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63: The Calm Before the Storm
Last Updated:
2025-03-14 10:29:09
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Broken Vows, New Promises 64: Into the Fire
Damien’s POVThe warehouse loomed ahead like a beast waiting to devour me.It was old—rusted metal, broken windows, shadows thick as smoke.I could feel them inside.Aurora.Her captors.My enemies.I adjusted my grip on the gun, my body thrumming with rage.They thought they could take her from me.They thought I’d sit back and wait.They were about to learn just how wrong they were.I exhaled, forcing my heartbeat to slow.Then I moved.Silent. Precise.A shadow among shadows.And I was coming for blood.Aurora’s POVThe ropes bit into my wrists, but I barely felt the pain.Adrenaline drowned out everything else.I had to stay calm.Had to wait for the right moment.The man in front of me—dark suit, cruel smirk—was talking.I wasn’t listening.My focus was on the knife strapped to his belt.On the way he leaned too close.Careless.Weak.I flexed my fingers, preparing.And then—A sound.Faint. Almost imperceptible.But I knew it.Footsteps.Damien.Relief flooded through me, but I
Last Updated : 2025-03-14Broken Vows, New Promises 65: Shadows and Scars
Aurora’s POVThe hospital room was too quiet.The kind of quiet that felt wrong.Like something was waiting in the dark.I sat beside Damien’s bed, watching the steady rise and fall of his chest.His face was pale, his body still.But he was alive.That was all that mattered.I reached for his hand, my fingers tracing the roughness of his knuckles.“Don’t you dare leave me,” I whispered.As if he heard me, his fingers twitched.Then his eyes opened—dark, sharp, and impossibly tired.For the first time in days, I breathed.Damien’s POVPain was the first thing I felt.Then warmth.Aurora’s hand in mine.I blinked against the bright hospital lights, my vision clearing.She was there.Of course, she was.Her eyes shone with relief, but there was something else—something deeper.Fear.Not for herself.For me.I hated seeing that look in her eyes.I tried to speak, but my throat was dry.She grabbed a cup of water, bringing it to my lips.“Slowly,” she murmured.I sipped, feeling the cooln
Last Updated : 2025-03-14Broken Vows, New Promises 66: Echoes in the Dark
Aurora’s POVSome scars healed.Some never did.Two months had passed since the night Adrian died.Since the blood. Since the fear.And yet, the past still clung to me like a shadow.I watched Damien from across the training room.His movements were precise, controlled.Each punch landed with lethal force.Each strike was a reminder—He was still fighting battles no one could see.He turned, catching me watching.His gaze softened. “You should be resting.”I crossed my arms. “I don’t need rest.”A knowing look flickered across his face. “Nightmares again?”I didn’t answer.Didn’t have to.Damien sighed, running a hand through his hair.“Come here.”I hesitated, but his voice left no room for argument.I walked toward him, stopping just inches away.His fingers brushed against my cheek, his touch gentle despite the callouses.“You’re safe, Aurora.”I swallowed, my throat tight.“I know.”But did I believe it?Damien’s POVAurora wasn’t the same.Neither was I.She smiled, but it never
Last Updated : 2025-03-15Broken Vows, New Promises 67: The War We Chose
Aurora’s POVFear no longer ruled me.But anger?Anger burned deep in my veins, simmering beneath my skin.For weeks, I had tried to rebuild myself, to heal.But healing didn’t mean forgetting.And it sure as hell didn’t mean forgiving.I stood in Damien’s office, my arms crossed, watching him as he stared at the map spread across the desk.“Are you going to keep pretending I don’t belong in this?” I asked.His jaw tightened. “You don’t.”I stepped closer, my voice sharp. “I was the one Adrian wanted dead, Damien. You think they’ll stop coming for me?”His hands curled into fists. “I know they won’t.”“Then let me fight.”He looked up, his dark eyes flashing with something dangerous.“Aurora, fighting means getting blood on your hands.”I swallowed, but I didn’t look away. “Then show me how.”A muscle in his jaw ticked. “You don’t understand what you’re asking.”I stepped closer. “Then make me understand.”Silence stretched between us.Then Damien exhaled sharply.And just like that—
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Aurora’s POVI should have felt relieved.Adrian was dead.But instead of peace, there was a name I didn’t know, a war I didn’t see coming.Damien’s estate was on lockdown. Guards doubled. Security cameras monitored every inch of the perimeter.But none of it mattered.Because the real threat wasn’t outside these walls.It was watching from the shadows.The Name That Changed EverythingMarcus stood at the head of the table, tension thick in his voice.“We traced the sniper’s position.” He slid a folder toward Damien. “They were already gone by the time we got there, but they left something behind.”Damien flipped the folder open.Inside was a symbol.A black insignia, burned into the back of a leather glove.I frowned. “What is that?”Marcus hesitated. “It belongs to an organization called The Syndicate.”The air in the room shifted.Damien went still.Marcus continued, voice measured. “They’re powerful. Global. They don’t just run crime—they own it. Drugs, weapons, politics… even ent
Last Updated : 2025-03-15Broken Vows, New Promises 68: A Name in the Shadows
Aurora’s POVI should have felt relieved.Adrian was dead.But instead of peace, there was a name I didn’t know, a war I didn’t see coming.Damien’s estate was on lockdown. Guards doubled. Security cameras monitored every inch of the perimeter.But none of it mattered.Because the real threat wasn’t outside these walls.It was watching from the shadows.The Name That Changed EverythingMarcus stood at the head of the table, tension thick in his voice.“We traced the sniper’s position.” He slid a folder toward Damien. “They were already gone by the time we got there, but they left something behind.”Damien flipped the folder open.Inside was a symbol.A black insignia, burned into the back of a leather glove.I frowned. “What is that?”Marcus hesitated. “It belongs to an organization called The Syndicate.”The air in the room shifted.Damien went still.Marcus continued, voice measured. “They’re powerful. Global. They don’t just run crime—they own it. Drugs, weapons, politics… even ent
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Aurora’s POVThe silence in Damien’s study was suffocating.Ever since we learned Adrian was only a piece of a larger enemy, Damien had been different.Colder.More distant.Like he was already preparing for war.And I had no doubt Elias Blackwell was a war unlike any we had faced before.I gripped my hands together, standing in the doorway. “You’re leaving, aren’t you?”Damien didn’t look up. He was loading a gun, his movements precise, controlled. “I have to.”I swallowed hard. “To find Elias?”His jaw clenched. “To stop him before he gets to you.”And that was what this was really about.I stepped closer. “You don’t have to do this alone.”He finally looked up then, his gray eyes shadowed. “Yes, I do.”But I wasn’t about to let him disappear into the night without knowing where he was going.Because I wasn’t losing him.Not now.Not ever.Damien’s POVRussia.I hated coming back here.Too many ghosts. Too many memories I didn’t want to relive.But if I wanted answers, I needed to t
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Damien’s POVI had spent my whole life pretending my past didn’t own me.That the things I had done—the people I had killed—were just the cost of survival.But now, staring at the cold truth on the screen, I couldn’t lie to myself anymore.Elias Blackwell had made me.He had taken a fifteen-year-old boy, broken him, and rebuilt him into something lethal.And I had let him.Because back then, I had nothing.No family. No purpose. No home.Elias had given me all of those things.And now, standing in this dimly lit hotel room with Aurora watching me like I was something fragile, something breakable—I hated it.I hated the weakness clawing at my chest.I hated that this truth had shaken me.I hated that he still had power over me.I exhaled sharply and shut the laptop.“That’s enough.” My voice was flat, emotionless.Aurora hesitated. “Damien—”“I don’t want to talk about it.”Her expression tightened. “That’s not how this works. You can’t just shut down—”“Yes, I can.” My tone was sharp
Last Updated : 2025-03-15
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Broken Vows, New Promises CHAPTER 149 : Ashes of the Failsafe
Silence pressed against their ears as they approached the lowest chamber. The air was heavier here—thick with ozone and dread, as if the facility itself exhaled the weight of its own malice. Damien’s flashlight beam danced across the walls, revealing veins of circuitry pulsing beneath steel plates. Each step echoed like a verdict.Aurora’s grip on her rifle tightened. “This corridor leads straight to the core. Seraph must be close.”Asher flanked Damien’s other side, unblinking in the dim light. Though forged in Monroe’s broken crucible, the boy’s courage was pure—a reminder that hope could grow from ashes.Null’s voice crackled in their earpieces. “I’m seeing systems coming back online. Ten minutes before full lockdown. We need to move.”Elias checked his watch. “Understood.”They rounded the final corner and stopped.A vaulted chamber yawned before them. In its center, illuminated by a ring of harsh white light, stood Seraph. Taller than a child but smaller than an adult, she was fr
Broken Vows, New Promises CHAPTER 148 : The Sleeper Below
The silence grew heavier the deeper they went.Null’s map guided them through a maze of subterranean halls—some cold and sterile, others torn by time and disuse. The smooth hum of generators still echoed in places, interspersed by flickering emergency lights that bathed the world in sickly red pulses.Damien led the way with Aurora and Asher close at his heels. The boy in the containment pod had given them everything—coordinates, access routes, and warnings. Seraph wasn’t like Daemon or Omega.He was worse.“Bio-signature locked,” Null murmured, eyes on the scanner as they reached another sealed door. “There’s something down there. No readable vitals, but movement… constant. Pacing, almost.”“He’s waiting,” Aurora said.Asher’s small voice cut in, soft but certain. “He doesn’t think. He reacts. He was made to become… everything they wanted me to be.”Damien knelt beside him. “You don’t have to face this.”Asher looked up. “I do. If we don’t stop him, he’ll come for us. For others.”Au
Broken Vows, New Promises CHAPTER 147 : Into the Heart
The elevator doors closed with a reluctant groan, sealing them in.Inside the narrow shaft, the only light came from their tactical gear—soft glows against skin and metal. Aurora stood beside Damien, her hand brushing against his, an anchor in the silence. Asher stood between them, staring straight ahead, lips pressed into a thin, focused line.The descent felt longer than it should have. As if the very walls were stretching around them—preparing to swallow them whole.Then the lift jolted to a stop.A hiss of depressurization followed. The doors slid open with a groan, revealing a corridor bathed in cold white light. Clean. Too clean. The sterile scent of disinfectant and ozone clung to the air like a ghost.“This is it,” Null said quietly. “The Core Lab.”They stepped out as one.Unlike the upper floors, this level was pristine. Not abandoned. Not even neglected. Lights functioned. Doors responded to biometric scans. Cameras followed their every move, some still tracking with soft c
Broken Vows, New Promises CHAPTER 146 : Before the Storm
The sun dipped low, setting fire to the horizon in hues of crimson and ash. From the ridge above the temporary camp, Damien stood alone, watching shadows stretch over the forest like fingers reaching for something they could never quite hold.Below him, the others prepared in near silence. The kind of silence that didn’t come from fear—but from knowing. From understanding just how close they were to the end.The wind curled around him, carrying the scent of pine and steel and something colder. A storm was coming. Not of weather—but of reckoning.“You always find the highest place when you need to think.”He didn’t turn. He didn’t need to.Aurora’s voice always settled beneath his skin like a familiar hum—gentle and steady.She stepped up beside him, hands tucked into the sleeves of her jacket, her gaze following his to the horizon.“You used to be quieter,” he said. “Before all this.”“I used to have more to be afraid of,” she replied, half-smiling. “Now I just have more to lose.”He
Broken Vows, New Promises CHAPTER 145 : A Name Among the Ashes
The boy didn’t speak of the dream again.But something in him shifted after that night. His steps were a little steadier. His gaze no longer darted to the exits first. He stayed near Damien, yes, but not like a shadow clinging to light. Now, it felt like a tether, an anchor—not dependence, but choice.Damien noticed it when they trained in the clearing behind the safehouse. The boy followed directions without flinching, without looking over his shoulder every five seconds like he expected Monroe to appear from behind the trees. And when Kai handed him a blade—not sharp, just a practice knife—he held it with the curiosity of someone discovering a piece of themselves.“What do we call him?” Eli
Broken Vows, New Promises CHAPTER 144 : Echoes in the Light
The morning sunlight felt wrong.Too bright. Too open.After days in the Hollow’s synthetic twilight, Damien squinted at the skyline like it was some forgotten relic. The world outside was still broken, scarred by everything Monroe had built, but out here—beneath real sky—it felt like breathing for the first time in weeks.They moved through the forest trail in silence, Aurora walking beside Damien, the child—now clothed in a borrowed jacket and boots too large—staying close to Damien’s side like a shadow tethered to light.No name.No past.
Broken Vows, New Promises CHAPTER 143 : The First Breath
The air inside the chamber thickened as the hum of the cryopod deepened, soft lights tracing across its surface like veins awakening after a long slumber. Damien stood with his hand hovering just above the control panel, eyes locked on the boy within. A-00.The child who shouldn’t exist.The child who had been discarded—forgotten—yet had outlived the project meant to replace him.Aurora touched Damien’s arm gently. “Are you ready?”He didn’t answer right away. His gaze was still fixed on the boy’s face. So young, so still. Yet somehow, it felt like staring into a mirror that refused to reflect.
Broken Vows, New Promises CHAPTER 142 : Into the Hollow
The helicopter blades sliced through the Ural sky like a warning.Beneath them, the forest spread like a sea of frozen pine and fractured stone, untouched and unwelcoming. The coordinates Null had provided pointed to a narrow canyon—its jagged sides veined with ice and shadow—where no human path should've ever led.Damien sat beside Aurora, eyes locked on the narrowing terrain below. The cold had begun to seep in through the insulated layers, but it wasn’t the temperature that clenched his gut.It was the silence.Even at this altitude, the absence of wildlife was unnerving.As if nature itself refused to brea
Broken Vows, New Promises CHAPTER 141 : Fractures Beneath the Surface
The wind had changed by morning.Geneva’s neutral calm felt different now—like something sacred had been disturbed beneath its manicured stillness. The team gathered in the briefing room of the underground complex, still shaken from what they’d uncovered the night before: Damien’s prototype—Subject A-01-D—and the fractured remnants of Monroe’s last vault of secrets.No one spoke for a long while.Elias was the first to break the silence. “So what now? We’ve seen the start of it. That clone—your prototype—it changes everything. Doesn’t it?”Null nodded slowly, pacing. “It suggests Monroe’s e
