The night swallowed them whole.
Lena's breath came in short, sharp bursts as she sprinted through the empty streets, her fingers clenched around Riven's wrist. The city blurred around them—familiar yet distant, a world she had lived in but never truly belonged to.
Now, it felt like a cage.
She was running, yet she had never felt more trapped.
Riven's grip was firm, steady—anchoring her to the moment. "We need to get somewhere safe," he muttered, his golden eyes flicking to the shadows behind them. "They won't stop until they have you."
Lena swallowed hard.
Her mother wouldn't stop.
The thought made her chest tighten.
Her mother—the one person who should have protected her—had known. Had been part of the Watchers.
Had been part of the ones who erased her.
Lena's steps faltered. The world tilted.
Riven yanked her forward. "Don't stop!"
Her legs burned. Her lungs ached.
She didn't know where they were going.
She just knew they had to keep moving.
---
They ended up in the abandoned railway yard at the edge of the city—far from streetlights, far from the normal world where students stressed over exams and school crushes.
Here, the silence was suffocating.
Lena collapsed onto the rusted metal of an old train car, her hands trembling. "We can't keep running forever," she whispered.
Riven didn't answer.
He stood a few feet away, scanning their surroundings, his jaw clenched. His body was tense—ready to fight, ready to run.
Lena's fingers brushed against her pocket.
The photo.
She pulled it out, staring at the faded image.
Aarya.
The girl who shouldn't exist.
Her past self, smiling, holding the hand of a man she couldn't remember.
Lena turned the photo over.
"Run."
Her pulse pounded.
Her mother had called her Aarya.
She had spoken like she knew everything.
Like she had always known.
Lena's fingers curled around the edges of the photo, her nails digging into the paper.
Why?
Why had they erased her?
What had she done that was so dangerous they had to wipe her existence away?
"I need answers," she said, her voice raw.
Riven turned to her, golden eyes sharp. "And where do you plan on finding them?"
Lena stared at the photo.
Then she looked up.
"At my mother's house."
Riven's expression darkened. "Are you insane?"
"She has the answers," Lena said, standing. "She knows who I was. She knows everything."
"She also just tried to have you captured," Riven snapped. "Or did you forget?"
Lena didn't forget. She couldn't.
Her mother had betrayed her.
But that betrayal meant one thing.
She had secrets.
And secrets could be uncovered.
"I have to go back," Lena said.
Riven's jaw tightened.
He stepped closer, his presence suffocating. "Do you want to die?"
Lena swallowed, but she refused to back down.
"I want the truth."
Riven exhaled sharply, raking a hand through his dark hair. "Damn it, Lena—"
She stepped forward, closing the distance between them.
For the first time, he was the one hesitating.
"Are you going to stop me?" she asked.
Riven didn't answer.
His golden eyes flickered. Something passed through them—anger, frustration—fear.
Then, he exhaled.
And smirked.
"Hell no," he said.
Lena blinked.
His smirk widened. "If you're insane enough to go back to your mother's house, I'm insane enough to go with you."
Lena's breath caught.
For a second, she saw something in his eyes—something unreadable.
Something dangerous.
Something possessive.
Heat crawled up her spine.
She quickly turned away, gripping the photo tighter. "Then we need a plan."
Riven chuckled, low and amused. "Oh, this is going to be fun."
Lena wasn't sure if fun was the right word.
But one thing was certain—
She was done running.
It was time to face the past.
And whatever came next—
She wasn't facing it alone.
---