The sunlight outside was blinding.
Matilda shielded Jayden's eyes as they stumbled onto the cracked sidewalk, coughing from the smoke curling out of the collapsing building behind them.
For a brief, trembling moment, they stood there, broken but breathing.
But the world wasn't about to give them time to rest.
Black sedans screeched around the corner, tires screaming against the asphalt. Doors flung open and armed men poured out — not police, not emergency responders — but them.
The ones Daniel had warned about.
Jayden swayed, his body already at its limit. Matilda tightened her grip on him, whispering fiercely, "Don't close your eyes. You have to stay awake."
From the edge of the crowd, a figure emerged — a woman draped in black, sunglasses hiding her eyes, but her smirk cutting sharper than any blade.
Sophia.
Jayden's half-sister.
The one he had forgotten.
The one who had not forgotten him.
"You should have stayed buried," Sophia called out sweetly, stepping closer. Her voice was light, almost playful, but her soldiers' rifles said otherwise.
Matilda froze. She knew that voice from the stories Jayden had told in his fevered dreams. The sister who had sold him out. The sister who wanted the inheritance that was never hers.
Sophia's eyes gleamed as she motioned to the men. "Take him. Kill her."
Matilda pushed Jayden behind her, planting herself between him and the advancing soldiers. Her hands shook — she had no weapon, no plan. Only raw, stupid, burning love.
Jayden stirred behind her, forcing himself upright even as pain ripped through his body. His voice was hoarse but defiant.
"You'll have to kill me first."
Sophia smiled wider. "That's the idea."
A shot rang out.
Not from Sophia's men.
From the rooftops.
Sophia ducked instinctively, cursing. One of her soldiers crumpled with a hole between his eyes.
Another shot.
Another soldier fell.
Panic erupted as Matilda dragged Jayden toward an alley, their bodies scraping against the brick walls.
High above, hidden snipers kept firing, forcing Sophia's men into chaos. Someone had planned this. Someone had known.
At the mouth of the alley, a black motorcycle skidded to a stop.
Wendy.
Helmet off, fierce eyes burning, she threw them an extra helmet. "Get on!"
Jayden, dazed, let Matilda shove him onto the back of the bike. She jumped on behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist.
Wendy didn't wait.
The motorcycle roared to life and shot down the alley, bullets chasing them but missing by inches.
Behind them, Sophia screamed in fury, her plans crumbling into dust.
---
They didn't look back.
Because some tomorrows, no matter how painful, no matter how uncertain, couldn't be escaped.
Only survived.
And Jayden was done running.
---