He Didn’t Kidnap Me. Not Exactly novel Chapter 331

Chapter 331

than’s grip on the bat visibly loosened, his whole frame shaking now, eyes darting around the room as the reality of exactly how outnumbered he was finally landed.

A voice tried to speak.

It broke into coughing instead, and I turned to find my mother struggling through it, one hand pressed to her chest.

I dropped to her side instantly, crouching, steadying her until the coughing eased and she could speak again.

“Violence isn’t the answer right now, boys. Her voice came out thin but firm. I don’t know the history between you two, and frankly, there’s far too much at stake tonight for it to matter. The only question that should matter right now is what we do next.

“Don’t lump me in with all of you, Mabel snapped. “I’m not part of this group. I came here for DeLuca, to knock some sense into him, show him exactly what he’s missing. I never signed up for whatever insane game this has turned into.”

Beside me, Tessa spoke quietly, almost to herself.

‘I don’t even know why I’m still here anymore. I think it’s just; safety, at this point.”

Something in her voice cracked slightly around the edges, worn thin by everything tonight had put her through.

Well, DeLuca said, “Mabel, everyone else, and our newest addition who’s made himself known – Tessa’s right. None of you should be here. But since you already are, going back to your old lives isn’t exactly advisable anymore. For your own safety. A pause. “So, as much as it pains me to admit it, you’re all

part of this now.”

Another beat.

“Liabilities, in plain terms.”

I smacked his arm. “DeLuca.”

He glanced at me, entirely unbothered, and offered a light shrug.

ilence after that, everyone quietly absorbing that particular truth in their own way.

, quiet, breaking the silence, and I felt the question land on me specifically even though she hadn’t said my name.

Lore I could even begin forming an answer, the sound of engines rolled in from outside, multiplying fast, and every head in the room turned toward the

Courts at once

Parte flared in fue mstantly–old, reflexive, the kind that had kept me alive all night before I remembered Torres’s earlier briefing

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Chapter 331

4)

The rest of the men, arriving.

They stepped out of the vehicles in waves, dozens of them, and even from the doorway I could see how rough most of them looked. Torn uniforms, cuts still bleeding, one man favoring a leg that clearly wasn’t holding his weight properly. A few needed help walking. Most, though, moved under their own strength, tired but upright, the kind of exhaustion that comes after surviving something rather than losing to it.

They filed into the building one by one.

And one by one, each of them stopped in front of me and bowed.

Not a group gesture. Not something rehearsed or synchronized like the mass kneeling in the field had been. Individual. Deliberate.

Each man pausing just long enough to lower his head, murmur Master, and then move to the side to join the others gathering along the walls.

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