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

The lights above flickered back to white. But it didn't feel like safety.

Ava helped Kaela up from the wreckage of the data console, her hand gripping tighter than before—both of them now bracing for war with the past.

"He's watching," Ava said. "Through the system, the vents, the shadows."

Kaela's jaw tensed. "He's always been watching. I just didn't know what I was hiding from."

A low hum vibrated through the corridor floor. Then, a mechanical click. Then another. Like the slow cocking of dozens of rifles.

From the corridor behind them, figures emerged.

Synthetic bodies, humanoid but stripped of personality—except one detail:

Each wore a fractured, half-burned mask.

Kaela stepped forward. "He's cloned himself."

"No," Ava whispered, "he's multiplied."

The machines stopped a few meters from them, eerily still. Then, all at once—they knelt.

The lead one raised its head and spoke in Revenant's chilling voice. "We remember. And we obey."

Ava aimed her gun. "Why are they kneeling?"

Kaela's heart thundered. "Because they don't see me as the enemy."

Kaela stared at them—at herself reflected in a thousand chrome eyes.

"I was made to command them. Before I ran. Before I chose not to be what they built."

One of the bots reached out—not to strike, but to offer a small black cube.

Instantly, the lights around them dimmed.

The cube pulsed red in her palm—like a heartbeat.

Kaela swallowed hard. "A failsafe."

Ava stepped forward. "Then destroy it."

Her voice, when it came, was a whisper wrapped in steel. "If I destroy it… they'll see me as a traitor. If I keep it… I become what I swore to leave behind."

The silence stretched. The weight of history pressed in from all sides.

Kaela slowly turned to Ava. "This isn't just about Revenant anymore."

"No," Ava agreed. "It's about what you're willing to become to stop him."

Behind them, the machines rose—watching. Waiting.

Red Codes and Ghost Protocols