Alana awoke to the cold sting of metal beneath her cheek.
A single flickering bulb dangled above her, swaying as if the darkness breathed around it. Her wrists were bound behind her, ankles chained to a bolted steel chair. Damp concrete walls closed in like a tomb.
A warehouse. Underground.
Far from Alaska.
Far from safety.
A shadow separated itself from the darkness the man with the crow tattoo.
He grinned as tears and confusion filled Alana's eyes.
"Welcome to the other side of the story, princess."
Alana lifted her chin despite the fear climbing her throat.
"What do you want?"
"Not much." He crouched to her level, his breath reeking of gunpowder and rot.
"Just a game. You are the prize."
He brushed her cheek with a gloved finger.
She recoiled.
He chuckled.
"Oh, don't worry. Kavron isn't finished with you yet. He wants Alaska to watch you break."
Alana felt her pulse hammering not from pain… but rage.
"You think Alaska will let you walk away after this?"
The man's smile only widened.
"We are counting on him coming."
He straightened and turned toward a monitor a live camera feed… of Alaska's mansion still burning.
"When he arrives," he said, tapping the screen,
"He'll bleed for every second you're alive."
Alana's breath stilled.
This wasn't simply war.
It was personal.
And she was the weapon.
Somewhere Between Moscow and Damnation
Alaska moved like a phantom through the snow coated outskirts of Russia.
His knife dripped red behind him.
The man he'd interrogated lay a lifeless heap in the frost bones shattered, throat torn.
Kenan finally caught up, panting.
"Boss if you keep killing every lead, we'll never find."
"He talked," Alaska snapped.
Kenan stared at the corpse.
"Did he?"
Alaska's silence was answer enough.
He began marching again, boots crunching ice.
He looked unstoppable.
Inhuman.
"Alaska," Kenan tried again, "if Kavron has her"
"He doesn't," Alaska snarled.
"He has a hostage.
He doesn't have her."
Kenan said nothing. He had seen this version of Alaska only once before the night Direndra blood flooded the streets and a boy became a legend of death.
Alaska paused, chest heaving.
Images of Alana her smile, her warmth, her trembling promise burned behind his eyes.
She's scared.
She thinks I abandoned her.
She thinks I won't come.
His voice broke.
"I won't let her think that. Ever."
Kenan placed a hand on his shoulder.
"We'll get her. Together."
Alaska's jaw ticked barely human.
"No," he breathed.
"I'll get her."
Then he started walking again toward the enemy's heart.
The Enemy Shows His Face
Footsteps echoed.
The room filled with more men armed, cold eyed soldiers of Kavron.
Then
A new presence entered.
Tall.
Dark suit.
Quiet power.
Kavron.
His eyes were storm gray no mercy, no warmth.
He looked at Alana as though she were merely something he would exchange… or break.
"So," Kavron mused, circling her like a predator,
"This is the girl who tamed the beast."
Tamed?
No.
She loved him.
But Kavron saw the truth beneath:
"She's the weakness he never should've had."
Alana forced her voice steady.
"You're wrong. I make him stronger."
Kavron leaned closer, studying her face.
"Then why is he losing everything?"
Alana's heart lurched.
She wouldn't let doubt take root.
"He's coming," she whispered.
"And when he does…"
She glared with a fury that startled even her,
"You'll wish you never touched me."
Kavron laughed lightly.
"That's exactly what I'm counting on."
The Truth Beneath the Blood
Kavron turned serious, folding his hands behind his back.
"You know nothing about the Direndra legacy. About Alaska."
Alana held his stare, breath unsteady.
"What do you think he is? A misunderstood man? A broken soul you can fix?"
Alana blinked through stinging tears.
"He's good," she whispered.
"He's learning to be."
Kavron smirked.
"No. He was born to kill. Molded to conquer. Chosen to lead a world soaked in blood.
Your love won't change that it will only expose more targets."
He crouched down again, eyes like knives.
"He will burn the world apart to reach you."
Alana swallowed.
She knew it was true.
And she didn't care.
"That world deserves to burn," she whispered.
Kavron's smile vanished.
"You and Alaska are the same kind of monster," he said coldly.
"You just don't realize it yet."
He signaled his men.
"Prepare the broadcast."
Broadcast?
Alana's heart plummeted.
"What are you planning?"
Kavron exhaled slowly, savoring the moment.
"When your Alaska arrives…
he will watch me take away everything he believes he owns."
He grabbed her chin harshly.
"And when he begs, I'll show him what a real monster looks like."
Lines That Cannot Be Crossed
Alana didn't beg.
Didn't cry.
Didn't flinch.
She stared straight into Kavron's eyes.
"He already knows," she said.
Kavron paused.
"What does he know?"
"That I belong to him."
Her voice didn't shake.
"And he'll kill you for thinking otherwise."
A slow, dangerous grin stretched across Kavron's lips.
"Oh, I am counting on it."
The Hunt Begins
Outside, the snowstorm thickened as if even nature feared what approached.
Alaska stepped into the blizzard, eyes locked on the horizon.
He finally smelled it blood, gunpowder, fear.
Her fear.
"I'm coming, Alana," he whispered.
Not a promise.
A sentence.
Anyone who stood between them…
would cease to exist.
And this time. He wasn't fighting for redemption. He was fighting for obsession.