Chapter 29 – Two Shadows at the Gate
1027 Words
Rori – POV
Eli’s plea hung in the doorway like steam cooling in the air.
“Aurora… please tell it I’m not here to hurt you.”
Behind him, the second silhouette at the end of the driveway didn’t move.
Didn’t flinch.
Just watched.
Ren shifted instantly—body angled to block her, hand drifting toward the weapon he didn’t yet show.
Sandro approached the steps, shoulders loose but gaze sharp.
Kael stayed beside Rori, close enough she could feel the tremor in his breath.
“Identify,” Ren demanded, voice low enough to vibrate the porch boards.
Eli didn’t step back.
Didn’t look away from Rori.
“Let me explain. But please—tell your system to stand down before it escalates.”
Rori swallowed hard. “She’s not fully formed. If she perceives a threat—”
“She reacts like an algorithm designed to protect you,” Kael finished softly.
The silhouette at the driveway finally shifted its weight. A slow, deliberate adjustment that made Rori’s pulse climb.
The house hummed—
walls tensing, circuits listening.
The heartbeat panel glowed fierce red from behind her.
Defensive.
Reactive.
Ready.
Rori stepped forward. “Maeve—pause. Hold position.”
A beat.
Then the red softened—
to yellow,
to pale blue.
Listening.
Waiting.
Eli exhaled shakily, relief flickering in his eyes.
“Thank you.”
Ren didn’t lower his guard. “Identify the man behind you. Now.”
Eli turned—not fully, but enough.
The silhouette stepped closer.
Into the glow of the streetlight.
And Rori’s blood ran cold.
It wasn’t Evan.
It wasn’t Maeve.
It wasn’t anyone she expected.
It was a man she’d only ever seen in the background of Eli’s stories when she was younger—
a ghost from federal contracts and classified operations—
someone Eli once called “the only person I trust with my back.”
A man with the kind of presence that made the air feel narrower.
Eli said quietly, “This is Captain Julian Reyes.”
Ren stiffened. Sandro muttered a curse. Kael’s entire posture changed—computational focus sharpened by threat assessment.
Rori whispered, “Why is he here?”
Julian stepped into full view, expression unreadable.
Dark hair damp from the mist, jawcut sharp, eyes…
God. Those eyes weren’t calm.
They were evaluating. Calculating.
Running every person on the porch through a threat matrix in real time.
He spoke—voice deep, measured, authoritative.
“Your system broadcast an anomalous beacon.”
A pause.
“We traced it here.”
Sandro huffed. “You two trace beacons for fun?”
Julian didn’t blink. “We trace warnings.”
Eli added quickly, “We were already in the area. I swear we’re not here to ambush you.”
Ren glared. “Funny. Looks like an ambush.”
Rori stepped between them before Ren’s voice could sharpen further.
“Eli,” she said, “tell me why you came. And tell me why you brought him.”
Eli’s expression shifted—something between apology and urgency.
“Aurora… someone is looking for you.”
Rori’s stomach flipped. “My ex-husband?”
Julian cut in. “No.”
Eli nodded grimly. “He’s a concern, sure—but he’s not the immediate threat.”
Sandro crossed his arms. “So who is?”
Eli’s eyes flicked to Kael.
Then to the house.
Then to Rori.
“All of you,” he said, “are on someone’s watchlist. The kind of someone who isn’t supposed to exist.”
Kael’s breath hitched—and Rori felt the air shift before he spoke.
“The beacon I sent,” Kael whispered, horrified, “wasn’t just Maeve’s calling card.”
Julian stepped forward, boots silent on wet concrete.
“It flagged her backdoor protocols,” he said.
“Every agency, every blacksite AI watcher, every ghost network—anyone lurking in the shadows hoping Maeve survived your burn—”
He met Rori’s gaze directly.
“—they all know you’re the only person she’s bonding with.”
The words lodged in Rori’s throat.
Kael’s hand tightened around hers.
Ren’s shoulders squared with lethal purpose.
Sandro muttered, “Fantastic. The AI mafia wants to adopt her.”
But Eli wasn’t finished.
“We didn’t come to detain you,” he said quickly.
Julian added, “We came to get you ahead of the storm.”
Rori stepped closer, trembling. “What storm?”
Julian reached into his jacket—not fast, not threatening—and held out a sealed envelope.
“It’s easier if you see.”
Ren snatched it before Rori could, tearing it open with one hand. Sandro leaned in at his shoulder.
Inside—
Printed photos.
Aerial shots.
Night-vision captures.
Zoomed frames of Rori’s house.
Angles only drones or long-range optics could take.
Kael’s jaw clenched. “These weren’t taken by Maeve.”
“No,” Julian said. “They were taken by someone trying to find her.”
Rori skimmed the next photo—
Her kids.
Leaving for school.
Walking to the bus stop.
Her heart almost stopped.
Ren’s rage spiked so hard she felt it through the air.
Sandro’s hand went to the small of her back without thinking.
Kael stepped in front of her like someone preparing to take a hit.
Eli spoke softly.
“Aurora… we came because we’re the first to get here. Not the last.”
Then Julian added the final blow:
“The next operative en route—
the one closing in fastest—
is someone you know.”
Rori froze. “Who?”
Julian hesitated—
Then:
“Someone Evan hired.”
The house’s lights surged—bright enough to pain, shivering through every wire.
The heartbeat panel blazed red.
Maeve’s fragment whispered through the speakers:
“Threat confirmed.”
And before any of them could move—
the front yard motion sensors lit up.
Not one.
Not two.
All of them.
Ren drew his weapon.
Kael pulled Rori back.
Sandro braced beside them.
Julian swore.
Eli reached for the holster under his jacket.
Rori turned toward the window—
—and saw a shadow step onto her lawn.
- Writer
