The door was booted open, and the security guards were sent flying. The suddenmotion caused the masked attendees on the second floor to scatter in panic.


    Cathryn snapped her head toward the source of the noise. Standing at the entrance was none other than Marion. His white shirt and face were stained with blood.


    Cathryn hadn''t expected to see him again, but where love once filled her eyes, now only hatred remained.


    "Kill them all!" she screamed, her voice echoing through the hall.


    The hunters charged toward the entrance, but they were quickly overwhelmed as


    a wave of reinforcements poured in. One by one, the hunters were knocked to the ground.


    A line of ck-suited bodyguards marched into the hall, forming two imposing


    rows.


    Drake strode in, his boot pressing down on one of the fallen hunters. He reached down and yanked off the man''s mask, revealing an unremarkable face beneath.


    He snarled, "How dare you stir up trouble on my turf?"


    The hunters trembled. "We''re just hired muscles. We didn''t know this had anything to do with you, Mr. Lowe. Please, spare us."


    In Orkgate, Drake''s name alone instilled fear.


    Unmoved by their pleading, Drake turned to Kale and ordered with icy finality, "Take them back and interrogate them thoroughly."


    The ck-suited guards wasted no time, dragging those hunters away.


    Satisfied with their efficiency, Drake crowed, "Marion, you''re useless."


    But Marion was no longer by his side.


    Kale exined, "He already went upstairs."


    Drake hissed, "Then why are you standing around? Get people upstairs."


    Kale nodded, turning to instruct the guards, "Take down every suspicious person."


    On the second floor, Marion tensed


    up at the sight of bloodstains on the


    floor. Drake arrived soon after, bis expression darkening when he saw the blood.


    "Boss," Kale reported, "our men are searching the venue, but those on the second floor vanished."


    "Find them at all costs," Drake ordered darkly.


    The gravity of the situation hit him. Debra had been trapped there for two hours, but he didn''t think that was her blood. Recklessness was never her thing. She must be hiding somewhere.


    "Marion, head upstairs," Drake said, but the sight before him made him pause.


    Marion ripped a strip of fabric from his shirt and tied it tightly around the wound on his arm. His face was unreadable, but the air around him was chilling.