The bunker smelled of blood and smoke, the crimson emergency lights illuminating grotesque shadows on the slaughter. Bodies were strewn across the hard concrete, the air heavy with the acrid smell of death. Bullet shells covered the floor, shining like fallen stars. The silence after the pandemonium was overwhelming, punctuated only by the ragged gasps of the survivors.


    Ethan cleaned a smudge of blood—another''s—from his cheek and faced the rest. Rhea still held the knife she had used on the dead guard, her knuckles white. Felix guarded the entrance, his gun firm, eyes scanning for the slightest movement of reinforcements. Jax blew hard, a hand clapped against his side where a bullet had skimmed over. He grunted but brushed it aside.


    "Dorian''s getting away," Ethan snarled, rising from the crate he''d taken cover behind. His heart thrummed in his ears. He wasn''t going to let that son of a bitch get away from them.


    "Hold on." Lila moved closer, her voice authoritative. "You go running after him right now, and you''ll be walking right into a trap. You know that, don''t you?"


    "She''s right," Maya said, massaging the raw skin of her wrists where the ropes had bitten. "Dorian''s not running scared. He''s taking us somewhere."


    Ethan gritted his teeth. Every fiber of his being screamed to pursue, to stop this now. But he knew better. Dorian Kane was not a man who ran—he manipulated. He controlled. And currently, he was playing a game Ethan couldn''t lose.


    Felix strapped his gun back. "We leave. Take whatever we can from here and split. We find him, but we do it smart."


    Vance, clutching his injured arm, smiled crookedly. "I say we don''t wait long enough for the cavalry to arrive."


    Jax took a hard breath, his eyes scanning the bunker—their bunker. "Dorian never intended to be here," he growled. "He simply used it as bait. Catch our people. Drive us to desperation." His fists clenched. "And we marched right into it."


    Felix stooped by a desk, searching through the discarded supplies. His forehead wrinkled. "Most of our equipment''s still here. He didn''t clear out the facility—just made it a staging area." He eyed the corpses of the mercenaries. "This never had anything to do with the bunker. This was all about eliminating us."


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    A flame leapt unexpectedly from a crate on the nearby shelf. Ethan''s gut curled. **A detonator.**


    "MOVE!"


    They just had time to respond before a controlled blast shook the back of the bunker. A chain reaction—small charges, set to not destroy, but to **bury**. Debris and dust came down as the walls shook. The floor creaked. A precise sabotage.


    Felix coughed, sitting up. "That piece of trash—he set it to cave in just enough to trap us here."


    Rhea helped Lila to her feet, both of them covered in dust. Jax pulled Maya up, his expression tight with barely restrained fury. “We’re not dead yet,” he said, voice steel. “Let’s keep it that way.”


    Ethan pushed himself up, looking for a way out. The walls creaked with the force of the blasts, dust churning in the faint red glow. The ceiling was sagging in spots, cracks webbing outward. They had minutes, perhaps less.


    Jax guided them towards a side corridor, an emergency tunnel he had constructed for just such an occasion. They staggered through, the narrow passageway trembling with every blast behind them. The air thinned, dust filling their throats as they struggled on, adrenaline driving them.


    The tunnel at last opened onto the chill night air. The heavens above were a contrast to the turmoil below—peaceful, studded with stars. There was no time to enjoy the respite, however.


    Another explosion blew within the bunker, rubble crashing down into its belly. The earth shook beneath their feet, and with one final, crashing roar, the entrance collapsed, imprisoning what had been their home.


    They stood in silence, seeing the dust settle. The bunker—their stronghold, their sanctuary—was destroyed.


    Jax was clenching his fists, jaw clenched. "That son of a bitch didn''t steal it from us," he growled. "He just ensured that we couldn''t access it."


    Felix kicked at a loose stone, his face impassive. "We should have expected this."


    Maya crossed her arms, her voice quiet but firm. “He wanted to send a message. This wasn’t just about taking us out. He wanted us to know we’re playing by his rules now.”


    Ethan’s gaze hardened. Dorian Kane had lured them in, played them, and nearly buried them alive.


    But the game wasn’t over.


    Not yet.


    The air was thick with tension, charged with an unspoken resolve. They were no longer running. They were hunting. And Ethan was determined that the next time they faced Dorian, it would be on his terms.


    Felix looked at Ethan. "Plan?"


    Ethan took a breath, rolling his shoulders as he readjusted his hold on his knife. "We locate him. We put an end to this."


    No one protested. They had lost their house, but not the battle.


    And Dorian Kane was going to find out just what that meant.