He leaned closer, his face inches from hers. His breath was warm against her mask.

"Such a soft butterfly," he murmured. "I’ve been waiting for this."

He reached up and pulled her mask down a little, exposing her nose, his fingers brushing her cheek.

Bella moved.

She drove her knee into his shin, hard. He grunted, his grip loosening just enough. She yanked her wrists free, grabbed his collar, and slammed him against the wall.

"Guards!" she shouted, her voice echoing down the hallway. "Now!"

Footsteps pounded toward them.

She reached for his mask, her fingers curling around the edge, ready to rip it off.

White smoke exploded around them. Thick, choking, and burning.

Bella coughed, her eyes watering, her lungs searing. She couldn’t see. Couldn’t breathe. Her hand slipped from his collar.

The guards were coughing too, stumbling, disoriented.

Through the smoke, she felt him grab her waist, spin her around, and slam her onto the floor. His weight pressed down on her, crushing, suffocating.

She thrashed. Kicked. Tried to scream.

He pinned her wrists again, his face close to hers, his lips brushing her ear.

"This time," he whispered, his voice low and venomous, "I’m letting you go."

She struggled harder.

"But you’ll regret this, Butterfly." His grip tightened. "I will catch you. I will keep you in my cage. And when I do—" His voice dropped lower, more vile. "I will f*** you right in front of your loser husband. I’ll make him watch. I’ll make him beg. And then I’ll kill him."

Bella’s body went cold.

"I’ll make you scream my name," he continued, his breath hot against her skin, his voice dripping with vile promise. "Not his. Mine. And when I’m done, you’ll forget he ever existed."

Bella’s blood turned to ice. Her body trembled beneath his weight, not from fear, but from rage. Pure, burning, white-hot rage.

He smiled. She couldn’t see his lips beneath the mask, but she could feel it in the way his eyes crinkled, in the satisfied exhale of his breath.

Then the smoke began to clear.

He pushed himself off her, scrambling to his feet. His boots scraped against the floor as he turned and ran toward the exit at the end of the hallway. His movements were quick, desperate, no longer confident.

Bella didn’t hesitate.

She rolled onto her side, her hand flying to her waistband. Her fingers closed around the cold metal of the gun Leo had given her.

She pulled it out, her grip steady, her breathing controlled. She pulled her mask up over her nose, covering her mouth, filtering the lingering smoke.

He was almost at the door.

She fired.

The shot rang out through the hallway, loud and sharp, echoing off the walls. The guards around her flinched, hands moving to their own weapons.

Bella couldn’t see through the smoke. Her vision was blurred, her eyes still burning. But she heard it, a sharp intake of breath, a grunt of pain, the stumble of footsteps.

She had hit him.

Satisfaction welled in her chest.

He didn’t fall. He kept moving, shoving through the exit door, disappearing into the night.

Bella lowered the gun, her arm trembling now, her heart pounding.

The adrenaline of shooting the gun drained away in an instant. Her legs gave out. The world tilted. She heard someone calling her name, Leo or one of the guards, but the sound was distant and muffled like she was underwater.

Her head hit the floor, but she didn’t feel it.

Darkness swallowed her.

⊹₊˚‧︵‿₊୨୧₊‿︵‧˚₊⊹

When she woke, she couldn’t open her eyes.

Her lids were heavy, her body sluggish, her mind floating somewhere between sleep and consciousness. She could hear murmurs, low voices, familiar voices, but she couldn’t move. Couldn’t speak. Couldn’t do anything but listen.

"That smoke contained chemicals," Leo was saying. His voice was tight, controlled, but she could hear the anger beneath it. "Chloroform. Tear gas and something else, something we haven’t identified yet. The lab is running tests."

Jay’s voice responded, worried. "Is she going to be okay?"

"She’ll recover. But the fact that he had access to that kind of mixture—" Leo paused. "It tells us something."

"What?"

"He’s not working alone. He has resources. Maybe he’s connected to a lab or has his own private labs." Leo’s voice grew colder. "The smoke wasn’t just meant to obscure. It was meant to incapacitate. To buy him time to escape. He’s done this before."

Jay cursed under his breath.

"The chemical compounds suggest he’s been experimenting," Leo continued. "Mixing different agents, testing their effects. This wasn’t a desperate move. This was calculated."

Jace spoke up, his voice quiet but sharp. "So he’s not just a stalker. He’s something else."

"Someone else." Leo’s tone was grim. "And the business with Jasper Ray, the exchange they made, it wasn’t just a simple transaction. They were trading something. Information, maybe. Or materials."

"Materials for what?"

"Bombs," Leo said flatly. "Chemicals. Weapons. Whatever he’s planning, it’s bigger than just Bella."

The room fell silent.

Bella’s heart pounded, but she kept her breathing steady, kept her eyes closed. She needed to hear this.

"Bro," Jay said finally, "what should we do?"

Leo was quiet for a moment. When he spoke again, his voice was deep and low.

"We need to assemble a team. Chemists. Toxicologists. People who understand those things better than we do."

"Where are we going to find them on short notice?"

"I know someone." Leo’s voice was confident. "An old contact. He works in pharmaceuticals, legitimate business, but he has connections in the gray areas. He can recommend people we can trust."

"And if he can’t?"

"Then we find them ourselves." Leo’s voice hardened. "I don’t care how long it takes. I don’t care what it costs. We need to outsmart him. He’s using chemicals because he thinks we can’t counter it. He thinks we’re vulnerable."

"Are we?"

Leo didn’t answer immediately.

"Maybe," he said finally. "But we won’t be for long."

Bella heard footsteps, Leo pacing, probably, back and forth across the room.

"I want a full analysis of that smoke. Every component. Every possible source. I want to know where he got it, how he mixed it, and who helped him."

Jay nodded. "I’ll make some calls."

"And I want surveillance on every chemical supplier in the city. Every lab. Every research facility. If he’s buying ingredients, I want to know about it."

Jace’s voice was quiet. "That’s a lot of ground to cover."

"Then cover it."

The room fell silent again.

Bella felt a hand touch her forehead, Leo’s hand, warm and gentle. His fingers brushed her hair back from her face.

"She should be waking up soon," he said softly.