The Heart System

Chapter 230: Chapter 230

I jolted awake when someone knocked on the car window. My neck hurt from the angle I’d knocked out in, the heater was blowing warm air straight at my face, and outside the snow drifted down in slow, lazy flakes. It was already night—clouds hiding whatever stars might’ve been there, street completely empty except for the two silhouettes beside my car.

Tuck and Greg.

Tuck knocked again. ”Wake up, princess.”

I opened the door and stepped out, rubbing my eyes. ”Ugh... yeah, yeah. I’m up.”

”You waited here the whole time?” Tuck asked, eyebrow raised.

”Yeah.” I checked my phone. ”Like six hours.”

Greg let out a quiet sigh. ”Come on. Let’s get this shit done.”

We headed toward the apartment building. The front door was cracked open—someone didn’t bother closing it properly. We slipped inside, boots squeaking against the damp floor, then climbed the stairs. I swear my chest got tighter the higher we went. Felt like my heartbeat was thudding in my ears louder than our footsteps. Every step felt wrong, like my legs wanted to go backward instead.

Finally, we reached Emilia’s floor. Her door wasn’t fully shut either. Tuck crouched and pulled out a small roll-up pouch full of picks and tools. She didn’t even need the whole set—two twists, a click, and the door gave way.

We slipped in one by one. I shut the door behind us.

Tuck already had his gloves on while Greg kneeled beside his backpack and unzipped it. He pulled out a rectangular UV-scanner—looked like a chunky black flashlight with a three-inch panel attached—then handed it to Tuck. With a deep breath, he flicked a switch, and the lights in the room seemed to dissolve into this strange violet-blue wash.

The effect hit fast.

Before the tech lit up the place, everything looked normal. Just a regular messy apartment.

But under the UV?

”Jesus...” I breathed.

There was blood everywhere.

On the floor in long, fat swipes. On the walls in wide, uneven smears. On the curtains—streaks running straight down from the top rod. Even on the ceiling. Someone had tried to clean, but Tuck’s scanner made every missed spot glow like neon paint.

I stepped closer and looked down. Under my boot, faint wiped circles glowed—someone scrubbed the floor hard but not enough to hide anything from this kind of tech.

Tuck grunted. ”Shit. That’s too much blood for someone to walk away from.”

My throat tightened. ”Emilia...”

Greg stayed quiet, but the way his jaw set told me he was thinking the same thing I was.

”Yo,” Greg finally said, crouching and pointing at a trail near the door. ”Check this. Pattern’s off. Not a drag. Looks like... walking. Someone stepping through their own blood and heading toward the exit.”

I moved beside him, and we followed the glowing footprints—they led straight to the front door.

I opened it, hand a little shaky, and Tuck raised the wand beside me, sweeping the hallway.

”Whoever it was walked out on their own feet,” he muttered.

Or walked out carrying her.

My stomach twisted hard.

We followed the tiny droplets of blood up the stairs. Under the faint UV glow from Greg’s scanner, the trail looked weak, like Emilia barely made it this far. Each little spot faded the closer we got to the next floor. When we reached the landing, the last drop sat right in front of a door with MERIDINN written on it.

Tuck crouched and checked the floor. ”Trail ends here. Nothing else.”

”So what do we do?” I asked. ”Knock?”

”What choice do we have?” Greg muttered.

”I could pick the lock,” Tuck said. ”These doors are junk. I can open it in ten seconds.”

”No,” Greg said right away. ”No illegal shit, boys. Hide the UV light. Evan, knock.”

”You sure?”

”Yes. Go.”

Tuck shoved the scanner into Greg’s backpack. I stepped forward and knocked. Something or someone shuffled on the other side—a scuffle, then a thud, then a quiet hiss of pain.

The door cracked open.

An older man in his fifties stood there rubbing his knee. He looked jittery, like someone who’d been startled awake or someone trying to hide. Maybe Emilia was inside. Maybe not. I forced myself to keep moving.

Tuck kept his voice flat. ”Evening.”

”Sir,” Greg added. ”We’re friends of Emilia. We knocked on her door and got no answer. Do you know where she is?”

”Emilia?” he asked, confused. ”Who is that?”

”You know who she is,” I said, stepping forward. ”Tell us where she is and things don’t have to get ugly.”

”Ugly?” He backed up. ”L-leave me alone!”

He tried to shut the door. Tuck shoved it back and grabbed the man by the throat, forcing him backward into the apartment. Greg looked around quick to see if anyone could hear, then we slipped inside and shut the door.

I stepped into the living room and froze. The TV blared, some chipper weather guy warning that tomorrow’s snowstorm would bury the city. The couches were a mess: crumpled chip bags, half-eaten crusts, sticky rings from forgotten beers. A cheap humidifier wheezed on top of the TV stand, doing absolutely nothing to mask the sour stench of stale beer and something worse underneath it.

I dropped into a crouch behind the nearest couch, heart already kicking.

That’s when I saw it. Blood. Not a smear, not a drop, five perfect, glistening finger marks soaked deep into the fabric, like someone had collapsed right here, slapped a desperate hand against the cushion, and tried to push themselves back up.

”Hey!” I called out, voice cracking. ”Blood here. A shit-ton of blood.”

Tuck didn’t even glance back. He yanked the guy up by the collar, slammed him against the wall, and pinned him there with a thick forearm across his throat.

”Where’s Emilia?” Tuck growled, low enough that the words felt like gravel.

”I... she’s in my bedroom!” the man choked out, eyes bulging. ”I swear to God!”

”Bedroom...” I muttered, already moving, the word tasting like rust in my mouth.

The first door opened to a bathroom: blood-soaked bandages heaped in the sink, a pair of tweezers lying on the cracked tile, still wet and red.

The second door was already ajar. I shoved it the rest of the way.

There she was.

Emilia lay on the bed. Her stomach had been wrapped tight with bandages. Her left eye was a black-purple bruise. Cuts marred her arms. She looked like she’d been through hell, but she was breathing. Slow, ragged, but breathing.

Alive.

╭──────────────────────╮

NEW MAIN QUEST-COMPLETE!

==========================

Title: Safe & Sound

Task: Make sure Emilia is safe.

Reward: 750c

╰──────────────────────╯

Tuck stepped into the doorway holding the man by the collar. Greg hovered behind him, jaw clenched, clearly not happy about the house invasion but keeping his gun ready.

”That the girl?” Greg asked, voice flat. ”Damn.”

”She’s hurt bad,” I said, kneeling beside the bed.

The landlord hovered in the doorway, wringing his hands. ”You’re... not here to kill her? Guy... are you not his men?”

”FUCK GUY!” I roared. The walls practically shook.

”What happened?” Tuck asked, calm as ever, still pinning the old man with one arm.

”His—his men came,” the landlord stammered. ”They jumped Emilia. Beat her bloody. But she—she fought back. Knocked both of them out cold and ran. Ended up here, banging on my door at three in the morning.”

”To here?” I said. ”Why?”

”I’m the landlord. I, uh, she—she knew I was a doctor. She was bleeding everywhere. I told her she needed a hospital, but she begged me—no hospitals. Said if Guy found out she was alive, he’d send someone to finish it.”

”Fuck,” I breathed.

Greg’s face had gone the color of old paper. ”Guy?”

”Yeah,” the landlord whispered. ”TechForge’s ex-CEO. The Guy Nolin.”

”Jesus Christ, Tuck.” Greg took a step back. ”We’re going up against a guy who golfs with the chief of police. I’m out. We are leaving this house right now and we are never speaking of this again.”

Tuck let the old man go with a disgusted shove. ”You a pussy Gaper.”

”Look,” the landlord said, voice trembling, ”I was a doctor once. I did what I could—stitched the worst of it, cleaned her up—but she’s lost too much blood. She needs real care.”

I was already thinking. ”TechForge has a private medical room-thingie. Full trauma setup. No public records.”

Tuck frowned. ”How do you know that?”

”I’ve been there, visiting Nala once,” I lied. ”Forget about that, Tuck. Help me get her up.”

Tuck slid his arms under Emilia like she weighed nothing and settled her across my shoulders in a fireman’s carry. She was burning with fever, dead weight, breath shallow and wet.

Greg just stood there, disbelief carved into every line of his face. The name Nolin had hit him like a bullet—he was already tucking tail, already calculating how fast he could disappear.

One surname. That was all it took.

I adjusted Emilia’s weight and headed for the door. Snow was starting to fall outside, fat silent flakes that stuck to the blood on my sleeves.

╭────────────────────╮

SHOP

==========================

• Aphrodisiac Drink (10c)

• Silk Lingerie Set (25c)

• Sensual Massage Oil (15c)

• Mystery Pleasure Toy (30c)

• Flirt Potion (20c)

• Hypnotic Perfume (40c)

• Time Stop (90c)

• 500 Dollars (50c)

• 1 Ability Point (150c)

• 1 Mastery Point (160c)

• Main Quest Unlock (Bought)

==========================

Credits: 950c

╰────────────────────╯

I swiped away the UI and then groaned as I walked.

She was alive...

Phew.

Fucking phew.

❤︎‬‪‪❤︎‬‪‪❤︎