Rise Of A Shattered Luna (Natalie) by Kave Derry novel Chapter 361

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Chapter 361 The Landfall Muis

Chapter 361 The Landfall Metric

Natalie’s POV

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The reinforced carbon-fiber hull slammed broadside against the ancient timber pilings with a bone rattling crash that reverberated through every bolt and steel rib beneath our feet.

The impact threw a violent tremor through the cabin, hurling loose tools across the deck as the mooring posts groaned under several tons of forward momentum before finally absorbing the force.

Outside, icy river water erupted into the air, drenching the weather-beaten dock in a curtain of gray spray.

For a heartbeat, nobody moved.

Then the engines dropped from a furious roar to a deep mechanical growl.

We had made landfall.

I steadied myself against the cracked dashboard as the final vibration rolled through the hull.

The ocean was behind us now.

Its salt-heavy breath still lingered in the morning air, but ahead lay something colder.

The forgotten southern rail district stretched before us beneath a pale dawn sky.

The place smelled like old iron and buried secrets.

Exactly the sort of place traffickers believed no one would ever search.

Behind my ribs, Nyx lifted her head.

The silver that had shackled us only hours ago was gone forever.

My senses reached farther with every passing second.

The rear loading ramp crashed onto the dock with a deafening metallic boom.

Flynn moved first.

He didn’t waste words.

He strode toward the iron containment and lifted the entire reinforced box as though its three hundred kilograms were little more

than stacked firewood.

The chains securing it snapped free one after another.

Metal shrieked.

The crate landed on the waiting transport truck with another thunderous clang.

A muffled cry echoed from inside.

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Chapter 361 The Landball Matic.

Jensen.

His voice barely sounded human anymore.

It had stripped him layer by layer until nothing remained except fear

“My… my core…” he rasped weakly from inside the darkness.

The steel walls swallowed the rest of his words.

No one answered.

Not Flynn.

Not Baron.

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Certainly not me.

Some debts were too old for mercy.

Behind me, Beth stumbled.

I caught her before she hit the dock.

Her weight sagged heavily against my shoulder.

Hours inside freezing seawater had robbed her body of nearly all its strength.

The thick wool blanket around her shoulders trapped precious little warmth, and although the chains around her wrists were gone, the iron still hung heavily from her ankles, scraping loudly across the wooden planks every time she tried to move.

Clank.

Clank.

Clank.

Each step looked painful.

Each breath looked earned.

But her eyes…

Her eyes burned.

“Donovan…” she whispered.

Not loudly.

Not desperately.

Simply…

Like a mother repeating the only name keeping her alive.

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Chapter 361 The Landfall Magic,

+tightened my grip around her arm.

“Stay with me.”

She swallowed.

“I am.”

“No.”

I looked directly into her eyes.

“I need more than that.”

The trembling stopped for a fraction of a second.

“Stand.”

She inhaled sharply.

“You’ve survived silver.”

“You survived drowning.”

“You survived believing your son would grow up without you.”

I leaned closer.

“So don’t collapse now.”

Her jaw tightened.

Something fierce flickered back to life behind the exhaustion.

Slowly…

Very slowly…

She straightened.

The movement cost her everything she had left.

But she stood.

“That’s better,” I murmured.

“We’re almost there.”

Ahead of us, Baron stepped off the interceptor.

The dock seemed smaller the moment his boots touched it.

He hadn’t spoken yet.

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Chapter 361 The Landfall Mauic.

Another pause.

“They’re being rejected automatically”

Flynn let out a quiet laugh.

“The old witch finally realized she’s broke.”

“No,” Baron corrected.

“She realized she’s finished.”

The difference mattered.

I looked back toward the looming industrial district.

Beyond those walls…

A little boy was waiting for someone to save him.

He had no idea an empire had collapsed overnight.

He only knew one thing.

His mother hadn’t come back yet.

I refused to let that become the last thing he ever knew.

***

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The tactical transport pulled away from the dock without headlights.

Thick morning fog drifted across the cracked asphalt, swallowing everything beyond a few dozen meters and cloaking our approach far better than darkness ever could.

No one spoke for the first minute.

There was nothing left to say.

The ocean was behind us.

The hunt had moved ashore.

r

I sat beside Baron, one hand resting lightly against the dashboard while my senses reached far beyond the windshield.

Every vibration beneath the tires, every gust of wind pushing through broken factory windows, every metallic groan from the aging rail lines painted another layer onto the map unfolding inside my mind.

Beth sat directly behind me.

She hadn’t taken her eyes off the passing buildings since we’d left the dock.

Both hands gripped the blanket around her shoulders so tightly her knuckles had turned white.

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Chapter 361 The Landball Matic.

She Wasn’t looking at the warehouses.

She was listening.

A mother always knew.

A weak sob escaped her lips before she swallowed it down.

“He’s alive…”

Her voice was barely audible.

“But… he’s scared.”

I turned slightly.

“You can feel him?”

She nodded.

“Our bond…”

Fresh tears slipped down her cheeks.

“It isn’t strong, but it’s there.”

“He keeps calling for me.”

The words hung heavily inside the cabin.

Flynn lowered his gaze.

Even Baron tightened his grip around the steering wheel for the briefest moment.

No one deserved that.

Least of all a child.

Renee’s calm voice interrupted the silence through my earpiece.

“Update.”

“James remains inside the administrative office overlooking the warehouse floor.”

A holographic map flickered onto the dashboard monitor.

“The phantom escrow protocol is still active.”

“He believes payment confirmation is waiting on authorization.”

“So he’s relaxed,” Baron said quietly.

“Overconfident,” Renee corrected.

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Chapter 361 The Landball Magic.

Acorner of my mouth lifted.

Good.

Confident prey made mistakes.

The transport bounced violently over an abandoned rail crossing before sealing again.

Another sound came from the rear compartment.

A dull thud.

Then another.

Jensen.

Flynn looked back.

The steel crate shook weakly.

“Please…”

Jensen’s voice scraped against the metal walls.

“I told you everything…”

His breathing hitched.

“…she can’t pay anyone anymore.”

Silence answered him.

He struck the inside of the crate again.

Harder this time.

“I don’t matter anymore!”

“I know that!”

“Please…”

“I don’t want to die like this… Natalie please.”

I looked away and Baron never looked away from the road.

“You won’t.”

Jensen went still.

Hope.

It arrived far too quickly.

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Chapter 361 The Landfall Matic.

Darit’s next words destroyed it just as fast.

“You’ll live.”

“You’ll watch.”

“You’ll remember.”

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“You’ll spend the rest of your life understanding exactly what happened the day your family decided my mate and my childr were acceptable collateral.”

The crate fell silent.

No pleading.

No arguments.

Only quiet breathing.

Sometimes survival was the harsher sentence.

The industrial district finally emerged from the mist.

Towering conveyor belts stretched between weather-beaten buildings.

Collapsed smokestacks leaned at dangerous angles.

Broken railcars sat abandoned beneath decades of rust.

Everything here looked forgotten.

Which made it the perfect place to hide stolen lives.

Baron eased the transport beneath the skeletal frame of an abandoned coal loader before cutting the engine.

The sudden silence rang louder than the motor ever had.

“We’re here.”

Flynn stepped out first.

His rifle remained slung across his back, but his movements had already changed.

sivaling toward the transformer station exactly as planned.

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Chapter 361 The Landball Matic

can do this.”

“I know.”

“But you will do it at my pace.”

She closed her eyes.

Then took one steady breath.

Then another.

”

When she opened them again, some of the panic had disappeared.

Only determination remained.

Baron joined me beside the vehicle.

Together we looked toward Warehouse Four.

…

It stood alone beyond the rusted rail lines, its corrugated walls stained by years of rain and neglect.

I closed my eyes.

The world disappeared.

The warehouse unfolded inside my mind.

Heartbeats.

Every living presence revealed itself one by one.

James.

Standing above the warehouse floor.

Restless.

Checking the same datapad every few seconds.

Waiting for confirmation that would never come.

Then…

A much smaller heartbeat.

Steady.

Weak.

Hidden below ground level.

Donovan.

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Chapter 361 The Landfall Mastris.

My eyes opened.

“Basement holding room”

“Reinforced.”

“Southern corner.”

looked at Baron.

“He’s alive.”

A storm passed through his amber eyes before settling into absolute focus.

“And James?”

“Office mezzanine.”

“One bodyguard.”

“No external patrol.”

“He still believes he’s safe.”

Baron gave a slow nod.

“Good.”

His hand tightened around the hilt of his blade.

“We’ll let him keep believing that…”

“…for another thirty seconds.”

Baron raised his left hand, two fingers cutting through the gray mist in a sharp, practiced signal.

Every member of Blackridge froze.

The world seemed to hold its breath with us.

ג

Across the rail yard, Flynn had already disappeared into the shadows surrounding the electrical substation.

into the for

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Chapter 361 The Landfall Matic.

Adeafening explosion ripped through the transformer station.

BOOM!

Blue-white electricity burst into the air, branching across the morning sky like shattered lighting.

Sparks rained over the rusted rails while the entire industrial block lurched into darkness.

The low mechanical hum surrounding Warehouse Four died instantly.

Its security grid had just lost power.

Exactly as planned.

The emergency backup system hesitated.

One heartbeat.

Two.

Three…

That hesitation was all Baron needed.

He moved.

The gravel beneath his boots exploded backward as he launched himself across the open rail yard.

He struck.

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Chapter 361 The Landball Magic.

* Free Cr

The Warehouse lights flickered.

Red emergency lamps sputtered to life.

Their dim glow painted the concrete walls in blood colored shadows.

Too late.

Baron reached the loading entrance first.

The reinforced steel doors had barely begun to unlock before his shoulder drove into them with terrifying force.

The hinges screamed.

The locking bolts sheared apart.

The entire entrance burst inward in a shower of twisted steel.

The sound echoed through the warehouse like cannon fire.

I slipped through the opening beside Baron, my boots landing silently on the concrete floor.

The scent hit me first.

Motor oil.

Metal.

Old blood.

Fear.

My golden gaze swept across the cavernous warehouse.

Then…

The mezzanine.

James.

He stood frozen beside the office railing, datapad clutched tightly in one hand.

Its screen flashed crimson.

ESCROW CONNECTION LOST

SERVER ERROR

ACCOUNT NOT FOUND

Again.

Again.

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Chapter 361 The Landfall Magic.

Again

His face drained of color

“No…”

His thumb hammered uselessly against the screen.

“No…”

The datapad emitted another shrill error tone before going completely black.

His eyes slowly lifted.

They found mine.

Recognition struck first.

Then disbelief.

Then absolute terror.

“You…”

His voice cracked.

“No…”

His gaze darted toward Baron.

Toward Flynn emerging from the opposite side.

“You followed us…”

“No,” Baron answered quietly.

“We ended you.”

James stumbled backward.

“This… this warehouse is protected!”

“No one knows we’re here!”

“You’ve crossed regional jurisdiction!”

His voice rose with every word.

“The council will…”

“The council?” Renee’s calm voice sounded through the warehouse speakers after hijacking the

“There is no council coming.”

*

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Chapter 361 The Landfall Magic,

*Their accounts were frozen seventeen minutes ago.”

“Their legal waivers were rejected.”

“Their emergency authority expired nine minutes ago.”

A pause.

“You’re alone.”

The silence that followed was suffocating.

192

Around the warehouse floor, armed guards slowly lowered their weapons. D

Some looked toward James.

Others toward Baron.

Not one of them looked confident anymore.

They understood.

James’ composure shattered.

“No!”

He reached beneath his coat, drawing a compact pistol with shaking hands.

“Stay back!”

The barrel swung wildly between Baron and me.

“You think you’ve won?”

“I still have the boy!”

Beth gasped behind me.

I felt her entire body tense.

“Donovan…”

James smiled.

It wasn’t confidence.

It was desperation wearing confidence’s face.

“If I press one button…”

He lifted a small remote from his pocket.

“…he dies.”

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Chapter 361 The Landfall Mayic.

“My cetts locked onto it instantly.

Plastic housing.

Single transmitter.

Cheap circuitry.

Thirty-two megahertz frequency.

Not connected.

A bluff.

I smiled.

“You should have checked your equipment before threatening me.”

His smile faltered.

“What?”

“Renee.”

A soft click echoed through my earpiece.

“Already done.”

“The transmitter was disabled four minutes ago.”

“The receiver beneath the warehouse no longer exists.”

James stared at the remote.

He pressed the button once.

Nothing happened.

Again.

Nothing,

Again.

Nothing.

The color drained from his face completely.

“No…”

“This isn’t possible…”

“It is.”

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Chapter 361 The Landfall Magic.

+took one slow step forward.

“You’ve been disconnected from your own systern

Behind me, Beth collapsed to her knees, sobbing in relief.

Baron never looked away from James.

“You chose the wrong family.”

His voice remained calm.

Almost gentle.

Somehow…

That frightened James more than if he’d shouted.

The pistol slipped from trembling fingers.

It clattered against the concrete.

He didn’t even notice.

For the first time since this nightmare began…

He understood.

The warehouse was surrounded.

And standing before him were the two people he had underestimated most.

I met Baron’s gaze across the warehouse.

The mate bond flared between us, warm and steady.

No words were necessary.

He understood exactly what I intended.

Donovan came first.

Everything else…

Could wait.

r

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Chapter 32 The Land Frand Foreclosur