Novels by Furqan Jahangir

Two weeks after the fall of Locke Tower, Eastbridge felt completely different.Screens on every corner displayed Iris’s new emblem, a red circle of flames. Cameras filled the streets, drones hovered over rooftops, and anyone who spoke out against her simply disappeared.The media referred to it as The New Order.But in the city's dark corners, whispers started to spread again.The Phoenix is still alive.Ethan sat in the basement of an abandoned subway station, generators humming in the quiet. Natalie stood next to a makeshift table covered in maps and monitors.“This is what’s left of Vale’s network,” she said, pointing at the screen. “Some of the old agents are still alive, hidden and off the grid.”Ethan nodded. “We’ll need them. Iris controls the streets now, but she hasn’t found everyone yet.”He traced his finger over the city map, noting the red zones marked with Iris’s control and the blue areas representing potential allies.“We’ll hit her where she doesn’t expect,” he said.

The rain hadn’t stopped since the night of the lab fight. It drummed against the safehouse windows like endless whispers of warning.Ethan sat at the workbench, the small black drive glowing under a flickering bulb. His reflection stared back at him from the metal casing. He looked tired, scarred, but determined.Natalie typed quickly on her laptop beside him. “I’ve isolated the encryption. Vale really didn’t want anyone opening this.”“He knew what kind of people would try,” Ethan said quietly.“Yeah,” she muttered, “and now we’re two of them.”He gave her a faint smirk, but the tension in his voice remained. “Do you think Vale trusted me with this because he thought I’d protect it or because I’d use it?”Natalie stopped typing. “Maybe both. Maybe he knew you’d have to decide which one you really are.”Her words hung between them. The faint hum of the laptop filled the silence until suddenly, the screen flashed green.Natalie straightened. “It’s decrypting.”Lines of code appeared an

The first morning light flowed through the cracked blinds of the safehouse. Ethan was sitting at the table, staring at the Phoenix Ring. It now glinted more brightly than ever, seeming to pulse faintly and feel alive.Natalie poured him black coffee. "You haven't said a thing since you woke up," she said."I'm thinking," he replied."That much is new," she touched him in jest.Ethan gave a faint smile before his voice hardened. "Damian said something just before the gas moved in. He mentioned The Code of the Phoenix. Said I possessed it — that Vale left it for me."Natalie frowned. "Code? Like a password? Like a document?""I don't know," Ethan said. "But whatever it is, everyone wants it. Perhaps Vale hid something inside this ring."Natalie pulled a small scanner out of her bag. "Then let's check."She held the ring to the light. The scanner softly hummed, projecting faint symbols on the wall — a circle, flames, and underneath it, a code line composed of numbers and letters."What i

The storm had raged all night. Thunder rolled over Eastbridge as Ethan stood by the window, gazing out at the flickering skyline. Every light in the city pulsed like a heartbeat—fast, uneven, alive.Natalie handed him a cup of coffee. “You haven’t slept,” she said.“I can’t,” he replied softly. “Not when everything I thought I knew keeps changing.”She leaned against the table, arms crossed. “You think Claire's feeding them information.”Ethan nodded slowly. “She’s more than just Damian’s wife. She’s the one keeping the Circle clean. Every shell company, every fake account—her signature’s on it.”“Then confronting her is suicide,” Natalie said. “If you walk in there, you’ll walk out in a body bag.”He looked at her. “I’m not asking for permission. I’m asking for help.”Natalie sighed. “You’re impossible.”“Maybe,” he said, “but I need answers, and she’s the only one who has them.”Two hours later, Ethan stood across the street from Locke Tower. The building loomed over the city like a

Rain slammed against the car roof as Natalie raced through Eastbridge's narrow streets. Sirens blared somewhere behind them, gradually fading away. Ethan stared out the window, his jaw tense. The city lights blurred into long streaks of red and gold.“Care to explain,” Natalie said, “why you thought going to Locke’s party was a good idea?”Ethan let out a slow breath. “I needed to see her. I had to know if she could still lie to me.”“And?”“She can,” he replied flatly. “She looked right at me as if nothing had happened.”Natalie shook her head. “You let your feelings cloud your judgment. That’s how people get hurt.”He turned towards her. “I didn’t get hurt. Not then. Not now.”“Keep that attitude,” she muttered, “and you might actually make it.”They arrived at the safehouse and turned off the lights. The building felt smaller tonight, as if danger had followed them home. Ethan peeled off his wet jacket, heavy with rain.Natalie tossed him a towel. “You’re bleeding.”He glanced at t

Ethan stepped back into the apartment, rain held onto his jacket. Filtering through the blinds was the city glow, making trails of it on the floor. There sat Natalie on the couch, coffee in one hand and the other close to a gun."You did not kill him," she said, as calm as there were curiosity tones in her voice.Ethan dropped his bag and sat right across her. "He's Alive. Barely.""That's good," she said. "We might need him later."Ethan reclined. "He knows I'm back. Damian, too. The city will start to talk come morning."Natalie's eyes narrowed. "Then the war starts sooner than we expected."He nodded. "I'm finished hiding."For one moment, silence occupied the room. Then Natalie smiled slightly. "Vale would have loved you like this.""Vale is dead," Ethan said, standing. "And I'm not him.""No," she said. "You might be worse."By daybreak, Eastbridge was already buzzing with impatience. The reporter on the morning news was one shrouded in fervent excitement. "Late last night, there