Page 169 of Seeking Shadows

Mia is pulled away, her screams raw, turning to fury.

Then he appears.

Nico walks toward us, face streaked with blood. A cloth is pressed against his cheek, failing to contain the damage—the acid burns deep. His eyes burn with something murderous. A silent promise.

But I left my mark.

Permanent.

"Zane!"

Mia’s scream rips through the air, pure agony. It cuts deeper than any wound.

I force my eyes to stay open. My mind to keep working.

But the blood keeps flowing.

And Nico is still standing.

He raises the gun again, barrel pointed at my head.

"Next time, I won’t miss."

Mia freezes.

Her chest rises and falls violently, eyes flicking between me, Nico, and the bodies around us—half his men, twitching and spitting blood on the floor.

She did this.

Nico notices. He scans the wreckage, almost… impressed. She tore through his soldiers.

She could’ve escaped. If I hadn’t been too slow. If I hadn’t gotten shot.

Shit.

We’re dead.

"You made a mess of yourself, Number Two," he says, voice eerily calm as he looks at Mia.

"Let Zane go, or I’ll finish the art he made of your face."

Nico chuckles.

“Be a good girl, princess. No nastiness.” He presses the gun harder against my forehead. Cold. Icy. Deadly. “Or I’ll redecorate these walls with your husband’s brains.”

The crack comes before the pain.

Nico’s boot crashes down on my leg. The bone shatters with a sharp snap.

A scream tears up my throat, but I choke it back. My body twists on instinct, muscles seizing from the sheer force of it.

"Look at that," Nico murmurs, pressing harder. "And here I thought you were tougher."

He grinds his heel deeper into the wound.

Pain explodes.

"Fuck you.”

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