For the first time in days, silence wrapped around them like a blanket.

Jagendra’s apartment, dusty and dim, had become their base of operations. Maps, crime scene photos, and old newspaper clippings were pinned across the walls like a madman’s diary. They worked late—cross-referencing temple visitors, old case files, and missing persons records the system had quietly buried.

And slowly, the pattern emerged.

Every victim had crossed paths with the Bhakta Padma Sangha—directly or indirectly. Through temples. Through NGO work. Through whispered affiliations. All of them had, at some point, challenged a belief tied to the cult.

Nikita's voice cracked through the dim light, “It’s like… they’re punishing them for defiance. Sacrificing them for purity.”

Jagendra nodded slowly. “He thinks he’s cleansing Bhubaneswar.”

A grim silence followed.

It was well past midnight. They both had bloodshot eyes, fingers stained with ink and coffee. Jagendra finally leaned back, rubbing his temples. “I need a shower. Maybe a new spine too.”

He disappeared into the bathroom, peeling off his sweat-soaked shirt on the way.

Nikita sat motionless, eyes on the crime board—but her mind had drifted.

Through the half-open bathroom door, dim light flickered from the water heater. Shadows danced on the wall. And in a brief, unguarded moment, her eyes found him in the mirror's reflection—wet skin glistening, water trailing down firm muscles scarred by years of violence.

She didn’t look away.

She should have.

But she didn’t.

Something shifted in her chest—part heat, part ache. She had come here chasing death, armed with fury and facts. But now, watching this man—bruised, unbreakable—she felt a pull she hadn’t expected.

Not lust.

Not just lust.

Craving.

For safety. For fire. For something that made her feel alive again.

The water stopped. Jagendra stepped out, towel wrapped low, eyes catching hers before she could pretend to look away.

He said nothing. Neither did she.

But the air between them had changed—no longer just charged by danger… but by something more primal.

He walked past her slowly, leaving the scent of soap, sweat, and steel in his wake.

She swallowed.

The mystery outside was thick with blood and shadow.

But tonight, something else had begun to unravel—between them.