Elegbede_Habeeb

The first time they met, it felt like fate. The second time, it felt like a warning.

She was running from a past that refused to die. He was chasing a future that seemed just out of reach. When their worlds collided, it was more than just love—it was an obsession, a wildfire that threatened to burn them both alive.

But love isn’t always salvation. Sometimes, it’s destruction in disguise.

Bound by Fire: Ashes of Desire

The wind howled through the alleyways as the storm reached its peak. Rain pounded against the pavement, washing away the blood that would soon be spilled. Inside the safe house, tension thickened like smoke before an explosion.

Luca's grip on his gun was tight, his knuckles white. Dante was checking his own weapons, a smirk playing on his lips as if this was just another game. Evelyn, however, was unnervingly quiet. She stood near the window, watching the darkened streets, waiting.

"They'll be here any minute," Dante muttered. "We move or we die."

Luca glanced at Evelyn. "We move."

She turned to him, her eyes searching his face. "And if we don't make it?"

He stepped closer, brushing a damp strand of hair from her cheek. "Then we take as many of them down as we can."

Luca ignored him. Instead, he pulled Evelyn into a brief, desperate kiss. It wasn't soft or sweet—it was a promise. A promise that no matter what happened, he wasn't letting go.

The first explosion ripped through the building across the street, sending a shockwave that shook the windows. The second came seconds later, and then the gunfire began.

"They're early," Dante growled. "Bastards."

Luca shoved Evelyn behind him as the front door burst open. Shadows moved in the darkness—armed men, masked faces, merciless eyes.

Luca fired first, dropping two of them before they could react. Dante moved like a phantom, knives flashing in the dim light, his laughter almost maniacal as he tore through the enemy. Evelyn, despite the fear pounding in her chest, found herself grabbing a gun and firing. She wasn't helpless anymore.

For every man they took down, more flooded in. The safe house was turning into a death trap, smoke and bullets filling the air.

A bullet grazed Luca's arm, and he hissed in pain. Evelyn was beside him in seconds, eyes wild. "We need to get out of here!"

Dante kicked a dying man off his blade. "No kidding, sweetheart."

Luca scanned the room. They were being herded, pushed back toward the narrow hallway. They wanted them cornered.

They ran. The second floor was barely better—half of it had collapsed from the explosions outside, leaving only a weak path to the fire escape.

More gunfire. More bodies falling.

And then—the worst sound imaginable.

Luca barely had time to register it before Dante tackled him, throwing them both behind cover just as the grenade detonated.

Luca's ears rang. His vision blurred. His chest burned as if he'd inhaled flames.

He coughed, blinking through the smoke. "Evelyn?"

Panic surged through him. He pushed himself up, ignoring the pain, searching—

Evelyn lay crumpled near the broken window, blood staining her shirt.

He staggered toward her, dropping to his knees, hands trembling as he pressed against her wound. "Stay with me, baby. Please."

She gasped, her fingers gripping his shirt weakly. "Luca…"

He could barely hear her over the chaos. Over his own pounding heartbeat.

Dante stumbled over, blood dripping down his face. "We need to go. Now."

Luca didn't move. He couldn't. He refused to leave her.

Dante grabbed him, yanking him up. "We don't have a choice!"

Evelyn's eyes fluttered. "Luca…"

"Shh," he whispered. "I've got you."

And then, with one last desperate effort, he lifted her into his arms and ran.

But inside Luca, something darker had just been unleashed.

Next Chapter: The Devil You Made Me

Fire and Blood