CHAPTER 213
**ZION**
The hallway was quiet—too quiet. Just the low thrum of voices bleeding from the lounge, sharp and bitter.
They hadn’t heard us coming.
“I’m telling you, this guy’s not just playing games anymore,” Ro snapped, voice tight with frustration.
Claire let out a snort and gave him a slow, sarcastic clap.
“Wow. Stunning observation, Sherlock. Got any more obvious insights, or is that all your brain can manage today? Next, you’ll tell us water’s wet. Fire burns? Gravity exists?”
Ro’s eyes narrowed, his jaw grinding tight as he took a step forward, voice low and ice-edged.
“This isn’t a joke. So unless sarcasm’s gonna catch a psycho, shut up and let the rest of us focus, because while you’re busy playing stand-up comic, someone out there is planning how to rip Winter apart piece by piece.”
Claire didn’t flinch. She crossed her arms and tilted her head, expression sharp enough to cut glass.
“Oh, spare me the theatrics, Ro. I wasn’t cracking jokes—I was just pointing out you were stating the obvious. You act like you’re delivering breaking news, when really, all you’re doing is repeating what everyone already knows.”
She gave a dry, mocking smile.
“But sure, keep puffing your chest. Maybe next time you’ll tell us the sky’s blue.”
Harry slammed his hand on the table, the sound cracking through the room like a gunshot.
“Why the fuck are you two always at each other’s throats?” he snapped, voice low and furious.
“This isn’t a goddamn game you morons —Winter’s in real danger, and you’re both acting like children. Grow the fuck up.”
“Who the hell are you calling a moron?” Claire shot back, jaw clenched.
“Claire, not now,” Ariel said quickly, grabbing her arm and pulling her back.
“Harry’s right. Just think about Winter… think about what she’s going to feel when she sees that message…”
The room went silent.
“He wants fear,” Harry said tightly, his voice flat with restrained fury.
“And he’s getting off on it. Every word in that message was designed to crawl under her skin—to make her look over her shoulder, to make her doubt the people around her. This isn’t some harmless stalker. This is personal. Dangerous. The kind of danger that doesn’t just want to watch from the shadows… he wants to tear her life apart piece by piece.”
He paused, jaw clenched.
“This guy isn’t just obsessed—he’s methodical. Unhinged, sure, but calculated. That makes him twice as deadly. He’s playing a long game… and Winter’s the prize at the end of it.”
Her nails dug into my skin.
I didn’t move.
Didn’t flinch.
If clinging to me gave her even a second of peace, she could dig in as deep as she needed.
I’d bleed for her if it meant she didn’t have to.
And still, underneath it all, a darker part of me stirred—the part that didn’t want peace.
The part that wanted blood.
“I say we should go to the cops,” Claire muttered, as she began pacing like a storm trapped in a box.
“No,” Ariel said firmly.
“If he’s watching her… he’ll know. And we have no idea how he’ll react.”
“I agree with Ariel,” Harry said, voice low but certain.
Clark snorted from where he sat sprawled on the couch, arms crossed.
“Of course you do.”
All eyes flicked to him.
“She could say the sky’s bleeding unicorns and you’d probably nod like it’s gospel,” he added dryly.
“The Harry-Ariel alliance lives on.”
Ariel frowned, her brows knitting as she glanced at Harry—who looked like he was one sarcastic comment away from launching Clark through the nearest window.
“What… what do you mean?” she asked, clearly confused, completely missing the way Harry’s jaw clenched or the heat behind his stare.
I let out a slow sigh.
Ariel had no idea.
Completely blind to how deep Harry’s obsession with her really ran.
“Can we not turn this into a goddamn high school debate club?” Ro snapped, rubbing his temples.
“There’s a psycho out there, and we’re wasting time.”
Winter’s fingers curled tighter around mine as we stepped into view.
They still hadn’t seen us.
Claire nodded.
“If we don’t act soon—if we keep sitting around, pretending like this is going to fix itself, he’s going to get bolder, more dangerous, and—we’re just giving this psycho more time to plan—more time to get closer—”
Then she froze.
Her eyes lifted. Met mine.
One by one, the others turned.
The air in the lounge shifted like pressure before a storm. Every expression locked down into something cold and unreadable.
Five faces staring straight at us—Harry, Clark, Ro, Claire, and Ariel.
Not one of them spoke.
Their eyes flicked from Winter to me… and lingered.
Winter’s fingers tightened around my hand. Hard.
I felt the pulse at her wrist hammer against my skin, fast and frantic.
She looked calm, composed.
But her body told the truth.
And that fragile grip?
That was the only thing keeping me from grabbing the nearest chair and launching it through the fucking window just to release the storm clawing under my skin.
Then, quietly—too quietly—
“Claire…” Winter said, her voice barely above a whisper.
“Can I have my phone?”
Not a tremor.
Not a crack.
But I heard it anyway—the effort behind the calm.
Like she was trying to keep her voice steady while the world around her started tilting sideways.
And I'm sure everyone in the room felt it too.
“I—Winter, I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to snoop,” Claire said, voice breaking as she spoke.
“I—I was just getting water… and then your phone lit up on the counter. I glanced—just for a second—and…”
Claire’s voice trailed off, her eyes flicking between Winter and me, uncertain—cautious.
“Claire,” I bit out, low and hard.
“Just give me the fucking phone.”
“Yeah. Right. The phone,” she muttered, crossing the room with slow, deliberate steps.
She picked it up off the coffee table and held it out—hesitating just a fraction—toward Winter.
I didn’t wait.
My hand shot forward and snatched the phone from her fingers.
My eyes locked on the screen as I looked down. Winter leaned in beside me, her breath warm against my shoulder, eyes scanning the message.
***You’ve been a very, very bad girl, Winter.***
***Did you really think I was gone?***
***That I’d just fade into the dark and let you keep living your sweet little life?***
***No.***
***I never left.***
***I’ve been watching. Waiting.***
***And now… I see you.***
***You forgot me—***
***But I never forgot you.***
***You erased me like I was dust.***
***But I’ve been right here.***
***Waiting.***
***Feeding on every second of silence.***
***And now, it’s time.***
***Time to balance the scales.***
***Time to scream.***
***You took everything from me, Winter.***
***Now I’ll take everything from you.***
***Blood for blood.***
***Breath for breath.***
***You’ll scream louder than I ever did.***
***And this time,***
***No one’s coming to save you.***
This wasn’t just a threat.
It was a promise.
And whoever sent it had just declared war.
My jaw locked so hard my teeth nearly cracked.
This wasn’t some sick joke.
This was a predator sharpening its teeth.
My breath slowed, but my pulse roared in my ears. Every instinct in me screamed to destroy something.
Someone.
Winter didn’t say a word—she just stood there, frozen, like the ground had dropped out beneath her feet.
I moved before I could think.
My arm wrapped around her waist, yanking her into me like I could shield her from the words still burning on the screen.
She didn’t fight it.
She collapsed into me like her bones had gone weak, burying her face in my chest.
I held her tighter.
My voice dropped low, a growl laced with something dangerous.
“No one’s going to touch you,” I said, fingers digging into her waist.
“Not while I’m alive. Not while I’m breathing.”
She trembled against me, but didn’t pull away. And damn it, that only made my blood burn hotter.
Whoever wrote that sick message—whatever they thought they could scare her—had no idea what they’d just stepped into.
This wasn’t some game anymore.
And I was done playing nice.
If they wanted a war, I’d give it to them.
Dark. Relentless. Unforgiving.
Because I wasn’t just protecting her—I was ready to become the monster this bastard would regret waking.
“Let them come,” I whispered into her hair, voice cold and hard.
“They’ll learn the meaning of pain. Blood for blood.”
.....
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