Rachel tilted her head, grinning devilishly as she remarked
"So are you guys going to kiss or what?"
Lily nodded her head as well with a slight blush on her face while using one hand to cover Moku’s eyes.
Realizing how her actions could be perceived, a fierce blush appeared on Luna’s face before she let go of Adam’s collar and turned away in an attempt to hide her embarrassnt.
Adam too had a faint blush on his cheeks as he averted his gaze but thankfully due to his pale skin and thick blood, his was less noticeable.
However, A situation arose that took away the attention on Luna and Adam. The party of 4 felt a warm rush of energy sweep through their bodies. A sign that they had leveled up. Twice.
"What was all that about?" Lily asked with confusion evident in her gaze. There was a mont of silence before they collectively ca to an agreent on the cause.
"Leo did sothing" Luna remarked
"100% without a doubt." Rachel agreed
"He’s helping us even when he isn’t around." Lily sighed
"And I have no doubt Penny...I an Rose is driving him up a wall by now."
Lily furrowed her brow at Adam’s remark.
"I don’t an to pry Horo but if you want to kill your family, isn’t Rose included in that?"
Adam’s expression stiffened for a brief mont before he let out a long sigh.
"Rose is different. She is the child of my eldest brother but he is pretty much out of her life and was raised by her mom...like I was..."
Luna frowned when she noticed the pain hidden beneath the smile as he revealed more than he thought he ever would.
"Rather than an uncle, she was more like a sister to ...her mother was a like a 2nd mother to and a sanctuary away from the hell that was my life."
Rachel, unusually quiet now, tilted her head as she studied Adam with a flicker of rare seriousness. The grin was gone. Even her monkey-like energy seed to still in the air.
"So... you’re saying she’s family, but not part of them?" she asked softly.
Adam nodded.
"I never wanted to be a part of that bloodline. She didn’t either. Her mother did her best to keep her away from all that madness. And she did the sa for , in the little ti I had with her." His voice grew quieter toward the end.
Luna’s arms folded gently across her chest as she stepped closer, her earlier embarrassnt now replaced with concern. "What happened to her?"
Adam’s gaze drifted to the forest canopy above. Light filtered through the leaves in streaks of gold, and for a long mont, he didn’t speak.
"She died. Car crash," he said finally. "I don’t think it was an accident. Nothing ever is with them. But I had no proof. Just a gut feeling."
Lily reached out and placed a hand on Adam’s arm. "I’m sorry, Horo."
He looked down at her hand, then up at her eyes, and offered a tired smile.
It was a long ti ago. But... Rose reminds of her. Sa fire. Sa kindness. If anything, I want to protect her from ending up like ."
Rachel sighed and dropped into a crouch, resting her arms on her knees. "Okay, I take it back. That’s not the type of sister you kill. You burn the world for her instead."
Luna tilted her head toward Adam. "Does she know all this?"
Adam shook his head. "Not everything. And I want to keep it that way. She has a bright future. I don’t want her carrying my demons."
Luna let out a sigh of her own.
"Do you really think she hasn’t noticed? While she may be your solace, the feeling is probably mutual. Did she not stay up all night trying to call you after she thought you were in trouble? She cares about you just as much as tou care about her."
Adam looked surprised for a mont, then turned away.
"I know," he muttered. "But I’d rather be her shield than her burden."
A heavy silence settled over them. Even Rachel didn’t try to break it.
That was until Adam shook his head with annoyance.
"Oh my god. Who keeps spamming with ssages...oh of course it is."
"What? What’s going on Horo?" Lily tilted her head in perfect sync with Moku to display their mutual curiousity.
"Rose has sent like 40 ssages in the past five minutes...."
Rachel’s eyes sparkled as her devilish grin made a return. "Please tell she’s sent at least one in all caps."
Adam sighed. "All of them are in caps. Half of them are just my na repeated over and over again. The rest are threats and vague promises of violence."
"Sounds like love," Luna deadpanned.
"I think I saw sothing about breaking your kneecaps," Adam muttered as he scrolled through Rose’s spam with a growing look of resignation. Then his brow twitched again as one final ssage popped up with an image attachnt.
"She sent a photo," he muttered. "Says, and I quote, ’Behold your worst nightmare. Or maybe your best. Depends on your taste.’"
Rachel leaned over, trying to peek. "Don’t tease us. Send it."
Adam sighed and flicked his finger across the interface and a ssage appeared in each of the girls inboxes.
Rachel opened hers first and imdiately let out a sharp inhale. "Oh my god."
Lily opened hers a second later. Her jaw dropped. "He’s... he’s pointing it right at the cara."
The photo was as blunt as it was powerful. Leo, gun raised, eyes glowing faintly violet, hair tousled just enough to look intentional. His expression was calm, serious, unreadable. The kind of look that didn’t ask questions — it gave warnings.
Rachel leaned back with a stunned laugh. "He looks like he just told the caraman to pick their last words."
Lily fanned herself lightly. "How is this the sa Leo that apologizes when he bumps into tables?"
"I know," Rachel said, eyes still locked on the image. "This is peak ’talks less, kills more’ energy. Absolutely top-tier. This is Assassin Leo. No contest."
Lily nodded slowly. "I can’t decide if I’m intimidated or in love."
Adam raised an eyebrow. "According to Rose...that’s apparently a healer setup"
.Both Lily and Rachel’s draw dropped while Luna was pressing her head against a tree, trying her best to act like she hadnt seen anything.
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