NovelEnglishWalter propped against his chin, glancing between lan and Dylan before his gaze finally settled on Maja, who was lounging on the
couch.
The air was thick with an unspoken tension among the trio, but he couldn't afford to dwell on it now.
lan had laid out the plan: they were making their move tonight, and that meant Walter needed to get his head in the game.
In the room, Dylan turned to Walter, "You're with me. Watch your six."
Walter couldn't help but curl his lips into a smile, "Relax, I've got it."
As lan stepped outside, he scooped Maja up and carried her off to bed for srest. Maja slept soundly, undisturbed by the
movement, but it was the distant sound of an explosion during the night that jolted her awake. She scrambled out of bed and
rushed to the living room.
The men were gone, and a wave of unease washed over her. At the door, she noticed a note under the light switch - a message
from lan.
"Stay put, I'll be back soon."
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtShe exhaled in relief, but then a knock on the door startled her. It was the woman from next door.
"Maja, you up?"
When Maja opened up, she saw the woman holding out a steaming bow! of soup.
"You haven't had your dinner yet, have you? Let's eat something."
Maja ushered her in, and they took a seat at the dining table. "You know lan, don't you?" Maja inquired.
Ever since lan had arrived, the woman had kept her distance. Now, with lan away, she was at the doorstep.
The woman nodded, her gaze drifting to the window, "I've seen him at the underground combat pit in North America."
Maja was taken aback, "Does he know you?"
"Even if he doesn't recognize me, I'm sure I'd seem familiar to him."
The woman's demeanor turned icy as she leaned back, her slender fingers twirling a sharp dagger - a blade that could easily slice
skin but seemed to bloom into a flower in her expert grip.
"Maja, no offense, but | feel a connection with you. | wasn't in those combat pits by choice; | was sold into them, like a slave, forced
to battle with beasts just to survive. | was the second person to make it out alive in five years."
Then she hesitated, glancing at Maja, unsure whether to continue.
Maja's voice was calm, her expression cool and composed, "The first one was lan?"
It seemed she'd already figured it out.
The woman confirmed with a nod, a sharp glint in her eyes, "Yes, he was the first. I've kept tabs on him since then. But | never
imagined the person you were looking for would be him. He might not recognize me, but he'd find my face familiar."
Maja nodded. She didn't know much about lan's tin the combat pits, but becoming a leader there as a teenager must have
cwith its share of pain - pain that only lan himself truly understood.
And lan? He was never one to volunteer his past. Especially in front of those he cared about, he preferred to shoulder everything
alone.
Maja had cto prevent him from doing just that - worried that he might get into trouble and keep her in the dark again.
So she followed quietly, deciding that being in the scity, even if just lingering in the shadows, was better than waiting
hopelessly back at the Sanders family home.
The woman's wrist was adorned with a small jade bead, threaded on a red string. Noticing Maja's gaze, she offered a smile.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"This was made for my brother andwhen we were born. | engraved his non mine, and he has my non his."
Her voice softened when she spoke of her brother, a touch of warmth breaking through her usual frostiness.
"My brother was snatched right from me. | cried and chased after them for as long as | could, but | didn't realize then that it would
be the last tI'd ever see him."
Fifteen years ago, child abductions were all too common, and law enforcement was less vigilant. It seemed she was still trapped in
the day her brother was taken, never quite moving past that moment.
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