The Storm before the fall
583 Words
The final piece of her plan was now in place. Lucian had agreed to join her, but she knew better than to trust his word alone. Lucian Graves never gave anything without ensuring he got twice as much in return.
She needed to keep moving.
They had to prepare for what was coming.
---
The safe house she secured was an old warehouse large, sturdy, and hidden away from prying eyes. It wasn’t perfect, but it would do. For now.
Aleksandr was already inside, his arms crossed as he studied the crude maps she had drawn of the city. His presence was solid, grounding.
Elias was in the corner, flipping through medical supplies with a frown. Ever the doctor, even now.
Jace, however, was nowhere to be seen.
She frowned. “Where’s Jace?”
Aleksandr sighed, rubbing his temple. “Gone.”
Her stomach tightened. “Gone?”
“He comes and goes as he pleases,” Elias murmured, not looking up from his supplies. “We all knew that.”
She clenched her jaw. Jace was reckless. A ghost of the apocalypse, slipping in and out of the shadows as if nothing could touch him.
But things could touch him.
And if she let him slip away now, she might lose him forever.
---
Finding Jace wasn’t easy, but she had learned to think like him. He avoided people. Crowds. Civilization.
She found him in an abandoned parking garage, crouched near a motorcycle, hands working on the engine with expert precision. He didn’t look up when she approached.
“Took you long enough,” he muttered.
She crossed her arms. “I didn’t know I was supposed to be looking.”
He smirked, wiping grease from his fingers onto his jeans. There was something in his gaze something unreadable.
“You’re angry,” he mused, tilting his head. “That’s new.”
She exhaled sharply. “I need to know you’re in this. Really in this.”
Jace stood slowly, stepping closer. “And if I’m not?”
Her pulse quickened, but she held her ground. “Then you should walk away now.”
For a moment, he didn’t say anything. Just studied her, his amber eyes flickering with something unreadable.
Then, he moved.
One second there was space between them, the next his hands were on her waist, pulling her against him.
“You want to know if I’m in this?” he murmured, his voice low, teasing. “I’m right here, sweetheart.”
Her breath caught. Jace was a wildfire—uncontrolled, unpredictable.
But so was she.
She tilted her chin up, refusing to back down. “Then prove it.”
His lips curled into a smirk. And then he kissed her.
It wasn’t gentle.
Jace Mercer didn’t do gentle.
His hands tightened around her waist, pulling her flush against his body, his mouth hot and demanding against hers. She gasped against his lips, and he swallowed the sound, deepening the kiss.
Heat surged through her, drowning out everything else—the apocalypse, the future, the danger. For one reckless moment, there was only this. Only him.
When he finally pulled back, his breath was uneven, his grip still firm. His eyes burned with something dark and hungry.
“I’m in this,” he murmured, voice rough. “You don’t get to get rid of me now.”
She exhaled shakily. “Good.”
Because she was going to need every single one of them before the world ended.
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- Writer
