Shadow Reckoning

The chains were gone.

The moment Selene left, Shade had gone into survival mode, analyzing the room, testing his restraints. By the time Lucian finally arrived, Shade had freed one wrist and was working on the other.

Lucian stepped inside, slow, measured, like a man who knew he had already won.

Shade kept his expression neutral. "You should've killed me."

Lucian chuckled. "And waste the opportunity?"

Shade's jaw tensed. "You think you're in control?"

Lucian smirked. "I am in control. You're here, aren't you?"

Shade yanked the final chain free and lunged—

But before he could strike, something shifted.

The air. The weight in the room.

Lucian just stood there, smirking.

And that's when Shade realized—

He couldn't move.

A force, something unseen, pressed against his limbs like invisible bindings. It wasn't physical. It wasn't chains.

It was power.

Lucian tilted his head. "What's the matter, Shade?"

Shade's heart pounded. "What the hell is this?"

Lucian's smirk deepened. "You've spent your life fighting monsters. Did you ever stop to wonder if you were only scratching the surface?"

The pressure intensified. Shade felt it now—not just the weight, but something inside him, pulling, twisting.

Lucian stepped closer. "The Crimson Vultures were never just a gang. They were a legacy. And I?"

His voice dropped to a whisper.

"I am something far older."

Shade clenched his jaw. "You're insane."

Lucian's fingers brushed Shade's forehead. And in that instant—

Shade saw.

Visions flooded his mind. Blood. Rituals. Symbols burned into flesh. The Vultures weren't just criminals. They were something worse. A cult. A machine of violence and control that had existed for centuries.

And now?

They wanted him.

Shade gasped, wrenching himself free. The force holding him shattered.

Lucian's smile remained. "Good. Fight it."

Shade's pulse roared in his ears. "I'll kill you."

Lucian chuckled. "Oh, my dear Shade. That's exactly what I want."

Then the lights cut out.

And the real nightmare began.