Amanda

Axel was my first love, my only love.

And the one person I could never go back to.

Not after took me away from him.

Not after what I did to escape.

But the past doesn't stay buried.

The danger I left behind has found me, and now Axel is standing between me and the war heading straight for me.

He doesn't trust me.

I don't blame him.

The boy I loved is a hardened man now?stronger, colder, and determined to uncover every secret I've ever kept.

But the more he pushes, the harder it is to keep my walls up.

And when the bodies start piling up, I realize the biggest threat isn't the one hunting me.

It's the way one look from Axel still makes me want to risk everything.

Axel

I gave her my heart.

She gave me a goodbye I never saw coming.

One day, we were planning forever.

The next, she was gone?no explanation, no trace.

For ten years, I told myself she didn't matter.

That what we had was just a teenage dream.

Then she walked back into my world, full of secrets and scars, acting like she never shattered me.

Now there's blood in her past, a target on her back, and a job that forces me to stay close.

Too close.

She doesn't want my help.

Doesn't want to face what's still between us.

But I'm not that heartbroken kid anymore.

She ran from me once.

Not this time.