"Turn around."

The order was silent, but it was obviously threatening. Elle turned slowly and grudgingly, her movements stiff with anxiety, but there was no escape.

The man in front of her was the one she had bumped to earlier, but he appeared more frightening in the dim light of the alleyway. His dark brown coat fell over his towering frame like a shadow, and his green sweater clung to his broad chest. His height intimidated her as he towered over her. He possessed angular, nearly perfect features that made it seem like it had been chiseled with frightening precision. His thick blond hair, his chiseled and polished nose, and those deep green and unforgiving eyes. They were cold and calculating, as if he were studying every breath and movement she made.

Elle stared at him as his body language shifted. She couldn't tell if he was taken aback by her appearance—not that she considered herself unattractive—or by how fast she had armed herself, removing a folding knife from her sleeve with a deft twist of her wrist.

Despite the cold steel of the rifle against her forehead, Elle's voice remained calm and composed as she replied, "Are you really going to shoot an innocent civilian?"

With a lazy shrug, the man's gaze shifted to the little knife she was clutching securely. He chuckled, "Well, I can never be sure if one is really innocent or not."

Elle's features stiffened as she kept eye contact. "Alright, then," she responded flatly. "Shoot me."

The man's smirk faded. His brows furrowed, and his delighted expression evaporated. He tightened his hold on the weapon, but as he glanced straight at Elle, his confidence weakened. Her chilly, cruel glare, piercing and cold, challenging him to pull the trigger.

Elle spotted his hesitation and took advantage of it. She grabbed the man's wrist and twisted it while pulling the weapon away from him. She shoved him to the ground with a fast, practiced movement, trapping him with her knee pressed hard against his back.

His voice cracked as he grumbled, "Damn, Princess—! Alright, alright!"

"Who the hell are you?" Elle questioned, with a firm, icy tone. As a cherry on top, she applied pressure to the back of his head with the barrel of his own rifle to make her point.

"I'm—my name's Nikolas Christoti!" he stammered, while he fought under her hold. "And I’m just—just buying food!"

Elle gave him a stern glare while exerting further pressure on the back of his head with the gun's chilly muzzle."Start talking," she commanded, her voice as clear as her eyes.  

  

This man was clearly from the Vacile. Her grip on the gun tightened as a scowl crossed her face at the realization. Dealing with one of them was the last thing she wanted, especially after she had recently left The Shelter. As her chest burned, her fingertips turned chilly, and a thin layer of frost formed on her flesh.  

  

 "A girl like you shouldn't be wandering dark alleyways," Nikolas said, weakly. His voice laced with desperation. "I thought I'd scare you off, that's all!"  

  

"By pointing a gun at my head?" Elle asked in a cold, skeptical tone.  

  

"I thought you'd get scared! I didn't know you were a badass! Please, just let me go." He cried as he shuffled nervously beneath her knee.  

  

Nikolas' thoughts was racing. He had to go before someone spots him, or worse, spots them both. This was not part of his plan. A random citizen was not supposed get involved in his shenanigans. The dull and lifeless meals at the base were no longer appealing him, so all he wanted to do was get some food.  

  

He parked in an alley and used the car's flawed invisibility feature to hide it. He panicked when he saw Elle standing there. He tried to scare her away, not trying to harm her, believing she could see the automobile. His rash decision had now backfired horrifically, putting him face-first on the ground with his own gun pointing at his head.  

  

Elle did not falter. She weighed his words with her keen gaze as she peered down at him. With the Vacile, trust was out of the question. During her tenure in The Shelter, she learnt to avoid leaving any loose ends while dealing with risk.  

  

Without second thoughts Elle raised the gun, preparing to knock him out.

"WAIT-"

"There they are!"

Elle paused, looking at the entrance of the alleyway to see Imperial Guards pointing at them. Nikolas, seeing that Elle was was caught off guard, got off her and without second thoughts grabbed her by the arm and ran further in the alleyway.

Elle had no choice but to follow. This was a bad idea. She knew she should've just left the cat alone, but she didn't and now she's on the run from the Imperial Guards. She can't be caught. If she did, they'll throw her ass back in The Shelter. She'd rather die that be back at that hell hole.

Nikolas then took the keys from his pocket and pressed the button, disabling the invisibility of his car. Before they could get in, the guards started to take fire in their way, leaving him no choice but to drag Elle at the back of his car. 

"You were being hunted down?!" Elle could feel a sharp pain in her chest and the freezing sensation throughout her body. She groans, her body shaking in the cold. The sides of her face was staring to ice and her hands were turning blue.

Nikolas noticed immediately away that Elle's ability was becoming out of control. Ice was spreading all over her as her body trembled violently. Without hesitation, he grabbed her wrist and warmed her with his own strength. He took out his second handgun and shot the guards in reprisal at the same time. Three of them fell.  

  

"Hey, don't die on me." He murmured to the shaking woman next to him, with a tinge of desperation in his voice.  

  

The frigid ache that had gripped her chest was forced away by the warmth that was surging through her. His grasp on her wrist was firm yet careful, strong enough to hold her in place without accidentally bruising her. The warmth of his ability provided her with a momentary sensation of comfort that she did not expect.  

  

But then she was startled back into reality. Elle's expression deepened as she unfastened her wrist from him. She turned to face the guards, grabbed the gun in her shaky hands, and fired. Despite her condition, she kept a steady shot and successfully took out two  guards.  

  

Just as Nikolas opened his mouth to tease her, a sharp pain ripped through his shoulder. Clinging to the blood oozing through his shirt, he slipped and fell to the ground before forcing himself back up against the vehicle.  

  

"Fuck," he snarled, his entire body shivering with pain.  

  

He created a ball of fire in his fist, determined to fight back. He flung it at the surviving guards as the flames erupted. When the fire erupted on contact, it devoured a part of the alley. The heat forced the remaining guards to withdraw.  Nikolas had no intention of creating a show out of it. He didn't want to see Vacile in the headlines again. But he had no other choice in instances like this.  

  

"Hey." He turned to Elle, his breath coming in uneven spurts and his voice hoarse.  

  

"You better climb over that wall and escape while you still can." he muttered as he gritted his teeth with his palm firmly pressed against the wound on his shoulder. The constant throb of anguish as his heart beat in his ears reminded him of how little time he had left before the effects of the blood loss set in.

She was still trying to figure out what to do when a strong wind blew through the alley and  a beam of light shined down from above. The sound of a helicopter was audible in the night  as they were. It was too late. 

Nikolas cursed under his breath before quickly grabbing Elle by the arm and dragging her to the car. He rushed her into the passenger seat then hurried and got into the driver’s. 

 

“Look, wait a minute—” Elle started to say as she breathed.

 

"No time." Nikolas cut her off and shifted the car into drive. When the engine  roared into action, he stormed out into the open street and drove at high risk through the alley and  out onto the road, burning the tires of the car. 

 

Nikolas wasn’t slowing down and  the helicopter’s beam was out already illuminating the area and the noise was deafening. They were  out of the alley but the chase was just starting.