Chapter 109: Clash in the Warehouse

The first shot rang out before anyone even moved. It slammed into the wall just above my head, sparks flying as the bullet ricocheted. Aidan grabbed me by the arm, pulling me hard behind one of the cages. The sudden movement made my ribs ache, but it was better than getting a hole in my skull.

The captives screamed. Some clawed at the bars, their fingers bleeding as they gripped the cold steel. Others shrank into the corners, golden eyes glowing through the gloom, wide with fear and desperation.

The Creed soldiers poured in like a tide—dark uniforms, heavy rifles, precision in every step. Boots thundered against the concrete floor, weapons raised.

And through it all, Selene didn’t flinch. She leaned casually against the doorframe, arms crossed, her expression cold but amused. Like she wasn’t walking into a battlefield but watching a play. Her eyes never left mine.

“Don’t just stare at her!” Elena yelled, voice sharp as she yanked her crossbow from her shoulder and fired. The bolt sliced through the air, embedding itself in the chest of the nearest soldier. He dropped instantly, body convulsing. “Take down the Creed!”

Ethan ducked low, almost tripping on his bag. He fumbled, yanking out a stun baton from inside his coat. “I knew this was going to happen!” he shouted over the chaos.

Elena’s laugh was bitter. “You always know after it happens!”

“I said we had thirty minutes!” Ethan snapped.

“Try thirty seconds!”

“Both of you—shut it!” Aidan growled, slashing his blade through another soldier. The man cried out, blood spraying across the concrete. Aidan’s face was set in stone, his body moving with deadly efficiency.

“Roxanne.”

Echo’s voice came sharp and cold from somewhere behind us. I turned my head just enough to see her knives glinting in the dim light, her stance coiled and steady.

“You need to make a choice.”

“I know!” My voice cracked with the weight of it.

The cages clanged again. Hands reached through the bars—clawing at me, grasping, pleading. Their voices overlapped, a chorus of desperate cries. Some screamed for freedom. Some begged for help. And some growled, their faces twisting into something less human.

Selene’s smile widened, cruel. “Yes. Choose. Free them, and they’ll follow you. Leave them, and they’ll die. Either way… they belong to you.”

“Shut up!” I roared, shoving away from the cage and charging forward.

Two Creed soldiers blocked my path. The first aimed his rifle, but I slammed into him before he could fire, knocking the weapon aside and driving my blade into his chest. His scream was cut short as he collapsed.

The second swung his gun like a club, smashing it into my side. Pain exploded through me. I staggered but forced my knife up and plunged it deep into his ribs. His blood hit my face hot and thick before he crumpled.

Aidan was suddenly at my side, his blade dripping red. His jaw clenched as he looked me over. “Stay with me, Roxanne!”

“I am!” I snapped back, though my voice shook.

“No—you’re chasing her.” His eyes flicked to Selene. “Don’t. Not yet.”

But Selene’s voice slid over the chaos like silk. “You can’t run from what you are, Roxanne. Look at them!” She pointed at the cages. “They were waiting for you. They need you. Why do you resist what you were made for?”

Echo slit another throat cleanly, then snarled at Selene. “You’re not pulling her strings. Not while I’m breathing.”

“Oh?” Selene tilted her head, golden eyes glinting. “Then why does your precious Roxanne tremble every time I speak?”

My hands. My damn hands—they were shaking. I clenched my fists tighter around the knife, but I couldn’t stop it.

“Don’t listen to her!” Elena shouted, firing another bolt. This one grazed Selene’s cheek, leaving a thin cut.

For the first time, Selene touched her face. She studied the smear of blood on her fingers… and laughed. A soft, low laugh that made my skin crawl.

“You’ll have to do better than that.”

The Creed soldiers were regrouping, more flooding in, rifles raised. We were outnumbered five to one now. The barrels of their guns glinted in the dim light, and I could feel the air tightening, shrinking around us.

Rhea stumbled forward, clutching the Harbinger journal to her chest. Her voice was frantic. “Roxanne—we can’t win this! We need to fall back, regroup!”

“No!” Aidan’s growl tore through the air as his blade slashed down another enemy. His arms were slick with blood, his eyes blazing with rage. “We don’t run from her.”

“Yes, we do!” Ethan’s voice cracked as bullets slammed into the cage next to him, sparks flying. He ducked lower. “Running is the smart option!”

Selene stepped forward now. Not rushing. Not attacking. Just walking, slow and deliberate, her boots clicking softly against the concrete. The soldiers seemed to move aside for her, giving her space.

“You can’t kill me,” she said, her voice calm, almost tender. “You can’t even touch me. And you know why, Roxanne?”

The word scraped out of me. “Why?”

Her eyes burned brighter, gold like fire. “Because I am you.”

I froze. My heart slammed so hard I thought it would crack my ribs.

“No,” I whispered.

“Yes.” Her smile was sharp, wicked. “The first Harbinger split herself—half blood, half shadow. You are her light. I am the part she buried. The darkness she locked away.”

Elena’s jaw dropped. “Oh, come on! That’s literally an evil twin plot. Don’t believe her, Roxanne—she’s full of crap!”

But her words didn’t land. Not fully. Because Selene’s voice was too steady. Too certain.

And because I was shaking.

Selene’s smile widened. “See? She knows. She’s always known.”

Aidan snarled, stepping between us with his blade raised. “Stay the hell away from her.”

Selene tilted her head, her expression softening like mock sympathy. “You protect her like she belongs to you. But she never belonged to you. She never will.”

The cages rattled violently, cutting her words short.

One of the hybrids inside screamed, body contorting, eyes blazing gold. His claws ripped through flesh and steel alike, bending the bars. Then—with a sickening screech—the cage snapped open.

He stumbled free, panting, drool dripping from his fangs.

And then he roared.

The sound rattled the entire warehouse.

The others followed.

Screams turned to growls as the captives convulsed, claws tearing through their skin, eyes burning. One after another, cages burst open, the sound of screeching metal and breaking locks filling the room.

Elena’s eyes widened. “Oh, hell. This is bad. This is so, so bad.”

Ethan’s voice was a whisper. “So much worse than bad.”

The first hybrid launched into the fight, claws flashing. He ripped into the nearest Creed soldier, tearing him apart like paper. Blood sprayed, and the man didn’t even get the chance to scream.

But then his head whipped toward us.

And I realized he wasn’t fighting for us.

He was fighting for blood. Any blood.

“Roxanne!” Aidan shouted, dragging me back as the hybrid lunged.

Everything blurred—the Creed soldiers firing wildly, the hybrids tearing through men and steel alike, Selene standing calm in the middle of it all, smiling like this was exactly what she wanted.

The war we thought we were walking into had just split wide open.

And now, no one knew who the enemy was anymore.