CHAPTER 214

**ZION**

“Let them come,” I whispered into her hair, voice cold and hard. 

“They’ll learn the meaning of pain. Blood for blood.”

Ro swore under his breath, his voice low but sharp.

“That’s some weird, crazy shit…” he muttered, eyes locked on Winter like he was trying to read the parts of her she didn’t say out loud. 

“That message—it’s not just messed up. It’s personal. Like this guy knows her. Like… really knows her.”

He didn’t blink. 

Just stared at her, searching her face for some buried memory or secret.

“You sure there’s no one from your past who’d send something like that? No one you forgot but they sure as hell didn’t forget you?”

Winter didn’t answer right away.

Her body had gone still in my arms, stiff like her breath had caught somewhere in her throat. 

Then, slowly, she shook her head.

“I… I can’t think of anyone,” she said softly, her voice laced with disbelief. 

“My mom and I—we were barely surviving back then. She worked two jobs. I was juggling school, part-time shifts at the diner, dog walking, anything to keep us afloat.”

She paused, eyes unfocused, like she was searching through every shadow of her memory.

“I didn’t go out. I didn’t have a boyfriend or some complicated friendship that went wrong. I wasn’t close to anyone. Just… school and work. Day in, day out. I kept my head down.”

She looked up, helpless and lost.

“There’s nothing in my life that would make sense of this. Nothing that would make someone hate me enough to write something like that.”

I tightened my grip around her waist, tugging her even closer until she was flush against me. 

Clark exhaled, arms crossed, gaze flicking to Winter like he was trying to piece her apart with logic.

“Well, you must be missing something... I mean… are you sure there’s no one? No one you might’ve pissed off? Even by accident? People don’t just snap like this for no reason. There’s always a trigger. Some grudge buried deep, something you forgot or didn’t even realise mattered to someone else. Maybe it’s someone from way back, someone you brushed off or crossed without meaning to. You gotta think harder, Winter. Because whoever this is—they’re not just angry—they’re fixated. And that kind of obsession? It doesn’t come out of nowhere.”

“You think someone sends that kind of threat because of a misunderstanding?”

Clark looked away, jaw tight, but I wasn’t done.

“This isn’t about some grudge. This isn’t a friend she forgot to text back or some guy with a bruised ego. This is an obsession. Violence. Pure fucking hatred.”

I could feel Winter trembling slightly. My hand moved to her back, steady and firm.

I didn’t want to think Winter could’ve crossed someone, even by accident. But this guy… he wasn’t just angry. 

He was unravelling. 

People don’t spiral like that without a reason—no matter how fucked up it is.

“She wouldn’t just forget something like that,” I said, my jaw locked so tight it ached.

“But maybe…” Clark added carefully,

“Maybe there’s something she didn’t even know she did. Something he twisted in his head and turned into some kind of sick reason to hate her.”

My eyes cut to Winter.

She looked small. 

Not weak—never weak.

But cracked in a way I hadn’t seen before.

Like she was shrinking in on herself, trying to make sense of something that didn’t want to be understood.

And something inside me—something dark and wild—snapped.

“I don’t give a fuck what his reason is,” I growled, the words scraping out of my throat like broken glass. 

“He could write a damn novel about how she ruined his life—He made her a target. He’s playing goddamn games with her life. I don’t care about anything else. I’m going to find him...."

My fists were already curling, blood buzzing like static under my skin.

“And when I do... he won’t get the chance to write another goddamn word. He won’t get the chance to breathe. I’ll bury him myself.”

Ariel moved closer, gently laying a hand on Winter’s shoulder and rubbing slow, soothing circles as if she could ease the chill sinking into her bones.

Her voice was quiet. 

Careful.

“This… this doesn’t feel like revenge. It’s more than anger. It’s personal. Obsessive.”

She looked down at the phone again, brows pinched in thought.

“It’s like he’s… unravelling. Like he’s not even focused on what happened anymore—he’s just focused on her. Watching her. Following her. Like she’s the only thing that exists now.”

A pause. Her hand didn’t stop moving on Winter’s back.

“And that kind of obsession… it doesn’t stop on its own.”

I dragged my free hand down my face, trying to breathe through the fury clawing up my spine.

“This bastard didn’t just wake up and decide to scare someone—he chose her. Out of everyone, he chose Winter. That’s not random. That’s personal. And if he thinks she’s going to break—” 

I let out a sharp breath, eyes darkening. 

“He has no idea what’s coming for him.”

I looked around the room, daring anyone to challenge it.

“She’s not to blame. And I don’t give a damn what excuse he’s cooked up in that sick little head of his—he’s already sealed his fate...”

"..He wants her to feel hunted. He wants her to look over her shoulder.”

I glanced down at Winter, my voice dropping to something darker, something deadly.

“But he’s got no idea who he’s messing with.”

Then my gaze cut back to Ro, Harry, and the others.

“He thinks he’s the one in control. He’s not. We’ll find him. We’ll drag him out of whatever hole he’s hiding in—and when we do…” 

My jaw flexed. 

“He’s going to wish he’d stayed in the shadows.”

My fingers curled tighter around Winter’s hand, as if I held her hard enough, I could shield her from every word that had just been written.

Because this wasn’t just some stalker.

This was war.

And he’d just drawn first blood.

Harry’s fists were already clenched, his jaw ticking hard enough to crack.

“We’re dealing with someone who’s losing control. This is unhinged.”

He glanced at the message again, face hard, eyes stormy. 

“This isn’t just some creep who watches from the shadows anymore. He’s building toward something. Getting bolder. Sloppier, maybe—but more dangerous.”

Then his gaze lifted and locked on mine. 

“Stalkers like this? They fantasise for months, sometimes years. But once they go from imagining it to promising it—like this—” he jabbed a finger at the phone, 

“—That’s the trigger. That’s when it becomes real. And when it does… someone always gets hurt.”

A beat of silence passed as the weight of his words landed.

“We’re out of time,” Harry said. 

“He’s not just watching anymore. He’s hunting.”

Clark leaned forward, elbows digging into his knees, silent for a moment. His brows were drawn together, his mouth tight like he was biting back something sharp.

“Blood for blood?” he said finally, voice low. 

“What the fucka does that even mean? It sounds like… like he thinks she hurt him. Physically.”

Winter let out a shaky breath and pressed her face into my chest. 

She was trembling now—just barely—but I felt every quiver like it was under my skin. 

Like her fear was crawling into my bloodstream.

“I didn’t,” she whispered, almost too soft to hear. 

“I’ve never… I don’t even know what he’s talking about.”

Her voice cracked.

“Oh god—what if I did something and I just… don’t remember?”

I wrapped my arms tighter around her, one hand cradling the back of her head, the other pressed flat against her spine like I could hold her together by force alone. I leaned in, kissed her temple.

“Don’t,” I said, voice hard. 

“Don’t carry the weight of someone else’s madness. You didn’t do this. He did.”

My eyes dropped to the phone still clutched in my hand. The message stared back at me—those words burned into the screen like a brand.

You took everything from me.

A cold pulse of rage moved through me.

What the hell did he think she took?

And how broken did a mind have to be… to twist something so far out of shape?

Suddenly, Winter stirred in my arms and pulled away, rising to her feet with a sharp, shallow breath. Her fingers twitched at her sides, like she didn’t know what to do with them. 

She licked her lips, then bit down on them hard—like the words were fighting her.

Her eyes flicked from one face to the next, not quite settling, not quite brave enough to land.

Then she shook her head slowly, like she was trying to shake off a nightmare.

“I don’t want any of you involved,” Winter said softly, her eyes moving from one face to the next. 

“He’s not just disturbed. He’s dangerous. And if he thinks you know, if he even suspects you’re helping me…”

She shook her head, voice tightening.

“I couldn’t handle that. I’d never forgive myself if any of you got hurt because of this. Because of me. Please—just let me deal with it. I’d rather be the one in danger than risk any of you. I can’t—” her voice cracked. ”

“He’s not just some creep—he’s dangerous. Deranged.”

She crossed her arms tight over her chest, like she was trying to hold herself together. 

“This is my mess. I’ll deal with it......”

What the fuck!

My hands curled into fists before I could stop them. The urge to grab her, to shake some goddamn sense into her—it hit me like a freight train. 

How could she stand there and say she'd rather face this alone? That our lives meant more than hers?

Before I could move—before the fury boiling in my chest could explode—

“You think we’re afraid of that?” Ro barked, stepping forward, fists clenched.

“Let the psycho come. I hope he does—so I can end him myself.”

Harry’s jaw was locked, his eyes burning with rage.

“Whoever this freak is, he thinks he can terrorise you? No. We don’t fucking run, Winter. He wants a fight? We just declared war.”

Winter stepped back, arms folding tight across her chest, her voice sharp despite the crack running through it.

“You don’t get it. I can handle this. I have to. I’m not dragging any of you down with me.

I closed the distance in two sharp steps, gripping her arms tighter, my eyes burning with a mix of hurt and bitter fury.

“You really think I’d just abandon you? After everything? After all this?” My voice was rough, thick with bitterness. 

“Like I’m some coward who runs when things get hard? No. I’m here. Always. Whether you want me or not. You belong to me—whether you like it or not—and I’ll tear apart anyone who even thinks about taking you away. So don’t you dare act like I’m just going to walk away.”

Winter’s breath hitched, eyes glossy with tears as she tried to speak, but I cut her off before she could finish.

“No... I don’t care what stupid thought’s twisting in your head—get this through your fucking brain—I’m not going anywhere.”

From around us, voices echoed in fierce agreement.

“Neither am I.”

“Me too.”

“Count me in.”

Winter’s walls broke. Tears spilt freely as she threw her arms around me, clutching me tight like I was the only solid thing left in her world.

I swore, right then and there, with her in my arms and every muscle in my body coiled to kill—

I’d burn the fucking world down before I let that happen.

This bastard had just signed a death sentence.

My voice came out low, cold. “He thinks he can touch you, scare you?”

I looked at the others, my grip on Winter unrelenting.

“He has no fucking idea who he’s dealing with.”

Harry was already pulling up files on his tablet. 

“We start tonight. Everything—every name, every place, every damn detail from your past. Old friends, old fights, people you rejected, even the smallest falling-out. There’s a thread somewhere—we just haven’t pulled hard enough yet.”

I stared down at the girl in my arms.

He wanted blood?

He’d get blood.

But not hers.

Mine. Theirs. His.

Whoever this fucker was...

He’d just made the worst mistake of his life.

I turned to the others.

“No more waiting. No more hiding. We lock this place down. I want cameras, motion sensors, and heat signatures. Ro—you’re Windows. Harry, check the perimeter again, now. Clark, get me access to the building’s blueprints. If someone says they’re inside the walls, we find out exactly how.”

Clark nodded, face carved in stone. “Done.”

But it wasn’t enough. It would never be enough.

Because this wasn’t just about keeping Winter safe anymore.

This was war.

And I was going to burn the whole fucking city down before I let anyone touch her.