The Mercenary Queen Strikes Back (Lily Hastings) novel Chapter 94

Chapter 94 Acting Like Strangers

Lionel had the whole forest and training ground rigged with surveillance cameras and loudspeakers.

Nova hadn’t even tried to hide herself at all.

For someone like Lionel, it was no shock he’d spot her and pull something like that.

Compared to all that, what really got under Nova’s skin was figuring out who had sent Maxwell Blake and the other four here.

And then there’s Zane Morgan on top of that…

‘Nova could still tell herself it was just dumb luck when she bumped into Zane, she thought.

But after Maxwell and the others showed up, Nova couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was messing with her behind the scenes.

Whoever it was, they probably knew she’d been hanging around Ravenport, Zoria, recently.

Nova’s gaze darkened, her eyes growing somber and deep.

“Ethan? Jessica? What are you two doing here?” Zane blurted out, his eyes wide with shock.

He stared at the red crate, where Ethan and Jessica were just starting to wake up, still looking dazed and out of it.

“Ugh…” Ethan Summers groaned, his face scrunching up in pain.

His innocent, baby–faced features frowned in discomfort.

He reached up and patted his head a couple of times, then finally hauled himself out of the red crate.

Ethan looked around, scanning the area.

“Master!” Ethan shouted, his voice bursting with excitement.

Zane was a solid bro, but Ethan only had eyes for Nova.

He couldn’t help but call out to her, excitement written all over his face.

Ethan’s shout was like a jolt of electricity for Maxwell and Hannah. Even with their heads pounding, it was like

they’d just been hit with a rush of adrenaline–they scrambled out of the red crate in a flash.

But when they spotted Nova, who’d been missing for ages, both of them froze for a moment, their steps faltering.

“N–Novie…” Maxwell stammered, his voice barely above a whisper.

Maxwell’s once–handsome face had lost all its usual spark.

His chin was covered in rough stubble, a clear sign of just how much the stress had gotten to him. Before Nova came back, life was good for Maxwell and Hannah. As they’d been separated from their little sister since childhood, they never really felt close to her.

They never felt like anything was missing.

But after Nova returned, the three of them went through a lot together.

Even though it had only been a few months, those different experiences were enough to make Maxwell realize how much Nova meant to him.

He stared at Nova, wanting to take a few steps forward, but he was afraid that if he moved, the scene before him would vanish like an illusion.

He forced himself to stop, staying rooted to the spot.

“Nova! You-” Hannah burst out, true to her fiery self.

She raised her voice, ready to let Nova have it.

But her voice deflated all at once, dropping from fierce to soft in a heartbeat.

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Chapter 194 Acting Like Strangers

“You…

“Why did you just leave without saying a word?

“Mom, Dad, and Maxwell were all so worried about you…”

She didn’t say if she was worried herself, but the way her voice shook made it clear Nova mattered to her more than anything.

“Where is this place? Who brought me here? Ah!” Claire was freaking out, yelling at the top of her lungs the moment she woke up.

“I was just heading home from school when someone knocked me out… Next thing I know, I wake up here,” Jessica stammered, confusion and fear clear in her voice.

Jessica, with her smart, easygoing vibe and big–sister energy, was always the most mature one around.

She stepped up to answer Zane’s question.

She asked in return, “So, where exactly are we?”

“This is the underworld,” Zane replied, laying it all out for them.

“The underworld!?” Claire nearly shrieked, her voice laced with panic.

Claire was always glued to Hannah’s side, usually just spreading rumors about Nova.

She’d been badmouthing Nova even before Nova came back home.

Back at school, whenever there were self–defense classes or dueling competitions, Claire would dodge them

at all costs. Unlike the other popular kids, she was all talk and no skills.

When she heard Zane’s explanation, she nearly screamed the words, her voice shaking with fear.

“The underworld? Seriously?!

“How did we even get here?

“We…”

Claire glanced around, muttering under her breath, her voice shaky.

Then her eyes landed on a bunch of masked men sprawled out not far away, their bodies twisted and lifeless.

“Ah-

“Why are there bodies here?!”

Claire freaked out, dropping to the ground, on the verge of tears.

“Novie…” Maxwell called out, his voice soft and uncertain.

Maxwell and Hannah weren’t paying attention to anyone else. After being apart from Nova for so long, all they wanted was to rush over and ask her what had happened.

“Novie, where have you been these past few months?” Maxwell asked, worry etched in his voice.

Maxwell and Hannah had already hurried over to Nova.

They waited anxiously, finally getting a response from Nova.

“Do I know you?” Nova replied, her voice flat and distant.

Her tone was indifferent, unfamiliar–like she was talking to complete strangers.

It was as if she and they had never known each other at all.

Nova veiled her gaze, hiding the emotions in her eyes.

Her words left Maxwell and Hannah frozen, like they’d just been struck by lightning.

“N–Novie?” Maxwell stammered, his voice trembling, barely able to believe what he was hearing.

“How… how could you say that to your own brother?

“I haven’t slept well for so long because of you, and Dad got hurt and ended up in the hospital…

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Chapter 194 Acting Like Strangers

“If you’re mad at me for how I treated you when you came back, just yell at me, hit me if you want–I won’t stop

you.

“But just… don’t leave without saying anything, okay?”

No matter how mature Hannah tried to act, she was still just a sheltered heiress, raised in luxury and protected from the real world.

She couldn’t see the bigger picture–she just assumed Nova was holding a grudge over what happened before and wanted payback.

For someone who’d always lived on easy street, this was her way of swallowing her pride and begging- something she’d never done before.

It was obvious.

Lionel’s voice boomed over the speakers, practically bursting with excitement as he announced that the boss of the Bloodforge Mercenary Corps–who’d just topped the 74th overall rankings–was back in town.

But none of the students from Ravenport–Maxwell, Hannah, Zane, or any of the others–cared at all. The whole announcement just went in one ear and out the other.

The so–called King of Mercenaries was just some legend to them. Even if he walked right past, he’d still feel a million miles away from their world.

While the Ravenport kids couldn’t care less, Nova’s newly formed Blood Doll Crew–Eder, Sham, and the rest- were all on edge, like they’d swallowed a splinter and couldn’t cough it up.

‘Wait, Bloodforge–the King of Mercenaries? Are you serious?‘ Eder muttered, his voice barely steady. ‘Seriously? He just happens to show up at our training ground, of all places?‘ Sham stammered, eyes wide. “Loads of people died? So if we don’t track down Bloodforge, we’re basically toast!” Eadie said, his whole body tensing up.

“Boss? So, what do we do now?” Sham asked, shooting Nova a nervous look.

“Keep moving,” Nova replied, her voice calm and steady.

As soon as Nova started to walk away, Hannah, Zane, and the rest of the group automatically moved to follow her, almost without thinking.

“If you keep following me, I’ll kill you,” Nova warned, her voice cold and merciless.

Her icy voice sliced through the moment, stopping Hannah and the others in their tracks before they could take another step.

“She just stuck a gun in my mouth! I swear, she almost blew my head off!” John blurted out, his voice trembling with fear.

“Don’t follow her! She’s a freaking demon!” he shouted, scrambling backward as fast as he could. John was so terrified by the murderous look in Nova’s eyes earlier that he broke out in a cold sweat. He shook his head and kept backing away, like there was no way in hell he was sticking around. She nearly killed him!

Maxwell and Hannah had seen Nova take lives before, but they never imagined she’d actually go after one of

their own.

The icy, chilling look in her eyes–she wasn’t anything like the little sister they used to know.

She looked more like a cold–blooded killer than the Novie they grew up with.

Maxwell yanked Hannah back, stopping her in her tracks before she could chase after Nova.

All they could do was stand there, powerless, as Nova strode off with her crew–a whole squad of Blood Dolls trailing behind her.

“What’s her problem, anyway?” Claire grumbled, rolling her eyes.

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Chapter 194 Acting Like Strangers

“Hannah, you were practically begging her, and she still blew you off. Your sister just thinks she’s all that now!

“Didn’t I say she was trouble? See, told you so!”

Claire was fuming, and she went off on Nova the moment she got the chance.

Hannah kept her head down, unable to wrap her head around any of it.

She just kept beating herself up over it, feeling more and more guilty.

She was convinced Nova was shutting her out and staying away because of how harsh she’d been to her when she first came back.

“No!” Maxwell cut in, his voice steady and unyielding.

He was the only one who really got it–just from the way Nova was acting, he could tell this was way deeper than anyone realized.

Maxwell’s gut was never wrong. He said, “This is the world she survived in before she came home… She must be tangled up in something huge, and she’s terrified it’ll put us all in danger.”

Hannah felt like her heart was being crushed by a thousand invisible hands, the pain almost unbearable. “So what are we supposed to do?” she whispered, her voice trembling.

Maxwell, ever the wise one, answered quietly, “There’s nothing we can do. We just don’t belong in this world.

“Right now, the smartest thing is to figure out how to get out of here and lay low at home. Let’s not drag Novie into our mess.”

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Chapter 195 Persuading Bloodforge To Leave