Chapter 3: Close Enough to Burn
295 Words
The stairwell was dark.
Aria nearly stumbled as Damian grabbed her wrist and pulled her down the narrow steps. His grip was firm, warm, unshaking — like chaos didn’t touch him.
Boots thundered above them.
“They’re on the fourth floor,” he muttered.
“How do you know that?” she hissed.
“I can hear their formation.”
Formation.
Not footsteps. Not men.
Formation.
They burst through the back exit into the cold night air. Damian released her wrist only to place his hand at the small of her back, guiding her toward a black motorcycle parked in the alley.
“You’ve got to be kidding,” she breathed.
“Get on.”
Gunfire exploded from a window above.
Concrete shattered beside them.
Aria didn’t argue again.
She climbed on, wrapping her arms around him as the engine roared to life. The vibration shot through her body — or maybe that was just him.
They sped into the street just as black SUVs screeched around the corner.
“Who are they?” she shouted over the wind.
“The people who erased your source.”
Her stomach dropped.
He took a sharp turn, her body pressing tighter against his. She could feel his heartbeat — steady. Controlled. Inhumanly calm.
“You knew this would happen,” she said.
“Yes.”
“And you still let me open the file?”
He didn’t answer.
Instead, he said quietly, “You were chosen.”
The words sent a chill deeper than the night air.
Another SUV appeared ahead, blocking the road.
Damian didn’t slow down.
“Hold on,” he ordered.
She tightened her grip.
For a split second, she wondered whether she trusted him.
Then he accelerated straight toward the blockade.
And smiled.
- Writer
