Aliana was still haunted by the appearance of the fake Nyx. The image of that figureplete with movements and body posture almost identical to hers–filled her mind with questions. She realized her n to trap Kestrel tonight had failedpletely. The focus that should have been fixed on Kestrel was now split, and her instincts told her that the impersonator was no ordinary threat.

    Aliana gave Rate instructions to take Julian back to a safe ce.

    “Take Julian back to the hideout. Make sure the location is known to no one,” Aliana ordered firmly.

    Rafe nodded, then, together with Lucas, lifted the still–bound Julian.

    “How long are you going to keep dragging me around?! My body’s still hurt!”

    Julian shouted, struggling, his face flushed with anger, but bno /bone responded.

    Lucas only gave him ba /bt look before pulling out a small syringe.

    “Sleep,” he said coldly, plunging the needle into Julian’s arm. Within seconds, Julian’s body went limp and unconscious.

    Rafe and Lucas began moving out of the warehouse, leaving Aliana, who was also preparing to leave. But before she could take a step, her phone vibrated. Elena’s name appeared on the screen, apanied by a long list of unread messages–too many for it to be something trivial.

    Aliana picked up the call. Elena’s voice came through, hurried.

    “Miss, Mr. Andrian-” Before she could finish, Andrian’s deep voice cut in, “Aliana, where are you right now? I’ll send someone to pick you up.”

    Aliana’s eyes narrowed. She caught the cold,manding tone in her husband’s voice–the one he used when he was angry. Without saying ba /bword, she ended the call and immediately turned off her phone. She knew full well Andrian would track her location.

    Rafe, who had just loaded Julian into the car, turned to her, his expression clearly worried.

    “Miss, is something wrong?”

    “It’s fine,” Aliana replied tly. “Get Julian out of here now. Stay sharp–Kestrel might still be around.”

    Rafe nodded, but his concern didn’t fade. “I don’t feel right leaving byou /balone.”

    “I can take care of myself, Rafe,” Aliana cut in quickly. “Go!”

    Her sharp tone left no room for debate.

    Rafe had no choice. He got into the car and drove off with Lucas, leaving Aliana behind.

    For a momenti, /iiAliana /istood watching their car fade into the distance, carrying the unconscious Julian. An uneasy feeling gnawed at her–a bad premonition that something might happen to them. But she also couldn’t ignore the fact that Andrian was clearly waiting for her.

    Aliana exhaled softly, walked iover /ito the motorcycle she had used earlier, put on her helmet, and started the engine.

    The bike roared to life, and she sped away from the warehouse. The night wind brushed her face, but beneath the calm of the ride, her mind was far from at ease. Anxiety lingered. Her thoughts were split between Rafe and Lucas’s safety, and the confrontation she was almost certain to face with Andrian.

    From Andrian’s tone, Aliana knew her husband would be furious. And that meant she had to be ready for him.

    The night deepened. On the quiet outskirts, Rafe’s ck car drove steadily, followed by Lucas’s vehicle with Julian slumped in the back seat. Julian was still half–drugged, his head lolling, asionally letting out ba /bfaint groan of difort.

    Just as Aliana had feared, the danger wasn’t over. In the distance, ba /bpair of dim headlights approached bat /bba /bsteady speed. bWithout /bwarning, bthe /bbvehicle /b

    swerved and blocked the road ahead of Rafe’s car

    Rafe instinctively mmed the brakes. Tires screeched against asphalt–and the collision came. Before he could react further, Kestrel stepped bmit /bof the car with slow but threatening movements. His eyes were sharp, and without a word, he drew a long dagger from inside his jacket.

    Lucas jumped out of the car behind them, immediately aiming his gun at Kestrel

    “Leave! Don’t interfere with our transport,” Lucas shouted, pulling the trigger.

    Kestrel moved like a shadow. In a single motion, he dodged Lucas’s shot, closed the distance, and shed Lucas’s arm with his de, Lucas staggered back, his pistol falling to the ground.

    Rafe, slightly injured from the minor collision with Kestrel’s car, leapt out and spun into a low kick aimed at Kestrel’s legs. The strike forced Kestrel back a step. Rafe seized the moment, following up with a flurry of quick punches to his opponent’s chest and jaw.

    The blowsnded hard, but Kestrel only smiled faintly, as if this was just a warm–up. He blocked the next strike with his bare hand, grabbed Rafe’s arm and twisted it with such force that the joint cracked.

    Rafe grimaced in painb, /bbut with thest of his strengthb, /bkicked at Kestrel’s knee. Lucasb, /bbleeding from his armb, /btried to help by ramming into Kestrel from

    behind.

    The brief but intense fight left all three men breathing heavily. Though Rafe was a skilled fighterb–/bba /bformer mercenary and Nyx’s rightb–/bhand man–the gap in their abilities was clear. Kestrel was like a lion toying with his prey–fast, powerful, and experienced.

    With one swift motion, Kestrel drove his elbow into Lucas’s jaw, sending him crashing bto /bthe ground. Rafe attempted a spinning kick, but bKestrel /bcaught his leg and mmed him hard onto the asphalt.

    Within seconds, both men were down, blood trickling from their wounds. Kestrel stood between them, breathing steadily, his cold gaze fixed on bthem /bbefore turning to Julian.

    Julian began to stir, blinking against the light. When he saw Kestrel standing before him, his face lit up.

    “Atst… you came,” Julian said with a weak smile.

    Kestrel tilted his head slightly, his voice t. “Sorry. I waste to save you.”

    “It’s fine…now untie me. We can get out of here,” Julian said, his tone full of hope.

    Kestrel’s iexpression /iremained cold. He drew a pistol from inside his jacket and aimed it directly at Julian’s forehead.

    Julian ifroze/i, his smile vanishing iinto /ishock. “What are you doing?!”

    Kestrel took a slow breath. “I’m freeing you from your suffering. You know… in your current state, there’s no future left for you.”

    “Don’t-!” Julian shouted, but the gunshot came first.

    The crack of the shot echoed iinto /ithe night. Julian’s head jerked back, his eyes wide for thest time before his body went limp. Blood streamed from his temple, pooling on the seat beneath him.

    Kestrel stared at him for a few seconds, then crouched down and gently closed Julian’s eyelids with his hand.

    “Rest now.”

    Kestrel rose to his feet and walked over to Rafe and Lucas, who were still lying weak on the ground. He raised his pistolb, /bbready /bbito /i/bbshoot /bthem bboth/bb. /bbBut /bjust before bhe /bcould pull the triggerb, /bthe sharp crack of gunfire rang out from another direction.

    The bullet nearly hit Kestrel, bforcing /bhim to leap bback /bband /btake cover behind ba /bcarb. /bbHe /brealized bthere /bbwas /bbanother /bshooter btargeting /bhim. Without bwasting /btime, he decided to bretreat/b.

    07:16 Tue, 2 Sept

    Kestrel got back into his car and sped away, disappearing into the darkness of the night

    A few secondster, light footsteps approached. From the shadows emerged a figure d in ck, wearing Hy’s signature mask. But the the on their wrist was a clear sign this wasn’t Aliana. It was the fake Nyx.

    The impostor crouched beside the half–conscious Rafe, checking the stab wound in his abdomen, then examined the gash on Lucas’s shoulder, with speaking, they took Rafe’s weapon and his phone.

    With swift movements, Nyx dialed the emergency number and, once connected, pressed the phone to Rafe’s ear. Then, without a word, the figure stood and walked away–vanishing into the night, taking with them Rafe’s and Lucas’s weapons, as well as Julian’s corpse.

    Rafe watched Nyx’s departure through blurred vision. Even bon /bthe verge of bpassing /bbout/b, he could clearly see the silver bracelet on their wrist. In his heart he knewb… /bhis rescuer wasn’t Alianab, /bthe real Nyxb, /bbut an impersonator.

    From the phone, the voice bof /bban /bemergency operator came through.

    “Hello? Hello? Who is this? Is there an emergency? Please, bdon’t /by games.”

    With what little strength he had left, Rafe groaned, “Send… a medical team. We’re… injured.”

    His vision darkened the moment he finished speaking, and he let himself sink into unconsciousness.

    AD