CHAPTER 7: SMOKE & BLOOD
1164 Words
Fire roared through the underground chamber.
Screams echoed beneath collapsing ceilings while smoke swallowed the golden lights of the Devil’s Auction. Wealthy elites trampled each other trying to escape as assassins in black tactical armor executed targets with ruthless precision.
The m******e had become a war zone.
Vaelora rolled across the marble floor just as another explosion erupted behind her. Heat slammed into her back.
Kaedrin grabbed her arm sharply.
“This way!”
They sprinted through smoke and gunfire while shattered glass rained from above.
An assassin lunged from the flames—
Vaelora twisted sideways and drove her blade into his ribs before kicking him backward into the fire.
Another operative fired toward them from behind an overturned table.
Kaedrin shot him twice through the smoke without even slowing down.
“Show-off,” Vaelora muttered.
“You noticed.”
Gunfire thundered around them.
Bodies covered the once-luxurious chamber now stained crimson beneath burning chandeliers. Wealthy buyers who once controlled governments were dying beside the very secrets they tried to purchase.
Justice had ugly timing.
Suddenly—
The emergency exits slammed shut.
Heavy steel doors crashed into place around the room.
Vaelora froze instantly.
“No…”
A distorted voice echoed through hidden speakers.
“Containment activated.”
Kaedrin’s expression darkened.
“They sealed the chamber.”
Which meant whoever attacked the auction never intended survivors.
Flames climbed higher across the walls.
Smoke thickened rapidly.
People began choking.
Panic spread faster than the fire itself.
An older man in a military uniform pounded desperately against one of the sealed exits.
“Open the doors!”
A sniper bullet tore through his skull.
Silence followed for half a second.
Then chaos exploded again.
Vaelora looked toward the upper balconies through the smoke.
Shadowy figures moved overhead.
Watching.
Waiting.
“This isn’t an assassination,” she realized aloud.
“It’s an execution.”
Kaedrin grabbed an abandoned rifle from the floor.
“Soryn doesn’t leave witnesses.”
The name again.
Soryn Kade.
A ghost powerful enough to terrify killers.
Another wave of assassins stormed into the chamber.
Professional formation.
Silenced weapons.
Disciplined movement.
Vaelora and Kaedrin instantly moved together without thinking.
Like they had done this before.
Kaedrin fired at the advancing operatives while Vaelora slid beneath overturned tables, striking fast and silent through the smoke.
One assassin aimed for Kaedrin’s blind side—
Vaelora killed him first.
Another charged toward her with twin blades—
Kaedrin shot him through the throat.
The rhythm between them became terrifyingly smooth.
Deadly.
Natural.
As though years of survival instinct aligned perfectly between them.
Then suddenly—
A masked assassin tackled Vaelora hard against a pillar.
Her knife skidded across the floor.
The attacker slammed her wrist brutally against the concrete.
Pain exploded through her arm.
He raised a blade toward her throat—
BANG.
The assassin’s head snapped sideways violently.
Blood sprayed across Vaelora’s face.
The body collapsed.
Kaedrin stood nearby with smoke curling from his pistol.
“You hesitate too much,” he said coldly.
Vaelora wiped blood from her cheek.
“I was handling it.”
“Clearly.”
Before she could insult him properly—
The ceiling above them exploded.
Massive debris crashed downward.
Kaedrin lunged instantly, pulling Vaelora beneath cover as flaming metal slammed into the floor where she had been standing seconds earlier.
The impact shook the chamber violently.
Vaelora found herself pinned beneath him against the marble floor.
Too close.
Far too close.
Smoke curled around them while gunfire echoed in the distance.
For one dangerous moment—
Everything slowed.
Rainwater still clung to strands of Kaedrin’s dark hair. A thin cut along his jaw leaked blood down his neck, yet his expression remained unnervingly calm.
His gray eyes locked onto hers.
Sharp.
Intense.
Searching.
Vaelora’s pulse betrayed her first.
Kaedrin noticed.
Of course he did.
Then he quietly said—
“You’re real.”
The words caught her off guard.
“What?”
His gaze flickered toward the black orchid tattoo behind her ear.
“I watched you die.”
Something fractured briefly inside Vaelora’s chest.
Another memory flashed violently through her mind—
White laboratory lights.
Screaming alarms.
A man shouting her name—
Then darkness.
Pain stabbed behind her eyes.
Kaedrin noticed immediately.
“What happened to you?” he asked quietly.
Vaelora pushed him away too fast.
“Nothing.”
Lie.
He could see it.
But before either could speak again—
A slow clap echoed through the burning chamber.
Both spies turned sharply.
Draven Mordaine stood atop the ruined auction stage surrounded by flames.
Perfect white suit untouched.
Silver hair immaculate.
Like the m******e unfolding around him was merely entertainment.
“Well,” Draven said smoothly, “this evening became delightfully chaotic.”
Vaelora aimed her pistol instantly.
“You sold my identity.”
Draven smiled faintly.
“No.”
He gestured toward the burning chamber.
“I sold the opportunity to survive long enough to buy it.”
Kaedrin stepped forward slightly.
“Where’s the file?”
Draven’s smile widened.
“Already gone.”
Vaelora’s stomach tightened coldly.
Someone now possessed her real identity.
Somewhere in the middle of the m******e—
The file had been stolen.
Draven adjusted his cufflinks calmly while explosions echoed behind him.
“You should leave now,” he said lightly.
“The building is about to collapse.”
Kaedrin narrowed his eyes.
“What did you do?”
Draven chuckled softly.
“Oh, Commander Vale…”
He looked almost amused.
“You still think you’re part of the game.”
Then suddenly—
Every light in the chamber turned blood red.
WARNING. STRUCTURAL FAILURE DETECTED.
The floor beneath them trembled violently.
Vaelora cursed under her breath.
Draven stepped backward into the flames.
“Run.”
Then he vanished behind collapsing debris.
The entire chamber groaned loudly.
Ceiling supports cracked.
Massive sections began collapsing everywhere.
Kaedrin grabbed Vaelora’s wrist immediately.
“We move now.”
The two sprinted through fire and falling debris while smoke consumed the underground hall completely.
People screamed beneath collapsing steel beams.
Explosions tore through support columns.
The casino above them began falling apart.
They finally reached a service corridor buried behind the auction chamber.
Emergency lights flickered weakly overhead.
For the first time in minutes—
Silence.
Only heavy breathing remained.
Vaelora leaned briefly against the wall, steadying herself.
Then Kaedrin suddenly reached toward her neck.
She reacted instantly, grabbing his wrist.
“What are you doing?”
But Kaedrin wasn’t looking at her.
He was staring at something beneath the collar of her dress.
His expression changed completely.
Shock.
Real shock.
Slowly—
Very slowly—
He pulled free a silver necklace hidden against her skin.
A small crescent-shaped pendant rested in his fingers.
Kaedrin went still.
The color drained from his face.
Vaelora frowned.
“What?”
His voice came out almost hollow.
“That necklace…”
He looked up at her with something close to disbelief.
“It belonged to my sister.”
- Writer
