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SHADOWS OF THE OAT CHAPTER 202
The Past Catches UpI hear the gun click before I see the man holding it.Instinct kicks in. My body moves before the bullet does, diving behind a rusted-out car at the alley’s edge. The shot cracks the air, striking the brick wall where I’d stood a second ago.Breath steady. Heart controlled.I’ve been waiting for this.Footsteps crunch against the wet pavement. More than one set. Three, maybe four. They don’t speak, but they don’t need to. Their presence is an answer to the question I stopped asking long ago—how long before the past found me?I grip the knife at my side. My only weapon.A voice finally breaks the silence. "Nathaniel Vale."I glance up. A man steps into the glow of the streetlamp, the artificial light casting shadows over his sharp features. He had a dark coat, buzzed hair, and a scar slicing across his left cheek. I know him—or at least, I know his type.Loyalists. The ones who didn’t just serve The Oath but believed in it."You took everything from us," he says, hi
SHADOWS OF THE OAT CHAPTER 203
The Whisper of Julian’s VoiceThe blood on my hands won’t wash away.I stand in front of the cracked bathroom mirror, cold water running over my fingers, turning pink as it spirals down the drain. My shoulder burns where the bullet grazed me—just a little deeper and I wouldn’t be standing here. I tore my shirt and wrapped the wound tight, but it was a crude job. The pain is a constant reminder—tonight wasn’t a victory.Just another step down the path.I look up at my reflection. The face staring back is mine, but not the one I remember. The shadows under my eyes run deep, carved by sleepless nights. My jaw is set in a way I don’t recognize anymore. My hands tremble for just a second before I curl them into fists."You’re getting sloppy, Nathan."The voice isn’t real. I know that.But it’s there, whispering at the edge of my mind, curling like smoke around my thoughts. Julian’s voice.I close my eyes. I shouldn’t entertain it. But I do."Tell me, did you hesitate? Did you waste time th
SHADOWS OF THE OAT CHAPTER 204
The Last Safe PlaceThe cold bites through my jacket as I step off the train. The station is nearly empty, the fluorescent lights buzzing overhead like a swarm of unseen insects. I keep my head down, hands shoved into my pockets, shoulders hunched against the wind that cuts through the gaps in the platform.It’s been years since I’ve come here.The air smells the same—cigarettes, rain-soaked concrete, the faint oil, and rust of forgotten tracks. A place that exists in the spaces between everything else. The kind of place you come to when you don’t want to be found.But I know better.Nobody is ever really hidden.I walk without looking around, past rows of graffitied walls and shuttered storefronts, toward the only door that still matters. My heartbeat is steady, my breathing even. But there’s something heavier in my chest—something I don’t let surface.Not yet.I reach the door and knock once.A pause. Then a voice. "You’ve got to be kidding me."A slow exhale. "Open the door, Adrian
SHADOWS OF THE OAT CHAPTER 205
The Reunion That Shouldn’t BeI never believed in ghosts, but Riley standing in front of me felt like one. A haunting. A punishment. A reminder of everything I ruined.The air between us was thick with things left unsaid, but she shattered the silence with a single sentence."Tell me," she said, her voice quiet but sharp enough to cut through me. "Was it worth it?"My throat went dry. My hands curled into fists at my sides, not in anger, but in some desperate attempt to keep myself standing. Was it worth it? The choices, the betrayal, the pain that led us here?I should have had an answer. Instead, I stood there, my silence speaking for me.Her lips twisted into something between a smirk and a grimace. "You don’t know, do you?" she whispered. "You did all of this, burned everything to the ground, and you can’t even tell me if it was worth it."I inhaled sharply, forcing myself to look at her, really look at her. Time hadn’t softened her—it had only made her sharper, like a blade honed
SHADOWS OF THE OAT CHAPTER 206
The Offer of RedemptionRiley never just walked away. Even when she left before, it was never clean—it was a storm, an earthquake, something that left wreckage in its wake. So when I turned the corner and saw her waiting for me, arms crossed, leaning against the old brick wall like she hadn’t just shattered me minutes ago, I knew.She had something to say. And it wasn’t going to be easy.I slowed my steps, watching her carefully. The streetlights flickered, casting her face in shadow, but I could still see the tension in her jaw, the way her fingers drummed restlessly against her arm."Couldn’t stay away, huh?" I said, trying for casual, though my pulse betrayed me.Her eyes flicked to mine, sharp and unreadable. "You wish."I almost smirked. Almost."So why are you here, Riley?"She exhaled slowly like she was steadying herself. Then she pushed off the wall and stepped closer."Because I’m giving you a choice."That got my attention."A choice?" I echoed."An out," she clarified. "A
SHADOWS OF THE OAT CHAPTER 207
The Shadow WarSomewhere in the city, a war was brewing. And for once, The Oath wasn’t the biggest threat.I should’ve known.The second Riley came back into my life, the second she spoke their name out loud, something inside me shifted. Not just the past clawing its way to the surface—but the sense that I wasn’t prepared for what was coming.I never was.We met at an old warehouse near the docks, a place untouched by time and forgotten by the city. Rusted shipping containers loomed like tombstones, the salty breeze thick with the scent of decay. I leaned against a steel beam, watching Riley pace the length of the room."Talk to me." My voice was even, but tension coiled in my chest.She ran a hand through her hair, frustration tightening her features. "We’re too late."My stomach twisted. "Explain.""The Oath isn’t the problem anymore," she said. "Something else is moving in the dark—something bigger. More dangerous.""That’s not possible," I said automatically.Riley let out a sharp
SHADOWS OF THE OAT CHAPTER 208
The Choice That Changes EverythingRiley is gone.The realization doesn’t hit all at once. It creeps in like a slow-moving storm, a quiet wrongness in the air that builds until it crashes into me with full force.One minute, she was here. The next, all I had left was silence.I stand in the wreckage of her motel room, breathing in the chaos. The mattress is overturned, the lamp is shattered, and papers are scattered across the floor. Signs of a struggle, but no blood.That should be a relief.It isn’t.My pulse thrums like a war drum in my ears. My hands curl into fists. I force them open, force myself to breathe, force myself to think.Who took her?The Oath is wounded, dying—but like any beast, that only makes them more dangerous. They wouldn’t take kindly to Riley digging up their graves. They’d want to remind her who’s still in charge.But then there’s The Revenant. The new enemy. The one that doesn’t play by the old rules. If they knew Riley had gotten too close—if they saw her a
SHADOWS OF THE OAT CHAPTER 209
The Final BetrayalBetrayal doesn’t always come with a knife in the back.Sometimes, it’s a whisper in the dark. A hesitation where there shouldn’t be one. A choice made long before you ever saw it coming.I should’ve seen it coming.The warehouse is cold, the air thick with the metallic scent of old blood and oil. The kind of place where things get buried—bodies, secrets, mistakes.And maybe, by the end of the night, me.I stand in the center, gun heavy in my grip, eyes locked on the man in front of me.Cade Voss.Smiling like he already knows how this ends."You really think you can win?" he asks, tilting his head."Winning isn’t the point." I step forward, slow and deliberate. "This ends. Tonight."Cade chuckles, the sound rich with amusement. "Oh, Nathan. Still pretending you have a choice."I don’t give him the satisfaction of a response.Because he’s wrong.I don’t pretend.I know.My finger tightens on the trigger—And then the door opens.And the world tilts.Because the perso
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CHAPTER 220
The Last ThoughtI stare at my reflection, my breath uneven, my eyes hollow. The glass is cracked—thin fractures running like veins across the surface, distorting my face. Fitting.The overhead light flickers, casting brief shadows across the room. It’s cold. Not the kind of cold that bites at your skin, but the kind that settles in your bones, that tells you something is coming. The kind that makes you wonder if it’s always been there, waiting.I press my palms against the sink, fingers curling against the porcelain. The weight in my chest isn’t fear. It isn’t regret. It’s something worse. A question with no answer.Behind me, the door creaks open. A slow, deliberate sound. My hand moves instinctively to my gun, but I already know who it is."That the last time you’re gonna check yourself out, Nathan?" a voice teases, rough with amusement.I smirk, though it feels foreign on my face. "Figured I should see what’s left of me before I walk out that door."Jackson leans against the doorf
CHAPTER 219
The End of the LineThe city is quiet. Too quiet.Not the kind of quiet that comes with peace, but the kind that signals something is about to break. It settles over the skyline, heavy, waiting. The streets are empty, but the ghosts of what I’ve built, of what I’ve destroyed, linger in the alleyways and shadowed corners.I stand at the edge of it all, watching from the rooftop of an old high-rise, the cold wind whipping against my face. Below me, the pieces are moving, each player stepping into position, some thinking they’re the ones holding the strings. They aren’t.They never were.Jackson shifts beside me, his hands buried deep in his pockets. He’s restless. Always is before things go south.“You sure about this?” he asks.I don’t answer right away. Because there’s no easy answer. No right one, either.He sighs, shaking his head. “You always do this. Get in too deep and think you can control every variable. But this—” he gestures to the streets below, to the quiet before the storm
CHAPTER 218
The Final MoveThe city is waiting.It doesn't know it yet, but the tides are shifting. Power doesn’t disappear; it transforms and morphs into something new, something unrecognizable until it’s already taken hold. I’ve seen it happen too many times to count. This time, I’m the one pulling the strings.This time, it ends on my terms.I stand in the shadows of an empty warehouse, the scent of oil and dust thick in the air. The city hums outside, its lights flickering through the gaps in the rusted metal walls. Jackson stands beside me, his body tense, arms crossed. He’s waiting for me to explain, to tell him what comes next.I let the silence stretch before I finally speak.“We’re not burning it down.”Jackson’s head snaps toward me, eyes narrowing. “What?”I meet his stare, my voice steady. “We’re not wiping the board clean. We’re flipping it.”For the first time in a long time, Jackson looks unsure. He shifts his weight, jaw tightening as he processes my words. “You said yourself—this
CHAPTER 217
The Final CrossroadsThe city hums beneath me, restless and alive. From this rooftop, I see everything—the neon glow stretching into the horizon, the winding streets below, the fractured heartbeat of a place that never stops moving. A world of light and shadow, built on secrets, power, and debts that can never truly be repaid.The air is thick with the scent of rain and asphalt, the faintest trace of gasoline lingering in the wind. It’s the smell of something on the verge of combustion, of a city always teetering on the edge of chaos. I tighten my grip on the cigarette between my fingers, watching the ember glow in the dark, a tiny heartbeat against the cold night. I don’t smoke. Not really. I just like the way it feels—holding something that’s burning, something that’s alive for just a little while before it fades into nothing.I should walk away.I should let it all burn.But I don’t.Because no matter how much I tell myself that I don’t care anymore, that none of it matters, the tr
CHAPTER 216
The Last Time He Sees RileyThe air is colder than I expected. Maybe that’s fitting. Maybe that’s how it’s supposed to be.She’s already there when I arrive, standing near the edge of the pier, arms folded tight against the wind. The city sprawls behind her, all light and noise, but out here, it’s just the quiet lapping of the water and the space between us.Riley doesn’t turn when I approach.“I wasn’t sure you’d come,” she says, her voice carrying over the water, calm but unreadable.I stop a few feet away. Close enough to feel the weight of her presence. Far enough to know I shouldn’t get any closer.“Neither was I,” I admit.She exhales a slow, steady breath. “You look the same.”“So do you.”A lie.There’s something different in her now. Something more guarded, more distant. Like she’s finally built the walls she should’ve had when we were younger.Like she’s learned.She turns, finally meeting my gaze, and for a moment, it’s just us. No past, no future. Just this one sliver of t
CHAPTER 215
The Fall of KingsThe thing about power is that it never learns.It moves through different hands, dresses itself in new suits, and speaks in fresh voices. But underneath, it’s always the same: greed, arrogance, and the inevitable mistake of thinking you can control what was never meant to be tamed.Ronan believed he could do it differently.I watch from the shadows as he proves himself wrong.---The city is quieter these days. Not because the storm has passed, but because it’s waiting to break.I see it in the way people move, the way deals are whispered instead of spoken. Ronan’s reign is still fresh, but already, the cracks are showing.And he doesn’t even realize it.Or maybe he does. Maybe he’s just too proud to admit it.I’m standing outside a high-rise downtown, watching from across the street. Up there, behind floor-to-ceiling windows, Ronan is playing king. A meeting’s in progress—his men, his allies, his problems.He thinks he has time. He thinks he’s in control.He doesn’t
CHAPTER 214
The Last WarningThe city breathes differently when men like Ronan step into power.It’s a slow shift, subtle. The same streets, the same lights flickering over cracked pavement, the same late-night murmurs of business and betrayal. But there’s a tension now, a new weight pressing down like the first signs of a storm.I know it because I’ve felt it before. I did it before.Which is why I know exactly how this ends.---I picked the place. Neutral ground. A quiet, high-end bar tucked away in the heart of the city, the kind where power plays out in whispered deals and expensive whiskey. A place where men like Ronan feel at home.I sit in a booth at the far end, back to the wall, watching the entrance. He’s late. Not long enough to be disrespectful, just enough to establish control. Classic move.When he finally steps inside, he moves like he owns the place.Not in the way Cormac did, with brute force and intimidation. No, Ronan is more refined. His presence doesn’t demand attention—it i
CHAPTER 213
The New ProtégéThe city doesn’t rest, and neither do the people hungry for its power.Cormac is gone. Locked away, his empire dismantled, his influence reduced to nothing but whispers in the dark. And yet, before the dust has even settled, another one steps forward. It always happens this way.A cycle. A curse.I watch from the rooftop as the meeting below unfolds. A dozen figures sit around a long table in a high-rise suite, their silhouettes blurred by tinted windows. But it’s the one at the head of the table that has my full attention.Young. Too young.Sharp suit, sharper eyes. He moves like he owns the room—because he does. The way they lean in when he speaks, the way they nod, hesitant but obedient. He’s already in control.He reminds me of someone.Me.I exhale slowly, pressing my earpiece. "Evelyn, you getting this?"Her voice crackles through. "Loud and clear. Looks like we found our new kingpin."I don’t respond right away, just watch as he steeples his fingers, listening i
CHAPTER 212
The War That Never EndsThe Oath had fallen, but the world didn’t change. Not really.Power is a living thing—it doesn’t disappear; it mutates. It slithers, molds itself into new hands, new faces, new kings and queens who claim they’ll do better. I watch from the shadows as history repeats itself, over and over, like a bad song stuck on a loop.I blend into the dimly lit alleyway, my coat pulled tight against the cold bite of the city. Rain drips from the rusted gutters, forming puddles at my feet, but I barely notice. Across the street, men shake hands under the glow of a flickering street lamp, sealing deals in the same way their predecessors did—with quiet, well-dressed ruthlessness. Different players, same game.I should walk away.I promised myself I would.But ghosts don’t rest easy, and the ones I carry are especially loud.A gust of wind blows through the alley, ruffling my hair as I step back into the shadows. My ribs still ache from my last fight, and my knuckles are a canva
