Ishq hua (Duet 1)

Chapter 37: Ignition

Author:

The night smelt of rust and rage.

The last lead was a dead end. A hollow warehouse, stinking of rot and oil, and not a trace of her. No blood. No body. Nothing.

Except another trail. Another place. Another name which bled forward into the darker part of the city, the part that even the law refused to name.

A base. Traffickers. Professional. Ruthless.
And the most important detail of all — they weren't acting alone.

They had been hired.

By who — Arsh didn't know yet. But he knew this wasn't random. If anything, the threatening letter alone was a proof of that.

Someone wanted her taken. They thought they could touch what was his and live to breathe after it. But whoever had dared to touch her would learn what it meant to choke on their own screams before dawn.

The cars roared through the abandoned road, tyres slicing through the night. Vyom's voice cut through the earpiece, sharp and steady. "Coordinates locked. Team Alpha and Bravo closing in from east and south. Your go, Arsh."

Inside the black SUV, Arsh's fingers gripped the steering wheel like he could strangle the metal into obedience.

Every thud of his pulse echoed one thought — If they even dared to lay a finger on her, he would make sure they begged for hell before he sent them there himself.

Vyom's voice cracked through the earpiece again. "We have got at least twelve men visible on the roofline."

Arsh could see the compound ahead, ready to welcome it's guests, shadows moving like insects. His jaw tightened. "Full lockdown," He ordered. "I don't want any of them leaving alive."

By the time he stepped out of the car, the air was already charged — his men spreading out, silencers locked in place, their eyes hungry for vengeance. The cold metal of his own gun pressed against his palm.

"Positions." He said quietly.

Vyom's hand signal flicked through the dark. Inaya's team split to the east wing, Arsh and Vyom moved toward the main hall, the others circling around.

"Move." He ordered firmly. And hell broke loose.

The first bullet went through a guard's skull before his mouth could open. The second sliced through the one reaching for his rifle.

Screams tore through the compound. Shadows scattered. And then, chaos.

Arsh moved like he was carved from fury itself — each shot precise, each strike fatal. He didn't think. He didn't pause. He was a storm, and anyone in his path was already dead.

Vyom covered his side, his shots cracking clean through the corridors. "Left entry clear!" he called, but Arsh was already ahead, kicking open another door.

"Vyom, clear east wing."

"Copy." Vyom replied managing to dedge the bullet shot at him right on time.

"Team Bravo, with me."

A man lunged at Arsh with a knife but he was quicker as he slammed his face into the wall, felt the bone crack, then fired point-blank. The other guard tried to run but he shot him in the spine.

Down the hall, Inaya's voice came over the earpiece. "We found the girls. Some of them are drugged. But Aira..." Her voice cracked. "she is not here."

Not here.

No.

"She is," Arsh growled, stalking deeper. "She has to be."

Arsh closed his eyes for barely a second and his pulse went violent. He couldn't even hear her voice but he could feel she was here.