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Chapter 32 Father and Son

Author: Olivia GW
last update Last Updated: 2025-01-13 18:43:38

(Lila)

Nick’s fist connected with the last thug’s jaw with a sickening crack. The man fell on the basement floor, joining his unconscious partners. Blood was dripping from Nick’s face as he leaned against the wall, breathing hard.

“We need to go,” I touched his arm gently. “Your wrist looks bad.”

“I’ve had worse.” Nick tried to straighten but winced. “Robert’s still out there somewhere. He ran upstairs when he heard cars approaching.”

The basement felt different now with the thugs unconscious and Robert gone—less threatening somehow, but the symbols on the walls still made my skin crawl. My own desperate carvings from fifteen years ago, and the ones copied and twisted into something cruel.

The silence broke with a yell—high-pitched, terrified.

“James!” I grabbed Nick’s sleeve. “That came from outside. It was James!”

We ran up the narrow basement stairs together, his arm shooting out to hold me when my foot caught on a broken step.

“Wait.” Nick pulled me to a stop near the top. “Listen
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