Chapter 63

Chapter 63

The warehouse shook again.

Dust and broken concrete rained from the ceiling while alarms screamed violently through the building.

For one terrifying second, nobody moved.

Not Damon.

Not Luca.

Not Cassian.

Not even Hale.

Then another explosion tore through the western side of the facility.

Metal screamed.

Support beams groaned.

And suddenly the entire warehouse descended into chaos again.

“We need to move,” Seraphine snapped.

Government tactical forces were breaching the compound.

Fast.

Precise.

Deadly.

Luca’s instincts immediately calculated every possible exit route.

Three main corridors.

Two compromised.

One underground tunnel.

But something felt wrong.

Too easy.

Hale remained calm.

That alone terrified Luca more than the explosions.

Because Hale never stayed calm unless events were unfolding exactly the way he wanted.

Cassian slowly lowered his weapon from Damon.

Not because the threat was gone.

Because priorities had shifted.

One of the second division operatives rushed toward him.

“They’ve surrounded the perimeter.”

Cassian’s expression remained emotionless.

“How many units?”

“More than expected.”

Hale smiled faintly in the flickering emergency light.

“They’re not here for me.”

Damon’s stomach tightened instantly.

No.

No no no.

“They’re here for Luca,” Damon realized.

Silence.

And Hale’s smile widened slightly.

There it was.

The real objective.

Years ago, Hale’s operations were hidden.

Buried.

Untouchable.

But after the collapse

After Moreau systems leaked classified files

Governments started searching for surviving operatives.

Weapons disguised as men.

Luca was the most dangerous survivor of all.

And someone had finally found him.

Seraphine swore softly.

“They’ll kill him on sight.”

Cassian tilted his head slightly.

“Not immediately.”

A pause.

“They’ll interrogate him first.”

Luca’s blood went cold.

Because interrogation meant experimentation.

Dissection.

Study.

The second division knew exactly what happened to captured operatives.

They stopped becoming human the second governments realized what Hale created.

Damon stepped closer to Luca instantly.

Protective.

Immediate.

“You’re not letting them take him.”

Not a question.

Seraphine looked toward the collapsing entrance.

Gunfire echoed closer now.

Heavy boots.

Orders being shouted.

Too close.

Hale watched Damon carefully.

Observing every reaction.

Every emotional choice.

“You would risk everything for him,” Hale said softly.

Damon looked at him with open hatred.

“Yes.”

“And if he loses control?”

Luca stiffened immediately.

There it was again.

The fear.

The conditioning.

The terrible possibility living beneath his skin.

Damon turned toward Luca before Hale could continue.

“Look at me.”

Luca hesitated.

Then obeyed.

Not conditioned obedience.

Choice.

Trust.

Damon stepped closer slowly.

Ignoring the alarms.

Ignoring the gunfire.

Ignoring everyone else.

“You are not what he made you.”

Luca’s breathing shook unevenly.

“You don’t know that.”

“Yes, I do.”

The certainty in Damon’s voice hurt.

Because Luca wanted to believe him so badly.

But every memory returning to him lately felt soaked in blood.

Young Luca following orders without hesitation.

Young Luca standing in the rain while Damon screamed for his mother.

Young Luca learning how to kill before learning how to live.

“How can you still look at me like that?” Luca whispered.

Damon frowned slightly.

“Like what?”

“Like I’m still worth saving.”

The confession shattered something quietly inside Damon.

Because Luca genuinely didn’t understand why he was still loved.

And suddenly Damon hated Hale more than he ever had before.

Not because Hale created violence.

Because he created self-hatred.

“You want the truth?” Damon asked softly.

Luca swallowed hard.

Damon stepped even closer.

Close enough to touch.

Close enough to feel Luca trembling slightly.

“I hate what happened to my mother.”

A pause.

“I hate what Hale turned you into.”

Another pause.

“But I have never hated you.”

Luca’s eyes burned instantly.

Because Damon kept separating the weapon from the person.

Even now.

Even after learning the truth.

And nobody had ever done that before.

Cassian watched silently nearby.

Something strange moving behind his cold expression.

Confusion.

Because this conversation made no sense to him.

Love shouldn’t survive this.

Trust shouldn’t survive this.

Yet somehow

It had.

Another explosion rocked the warehouse violently.

Closer this time.

Government forces breached the upper level.

Laser sights swept through the smoke immediately.

“TARGET IDENTIFIED!”

Everything happened at once.

Gunfire exploded from the entrance.

Second division operatives returned fire instantly.

Chaos ripped through the warehouse again.

Damon ducked behind cover with Luca pulling him down hard beside him.

Concrete shattered overhead.

Seraphine fired toward the advancing tactical units.

“They’re using live rounds!”

“No kidding!” Damon snapped.

Luca’s mind shifted automatically into combat calculation.

Threat angles.

Movement patterns.

Extraction routes.

And God

It was easy.

Too easy.

That terrified him.

Cassian moved through the battlefield like death itself.

Precise headshots.

No wasted movement.

No emotion.

Watching him fight felt like looking into an alternate version of himself.

The version Hale truly wanted.

“You’re hesitating,” Cassian called over the gunfire.

Luca fired back instinctively.

Missed on purpose.

Cassian noticed immediately.

“There,” he said calmly.

“The defect again.”

Damon looked sharply toward Luca.

Luca lowered the gun slightly.

Breathing hard now.

Because Cassian was right.

Old Luca would’ve killed everyone in this warehouse already.

No hesitation.

No guilt.

But Damon changed him.

Love changed him.

And Hale hated that.

The tactical team advanced deeper into the warehouse.

Military-grade armor.

Thermal scopes.

Coordinated movements.

They weren’t here to arrest.

They were here to erase evidence.

Hale suddenly grabbed Damon’s arm hard.

Damon nearly shot him on instinct.

But Hale pulled him sharply aside just as sniper fire tore through the space where Damon stood seconds earlier.

The bullet slammed into concrete instead.

Silence cracked between them briefly.

Damon stared at Hale in shock.

“You just saved me.”

Hale released him immediately.

Expression unreadable.

“You’re useful alive.”

But Luca saw it.

That tiny hesitation before Hale answered.

And somehow

That frightened Luca more than anything else tonight.

Because Hale was changing too.

And unpredictable monsters were always the most dangerous kind.

Suddenly

A sharp electronic sound echoed through the warehouse.

Cassian froze instantly.

So did every second division operative.

Luca’s blood turned to ice.

Because he recognized that sound.

A recall command.

Conditioning activation.

Hale looked genuinely surprised for the first time.

“That’s impossible,” he whispered.

Then a distorted voice echoed through hidden speakers overhead:

“Division assets returning to primary control.”

A pause.

“Welcome back, children.”