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"They're still behind us."
Kael's voice came rough. Blood soaked through his shirt, black under the dashboard lights. Sienna kept her foot down, the stolen sedan screaming through switchbacks she barely remembered from childhood.
"How many?"
"Two vehicles. Maybe six shooters total." He twisted to look back, hissed through his teeth. "They're not trying to box us in. They're herding."
"Herding where?"
"Somewhere quiet. Somewhere they can clean up after."
Sienna's knuckles went white on the wheel. The USB drive burned in her pocket like a live coal. Her mother's voice, still on that recording, still saying her name. Asher's access log, three days before the fire. Before everything.
"The next junction," Kael said. "Go left."
"That's a dead end. It loops back to—"
"I know where it goes. Trust me or don't, but decide fast."
She yanked the wheel left. The tires screamed. Behind them, headlights swerved, closed the gap. Sienna's heartbeat spiked, and with it came the pull—the goddamn moonbond like a fist around her ribs, dragging her attention toward him even now.
"You're losing blood," she said.
"I'm fine."
"You're not. I can smell it."
"Then drive faster."
The road narrowed. Trees pressed in on both sides, branches scraping the windows. Sienna's hands shook. Not from fear. From the bond, the pull, the way her wolf clawed at her insides every time she heard his breath catch.
"Why didn't you tell me?" she said.
"Tell you what?"
"That Mara knew my mother. That Asher's been hunting me for fifteen years. That the whole damn case was—"
"Would you have believed me?"
She didn't answer. Couldn't. Because he was right. She wouldn't have. Not until she heard her mother's voice on that recording.
"You kept me in the dark," she said.
"I kept you alive."
"By lying."
"By waiting until you'd listen." He shifted, pressed his palm flat against his shoulder. Blood welled between his fingers. "You want the truth? Fine. Asher Lockwood's been erasing anyone who knows what really happened fifteen years ago. Your family. My unit. Anyone who could connect the dots. Mara spent six years feeding him false leads to keep him off your trail. And the second he figured out who you really are, he sent a kill team to your clerk and to us."
Sienna's throat tightened. "Leah—"
"Is in a hospital under guard. I got word before the safehouse went up. She's alive."
Relief hit her so hard she almost missed the turn. The sedan fishtailed, tires kicking gravel. Behind them, the lead vehicle closed to twenty yards. She could see the driver's face now, cold and blank.
"They're not going to stop," Kael said.
"I know."
"Then you need to accept what's coming."
"What's coming?"
"They want you dead because you're the last loose end. The last Roake bloodline survivor who can testify. Asher's been tying off threads for fifteen years, and you're the final one."
Sienna's pulse hammered in her ears. The bond pulled tighter, a physical ache low in her chest. She could feel him next to her—his heat, his breath, the way his wolf pressed against hers even through the wall she'd built.
"Stop talking," she said.
"You need to hear this."
"I said stop."
"Sienna—"
The rear window exploded.
Glass sprayed across the back seat. Sienna ducked, swerved hard right. The sedan clipped a tree, spun, kept going. Kael swore, braced himself against the dash.
"They're not aiming for the tires," he said.
"I noticed."
"That means they want it done fast. No witnesses, no questions."
Another shot punched through the trunk. Sienna's hands burned on the wheel. The road curved sharply ahead, dropped into a ravine she remembered from years ago. If she took it too fast—
"Brake," Kael said.
"What?"
"Brake. Now."
She slammed the pedal. The sedan lurched, tires shrieking. Behind them, the lead vehicle flew past, couldn't stop in time. It hit the curve, went airborne, tumbled end over end into the ravine below. The second vehicle slammed its brakes too late. It skidded sideways, clipped the guardrail, flipped.
Sienna sat frozen, hands locked on the wheel. Smoke rose from the ravine. No movement. No sound except the tick of the cooling engine and Kael's ragged breathing beside her.
"Go," he said.
"They—"
"More will come. Go."
She shifted into gear, pulled back onto the road. Her whole body shook. Not from the crash. From the bond, the pull, the way it burned hotter every second she spent next to him.
"You're bleeding worse," she said.
"I'll live."
"You don't know that."
"I've had worse."
"In prison?"
"In the war." His voice went flat. "The one you sent me away for."
Sienna's jaw tightened. "I followed the evidence."
"You followed what Asher fed you. Witness statements he fabricated. Forensics his people doctored. You were twenty-four years old, fresh off your oath, and he handed you a hero to break. You never stood a chance."
Her hands clenched on the wheel. "I stood in that courtroom and looked at the photos. The bodies. The village—"
"Was already dead when my unit arrived. Asher's death squad hit them the night before. We walked into a setup, and you bought it."
The bond twisted, sharp and vicious. Sienna's vision blurred at the edges. She could feel his wolf now, pressed so close to hers it hurt to breathe.
"Stop," she said.
"Stop what?"
"Talking. Pushing. Acting like I owe you—"
"You don't owe me anything. But you owe yourself the truth."
She wanted to argue. Wanted to shove him out of the car and keep driving. But his blood was everywhere, and the bond pulled like a chain wrapped around her spine, and she couldn't—
Her phone buzzed.
Sienna grabbed it, hands shaking. Unknown number. She almost didn't answer. Then she saw the timestamp: two hours ago. A voicemail.
She hit play.
Leah's voice, thin and scared: "Sienna, I don't know if you'll get this. They moved me to a secure wing, but I heard the guards talking. Asher Lockwood signed a detention order for you. Midnight arrest warrant, no charges listed. He's calling it protective custody, but—" A pause. Breathing. "It's not protective. He's coming for you. Don't come back. Don't trust—"
The message cut off.
Sienna's hand went numb. The phone slipped, clattered to the floor. Kael picked it up, listened to the last few seconds.
"Detention order," he said quietly. "That means he's moving fast. Probably already has teams sweeping your apartment, your office. Anyone who might know where you are."
"Leah—"
"Is bait. He's hoping you'll go back for her."
Sienna's throat closed. The bond burned, hot and vicious, dragging her gaze toward Kael even as her mind screamed at her to focus. To think. To—
The sedan's front tire blew.
She wrenched the wheel, but it was too late. The car spun, hit gravel, flipped. The world went sideways. Glass shattered. Metal screamed. Sienna's head cracked against something hard, and then the car was rolling, rolling, rolling—
It stopped upside down.
Silence.
Sienna hung from the seatbelt, blood dripping into her hair. Her ribs screamed. Her vision swam. And then Kael was there, his weight pressing against her, his hands on her face.
"Sienna. Look at me."
She couldn't. Everything hurt. The bond pulled so tight she thought it would snap her in half.
"Look at me."
She opened her eyes. He was close—too close. His face inches from hers, blood streaking his jaw, his pupils blown wide. The bond roared between them, a living thing, clawing and desperate.
"I need you to stay awake," he said.
His breath ghosted across her lips. Sienna's heart slammed against her ribs. She could feel his pulse, his heat, the way his wolf pressed against hers like they'd already decided.
"Get off me," she whispered.
"Can you move?"
"I said get off."
He didn't. His hand slid to her throat, checking her pulse. His thumb brushed her jaw. The bond screamed.
"Your pupils are uneven," he said.
"I'm fine."
"You're concussed."
"Then let me pass out in peace."
"Not happening."
His weight shifted, pinning her tighter against the crushed seat. Sienna bit back a sound that wasn't pain. The bond burned everywhere they touched—his chest against hers, his hand on her neck, his thigh pressed between her knees.
"We need to move," he said.
"I know."
"Then why aren't you moving?"
Because you're on top of me and I can't think. Because the bond's burning me alive and I hate you and I can't make it stop.
She shoved at his chest. He moved, slow and careful, pulled her free from the seatbelt. They crawled out through the shattered windshield together, collapsed on the gravel side by side. Sienna's ribs screamed. Kael's shoulder was soaked red.
Her phone, somehow still intact, buzzed in the wreckage.
Kael reached in, pulled it free. Another voicemail. He hit play.
Leah's voice again, barely a whisper: "Sienna. He signed it an hour ago. Midnight detention. That's ten minutes from now. If you're still in the city—"
A sound in the background. A door opening. Voices.
Leah's breath hitched. "He's here. He's in my room. He's—"
The line went dead.