Hades
We hit the clearing outside the sub-bays, scent trails tangled in the chaos of burnt oil, blood, and ash—but then…
Nothing.
The trail stopped.
Dead.
I dropped to one knee, dragging claws across the concrete where the blood ended. A few more splatters… a scuff mark… then silence. Emptiness.
Like they vanished into air.
"Scan the perimeter again," I growled, voice low and lethal. "Drones. Thermal. Energy displacement. I want the entire sector mapped."
"Yes, Alpha!" the Gamma team scrambled into motion.
I stood slowly, breath catching in my throat as I stared into the tree line beyond the wall. They were gone. But not far. They couldn't be.
Unless…
Unless they planned this long ago.
And this was a route we never knew existed.
My hand slammed into the nearest wall with a crack of splintering stone.
They had Kael.
And I had nothing.
