CHAPTER 30The Fight Inside The Dark
632 Words
Kaela’s wrists burned where the rope scraped against her skin, but she didn’t stop tugging. If the pain meant freedom — she would bleed for it.
Adrian’s footsteps echoed somewhere inside the underground hideout — a place reeking of damp walls, old rage, and obsession.
Her pulse hammered.
She couldn’t let him win.
Not again.
Not ever.
Because Vionn was coming.
She knew it.
And she needed to survive long enough for him to find her.
• • •
Metal clanged.
A door creaked open.
Kaela froze — breathing shallow — pretending the ropes still held her tightly to the chair.
Adrian stepped into the dim light, his smile too calm for a man who hunted her through a forest like a predator.
“You know,” he said softly, tilting his head, “Adriana used to look at me like that too. Like I was the villain in her story.”
“You are.” Kaela spat.
His smile dropped.
He crouched in front of her, voice tightening like a snake around her throat.
“I loved Adriana. I saved her from them — from the Blackwoods. But she chose Vionn.”
His jaw ticked.
“And she died for it.”
Kaela breathed, “Because of you.”
Adrian’s hand whipped up — but Kaela flinched only a little.
She expected the hit.
Prepared for it.
Instead, he laughed.
“You’re braver than she ever was.”
He stood, pacing.
“Which makes you more valuable.”
“To destroy Vionn,” she whispered.
“To destroy all of them.”
His eyes gleamed with a madness only heartbreak and hatred could build.
“But you won’t get that chance,” Kaela said, voice steadying.
“Vionn will come for me.”
Adrian leaned close, whispering into her ear.
“I’m counting on it.”
Those words chilled through her body.
Then —
his hand left her shoulder—
—and in that single second Kaela moved.
She twisted her arms — slipping the rope free at last —
and swung the chair legs into the side of his knee.
Adrian shouted in pain — stumbled.
Kaela ran.
Bare feet slapping stone.
Heart pounding like thunder.
She burst into the hallway — torches flickering — multiple tunnels stretching into darkness.
No map.
No help.
Just fear.
And determination.
“KAELA!”
Adrian’s roar cracked behind her.
She didn’t look back.
Her breath tore through her lungs as she sprinted down the longest tunnel — hands dragging against the wall to steady herself in the dark.
She slammed into a heavy door — locked.
“No, no, no—”
Adrian was getting closer — boots crushing against stone.
Kaela searched franticly — her fingers brushed metal—
A broken pipe.
She yanked it loose, spinning around just as Adrian reached her.
Breathless.
Cornered.
Desperate.
He grinned.
“You should’ve stayed tied up.”
Kaela lifted the pipe — fear transforming into fury.
“I’m done letting men decide my fate.”
Adrian lunged.
Kaela swung.
Metal met flesh — a sickening crack.
Adrian staggered — blood blooming at his temple.
But he wasn’t defeated — only more enraged.
He grabbed her — slamming her back into the wall.
Kaela gasped — but her grip didn’t loosen.
“Fight me all you want,” he snarled, “Vionn won’t save you. He couldn’t save Adriana either.”
Kaela’s eyes flared.
“He will.”
She panted.
“And when he finds us —
you’ll wish you stayed in the shadows.”
Adrian smiled — a twisted, poisonous thing.
“Then let the game continue.”
He slammed something into the back of her neck — darkness swallowed her vision.
Kaela’s last thought before everything went black:
Vionn… hurry.
• • •
- Writer
