"Hands on your heads! Get down!" Calliope shouted, hermand ringing out in the local tongue.


    The clusters of armed men instantly obeyed. Crouched on their haunches, hands sped tightly atop their heads, they cast uneasy nces at her. Calliope, dressed in a sporty tracksuit and looking more like a co-ed on a morning jog than a threat, seemed wildly out of ce in the middle of an ambush. Her striking beauty only added to their confusion-how could someone so harmless-looking dismantle them so easily? And yet, both she and her crew had just proven how dangerous they could be.


    "Who the hell are you? Whye after us?" he snarled, biting back the pain shooting through his arm. Even subdued, his pride bristled. "Listen up—our general is not someone you want to mess with. You cross us, you cross him, and he''ll make sure you pay. You''ll wish you were dead."


    But then his tone shifted, bing sly. "But hey, let''s not be hasty. Let us go, we''ll pretend this never happened. I''ll even put in a word—you could join up with us. All you gotta do is take out that other bunch over there."


    "Unbelievable! You want her to take us out for you?" someone from the rival faction shouted, indignant. "Don''t listen to him! He''s a snake who''ll use you to do his dirty work and stab you in the back! He''ll take you out once you''ve dealt with us. Open your eyes-he''s not your friend!"


    "He''s ying you against us. If you fall for it, you''ll regret it—trust me!" another spat.


    The two groups erupted into bickering, hurling usations and insults back and forth.


    Calliope barely spared them a nce. Without a word, she signed to her team, and one by one her men efficiently bound the troublemakers and dumped them along the roadside-humiliated, helpless, and no longer her concern.


    She climbed back into the vehicle, signaled her team, and they took off down the road. Time was the one thing she didn''t have, and she already had a fair idea whose hands were moving pieces behind the scenes.


    "Think they''ll catch up to us?" Rowan asked, ncing sidelong at her as he gripped the wheel.


    "Not anytime soon," Calliope replied. "They''ll sit there for a while before anyone finds them, and by then we''ll be long gone. Once we reach Urians, we''re out of anyone''s reach. No one''s going toy a finger on us there."


    Saving Mavis was all that mattered. Anyone who stood in her way would be swept aside. Her focus was absolute: rescue, at any cost.


    Rowan pressed the elerator, speeding ahead with the other vans struggling to keep up behind them. The route stayed the same, but wariness hung thick in the air.


    Three hours out from Uriah''s


    stronghold, darkness had fallen


    1erse message from


    vibrated a


    Uriah: Mavis was fading fast, and


    she needed to hurry.


    Calliope cursed under her breath, firing a reply back: Keep Mavis stable at all costs.


    Then she turned to Rowan, eyes sharp. "Go. Faster."


    "You holding up? If you''re tired, I''ll take the wheel," she said, her tone icy but direct.


    "I''m good," Rowan replied immediately. "You''re going to need all your strength for the surgery when we get there. Try and rest, I''ve got us covered. The roads are clear enough.


    She nodded, murmured, "Careful, but don''t slow down," and closed her eyes, letting


    the gentle thrum of the engine lull her as she tried to catch a few moments'' rest.


    But peace was fleeting.


    Just minutester, gunfire ripped through the night, a bullet mming into the body of their car with a metallic ng.


    "Shit! Ambush!" Rowan swore, tightening his grip as his eyes darted to the rearview, scanning for threats in the darkness.


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!