CHAPTER 4 - THE VOICE BEHIND HER
1250 Words
The gun clicked behind her.
Cold. Close. Real.
Amara didn’t breathe.
Didn’t move.
Every instinct in her body screamed at her to turn around—but something deeper held her still. Because she knew.
The second she turned… everything would change.
Lucian moved first.
Fast. Precise.
His hand shot out, grabbing her shoulder and dragging her down just as a shot rang out. The bullet sliced through the air where her head had been.
Amara hit the floor hard, her palms scraping against the cold surface. A gasp tore from her throat.
Another shot followed.
Then another.
Lucian fired back instantly.
The corridor exploded into chaos.
Gunfire cracked against the walls, sharp and violent, echoing through the narrow space. Amara pressed herself flat against the ground, her heart pounding wildly.
“Stay down!” Lucian barked.
She didn’t argue.
Didn’t think.
She stayed.
A body dropped somewhere behind her.
Heavy. Final.
Then—
Silence.
Not complete. Not safe.
But enough to feel the shift.
Amara’s ears rang as she lifted her head slightly.
“Lucian?” she whispered.
A beat.
“I’m here.”
Relief hit her harder than expected.
The emergency lights flickered back on—dim and red—casting everything in a dangerous glow.
Lucian stood a few feet away, gun still raised, eyes scanning.
Between them lay a body.
Face down. Motionless.
Amara swallowed.
“Is he…?”
“Yes.”
No hesitation. No emotion.
Lucian stepped forward and nudged the body with his foot before crouching. He turned the man over.
Amara’s breath caught.
The man’s eyes were open.
Empty.
Frozen.
But something about his face—
Familiar.
“I’ve seen him before,” she said quietly.
Lucian’s head snapped toward her. “What?”
“I don’t know where… but I have.”
“Look again.”
Amara stepped closer, her pulse quickening as she studied the man’s face.
Then—
A memory flickered.
Faint. Blurry. But there.
“He was at the hospital,” she whispered. “The night my mother collapsed. He was watching.”
Silence settled between them.
“That wasn’t a coincidence,” Lucian said.
“You think he was following me?”
“I know he was.”
Her stomach dropped. “Why?”
Lucian didn’t answer.
Instead, he reached into the man’s jacket and pulled out a small black device.
“What is that?” Amara asked.
“A tracker.”
The word sent a chill down her spine.
“He was tracking me?”
“No,” Lucian said, his gaze sharpening. “He was tracking this location.”
“That doesn’t make sense. How would they know we’d be here?”
Lucian looked at her.
“Because someone told them.”
Amara’s breath caught.
“A leak?”
“I know there is.”
Before she could respond, the device buzzed in his hand.
Once.
Then again.
It lit up.
A signal.
“What does that mean?” she asked.
Lucian’s expression turned cold. “It means this wasn’t just an attack.”
The device beeped again—louder now.
“It’s transmitting.”
“To who?”
Lucian didn’t answer.
He dropped it.
Grabbed her wrist.
“Move.”
He pulled her down the corridor, away from the body, away from the signal.
“Lucian, what’s happening?”
“They know exactly where we are now.”
“All of them?”
“Yes.”
“How many?”
“Enough.”
They turned corners quickly, the corridor stretching endlessly around them.
“This wasn’t random,” Amara said. “They’re after me.”
“Yes.”
“But why? What do I have that’s worth all of this?”
Lucian stopped.
He turned slowly, his eyes locking onto hers.
“You really don’t know, do you?”
“No.”
He reached into his jacket and pulled out something.
A photograph.
Old. Worn.
“Look.”
Amara took it, her fingers trembling.
And everything inside her stilled.
A little girl stood in the picture beside a tall, powerful man.
But it wasn’t the man that stole her breath.
It was the girl.
Because she recognized her.
Not from memory.
But from something deeper.
“That’s…” her voice faltered.
“That’s you,” Lucian said.
Her world tilted.
“No… that’s not me.”
“It is.”
“I would remember.”
“Not if it was taken from you.”
The words hit like a blow.
“What are you saying?” she whispered.
“This isn’t your real life, Amara.”
“No,” she said sharply. “You’re lying.”
“I don’t lie about things that can get you killed.”
Her grip tightened on the photo.
“Who is that man?”
Lucian’s expression hardened.
“That is the reason you’re being hunted.”
Her heart pounded.
“Who is he?”
A pause.
“He’s your father.”
Everything stopped.
“That’s impossible.”
“I know my father. He died years ago.”
“No,” Lucian said quietly. “He didn’t.”
Her hands trembled.
“Then why don’t I remember?”
“Because someone made sure you wouldn’t.”
“Who?”
Lucian didn’t answer.
Instead, his attention snapped behind her.
His body tensed instantly.
“They’re here.”
Her breath hitched.
Footsteps echoed.
Multiple.
Fast.
Closing in.
“What do we do?” she whispered.
Lucian grabbed her hand.
“We run.”
They moved quickly, racing through the corridor, turning blindly.
Behind them, a voice echoed.
Cold. Familiar.
“You can’t run forever.”
Amara’s heart jumped.
She knew that voice.
Lucian’s grip tightened. “Don’t look back.”
But she did.
And froze.
Because he wasn’t alone.
More men followed behind him.
Closing the distance.
Fast.
They reached the end of the corridor.
A dead end.
“There’s nowhere to go!”
Lucian stepped forward and slammed his hand against the wall.
Nothing.
“They’re coming!” she said, panic rising.
He hit the wall again.
Harder.
A click sounded.
The wall shifted open.
“Go!”
Amara ran through.
Lucian followed as the passage sealed behind them.
They stumbled into a new room.
Wider. Brighter.
Amara bent forward, trying to catch her breath.
“This is insane,” she whispered.
Lucian didn’t respond.
He was staring at something.
Amara followed his gaze.
And froze.
A door stood in the center of the room.
Old. Heavy. Locked.
And embedded in it—
A slot.
The exact shape of the key.
Her breath caught.
Her hand moved slowly to her pocket.
She pulled it out.
The key.
“Lucian…” she whispered.
“Don’t.”
But she was already stepping forward.
Drawn.
Her hand trembled as she raised the key.
Lucian grabbed her wrist.
“Not yet.”
“Why not?”
“Because once you open that…”
He paused.
“Everything changes.”
Her eyes locked onto his.
“It already has.”
Then—
A sound behind them.
A click.
They turned.
Slowly.
The door they had just come through—
Was opening.
And standing there—
Was the man in black.
Smiling.
Like he had never lost them.
His eyes locked onto Amara.
“You shouldn’t have come this far.”
Lucian stepped in front of her, gun raised.
Tension snapped tight.
The man took one slow step forward.
“You’re about to find out,” he said quietly,
“why she was never meant to live.”
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD