The city never slept.
Neon lights bled through the fog, car horns screamed in rhythm, and somewhere above it all,Kael Arden watched from the edge of a rooftop, the barrel of his pistol catching the glow of the skyline.
His comm buzzed.
"Target's moving east. Two minutes."
Kael didn't answer. He never did. He preferred the silence ,the hum of the night, the pulse of danger beneath his fingertips. The mission was simple: intercept the courier before the files left the city. No mistakes. No witnesses.
But when he saw who the courier was, his finger froze on the trigger.
Sera Donovan.
The journalist who'd almost exposed his division six months ago. The same woman who'd called him a monster in a suit on live television.
Now she was walking straight into a trap, one she didn't even know existed.
"Of course it's her," Kael muttered under his breath, lowering his weapon. The world had a twisted sense of humor.
He leapt from the roof, landing silently in the alley below. The air smelled of rain and rust. She was only a block away, holding her phone like a weapon, eyes sharp beneath the brim of her coat.
"Donovan," he said from behind her.
She spun, voice dripping with venom. "Arden. Should've known you'd be lurking somewhere dark."
"I could say the same about you," he replied, stepping closer. "You're about to walk into a death trap."
"I've been in worse," she said, brushing past him. "Don't pretend you care."
Kael's hand shot out, gripping her wrist, not hard, but firm enough to stop her.
"I don't care," he said quietly. "But I don't need another body on my record."
She yanked her arm free. "Then get out of my way."
And that's when the explosion hit.
The building ahead erupted into fire, shards of glass raining down like deadly stars. Kael tackled her to the ground, shielding her from the blast. The air thundered, lights flickered, and for a moment, it was just heat, chaos, and the sound of her heartbeat against his chest.
When the dust settled, she pushed him off, coughing.
"Get your hands off me!"
"Saved your life," he snapped.
"I didn't ask you to."
Kael stood, eyes on the burning building. "Someone knew you'd be here. You were bait."
Her expression faltered. "Bait for what?"
He didn't answer and just grabbed her by the arm and pulled her into the shadows as sirens wailed in the distance.
They ended up in an abandoned parking structure, lit only by the flicker of a dying bulb. Sera's coat was torn, her hair wild, her face streaked with ash. She still looked like she could kill him with a sentence.
"You still think I'm the enemy?" he asked, leaning against a pillar.
"I know you are," she shot back. "You work for Division Nine, the same people I'm trying to expose."
He smirked. "And yet, here you are, alive because of me."
She crossed her arms. "Don't flatter yourself, Arden. You saved me because it benefits you."
He said nothing, but the silence between them was heavier than words.
When he finally spoke, his voice was low. "There's something bigger at play. That explosion wasn't meant for you. It was meant for me."
Sera frowned. "Then why was I there?"
"Because someone wanted us both dead."
Their eyes met, defiance clashing with something unspoken. Kael had seen plenty of faces before missions, before death, but hers lingered in his mind longer than he liked.
"Give me the drive," he said.
She raised a brow. "You think I'd hand over evidence to a government dog?"
"I'm not asking."
He stepped closer, close enough to smell the smoke on her skin, to feel the tension sparking like static between them.
Sera didn't back down. "Shoot me then."
Kael's jaw tightened. He could. He should. But he didn't.
Instead, he holstered his weapon, eyes dark. "You're not the only one trying to uncover the truth, Donovan."
She blinked. "What are you saying?"
"I'm saying," he said, stepping past her, "that the enemy you're chasing is the same one who burned my life to the ground."
As he walked away, her voice followed him.
"Kael!"
He didn't turn, but for the first time in years, the sound of his name made something inside him ache.