Chapter 224
Chapter 224
-Grayson’s POV.
I didn’t move.
I didn’t speak.
I just watched.
The moment the word sister left Crystal’s mouth, I knew nothing would be the same. The air in the room shifted, charged with something raw, something electric. Ava clung to me, her grip like a vice, but I didn’t comfort her. I didn’t whisper
reassurances.
Because this wasn’t a moment for comfort. This was a reckoning
I saw it in the way Ava’s body tensed, in the way her breath hitched like she had been struck. The realization crashed into her, one revelation after another, like waves dragging her under with no chance to breathe.
And I let her drown.
Not out of cruelty. Not because I didn’t care. But because she needed this. She needed to feel every ounce of it, to understand exactly what kind of game was being played around her.
Crystal was enjoying this. I could see it in her eyes–the sharp gleam of amusement, the way she performed for an audience, dangling the truth in front of Ava like bait.
Damien was worse.
He barely had to lift a finger, and yet, he controlled the entire room. Every shift of his expression, every calculated chuckle, every glance toward Ava was like a string being pulled in a game only he knew the rules to.
I hated him for it.
Hated the way he spoke to her, like she was some fragile thing beneath his control. Hated the way he indulged Crystal’s venom, the way he encouraged it.
And still, I waited.
Because right now, I wasn’t the one in the line of fire. Right now, I was just an observer, a ghost at the edge of their war.
But then I felt when the truth became too much for her to bear so I finally acted, pulling her back. Away from Damien. Away from Crystal. Away from the nightmare they had dragged her into.
But Damien-
Damien was waiting for that.
I saw the flicker of satisfaction in his eyes the second I stepped into focus, the way his smirk curled just a little wider then the arrows revealed themselves like a trigger at his words and then they came right at her.
I didn’t hesitate.
The second the arrows shot toward her, my body moved before my mind could even process it. My arm wrapped around Ava, pulling her against me, shielding her as the sharp projectiles sliced through the air.
Pain seared through my shoulder, hot and immediate. One of the arrows had grazed me, a shallow wound, but it didn’t
matter.
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Chapter 224
Ava mattered.
Her breath hitched, and I could feel her trembling against me, her fingers gripping onto my jacket like she was holding on for dear life.
“Stay with me, I ordered, my voice firm but low, meant only for her.
I’d already pressed the device strapped beneath my sleeve the moment Crystal opened her mouth, and now—
Now the room erupted into chaos.
The doors burst open, and my men stormed in, dressed in black weapons raised, moving like a well–oiled machine. Their entrance was met with an immediate response–Damien’s men who emerged like he had been two steps ahead and had expected this sprang into action, and within seconds, the tense undercurrent of the night exploded into an all–out war.
Gunfire cracked through the air, deafening, a violent symphony of power struggles and bloodshed.
I didn’t flinch.
I barely even reacted as I felt the impact of another hit–this time on my side. A sharp sting, the warmth of blood seeping through my shirt, but I shoved the pain away.
Ava was my only concern.
I yanked her back, forcing her behind me as I moved with precision, blocking her from sight. She gasped, her breath unsteady, but she didn’t fight me. Not this time.
“Grayson-” Her voice was barely a whisper, shock, confusion and disbelief tangled together.
“I’ve got you,” I assured her, my eyes scanning the chaos.
My eyes scanned for Damien and caught only a glimpse of him before he slipped through the fray, a smirk on his lips, that infuriating, calculated gleam in his gaze. He’d orchestrated this moment. He knew I’d move to protect Ava, knew I’d react. And while I had been focused on her, he had slipped away.
“Fuck,” I hissed under my breath.
Crystal was nowhere to be seen either.
I pulled Ava tighter against me, maneuvering us toward the nearest exit. My men provided cover, keeping the enemy forces occupied as we pushed through.
Ava stumbled slightly, her breathing uneven.
“Keep going,” I urged her, my grip on her unrelenting.
We were almost there. I could see the doorway, an open path leading to our escape.
Then-
A gunshot.
Loud. Too close.
Ava cried out, and my
heart stopped.
I turned sharply, just in time to see one of Damien’s men aiming right at her.
Instinct took over.
Chapter 224
13
I stepped into the line of fire without a second thought, firing my own gun before he could take another shot. He went down, but not before I felt a sharp, burning pain tear through my side again.
Another hit.
1 gritted my teeth, swallowing the pain.
I didn’t let go of Ava.
Didn’t stop moving.
Didn’t do anything but fight to get her out of there.
By the time we burst through the doors and into cold night air, my v
was blurring at the edges, my breaths coming
in shallow bursts. But I had her. I had her, and I wasn’t letting go
Ava turned to me, her wide eyes taking in the blood soaking through my jacket, her hands reaching up like she didn’t know where to touch, what to do.
“Grayson,” She breathed, her voice laced with panic.
“I’m fine,” I ground out. A lie, but one she needed to hear.
She was staring at me, chest heaving, hands still half–raised like she didn’t know whether to reach for me or push me away. And then something shifted in her expression. Like she suddenly remembered what we were to each other right now.
Her hands dropped, her body tensed, and she took a step back.
But before she could put real distance between us, my knees buckled.
The ground tilted beneath me. I fought against it, against the weakness overtaking me, but my body refused to cooperate. My breath hitched as I swayed, and Ava moved faster than I expected, surging forward and catching my arm before I could collapse.
The weight of me was too much and we both went down.
I felt her body tense against mine as we hit the pavement, her arms bracing against my chest. She barely had time to react before she widened her eyes, and in an instant, her claws extended.
The sharp sound of fabric tearing filled the air as she slashed through my clothes, her gaze zeroing in on the wounds. I saw it the moment realization dawned in her expression–the way her breath hitched, the way her lips parted slightly, how her brows furrowed.
“Grayson-”
“I’m fine,” I said again automatically.
Ava’s head snapped up, and for a second, there was silence.
Then, in a voice laced with quiet fury, she said, “I am not in the mood for your bullshit right now.”
That actually made me pause.
Her hands trembled slightly as they pressed against my side, feeling the warmth of my blood seeping through. There was something raw in her expression–something that shouldn’t have been there. Not after everything.
She still cared.
Even though she didn’t want to.
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Chapter 224
Even though I had given her every reason not to.
“Can you stand?” She asked, her voice clipped, all business now.
I forced myself to move, pushing up on my arms, but the second I shifted, pain shot through me like wildfire. Ava saw it, saw the brief clench of my jaw, the way my breath caught, and her fingers dug into my arm in frustration.
“Where’s your car?” She demanded.
“I told him to leave,” I admitted.
Ava muttered something under her breath that I was too lightheaded to catch, then squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. When she opened them again, there was a renewed sharpness in them.
“Isabella is getting Ricardo,” She said, more to herself than to me
Then, suddenly, her eyes widened again, like she had just remembered something else.
“Your phone–I don’t have mine in me. Where is your phone?”
I blinked at her, “I don’t have it on me either.
Her head snapped toward me, her frustration bubbling over. “Damn it, Grayson! You are not being helpful right now!”
And for some reason–despite the blood loss, despite the pain that, despite the absolute mess of the night–I found myself smiling.
Ava caught it immediately, her eyes narrowing, “What the hell is so amusing?” She snapped. “You are bleeding out!”
I huffed out a breath, shaking my head. “You’re just-” I cut myself off, watching the way her nostrils flared, the way she looked at me like she wanted to strangle me and shake me all at once.
You’re still you.
And I’ve missed you. And I’m so sorry for what I did to you.
I didn’t say it out loud.
But she must have seen something in my eyes, because her expression flickered for a split second, something unreadable flashing across her face before she scowled harder.
“We need to get you out of here,” She said, voice tight. She paused, her gaze locking onto mine with a weight that felt like a thousand unspoken words.
“Because you and I have a realm to stop from crumbling. Together.”
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