It was suffocating.
The kind of silence where guilt screams the loudest.
I sat back on my heels, blood on my hands, and stared at him. At the trembling of his limbs, the pale cast to his face, the way he still smiled through it for me. Even now. Even after everything.
"This is my fault," I whispered.
Xavier's eyes opened, barely. "Callista..."
"No. Don't try to comfort me." My voice was sharper now, rising with every word. "I let this happen."
My fists curled into the soil beneath us.
"I was too comfortable. Too distracted. I knew something was wrong. I felt it in my bones, and what did I do? I stayed. I let myself fall into his warmth. I laughed. I studied. I slept in luxury while our family—our family—was bleeding in the shadows."
Tears rolled down my cheeks freely now.
"Simon got shot. Phelia..." My voice broke. "I saw it. And Aurelius... I don't even know if he's still alive. And it's all because I wanted to be normal. I wanted to feel safe. Loved. Just for a moment. I was selfish, Xavier. So damn selfish."
I couldn't look at him. I couldn't bear to see his expression, not if it had pity in it. Not if it had understanding.
"You're not selfish," he whispered hoarsely, lifting his injured arm with effort to place his hand over mine. "You're human."
"No. I'm the daughter of the woman who built LUMENN. I should've been ready. I should've protected everyone. I had the training. I had the instincts. And I ignored them."
The guilt was crushing. Heavier than any wound. I could feel it pressing into my chest, a weight I wasn't sure I could carry much longer.
The forest was quiet again. Too quiet. Not a single bird, not a single breeze.
Only the burning in my throat. Only the ache in my heart.
And Xavier's hand, refusing to let go of mine.
Callista blinked away the tears clouding her vision, forcing her breath to steady. She couldn't afford to fall apart now. Not when Xavier was bleeding out in front of her. Not when he still believed in her, despite everything.
She sniffed hard, wiped her face with the back of her arm, and whispered, "I'm sorry. I'll fix this."
With renewed focus, she leaned in and inspected the wound again. The bleeding had slowed, but the skin around it was already beginning to swell. She carefully adjusted the poultice, adding a few more crushed leaves to help fight infection. The scent was sharp and earthy, almost metallic, but it meant the herbs were fresh and working.
"This is going to hurt," she warned softly.
Xavier nodded. "Already does."
She found a stick nearby and handed it to him. "Bite down. Just in case."
He accepted it without a word, slipping it between his teeth. Callista then wrapped the makeshift bandage tighter, using another strip of cloth to reinforce it. Her hands were steadier now—clumsy, yes, but fueled by purpose.
"I'm going to keep you alive," she whispered, more to herself than him. "No more losses. Not one more."
Once the bandage was secure, she checked his pulse. Still strong, though his skin was cold. She tugged off her outer jacket and draped it over him, then leaned against the tree beside him, watching the shadows between the trees like a hawk.
Even if the world had fallen apart... she still had someone to protect.
And this time, she wouldn't let her guard down. Not ever again.
But just as she finished tying the final knot, she froze.
Footsteps.
Not just one set—multiple. Crunching leaves. Heavy boots.
VARAK.
Her blood ran cold.
She looked at Xavier, who was barely conscious, eyes fluttering. "Xavier," she whispered urgently, gripping his shoulder. "We have to move. Now."
He tried to push himself up, but his arm trembled under his weight. She didn't wait. She pulled him up with all her strength, wrapping his uninjured arm around her shoulders. Step by step, she dragged him toward a thicket of ferns and fallen logs just a few feet away.
The voices grew louder. Shouts. Orders. Gun safeties clicking off.
She shoved a curtain of leaves aside and slipped them both into a hollow between the trees, partially covered by roots and moss. She pushed Xavier down gently, but firmly, and crawled in beside him.
Her hand instinctively reached for his face, covering his mouth softly. His breath was shallow, ragged.
Her own chest ached with the effort not to make a sound.
She could hear them.
"Spread out. They couldn't have gone far."
"Check the ridge—bleeding trail's fresh."
Her heart pounded like a drum. She covered her own mouth now too, burying her face against her arm to muffle every breath. A twig snapped nearby. She shut her eyes.
Please don't find us. Please.
The moment stretched—silent, suffocating.
Then… footsteps passed by.
VARAK kept moving.
They were safe—for now.
Finally, after what felt like a lifetime holding her breath, the crunching of leaves grew faint. The voices faded into the wind. Then—silence.
Callista waited a few more moments, just to be sure.
Still nothing.
She slowly uncovered her mouth and turned to Xavier. His eyes were closed, but he was still breathing. Shaky, but alive.
She exhaled deeply, trembling as the tension drained from her limbs. A single, soft sigh escaped her lips. Relief. Fragile, fleeting relief.
"They're gone…" she whispered, brushing a damp strand of hair from her forehead. Her fingers were still stained with his blood.
She let herself collapse next to him, just for a moment, the weight of everything pressing down on her. Her lungs burned from holding in too much fear. Her heart still thudded wildly in her chest.
"We're safe. For now…"
She glanced up at the moonlight breaking through the canopy, barely illuminating the wound she had wrapped.
It wasn't over. Not even close.
But they survived this.
Xavier's face was pale beneath the moonlight, his skin slick with sweat and dirt. His black hair, usually neat and pushed back, clung damply to his forehead. There were dark smudges under his eyes, evidence of blood loss and exhaustion. His jaw was clenched even in unconsciousness, like he was still fighting — even in sleep. The gunshot wound in his upper arm had stopped bleeding thanks to Callista's rough first aid, but it was clearly still painful. His arm lay stiff, wrapped tightly in improvised bandages made from torn pieces of her shirt and crushed herbs she recognized from her mother's training.
His breathing was shallow but steady, and he muttered incoherently now and then — feverish, likely. His entire body shivered despite the warm night air.
Callista stroked the side of his face briefly. "Hang in there, Xavier…"
She knew they couldn't stay exposed like this any longer.
With what little strength she had left, she half-carried, half-dragged Xavier deeper into the forest. Her arms ached, her feet were raw, but she refused to stop. The sound of distant birds made her flinch with every step, imagining footsteps behind every tree. Every snap of a twig was a bullet in her spine.
And then, through the trees — she saw it.
An old hut. Wooden, slanted, and half-covered in vines. Its roof sagged at the middle, and the shutters banged gently in the breeze. It looked like it hadn't been lived in for decades. Creepy. Deserted. The kind of place that made your skin crawl just from looking at it.
But it had walls. A roof. A door that could be barricaded.
Better than nothing.
She gritted her teeth and dragged Xavier up the creaking steps, pushing the door open with her shoulder. The smell of old wood and dust filled her nose. A broken chair lay in the corner, a cobweb-covered shelf on the wall, and a rotting cot along the far edge.
"This will have to do," she whispered, gently laying Xavier down on the cot, brushing away the loose straw with one hand.
She knelt beside him, brushing his hair back. "You're safe now. I promise. I'll protect you this time."
Xavier's voice trembled as he spoke, each word weighed down by loss and memory. Callista knelt beside him, her hand gently resting on his, bracing herself for what came next.
"The people of LUMENN… they didn't give up easily," he said, his voice cracking. "They fought. For four long hours, they fought with everything they had. They protected your mother — their leader — with their lives. But Victor Valemont… he didn't stop. He shot her himself."
The words pierced through Callista like cold steel. Her breath hitched as the image of her mother — brave, cunning, fierce — fell before the man who was once her husband. Her father-in-law. The very man who destroyed everything.
Xavier glanced at her, seeing the devastation written across her face. Her silent tears spoke louder than any scream.
"He didn't just want to end LUMENN," Xavier continued. "He wanted to make a statement. He wanted to break us."
She turned her face away, burying her face in her arm for a moment before wiping it roughly, forcing herself to listen. She had to know. She had to carry the truth.
"It wasn't immediate. The collapse… it was slow. Strategic. We ran for hours — me, Phelia, Simon, and Caleb. The others were scattered. Some were captured. Some… we never saw again. But Caleb, he—"
Xavier choked, the memory tightening around his throat.
"Caleb pushed us away. He knew they were closing in. He made sure we escaped… he… he stayed behind." He swallowed, blinking back the tears. "He was the one who called you. That moment — when you picked up the phone — he was already bleeding out. Already dying."
Callista covered her mouth, her sob catching in her throat. The last words she ever heard from Caleb now echoed differently — full of pain and sacrifice.
"After that, we moved fast," Xavier said. "We had no time. We knew VARAK would come for you. But when we reached the mansion…" He paused, shaking his head, "It was already burning. Aurelius was injured. Phelia was trying to protect you. Simon — he took a bullet to the chest. And then—"
"Phelia…" Callista whispered. "She got shot in the head."
Xavier nodded solemnly. "Aurelius ordered me to run with you. He looked at me and said, 'Protect her. As if your life depends on it.' Then… he turned himself in. To his father."
Silence stretched between them. The air felt heavy, the weight of everything pressing down at once — death, betrayal, survival.
"I believe there are more survivors," Xavier said softly, almost like a vow. "They're out there, Callista. We just have to find them. But first… we have to survive."
She looked up at him, her eyes hollow but determined. Her mother was gone. Caleb was gone. Phelia, Simon — maybe even Aurelius… taken.
But she was alive. Xavier was alive.
And she was no longer running just to survive. She was running to fight.
Callista's fingers clenched into fists, nails digging into her palms as Xavier's words echoed through her.
"It's all my fault…" she whispered, barely audible.
Xavier tried to stop her, but she continued — voice breaking, trembling.
"If I hadn't let my guard down… If I wasn't so caught up in my own world. If I hadn't been so stupid — so selfish — LUMENN wouldn't have fallen… My mother… Caleb…"
She buried her face in her hands, sobbing harder now. "I enjoyed it… while everything was burning behind me. While they were bleeding, I was laughing, celebrating my passing score, letting myself be held by Aurelius, thinking everything was fine — thinking I was safe!"
Her cries filled the broken silence of the hut, raw and guilt-ridden.
"I should've known better," she whispered. "I should've listened. I should've been stronger…"
Xavier, weak but awake, reached out and gently wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She didn't resist — she collapsed into him, her tears soaking his shirt as she shook in his embrace.
He didn't say anything. He didn't need to. He just held her, steady and warm, letting her scream into his chest until her sobs softened… until her breathing evened out… until she finally, finally drifted into a restless sleep — guilt clinging to her like a second skin.
Even in dreams, she felt the weight of her failure.
And Xavier lay awake, staring into the shadows of the abandoned hut, his jaw tight, his heart aching — knowing that nothing would ever be the same again.
End of chapter 31.