Zach let go Madelyn and she hit the ground hard.

Nearby, one of Zach's bodyguards pulled Ethan toward them. He looked beaten down, his messy, dark hair covering his empty eyes. His arms were full of bruises, and spots of blood dotted his shirt.

Zach snatched a golf club from the ground, advancing toward Ethan with a threatening glint in his eyes. Seeing this, memories flooded back to Madelyn of the tales she had heard about Zach's time with Hayson, filled with dangerous confrontations. It was evident in his gaze: he wanted Ethan out of the picture. With his control over Ventropolis, nobody would dare oppose him, even if someone vanished. And this was not the fiercest she had seen him.

As Zach raised his arm, Madelyn scrambled to her feet, darted to Ethan, and hugged him tight, using her body as a shield. A sudden numbness raced up her shoulder, soon replaced by a sharp, searing pain that left her arm feeling heavy. The pain was so overpowering that a ringing sound echoed in her ears