Chapter 100: The Lure

My mind was a whirlwind of fear and rage, every nerve screaming at me to act, but I was paralyzed by the enormity of the situation.

The enemy leader’s smug face was a constant reminder that I’d walked right into his trap, and now Cole and I were caught in the snare.

“You really think you can win by threatening me?” I said, trying to keep my voice steady, though every muscle in my body tensed with the urge to fight. “If you knew anything about me, you’d know I don’t respond well to threats.”

“Oh, I know enough about you, Sera,” the leader replied, his smile curling into something sinister. “I know you value your people above all else. That’s your weakness. Your soft spot.”

“You call it a weakness,” I shot back, glancing around for any sign of a way out, “but it’s also my strength. My people fight for each other. We don’t abandon our own.”

“And yet here you are, with no one to back you up,” he sneered. “Alone, because you thought you could outsmart us. How noble. How utterly foolish.”