AVANTIKA

Romantic Suspense | Dark Romance | Slow-Burn

He swore to protect her. But he’s hiding the biggest danger of all… himself.

Ava is being hunted. The stalker leaves no prints, no traces—just chilling notes and the constant feeling of eyes on her back. When the police fail her, her last hope is a private bodyguard shrouded in secrets.

He has no name. No past. Just cold eyes, a sharper temper, and rules that Ava is forbidden to break.

But the mansion meant to keep her safe feels more like a prison. And her so-called protector? He's hiding something darker than the man chasing her.

The deeper Ava digs, the more tangled their fates become.
Because falling for your bodyguard is dangerous...
But trusting him could be deadly.

Guarded by Lies

Each second splintered into a thousand shards as Revenant stepped into the room, his boots heavy against the broken metal floor. The fluorescent lights above buzzed and flickered in protest, casting harsh, jerking shadows across his half-masked face.

One eye—entirely mechanical—glowed a piercing silver.

Kaela stood like a statue, weapon aimed, though Ava could see the faint tremble in her arm. The younger Kaela-0 whimpered behind her, whispering something Ava couldn't make out—an old phrase, maybe a code… or a prayer.

Ava kept her voice low. "Is he a clone?"

Kaela didn't look away. "He's not like us. He wasn't made to live."

Revenant tilted his head, almost curiously. "You sound disappointed."

The sound cracked through the air—one, two, three shots.

All hit. All absorbed by his reinforced armor.

"You always did miss the heart," he murmured, voice echoing like metal grinding bone.

Ava stepped forward, lips tight. "Why are you here?"

His gaze locked onto her like a targeting system. "Because she forgot. And it's time she remembers what she was built for."

Kaela's voice was suddenly brittle. "I wasn't built. I chose who I am."

He moved so fast, Ava barely saw it—Kaela was on the ground, disarmed, Revenant standing over her like a specter. One cybernetic hand clenched her throat, not tight enough to kill—but tight enough to paralyze.

"You were built for war," he growled. "You and I were the first. The prototypes. You evolved—forgot what we were made to do. But they didn't destroy me. They buried me."

"But now I'm awake. And I'm taking back the mission."

Kaela's hand scrabbled for her backup blade, eyes blazing. "The mission was genocide."

He grinned beneath the mask. "No. The mission was order."

In a blur, she slashed upward—metal screamed, sparks flew. Revenant recoiled, mask cracking further, revealing a glimpse of the ruined man beneath.

"You can't kill what they never finished, Kaela."

Then he vanished into the darkness of the hallway beyond, retreating like smoke into the vents and shadows.

Kaela lay still, breathing hard, hands shaking.

Ava kneeled beside her. "Are you okay?"

Kaela's eyes were distant. Cold. Old memories unraveling behind them like a film reel.

"Because I think… I just saw the face of my past."