Chapter 10
707 Words
Lyra’s POV
He’s still asleep when I close the laptop.
My hands are shaking.
My body still aches from the night before, but my mind—
My mind is on fire.
> “He was meant to kill you, Lyra. From the beginning.”
Jade’s voice echoes in my skull, louder than any gunshot, sharper than any blade.
It wasn’t just s*x.
It wasn’t even just lies.
It was a setup.
From the very beginning.
And I was the target.
---
I move without thinking.
Grab the gun beneath the pillow and slide it under my jacket.
It’s heavier than it looks.
So is betrayal.
---
He stirs when I reach the door.
“Lyra,” he croaks.
I freeze.
Turn slowly.
His voice is raw. Sleep-warm. Wounded.
But his eyes?
Wide open.
Watching me.
Like he already knows.
“Where are you going?”
I swallow hard. “To breathe.”
He nods.
But doesn’t believe me.
He shouldn’t.
Because I’m not just walking away.
I’m walking toward a decision I might not come back from.
---
Damien’s POV
She’s not okay.
She didn’t say anything when she lay down beside me after checking her laptop.
She didn’t ask questions.
Which is how I know something’s wrong.
Because Lyra always asks questions.
I sit up slowly.
Chest still tight. Shoulder aching. But my instincts sharper than ever.
I pull open my phone.
The burner account we use to track activity?
Pinging.
Someone accessed the “For Her Eyes Only” file.
Jade.
You just burned my last bridge.
---
I find her behind the motel.
Alone.
Facing the road.
The gun’s in her hand.
Not raised.
Not shaking.
Just… waiting.
Like she doesn’t know whether she’s here to shoot or be shot.
“I should kill you,” she says.
My voice is calm. “I won’t stop you.”
That makes her laugh. Bitter and broken.
She turns to face me.
“You were supposed to kill me,” she whispers. “Weren’t you?”
I say nothing.
Not because it’s a lie.
But because it’s not.
---
Flashback – Damien’s POV (5 Years Ago)
I was 22.
She was 17.
Not Jade.
Lyra.
Her father owed a debt.
Not money.
Information.
He leaked something he shouldn’t have.
And the group I worked for wanted to send a message.
Leave no family alive.
They sent me.
To erase the girl.
The liability.
But I didn’t.
Because the second I saw her—
Too bright.
Too soft.
Too angry.
Too alive—
I couldn’t do it.
So I lied.
Said the house burned.
Said the body was gone.
And they let it go.
But they never forgot.
And neither did I.
---
Lyra’s POV
“You saw me before Jade ever left.”
He nods once.
“I was seventeen.”
“Yes.”
“You were going to kill me.”
“I was supposed to.”
“And instead you watched me.”
“Protected you.”
“Used me.”
“No.”
He steps forward.
“I fell in love with you.”
My breath catches.
“You didn’t even know me.”
“I did,” he says. “Because you were the one person I couldn’t pull the trigger on.”
I should shoot him.
Right now.
End this.
End him.
But I can’t.
Because some traitorous part of me believes him.
---
And then—
A twig snaps.
Too loud.
Too close.
Damien’s eyes narrow.
He shoves me behind him just as the bullet flies.
Misses me by inches.
He pulls his own gun.
Fires once.
Twice.
A scream.
Someone crashes through the brush.
We follow.
But it’s too late.
They’re gone.
Only thing left behind?
A burner phone.
Cracked.
Still open to one screen.
A live message thread:
> TARGET SECURED: LYRA SANTIAGA.
NEXT INSTRUCTIONS?
---
I stare at the message.
At the timestamp.
It was sent before the shot was fired.
They didn’t want to kill me.
They wanted to flush us out.
Track us.
Find him.
I look at Damien.
He’s pale.
Eyes darker than I’ve ever seen them.
“They’re not after me anymore,” I whisper.
He nods.
“They’re after you.”
---
- Writer
