Crossroads & Parting Paths

XI

The past few days blurred into a relentless haze of exhaustion. I'd been driving almost nonstop, grabbing two hours of sleep every five hours, just enough to keep me functional. Coffee became my lifeline. I hated the bitter stuff, but it kept me awake, my nerves strung tight as a bow.

Leon's cries punctuated the silence, breaking up the monotonous hum of the engine. Each time, I'd pull over, feed him, change him, and then hit the road again. His little face was a constant reminder of why I was doing this, why I couldn't afford to slow down.

Every rest stop was a gamble. I couldn't stay long, not with hunters potentially closing in. Trackers were persistent, and I knew it was only a matter of time before they caught onto the faint traces I couldn't fully erase. My paranoia was my greatest weapon now. I watched everything—cars parked too long, strangers who lingered a second too many.

Leon, though, was handling it better than I expected. He barely fussed despite the constant stops and starts, the restless nights. I hated that he was adapting to this life on the run. No child should have to live like this, always looking over their shoulder.

The caffeine wasn't cutting it anymore. My body screamed for rest, but my mind refused to let go. I was too close to the meet-up with Leora. Just one more day. I reminded myself of that as I pulled into a shabby motel parking lot in some no-name town.

I checked in under another fake name, carrying Leon close as I walked to the room. The place smelled faintly of mildew, the carpet threadbare under my boots. It wasn't much, but it would do.

I set Leon down in the stroller I'd brought from the car, then collapsed onto the bed with a long sigh. My body ached, my muscles stiff from days of tension and driving. I couldn't let my guard down, not entirely, but I needed rest. Tomorrow was too important to face at half-strength.

That's when I activated the new trick I'd been working on. A precaution.

Soul Link had always been a tool for survival, but I'd recently found a way to adapt it. Instead of tethering to another aura user or equalizing with stray animals, I cast the link out to mundanes—ordinary people in the area. They didn't even need to know.

The beauty of it was its subtlety. There were no aura fluctuations, no detectable traces for hunters to pick up. The mundanes couldn't see aura, but through their eyes, my Soul Link could. If anyone dangerous came into range—hunters, Seekers, anyone that matched my mental target—I'd know instantly.

I cast the net within a fifty-meter radius, weaving it like a passive radar. The mundanes went about their lives, blissfully unaware of the tether, while I could rest a little easier knowing I'd have a warning if trouble came too close.

Leon had fallen asleep in his stroller, his soft breaths barely audible over the hum of the motel's heater. I glanced at him, my chest tightening. He'd been such a champ through all of this, but I couldn't keep it up forever. Sooner or later, I'd have to find a way to stop running, to give him a life where he could be safe.

But that wasn't a problem for tonight. Tonight, I needed sleep.

I closed my eyes, sinking into the lumpy mattress. For the first time in days, I let exhaustion win. Tomorrow would come soon enough.

March 17. The day I'd been counting down to for weeks had finally arrived.

The drive toward Rumas City felt heavier than it should have, the road ahead weighed down by memories I wasn't sure I was ready to confront. By the time I parked near Downing Street, my palms were slick against the steering wheel. I texted Leora to confirm the time, my fingers lingering over the screen before I hit send.

We'd agreed to meet at Aluna Café. The café where it all began.

As I stepped inside, a wave of familiarity hit me like a punch to the gut. It was the same place, down to the cozy warmth and the soft hum of conversation. The smell of coffee and freshly baked pastries filled the air, just like it always had.

I used to come here all the time, back when my second-hand laptop was my lifeline. I'd hammer out web novels, freelance articles, anything that would pay the bills. Aluna Café had been my sanctuary, my creative haven in a world that didn't seem to care whether I sank or swam.

But that was a lifetime ago. A different me, in a different world.

My eyes scanned the room until they landed on her. Blonde hair, blue eyes, and that smile—the one that could stop my heart and leave me breathless, even now.

Leora.

She was sitting at the same table I used to work at, as if no time had passed. But it had. Years, in fact. Years that had changed everything about who we were and what we meant to each other.

For a moment, I just stood there, staring. The memories came flooding back—our first meeting, the awkwardness, the spark of something unspoken that grew into everything. This café had seen the start of it all.

But this wasn't a reunion. This was a reckoning.

I walked toward her, my heart pounding harder with every step. When I reached her table, she looked up, her blue eyes meeting mine. Her face was calm, but I could see the tension beneath the surface. I knew her too well to miss it.

"Hey," I said, my voice softer than I'd intended. After everything that had happened, it was the only word that felt right.

"Hey," she replied, her voice just as soft. Her gaze searched mine, as if looking for something she wasn't sure she'd find.

I sat down across from her, shifting Leon in my arms. His small body stirred, his warmth grounding me as I held him closer. "Hey, Leonard," I said, my tone teasing but sharp. "Look, it's your mom. The one who left us for two years and still counting. Maybe she doesn't love you anymore."

Leora's eyes widened, a flicker of hurt flashing across her face. "Hey," she protested softly, her voice carrying a note of wounded indignation. "That's unfair."

I knew it was. But the weight of everything we'd been through—everything I'd caused—sat heavy on my chest. There was so much I wanted to say, to yell, to accuse her of. But I couldn't bring myself to do it. Deep down, I knew this wasn't all on her.

After all, I was the one who'd written the story this world was based on.

The question that haunted me every day clawed at the edges of my mind. What came first? My novel? Or this world?

The fear never left me. I was terrified for myself, for Leora, and most of all, for Leon. What kind of future could he have in a world filled with the traps and thorns I'd woven into this story?

"My bad," I muttered, trying to break the tension. "Do you want to hold him?"

Her face softened immediately, and she nodded. "Yes. Yes, I do," she said, her voice trembling slightly.

I handed Leon to her, watching as her hands trembled while she cradled him. The moment he was in her arms, her expression changed. The tension melted away, replaced by something raw and tender.

Leon blinked up at her, his tiny hands reaching out to grab her blonde hair, tugging at it with curious little fists. His blue eyes, so much like hers, stared at her as if trying to piece together who she was.

He didn't cry. He rarely cried these days. Life on the run had taught him to stay quiet, even as a toddler.

Leora smiled, brushing a thumb across his cheek. "You've grown so much," she whispered, her voice catching on the words. "He's so beautiful."

"Yeah," I said quietly, watching the two of them. "He gets that from you."

Leora looked up at me, her expression a storm of emotions I couldn't fully decipher. Guilt, love, maybe even relief. But her eyes were filled with unspoken questions—the ones she wouldn't voice but that hung heavy in the air. Where have you been? How are you? What have you been doing?

I couldn't hold her gaze for long. I looked away, my hands tightening around Leon, who stirred slightly in my arms. No matter how much I wanted to, I couldn't give her a simple answer. There wasn't one.

"I…"

The words caught in my throat, tangled with the weight of everything unsaid.

How could I explain the truth? That I was, in essence, the god of this world? That every detail, every twist of fate, every horror was something I had written into existence? The absurdity of it made my stomach churn. If I told her, she'd either think I'd gone insane or—worse—she'd believe me. And I wasn't sure which outcome terrified me more.

Instead, I said something else. Something I hoped would soften the blow of what I was about to do.

"I'm going to do something you're really going to hate," I murmured.

Before she could respond, I reached out and cupped her face, my thumb brushing her cheek. She flinched, just barely, but didn't pull away. Then I leaned in and kissed her. It was long, tender, and achingly familiar, a bittersweet echo of the day I first met her.

Leora stiffened at first, then melted into the kiss. When I pulled back, her lips parted slightly as if to speak, but I cut her off with a half-hearted laugh.

"I'm going to buy some milk," I said with a grin, trying to inject humor into the moment. "And I'll probably be gone for a while. But I'll try to come back as fast as I can."

Her brows furrowed, her confusion quickly morphing into suspicion. "What are you talking about, Reynard?" she asked, her tone sharp.

I sighed, the humor falling away. "I hated the old arrangement. So here's what we're going to do now. I'll handle the hunting, and you…" I gestured toward Leon, who was still in her arms. "You do the baby thing. You're better connected, Leora. You've got a stronger network than the one I scraped together these past two years. Leon will have a better life with you. You can give him everything I can't."

I stood, bracing myself for her reaction.

Her eyes widened, anger flashing through them like lightning. "Talk to me properly… What are you doing?" Her voice trembled, teetering between frustration and disbelief.

I didn't answer. Instead, I reached out with my ability, borrowing both her and Leon's auras. Leora didn't notice immediately, too focused on her growing outrage. I took Leon's life attribute, vital and pure, and combined it with Leora's speed attribute, enhancing my agility and endurance in a way I hadn't tried before.

"Until then, Leora," I said softly, offering her a faint, apologetic smile.

Before she could stop me, I activated the borrowed attributes, and in a blur of motion, I was gone. The café and the family I was leaving behind faded into the distance as I moved faster than Leora could follow, especially with Leon in her arms.

A few minutes later, I stood on a rooftop miles away, the wind tugging at my jacket as I gazed toward the café. From this distance, it was barely a speck on the horizon, but I could still feel their auras within me, faint and flickering as they slowly trickled away.

"Ah~ I'll probably regret this…" I muttered to myself. But not as much as I would if I let Leora stay on her current path.

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps behind me. I didn't turn, already knowing who it was. Jacob, better known as Diamond_Black in the Hunter's Net, stepped out of the shadows.

In one hand, he held a struggling hunter, the man's face pale with terror. Jacob's grip was unyielding, his movements precise and calculated.

"That's two out of three favors I owe you," Jacob said casually, his voice as calm as if we were discussing the weather.

Without hesitation, he flexed his wrist, and the hunter's neck snapped with a sickening crack. The body crumpled to the ground, lifeless.

I stared at the scene, my expression blank. Jacob's methods didn't faze me anymore. I'd accumulated more favors than I could count—favors I'd need to cash in soon.

"One more," Jacob added, brushing his hands off. "And we're square."

I nodded, my mind already racing ahead to the battles to come. Leora's network might've been more established, built on years of experience as a hunter, but I had my own arsenal. Favors, information, and debts owed to me would be just as powerful.

The war wasn't far off now. And I intended to win.

~011