Are you both alright?"
"Yes," the girl answered immediately, almost on instinct. Her voice shook, but she forced it out.
"I'm fine," the man said through clenched teeth.
Aamon glanced at the man labeled Prey. His breathing was controlled, but shallow. His posture was rigid in a way that betrayed his answer. He clenched his side, steadying his breathing.
"It looks like you have a few broken ribs," Aamon said calmly. "Can you walk?"
The man gave a short nod. "Yeah, I can manage"
"Listen...There are four Hunters down the street," Aamon continued evenly. "If they heard the screaming, they might already be moving this way. We need to leave. Now."
No hesitation followed.
The girl pushed herself up first and helped the man stand. She could tell he was in a great deal of pain.
Aamon did not wait for further questions. He stepped away from the open road and gestured once for them to follow.
They did, not because he ordered them but because he seemed certain.
He led them through a narrow side street and into the entrance of a multi-level parking structure.
The interior was dim, lit only by emergency strips that flickered weakly along the ceiling. Rows of abandoned vehicles filled the space, doors ajar, some engines still ticking faintly as they cooled.
It was good cover, with multiple breaks in the line of sight and concrete pillars thick enough to conceal them completely.
They moved deeper inside, weaving between cars until they reached the far corner of the first level.
Aamon glanced at his watch. Seven hours remained until dawn.
He finally turned to face them.
Up close, the girl looked younger than she first appeared, though not by much. Seventeen, maybe. Her dark black hair fell over her shoulders in loose strands, slightly tangled from running.
There was dirt smudged across her sleeve where she had fallen. She kept glancing at her phone screen, tapping it again and again even though there was no signal.
The man stood straighter now, though his breathing was still heavy. He had a solid frame, the kind that did not immediately appear bulky but suggested strength beneath ordinary clothing. His posture even while injured was disciplined.
"Listen," Aamon began, voice even and steady,"I know this isn't exactly the best time for introductions with everything that's happening. But if we're going to survive this, we need work together "
They both nodded in agreement.
Aamon wasn't wrong. The man was injured and the girl...well she cant defend herself so their odds of survival greatly depended on how well they work together and on Aamon ofcourse.
"I'm Aamon Vesper. Im twenty-eight. Office worker." His tone did not waver.
"My ability is that I'm skilled with a dagger."
He held their gaze calmly as he said it.
It was a simple and believable lie.
The man answered first.
"My name is Ray Conrad. Twenty-seven. I worked security." He shifted slightly, suppressing discomfort. "My ability lets me create shield barriers. They're strongest at the moment of impact."
Both Aamon and Ray shifted their gaze toward the girl. The weight of their silence made it clear it was her turn.
The girl hesitated, fingers tightening around her phone. She glanced between the two men before speaking.
"I'm Lily," she said softly. She swallowed once. "I'm seventeen. My ability… I can release light from my hands. Though i dont think it does any physical damage directly."
She lifted her palms slightly as if to demonstrate but stopped herself. "After I use it, I have to wait about two minutes before I can do it again.
Aamon nodded once, his expression unreadable.
Light manipulation would be useful in enclosed spaces, especially here where the concrete pillars created tight corridors and broken sightlines. The potential to blind, to disrupt, to create an opening in a losing fight is significant. He kept those thoughts to himself.
"That's good," he said calmly. "Light is effective against anything relying on vision."
Lily's shoulders eased just a little at his response, some of the tension leaving her posture.
She lowered her gaze for a brief second before forcing herself to look up.
"I didn't say this earlier," she said, her voice softer now. "But thank you. Thank you both for saving me."
Ray gave a short nod, but Aamon didnt immediately respond.
Her eyes lingered on Aamon a second longer than necessary.
For a brief moment, Aamon said nothing.
He had not been the one to step in first. While Ray moved on instinct, he had stood in the shadows and calculated. Measured the distance. Weighed the risk. Searched for an angle that would not end in his own death. They didn't know that.
Ray had acted without hesitation. He was the one that saved her, not him.
Aamon suppressed the thought before it could take root.
"You're alive," he replied at last. "That's what matters."
His words sounded reassuring.
Yet something tightened in his chest despite the composure on his face.
The truth was uncomfortably clear.
If Ray had not intervened when he did, Lily might have died before Aamon finished deciding whether she was worth the risk.
And no amount of logic could fully erase that.
...
The parking structure fell into a strained quiet, broken only by the distant wail of city alarms echoing faintly from outside.
Aamon checked his watch again and saw that six hours remained.
Only an hour had passed yet it seemed longer than that. He sighed in disbelief leaning back towards the wall.
Lily kept to herself, fidgeting her phone, trying to call someone.
For a young girl, she seemed to hold herself together quite well.
"Who are you trying to call?" Ray asked.
"The network station blew up hours ago," he added. "You're not going to get through"
Her shoulders lowered, hope draining from her eyes.
"My big brother," she said quietly. "He's all the family I have left. I'm worried."
Her voice faltered. "If something happened to him, I don't know what I would…"
Aamon responded before the silence deepened.
"Don't think the worst yet, when the hunt is over I'll help you find him"
She looked up to him, surprised.
"You will?"
Before Aamon could answer, sound of footsteps were heard from beyond the entrance ramp.
More than one.
Boots scraped against concrete, the noise traveling cleanly through the hollow structure and weaving between pillars and abandoned cars.
The three shifted their gaze just enough to see the entrance. They instinctively hid when they saw four figures entering the parking structure, silhouettes framed by the dim red glow bleeding in from outside.
The word Hunter hovered above each of their heads.
Their eyes move, scanning between vehicles and along the shadows cast by the concrete pillars. There was no panic in their posture, no urgency in their steps.
They were the same four Aamon had seen earlier beneath the flickering streetlamp, speaking casually as if the city had not descended into chaos around them.
They paused just inside the entrance, spreading out slightly without speaking. One of them tilted his head, listening. Another crouched briefly, brushing his fingers along the concrete floor.
They were not charging in blindly.
They were hunting.