The tunnel air wasn't just thick. It was solid.
It tasted of wet earth and Ravenna's own exhaustion. Her lungs burned. Her legs screamed.
Asher didn't slow down.
He moved with liquid speed. A shadow in leather. She was the anchor dragging behind him.
"Slower," she gasped. She grabbed the back of his worn jacket just to stay upright.
He stopped abruptly.
She slammed into his back. The impact rattled her teeth and sent the air whooshing from her lungs.
He didn't turn around. His body went rigid. Listening.
"Rule number one," Asher said, his voice showing no sympathy. Just facts. "Rogues don't stop because they're tired. They stop when the sound stops."
He tilted his head.
"And right now? I hear three things. You panting. Water dripping. And them."
"The hunters?" she managed, choking on the air.
Asher turned just enough for her to catch the glint of his green eyes.
"Worse. The fan club."
He gestured back the way they came.
"They're close. The Alpha smells furious. The Warlock feels cold. Your little chaotic signal basically sent them a 'we're over here!' flare."
Ravenna kicked a loose stone. Frustration boiled in her chest.
Every time she used her power, she signed her own death warrant.
"Then why did you break me out?" she shot back. "I'm just a loud problem."
"Exactly," Asher said.
He spun fully to face her.
"And if you want to stay my problem instead of becoming Nyzor's trophy or their caged puppet, you need to learn the rules of the Grey Zone."
He grabbed her arm. He pulled her into a narrow side passage.
It reeked. Stale sewage and rot.
"Smell this," he commanded.
Ravenna wrinkled her nose, gagging. "It smells like a dead rat inside a burning tire."
"Good. That's the perfume of survival," Asher said.
He scooped a handful of muddy, black sludge from the wall.
Without hesitation, he smeared a thick, greasy streak of it across her face. Then her neck.
"Hey!"
"You smell like a five-star meal, Hybrid. Emin could track that scent from a mile away. You need to smell like every other piece of forgotten garbage down here."
He worked fast. Rubbing the filth into her uniform and Into her hair.
The Mate Bond thrummed under the surface. It was the least demanding connection of the three, but the most unsettling. It felt like... rightness. In the wrong place.
"The Warlock won't care about scent," she argued, wiping muck from her eye.
"No. But Warlocks are predictable."
Asher pointed to her feet.
"Damaris relies on perfect maps and energy grids. When you run, step on the dampest stones. Water dulls the magical residue. It blurs you."
He gave her a light shove.
"Move. Like a whisper. Be the forgotten smell."
They moved for hours.
Asher was a ruthless tutor. He didn't offer comfort. He only offered instructions.
Don't scuff your heels. Breathe through your nose. Listen to the shift in air pressure.
"They're gaining," Asher announced suddenly.
He skidded to a halt at a junction of three drainage pipes.
"Emin's scent is advancing. He's running full speed. He smells… seriously pissed."
"He smelled pissed when he claimed me," Ravenna muttered, leaning against the cold wall.
"Well, he's probably even angrier now that you chose a bottom-feeder like me over his royal highness," Asher said.
A hint of amusement danced in his eyes.
But the situation was bad.
One tunnel was a dead end—blocked by an old rockfall. The other led to an open grate and almost certain capture.
"We need to slow them down," Asher said as he scanned the blocked tunnel. "I can't fight both of them while covering you."
He looked at the ceiling. Loose rocks that looked unstable.
"If we could collapse that entrance, it would buy us a few hours."
"It's too much rock," Ravenna whispered. "It would take Damaris a full ritual. Emin would need to shift fully to move it."
Asher looked at her.
"And your chaos? You redecorated a diner and launched a Lycan like a human cannonball. Can you aim it?"
Ravenna froze.
Aiming chaos was like trying to catch lightning in a bottle.
No control. Just destruction. It will hurt Asher.
But she remembered Emin's dominance. She remembered Damaris's logical erasure.
Then she looked at Asher. The man who rubbed sludge on her face to save her life.
"I don't know," she admitted. Her voice trembled. "It flares when I'm scared. It feels like two fires fighting."
Asher stepped closer. He put a hand on her back. Solid and grounding.
"Focus on defense. Don't think about breaking things. Just... push the rocks. Shield yourself. Shield the Rogue."
The idea changed everything.
Shield the Rogue.
She closed her eyes. She reached inside, past the panic, and found the hum.
Instead of forcing it into a spell, she focused on the warmth of Asher's hand on her back.
Protect him. Protect our freedom.
The dual energy rushed out of her.
It didn't feel like a sharp, shattering blast. Instead, it rolled like a massive tide of water—heavy, solid, and impossible to stop.
WUMPH.
The sound was deep. It vibrated in her teeth.
The entire tunnel shook. Dust rained down in thick, choking clouds.
Ravenna braced herself, coughing.
When the dust settled, the tunnel entrance was gone. Sealed by a gigantic, perfectly wedged pile of debris.
Ravenna stood panting. Hands trembling. But whole.
She looked at Asher, expecting fear.
He was brushing dust from his shoulder. A slow, impressed grin spread across his face.
"Damn, Hybrid," he breathed out. "That was precise. I almost felt safe for a second. Don't get used to it."
He stepped closer. The grin faded into seriousness.
"You didn't collapse the roof. You created a sound obstruction. That's not chaos, Ravenna. That's a weapon."
They settled behind a pile of rubble to drink from his canteen.
"The Alpha won't be stopped by rocks," Ravenna said, watching the sealed wall. "He'll dig through."
"Yeah. But they'll be slowed down enough for us to make a move."
Asher took a long swig. He tossed the canteen to her. "Don't drink it all. Do you know how hard it is to steal a decent canteen down here?"
He leaned back against the stone.
"They talk about the Mate Bond like it's destiny. It's a leash. The Lycans use it for submission. The Warlocks use it for power."
He looked at her.
"They don't see you. They see what you can do for them."
Ravenna felt a deep kinship. "And you? What do you see?"
Asher held her gaze.
"I see a chance. I was too magical for the Wilds, so the old Alpha tried to destroy me. I went to the Coven, but they tried to force me into obedience. Too wild for the pointy-hats."
He shrugged.
"I hate them both. They tried to take my choices. You're the only one volatile enough to break their systems for good."
He hadn't demanded anything. It was the first genuine vulnerability she'd seen.
He's not just using me, she realized. He's betting on me.
She reached out. She touched his dirty, scarred hand.
"Thank you. For the lesson."
Asher's eyes flickered down to her touch. He didn't pull away. He just nodded.
Then, his head snapped up. Nostrils flaring.
The moment shattered.
"Too close," he whispered. Eyes narrowing to slits.
A grinding sound came from behind the blocked rocks. Then the sizzle of magic burning through stone.
"They didn't waste time. The Alpha is furious. And the Warlock is throwing high-level magic around like confetti."
He jumped to his feet, pulling her up with him.
"They're coming through. Very fast."
Asher checked his blades.
"Time for the street exit, Hybrid. Pray we're faster than the hunters outside."