Shadow Reckoning

Shade sat alone in the safehouse, hands clenched, jaw tight.

The memories were coming faster now—rushing through his mind like a flood he couldn't stop.

Flashes of blood. Screams. Training drills that lasted for days. Bones breaking. Skin tearing.

He had been something else once. Something cold. Ruthless. A machine built for perfect violence.

And Lucian wanted that version of him back.

Jade watched from the doorway. She hadn't said anything in the last few minutes, just observing him in that way she did—like she was trying to decide whether to pull him closer or put a bullet in his head.

Finally, she spoke. "How bad is it?"

Shade exhaled. "Worse than I thought."

Jade stepped inside, shutting the door behind her. "You're afraid, aren't you?"

Shade's fists clenched. "Not for me."

Jade's voice softened. "For me."

Shade looked up at her, and for the first time, let her see the raw fear in his eyes. "I don't know what happens if Lucian gets inside my head. I don't know if I come back."

Jade studied him for a long moment.

Then she walked over and straddled his lap, forcing him to meet her gaze. "Listen to me, Shade." Her hands cupped his jaw, firm, grounding. "I don't care what they did to you. I don't care what you were built for. The man I know—the man who saved me a hundred times over—he's not theirs."

Shade swallowed hard, his hands finding her hips instinctively. "Jade—"

She silenced him with a kiss.

It was slow, controlled—but there was fire underneath it. A storm waiting to break. Shade felt his restraint snap like a live wire, his grip tightening as he pulled her closer, deeper, losing himself in her heat.

Jade gasped as he flipped her onto the bed, his mouth trailing down her neck, his fingers tracing the curve of her waist, the warmth of her skin beneath his. She arched against him, nails digging into his back, tugging his shirt off.

"Don't hold back," she whispered.

Shade growled against her throat. "You don't know what you're asking."

Jade smirked. "Oh, I do."

And then there were no more words.

Just fire.

Just them.