The shot cracked like lightning. One single, sharp sound. Noa’s breath caught mid-scream. He didn’t flinch, he didn't even blink but the sound of it echoed like a death toll through his ribs. His heart stuttered. His hands clenched. And then he realized. He wasn’t the one bleeding.
Alessio.
The bullet had struck him in the side, a little lower than the shoulder, clean through. But he was still standing. Still moving. His face twisted, pure pain and defiance.
Noa’s body moved before his brain caught up. He lunged straight at Eve, knife in hand, fury in every breath.
She fired again.
He ducked.
Steel screamed as the bullet sparked off a hanging chain.
She smiled, wild now, her teeth bared like a wolf. “Still too slow, baby.”
But this wasn’t a chase.
It was a hunt.
Noa moved low, fa
