Her message disappeared into the void. With no reply, ra couldn''t wait any longer. She kept driving toward Z''s cottage, her heart racing with worry.


    The hours on the road dragged on, every minute weighed down by fear for him. By the time she neared the Capital, she was running on empty. She called Ryan, desperate for a familiar voice.


    Ryan picked up, and from the sound of her, he figured she was already in the Capital. He threw on a clean shirt, ready to bolt out the door, but then remembered Simon was still at the vi. Annoyed, he lowered his voice and said, "I''ll sneak away when I get a chance, ra. You go ahead."


    The world felt too quiet to ra, every second stretching into forever. She just needed someone to talk to anything to keep her anxiety from spiraling out of control. If she lost her focus now, she could crash, and that would only make things worse.


    Z''s cottage finally came into view, a tiny glimmer of hope flickering inside her. She was barely two hundred meters away when something streaked across the sky. Before she could process what it was, the little house exploded. mes shot up, painting the night with fire.


    ra mmed on the brakes, stunned. The world buzzed in her ears, everything muffled and unreal.


    Her legs felt like jelly. She tried to step on the gas but couldn''t. Instead, she stumbled out of the car and ran toward the fire.


    Every few dozen meters, she tripped and fell, her clothes caked in mud. What should have been a short sprint turned into a half-hour crawl. By the time she reached the burning ruins, she was shaking so hard she could barely stand.


    The fire roared on, lighting up the sky. ra wanted to scream for him, to hear his voice, but the shock was so deep she couldn''t find her words.


    The mes grew wilder, sirens wailing in the distance as emergency crews rushed from the Capital. ra''s head spun; everything was slipping away.


    Just as she was about to pass out, she heard Ryan''s voice calling her name.


    He''d arrived just as the fire was dying down, and the sight of it nearly stopped his heart. He ran to her and pulled her into his car.


    Barely conscious, ra could only whisper for him to take her to a motel.


    Ryan was frantic. He wanted to drive her straight to the hospital, but when she insisted, he had no choice. He sped off, ncing at her pale face.


    "ra, what happened? That


    fire-was it an ident?" he asked, voice shaking. On his way over, he''d heard the explosion himself. It was like someone had set off a


    bomb-no ident. Some ver


    meant to destroy that cottage.


    Was it Dn? Was he really capable of something like this?


    ra''s face was ghostly white, her eyes closed, her whole body frighteningly still. Ryan didn''t dare say more. He hated that man in the shadows, but now, seeing ra like this, all he wanted was for the guy to be alive. He couldn''t stand the thought of her falling apart.


    He gripped the wheel in silence, speeding toward the motel.


    They made it there by noon. The second ra stepped through the door, she copsed.


    Ryan panicked, rushing to get a doctor. After a quick check, the doctor said it was just a shock-she needed rest, that was all.


    Ryan sat at her bedside, holding her


    hand, tears burning in his eyes. He hated himself for everything he''d done before. Only now did he realize-if ra was gone, what would be left for him?


    "ra, please, you have to be okay. I''m so sorry. I never apologized for what happened with Sarah. I med you for days after she died, but know now-it wasn''t you. She was just used by someone else. ra, please wake up. I haven''t even had the chance to say I''m sorry."


    He broke down, crying at her side, as if he were the one who''d been hurt.


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    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!