It was 2:17 AM.
The mansion was silent.
Too silent.
Sage couldn't sleep.
Every time she closed her eyes, she saw the gunshots again... the blood... the way he didn't hesitate.
She got up quietly and walked into the hallway.
Dim lights. Marble floors. Guards stationed downstairs.
She exhaled slowly.
Maybe she was overthinking.
Maybe-
A sharp metallic click echoed behind her.
She froze.
That wasn't part of the house.
That was the sound of a gun being loaded.
Her pulse exploded.
Before she could turn-
A hand grabbed her from behind.
Cold metal pressed against her temple.
"Don't scream," a rough voice whispered.
Her breathing turned shallow.
Assassin.
Inside the mansion.
Inside his territory.
"How poetic," the man murmured. "The Devil's weakness."
Footsteps approached from the end of the corridor.
Slow.
Measured.
Unafraid.
The assassin tensed.
S4RKU stepped into view.
Barefoot. Calm. Eyes darker than night.
He looked at the gun against her head.
Then at the man holding her.
He didn't rush.
Didn't panic.
His voice was quiet.
"You made it farther than most."
The assassin smirked. "Call off your men. Or she dies."
Sage's heart pounded violently.
This is it.
This is how it ends.
But then-
She noticed something.
S4RKU wasn't looking at the assassin.
He was looking at her.
Steady.
Commanding.
His eyes said one thing:
Trust me.
The assassin pressed the gun harder.
"DROP YOUR WEAPON!"
S4RKU raised his hands slowly.
But there was something strange about his calm.
Too calm.
The assassin didn't see it-
But Sage did.
A faint red dot appeared on the wall behind them.
Then another.
Snipers.
Hidden in the dark.
Waiting.
S4RKU tilted his head slightly.
And in one sudden movement-
Sage slammed her heel down on the attacker's foot.
Hard.
The man flinched.
Gun shifted.
And three shots rang out at once.
The assassin dropped instantly.
Dead before he hit the ground.
Silence swallowed the hallway.
Sage stood frozen.
Breathing fast.
Hands shaking.
S4RKU crossed the distance in seconds.
He grabbed her shoulders.
"Are you hurt?"
She shook her head.
"I- I moved."
His eyes scanned her body, checking for blood.
Then something changed.
Not relief.
Rage.
The assassin had touched her.
His hand brushed against her arm where the man had grabbed her.
Too long.
Too violently.
His jaw tightened.
He turned to his head of security.
"Find who sent him."
Cold pause.
"And send them pieces."
The tone was so calm...
It was horrifying.
Sage stared at him.
"You're going to kill more people."
He looked back at her slowly.
"They tried to kill you."
Her voice trembled slightly.
"This won't stop."
"No," he agreed quietly.
"It won't."
Silence stretched between them.
Heavy realization settling in.
This wasn't temporary.
This was war.
And she was the battlefield.
She stepped closer to him.
Not out of fear.
Out of choice.
"You said I wanted your world."
Her voice steadied.
"I don't want to be protected anymore."
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"What are you saying?"
"I want to learn."
A dangerous sentence.
"I want to know how to survive in it."
The air shifted.
That wasn't innocence speaking anymore.
That was transformation.
S4RKU studied her face carefully.
"You think this is power?"
"No," she said softly.
"I think this is survival."
For the first time...
He saw it.
She wasn't breaking.
She was adapting.
And that...
Was infinitely more dangerous.
He stepped closer.
His hand cupped her jaw.
"You're changing."
She held his gaze.
"So are you."
A slow, dark smile curved his lips.
Maybe he didn't create a weakness.
Maybe he created a queen.