The air was under tension.Rain drummed on the roof, dripping through a crack here, a fissure there, mingling with the acrid scent of smoke and gunpowder.Mariam was frozen, back to the shattered desk, eyes open. The room was circled by masked men in a semicircle, guns glinting with faint light. And in the middle Samuel.Her Samuel. The boy who would slash her name on the mango tree outside her grandmother's hut. Now smiling like a stranger, gun held tight, eyes empty."Time's up," he said again, voice slicing like a knife. "Hand her over, Kane."Adrian refused to move. He stood between Mariam and him, a wall between them, gun at the ready and tight. His stance was unshakable, his presence filling the room like a storm."You'll have to peel her out of my hands," Adrian said flatly.Samuel chuckled. "That's the plan."The men shifted, tightening the circle. Their movements were crisp, trained not thugs, but soldiers. Whoever sent them wanted Mariam alive badly enough to unleash war.Mariam's pulse thundered. She could barely breathe. All her instincts screamed to her to run, to scream, to beg Samuel to see the man he once was. And her body would not do it.Adrian's voice ripped through her terror, low and flat. "When I step, you drop to the ground. Crawl. Don't look around."Her throat closed up. "I can't" "You can." His eyes snapped to hers, a sword's edge of authority and something softer concealed underneath. "Because I need you to."The guns were lifted by the masked men. The air was thick, charged, a heartbeat from slaughter.Samuel leaned his head to one side, his eyes piercing Mariam. "You think he is protecting you? He isn't. He is using you, just as all the others are using you. Don't you see, Mariam? You don't own him. You belong to us."Her knees buckled. The words hurt deep, pulling out old fears that she didn't want to acknowledge.Adrian snarled. "You don't say her name."And then he stepped.The room descended into savagery.Adrian fired first, a spurt of precision. A masked man dropped before he hit the floor. Another whirled as a bullet shredded his shoulder.Anarchy exploded screams, gunfire, the acrid scent of blood.Mariam crashed onto the wet tile, heart racing, crawling out across it as Adrian had instructed. Bullets screamed above, flying sparks off metal, shredding wood. She covered her head, every gasp a prayer. Adrian was in every place at once. He was moving like a freed predator, savage, efficient, pitiless. With a flip of his wrist, he snapped one man's gun out of his hands before he slammed him into the wall with bone-shuddering force. Another charged at him, blade flashing, but Adrian whirled away from it, disarming, and jammed the knife back into the man's gut in one fluid motion.But for every foe who fell there was another to take his place.Samuel did not shoot. He stood at the center of it all, calm, smiling faintly, watching Mariam creep. His voice sliced through the chaos, level, measured."Run all you like, Mariam.". But you can't keep who you are hidden.Her blood ran cold.What am I? She staggered, her hand slipping in blood splattered on the floor.A man in a mask had attacked her. She cried out .Gunfire pushed him back, Adrian shifting position, covering her again. His chest heaved, his face smeared with rain and blood, but his eyes burned with unshaken resolve."I told you to crawl," he growled.She shivered. Why are they after me? What are they saying?"Later." He pulled her off her feet, putting her on her feet. "Get out!"They ran out the side door, Adrian firing over their shoulders without pause. The corridor beyond was narrow, drippy, the only light coming from rickety bulbs. Their footsteps splashed in puddles as they ran, Mariam panting.Her chest hurt. "We can't outrun them""We don't outrun them." Adrian shoved her against the wall as bullets shattered the window above. Shards rained down, slicing her arm. She winced, but Adrian's hand was already there, covering the wound with startling gentleness. His voice dropped, a fierce whisper. "We outlive."Before she could answer, Samuel's voice echoed from behind, distorted by the corridor."You're wasting time, Kane! She'll never trust you. Never yours."Mariam's heart pounded. The words pierced deep, conjuring doubts she had tried to push away.Adrian's jaw clenched. His fingers on her wrist dug deeper. "Shut your ears to him. He is not the boy you knew."Her voice broke. "But he was"""He was never yours," Adrian snarled. "And he sure as hell isn't now."His fury was raw, protective, and something nastier.They stood before a stairwell. Adrian shoved Mariam ahead of him, gun sweeping shadows. They burst down the stairs, panting, the air thick with wet concrete and oil.But halfway down a figure emerged from the smoke.Samuel.Gun up. Bar to their path.Mariam's chest caved in, she stiffening.Samuel's smile stretched.". "You'll run out of stairs eventually."Adrian raised his gun but Samuel spoke first."Shoot me, Kane, and she'll never know the truth."The words stopped Adrian cold. His finger tightened on the trigger, but his eyes narrowed, calculating.Mariam's voice shook. "What truth? "Samuel's gaze burned into hers. "Ask him. Ask your devil what he's hiding from you."Her heart slammed against her ribs. She turned to Adrian. "What is he saying?"Adrian's jaw was clamped, but his silence spoke more clearly than any answer.Samuel's laughter echoed off the sidewalk. "See? Even now, he keeps you tied. You believe you're living because of him? No, Mariam. You're living for him."Her eyes misted with tears. "Adrian…"Adrian's gun never wavered from its impression. But his voice cracked, raw, falling. "He's lying."Samuel inched forward, gun firm on Adrian, his smile peaceful. "Am I? Air between them crackled with tension. Mariam's chest rose and fell, her head torn apart. She had no idea who to trust. Samuel, the lad she once believed? Or Adrian, the devil who kept on saving her but carried secrets in every glance? For a fraction of a second, she wished to yell at both of them.And then the building shook.An explosion ripped the floor above, concrete falling, fire consuming the stairs.". The walls groaned, the air heavy with smoke.The ceiling cracked. Debris rained down upon them.Adrian pushed Mariam to the floor, pinning her beneath him as flames flickered at the stairwell. Samuel was lost, engulfed in smoke.The world dissolved into a haze of heat, screams, and chaos.When dust had settled, Mariam's ears pounded. Her body ached. The stairwell was rubble, the route lost. Adrian hauled himself up, blood splattering his face.She gasped, her hand clamping around his arm. "You're hurt" "I've been worse." His voice was low, grim. He dragged her to her feet, forcing her forward into the choking darkness. "We keep moving. Before they trap us."Her hands shook violently. Her mind spun with Samuel's words.
The truth.undefinedThe chains.But no time to ask.undefinedNo time to breathe.Only to survive.They stumbled into a massive underground cavern lit not by bulbs, but by fire.Dozens of masked men in line, rifles held aloft.And amidst them all, Samuel.calm waiting .At his side, a chair,chains.and Mariam's name scratched into the metal.Samuel's smile expanded"Welcome home."