Chapter 16: Collision
580 Words
Kael shouldn’t have left the hospital.
Every step hurt.
Every breath reminded him he wasn’t fully healed.
But none of that mattered.
Because right now—
Pain wasn’t the thing driving him.
It was something stronger.
Something sharper.
Something that refused to let him sit still while everything around him fell apart.
⸻
By the time he reached the street, they were already gone.
Arielle.
Luca.
Both disappeared into a city that suddenly felt too big… and too full of secrets.
Kael clenched his jaw, pulling his phone out again.
That message.
“You should’ve stayed out of it.”
Yeah.
Not happening.
⸻
Meanwhile—
Inside the car—
Arielle’s world was still spinning.
“Stop running?” she repeated, her voice tight. “You just told me there’s a whole organization watching us, and your plan is to stop running?”
Luca didn’t flinch.
“Yes.”
⸻
“That’s not a plan, Luca.”
“It is,” he said calmly. “Because running keeps us predictable.”
Arielle frowned.
“And not running does what exactly?”
Luca’s eyes flicked to the rearview mirror.
“Confuses them.”
⸻
That’s when she noticed it.
A car.
Two vehicles behind.
Same distance.
Same speed.
Too consistent.
⸻
Her heart dropped.
“They’re already here, aren’t they?” she whispered.
Luca didn’t answer right away.
Which was answer enough.
⸻
“Stay calm,” he said quietly.
“I am not calm!” she snapped, her voice breaking slightly.
Luca turned onto a different street.
The car followed.
⸻
“Okay,” Arielle said, panic rising now. “Okay, they’re following us. What do we do?!”
Luca’s grip tightened slightly on the steering wheel.
“We make a choice.”
⸻
Before she could ask—
His phone rang.
Unknown number.
⸻
He stared at it for a second.
Then answered.
⸻
“Luca.”
The voice on the other end was calm.
Too calm.
Controlled.
⸻
“You’ve made this more complicated than it needed to be.”
Arielle’s breath caught.
Luca’s expression hardened.
“Stay away from her.”
A soft chuckle came through the speaker.
“That’s not how this works.”
⸻
A pause.
Then—
“Bring her. And we can talk.”
⸻
Luca’s eyes darkened instantly.
“No.”
⸻
Silence.
Then the voice again—
Colder now.
⸻
“Then we’ll bring Kael instead.”
⸻
Everything stopped.
⸻
“What did you just say?” Luca asked, his voice dangerously low.
But the call had already ended.
⸻
Arielle felt the fear hit differently this time.
Not just for herself.
“For Kael…” she whispered.
⸻
Luca turned the car sharply.
Decision made.
“We’re not running anymore.”
⸻
Back near the hospital—
Kael froze.
His instincts kicked in before logic could catch up.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
⸻
A black van pulled up slowly near the curb.
Too slow.
Too deliberate.
⸻
Kael stepped back slightly, his eyes narrowing.
Watching.
Calculating.
⸻
The van door slid open.
⸻
And that’s when everything snapped into place.
⸻
“They found me,” he muttered.
Without thinking, he turned—
And ran.
The street exploded into motion.
Footsteps.
Shouting.
A chase that had been inevitable from the start.
Across the city—
Luca sped through traffic.
Arielle gripping the seat, her heart racing.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“To him.”
- Writer
