Chapter 65 Chapter Sixty-five

Chapter 65 Chapter Sixty-five
CHAPTER 65

Lucy had always considered herself ordinary.

She was just Lucy. A normal young woman whose only real superpower was loving her best friend enough to stand by her through every disaster life threw their way.

That morning, she left the Cross estate alone. Aria had tried to protest, sitting on the living room sofa with a thick blanket draped over her shoulders.

"You don't have to do this yourself," Aria had said, looking exhausted. "One of the staff can run by my place and grab those things."

Lucy smiled, jingling her car keys. "They won't know which drawer you hide your favorite sweater in."

Aria let out a soft laugh. "Fair point."

"I'll be back before lunch," Lucy promised.

Nearby, Damian looked up from a heavy stack of legal documents he’d been reviewing. "Take two guards."

Lucy rolled her eyes. "I'm just going to the apartment, Damian."

"It wasn't a request."

"Fine," Lucy sighed.

Two black SUVs trailed her through the city traffic. The drive was so mundane and peaceful that she almost managed to forget why Damian was being so paranoid. Almost.

\---

Her apartment building was quiet, just as it always was. She offered a quick greeting to the elderly woman working the front desk before riding the elevator up to the fourth floor.

She packed efficiently, gathering Aria's favorite cardigan and a handful of books. Finally, she grabbed the worn stuffed bear Aria strictly forbade anyone from mentioning, which she always slept with whenever she was sick.

Zipping the bag shut, she headed back down to the lobby. The guards immediately stepped forward to take the heavy luggage from her hands.

"Thank you."

One of them offered a polite nod. "No problem, ma'am."

Outside, the morning rain had tapered off, leaving the asphalt damp and reflective under the afternoon sun. Lucy was halfway across the parking lot when the sharp screech of tearing rubber shattered the quiet.

It was moving way too fast.

A dark van whipped around the corner, its tires smoking as it swung sideways, effectively blocking the parking lot exit. Before the vehicle had even fully stopped, three masked men threw the side doors open and lunged out.

"Move!"

One of Damian's guards reached for the holster at his hip, but a loud, metallic crack echoed through the air. It wasn't a gunshot, it was a stun round. The guard dropped instantly, his body seizing as he hit the pavement.

The second guard barely had time to pivot before another attacker drove into him, tackling him hard against the side of the SUV.

Lucy froze, her mind struggling to process the sheer speed of the escalation.

"Run!" the second guard choked out, trying to fight the man pinning him.

Heavy, rapid footsteps closed in behind her. A hand snatched at her backpack, but the sudden tension caused the strap to snap completely. She stumbled, skinning her knee, but forced herself back up and kept running. The glass doors were only a few feet away. She was almost there.

A heavy hand clamped down on her wrist.

Instinct took over. Lucy twisted her body, using the momentum to swing her heavy leather handbag like a weapon. It connected squarely with her attacker's face. The man cursed, his grip loosening just enough for her to yank her arm free.

"Catch her!" someone yelled.

She kept running, adrenaline masking the ache in her lungs. She reached the glass doors and threw her weight against them.

They didn't budge. They were locked.

Looking through the glass, she realized the front desk clerk was gone, likely hiding under the counter. Lucy yanked desperately on the handles, but the mechanism remained completely rigid.

Behind her, the footsteps caught up.

She spun around just as the first attacker lunged. Acting on pure survival instinct, Lucy drove her knee upward with all the force she could muster. The man groaned, doubling over in agony. She shoved him aside, trying to find a gap to break for the street, but a pair of arms wrapped securely around her from behind, pinning her upper body.

"You little bitch—"

Lucy drove her elbow backward into his ribs. For a fraction of a second, the pressure eased and she broke loose. She managed three frantic strides before a heavy weight crashed into her hips, tackling her to the ground.

The impact with the wet concrete knocked the wind right out of her lungs. Yet, she refused to stop moving. She scratched at any exposed skin she could find, kicking her legs and striking out blindly.

"Hold her down! Pin her arms!"

"No! Get off me!" Lucy screamed, thrashing against the weight of the men pinning her.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed movement on the perimeter. A few pedestrians had stopped on the sidewalk, completely frozen. Others had their phones out, recording the struggle. But nobody moved to help.

One of the men pulled a syringe from his pocket.

When Lucy saw the needle, absolute panic took over. She jerked her body violently to the side, causing the tip to miss her vein and gouge a long scratch down her forearm.

The man cursed under his breath. "She's stronger than she looks."

Lucy threw her head back, slamming the crown of her skull into the nose of the man holding her shoulders. A sickening crunch echoed, and he howled as blood poured from his face.

She almost managed to scramble away. Almost.

Another set of hands grabbed both of her wrists, locking them above her head, while a thick cloth was forced down over her mouth and nose. The chemical stench hit her immediately, sharp and sweet.

Her eyes widened in terror. She held her breath, recalling a random article she’d read claiming it took time for sedatives to take effect. She fought harder, her legs kicking out in a blind frenzy, landing a solid strike against one man's chest and another to a jaw.

For a brief moment, her thrashing caused the cloth to slip. Lucy gasped for air, using the breath to scream with everything left in her lungs.

"HELP!"

The scream vibrated across the concrete lot.

Over by the SUVs, one of Damian's guards began to stir, coughing weakly as he reached for the radio clipped to his tactical vest.

One of the masked men noticed the movement. "Damn it." He rushed over, kicking the radio out of the guard's trembling hand.

"Hurry up."

"We're running out of time."

"Get her into the back of the van."

Lucy made one final, sluggish attempt to fight, a weak scratch, a dull kick, before the darkness at the edges of her vision completely closed in.

The last thing she saw before slipping under was the unconscious guard crawling toward the radio that had been kicked across the asphalt, his shaking fingers finally making contact with the emergency button.

A single, silent distress signal left the device, heading straight for the Cross estate.

Miles away, the phone in Damian’s pocket vibrated. He pulled it out, glancing casually at the screen, but his expression hardened into stone instantly.

Guardian Down. Lucy.