Gunmetal Shadow
1041 Words
A sudden gunshot shattered the night. Lena dropped the book she was reading, heart vaulting into her throat. Somewhere outside, men were shouting—rough, fast voices layered with panic. Quickly, she raced to the window.
Jax was already out there, a pistol in one hand, his voice slicing through the chaos. Sparks flew as bullets ricochet off metal. One of the Dead Reapers was dragging a wounded brother behind a blacked-out bike.
Lena couldn’t breathe. This felt like riding through hell itself. Then someone grabbed her arm from behind.
“Move!” Roxy hissed, dragging her toward a hidden corridor behind the garage. “Stay down, stay quiet.”
Lena stumbled into the dark space, chest heaving. “What’s happening?”
“Rival crew,” Roxy said, eyes gleaming with adrenaline. “Red Vultures. They’re testing Jax, because of you. Seeing how far he’ll go for a civilian.”
Civilian?. That word had never felt so sharp.
The attack didn’t last long—five minutes, maybe six—but it was long enough to paint the compound with fear, fury, and blood.
Jax returned blood-spattered and seething. Lena stood frozen as he stomped through the garage, tossing his jacket aside and barking orders.
Then his eyes landed on her. Without a word, he stalked over, grabbed her wrist, and pulled her aside.
“You see now?” he growled. “This isn’t some movie, Lena. This is real. This is war.”
“I didn’t ask for this—”
“But you’re in it,” he snapped. “And I nearly lost two men tonight protecting you.”
She flinched, guilt tightening in her chest.
“I’m trying to keep you alive,” Jax said, softer now, breathing heavily. “Don’t make me regret it.”
Some minutes later, the compound continued to smell of smoke and gunpowder.
Lena couldn’t sleep. Her ears rang from the gunfire, her fingers still trembling from the adrenaline. She wandered through the dim hallways, half-dazed, until she reached the garage.
Jax was there alone, shirt off, cleaning a cut on his ribs with whiskey and grit.
He didn’t look up. “Thought I told you to stay in your room.” He barked at her.
“I couldn’t,” she flinched back a bit, then sigh softly. “I saw one of the men—he had a family photo in his vest. Was he…?”
“Alive. Barely.”
Lena exhaled shakily. “All this because of me?”
Jax finally looked up. His face was hard, unreadable. But his voice was tired. “It was gonna happen either way. You’re just the spark. The war’s been waiting.”
She moved closer without thinking, grabbing a clean towel from the bench. He didn’t stop her when she pressed it gently to the wound.
He hissed through his teeth but didn’t pull away. “You don’t flinch easily,” he muttered, eyeing her.
“You don’t scare me as much as you used to.”.His jaw ticked, like he wanted to say something but didn’t trust himself to.
“I hate this place,” she whispered. “But when you’re not around, I hate it more.”
Jax reached up and caught her wrist.
“Don’t say things you’ll regret.”
“I won’t,” she breathed, eyes locked with him. “I don’t regret being here. Not if it means seeing who you really are.” He tugged her closer, just a fraction. Close enough to feel the heat between them. Close enough to fall.
But he didn’t kiss her. Instead, he whispered, “You don’t know what I am, Lena.”
She leaned in anyway. “Then show me.”
---
The morning after the attack, Lena found her phone.
It had been stuffed in the bottom of her purse, long dead. She plugged it in without thinking, more out of habit than hope.
It buzzed to life..Seventeen missed calls. Fourteen voicemails. All from one name: Mom.. Her heart thudded.
She stepped outside the compound walls for the first time in days, pacing behind the old garage, and pressed play on the latest voicemail.
“Lena, honey, where are you? Your landlord says your shop’s been closed for a week. I’m worried sick. Just… just call me, okay?”
A sharp inhale, then a click.
Guilt knifed through her chest. She’d vanished without a word. Her mother didn’t even know if she was alive.
She hit redial. It rang once.
“Lena?!”
“Mama—”
“Where are you? Are you okay? I’ve called hospitals, the police, everyone! Why haven’t you called me?”
Her voice cracked. “I’m safe. I’m just… somewhere far. Somewhere I can’t explain right now.”
There was silence, then her mother’s voice dropped into a tone Lena hadn’t heard since childhood.
“Is it that man? The one the police said was involved in that warehouse shooting?”
Lena froze. “How do you—?”
“I secretly came back to town, and asked around, Lena. People talk. A man named Jax? Baby, you need to go back home.”
“I can’t. Not yet.”
“Lena!”
“Mom! Honestly, I'm fine! Just don't worry too much about me. Are you still in town?”
“No, baby! I went back already..!" Behind her, Jax had appeared.
She didn’t know how long he’d been there, but from the look in his eyes, he’d heard enough.
“You called your family,” he said, voice low.
“She was worried.”
“And now we’ve got a leak.”
Lena’s stomach dropped. “You think she’d tell anyone?”
“Doesn’t matter. People trace calls. The Vultures have eyes in law enforcement. You just lit a flare, Lena.”
She backed away, furious and ashamed. “I was just trying to be human for five minutes.”
Jax’s hands curled into fists at his sides. “And that five minutes could get you killed.”
Tears pricked her eyes, but she didn’t let them fall. “I’m not your prisoner, Jax.”
“No,” he said coldly. “You’re my responsibility. And that’s a whole lot worse.”
- Writer
