The building looked empty.
No guards outside. No lights spilling into the road. No signs anyone had been there in years. It sat between a scrapyard and a broken overpass, just another forgotten structure people passed without looking twice.
Damian did not slow down.
He had seen places like this before. Places designed to disappear. The power draw was wrong. The signal interference was deliberate. Whoever brought Aria here had not planned to move her again.
This was not a stopover.
This was where they were keeping her.
"Hold here," Damian said quietly to his men. "No shots unless I give the word."
One of them hesitated. "Sir, if this is a setup…"
"It is," Damian said. "That's why I'm going in first."
He left them and walked toward the door alone.
It opened when he pushed it.
That should have worried him.
Inside, the air was cold and stale, heavy with damp concrete and old oil. Dim lights hummed overhead, not bright enough to clear the shadows, not dark enough to hide them either. Someone wanted visibility without comfort.
The door closed behind him.
Not violently. Just firmly.
Damian stopped moving.
A soft mechanical sound followed, deep in the walls and beneath the floor. Not alarms. Something structural.
Containment.
He exhaled slowly. "So this is how you want it."
The first shot came from his left.
He twisted at the last second. The bullet tore through his shoulder instead of his chest. Pain burned instantly, sharp and unforgiving. He hit the ground hard and rolled behind a concrete pillar as blood soaked his sleeve.
They had meant to wound him.
They wanted him alive.
Damian fired back without lifting his head. One body dropped. Then another. Shouting broke out, commands colliding as people scrambled out of position.
He pushed forward, jaw tight, ignoring the heat spreading down his arm. Every movement hurt, but pain was familiar. He cleared one room, then another, stepping over fallen weapons and bodies.
Then he heard her.
Not screaming.
Not crying.
His name.
"Damian."
His chest tightened.
He followed the sound.
She was exactly where he expected her to be.
A small room. One chair bolted to the floor. Rope biting into her wrists. Her shoulders were stiff, her posture rigid, but her chin was lifted. She had not let them break her.
Their eyes met.
For a moment, everything else disappeared.
"You're bleeding," Aria said.
He crossed the room and dropped in front of her, already reaching for the restraints. "I know."
Her fingers brushed his sleeve, trembling. "You shouldn't be here alone."
He cut the rope cleanly. "I wasn't planning to leave without you."
The second the bindings fell away, she leaned into him. Her breath shook against his neck. He wrapped his good arm around her, holding her close, grounding himself in the weight of her.
"I told them you'd come," she whispered.
He closed his eyes briefly. "I always come."
The floor gave out beneath them.
There was no warning. No gradual collapse. Just a violent drop as concrete split apart and sent them falling.
Damian twisted midair, shielding her as they crashed into metal below. His injured shoulder slammed hard. White pain burst through him and knocked the breath from his lungs.
When his vision cleared, he knew two things immediately.
His arm was useless.
And they were not alone.
Figures stepped out from the shadows, calm and unhurried. Weapons were raised, but no one fired.
Someone clapped once.
"Well," a voice said smoothly, "that reunion was almost worth watching."
Damian forced himself upright and shifted in front of Aria without thinking. She grabbed the back of his jacket, her grip tight.
"Damian," she said.
"I've got you," he replied, even as his arm shook.
The man stepped fully into the light.
He was older. Well dressed. Calm in a way that only came from distance. He looked like someone who never had to get his hands dirty.
"You really thought we'd leave her unprotected," he said. "After everything you've done?"
"You're not in charge," Damian said.
The man smiled slightly. "No. But I answer to the one who is."
That settled in Damian's chest like a weight.
The real enemy was still out there. Watching. Waiting.
"You want me," Damian said. "You have me. Let her go."
The man tilted his head. "You still don't understand."
He nodded once.
Pain exploded through Damian's injured shoulder as someone struck him hard. His vision blurred. Aria screamed.
Damian stayed on his feet.
"This isn't about bargaining," the man continued. "It's about consequence."
Another blow landed. Blood hit the floor.
Aria fought the men grabbing her, fury cutting through her fear. "Stop! He'll kill you!"
The man laughed quietly. "Not tonight."
He leaned close to Damian. "You were supposed to break. You didn't. So now we take something else."
Damian looked up at him, blood in his mouth, eyes steady.
"You already lost," he said.
The man straightened. "Maybe. But not before it costs you."
They pulled Aria away as the lights went out. Her voice echoed once, then vanished into the dark.
Damian dropped to one knee. The pain finally caught up to him, heavy and relentless.
He had found her.
And this time, it had not been enough.
Somewhere above them, safe and unseen, the real enemy watched and smiled.