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Chapter 12 - Chapter 12: Shadows of the Past

Chapter 12: Shadows of the Past

The boat rocked gently as it drifted along the East River under the pale morning light. Smoke from the burning lab still coiled into the sky behind them, a dark reminder of what they'd barely escaped.

Elira sat at the edge of the boat, her knuckles white as she gripped the railing. Her mother—Vira Antonov—rested quietly beside her, wrapped in a thick blanket. Ares stood at the bow, eyes on the horizon, jaw clenched.

Noah, silent, sat behind the wheel. The weight of Luka's absence filled every breath.

He was gone.

And he had died for her.

Elira hadn't spoken a word since they pulled away from the shore. Her body still buzzed with adrenaline, grief, and confusion.

"I should've gone back," she whispered finally, her voice cracking.

"No," Ares said firmly, turning to face her. "He made his choice."

"I never got to say thank you."

Vira reached for her daughter's hand. "Grief will come in waves, Elira. You must learn to ride it, not drown in it."

Ares frowned. The woman had barely spoken since her rescue, but when she did—it was always calm, composed, and unsettlingly wise.

Noah finally broke the silence. "We need to disappear for a few days. Change safehouses. Crane will assume you're dead, but that won't last long."

Ares nodded. "I know a place. Upstate. Remote. Off-grid."

Elira didn't respond. Her eyes were fixed on the river, lost in thought.

---

Three Days Later – Upstate New York

The safehouse was a hidden cottage deep in the forest, shielded by dense trees and silence. A fireplace crackled gently inside, casting golden light on the old wooden walls.

Elira stood alone in the garden behind the house, barefoot, watching fireflies flicker through the tall grass.

Ares found her there, hands in his jacket pockets. "You haven't slept."

"Neither have you."

He stepped beside her. "You blame yourself."

"Shouldn't I?"

"No. You didn't ask to be born into this. You didn't ask to be hunted."

She looked at him, eyes glassy. "But I did ask Luka to stay. I trusted him. Even after everything."

Ares looked away. "He made his peace with it. He died protecting you. That means something."

Elira turned. "Does it mean you'll stop pushing people away too?"

He stiffened. "What are you talking about?"

"You hide behind anger, Ares. But I see it. The guilt. The fear. The way you look at me when you think I'm not watching."

He didn't deny it.

Instead, he said, "I've lost too many people to care again."

"You already do."

Their eyes locked. The space between them crackled with tension—grief, heat, unspoken truths.

But before anything else could be said, Vira's voice came from behind them.

"Elira. We need to talk."

---

The Hidden Truth

Inside the cottage, Vira sat near the fire, her face lit by dancing flames. Elira and Ares sat across from her.

"There's something I haven't told you," Vira said quietly. "About Crane. About your design."

Elira stiffened. "I'm listening."

"You were not created as a weapon. That was never the intention. Delgado wanted to build a new generation—hybrids capable of feeling more, adapting faster, healing stronger. You weren't made for war. You were made for survival."

Elira frowned. "Then why did Crane train me to kill?"

"Because he feared you. He feared what you'd become if you remembered your origins. If you ever chose your own path instead of the one he gave you."

Ares asked, "Why keep you alive?"

Vira looked at him. "Because I carry the formula—the real one. Not the corrupted version Delgado gave him. Without me, he can't make another Elira."

Noah stepped into the room, holding a satellite phone. "We've got movement. Crane's men are combing every safehouse we've ever used. They've started abducting anyone connected to us. He's desperate."

Elira stood. "Then we end this."

Ares rose beside her. "How?"

She met his eyes. "We go to Crane. We break his machine. And I make him regret ever calling me a weapon."

---

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