Novels by Thrust X

Across the city, in his luxury office, Victor Kozlov stared at Jake's text message.{Do whatever you want. Sora's my boss. I'm just an intern who needs to show up to work tomorrow. Got to enjoy my mundane life. See you around. -J}Victor's smile faded. His eyes narrowed."Confident," he said to the empty room. "Too confident. What are you hiding, Mr. Morrison?"He pulled up security footage. From earlier tonight. The parking garage at Titan Enterprises.The video loaded. Showed Sora Chen walking to her car. Then six men approaching. Then...Static. The footage cut out completely. Just black screen with a timestamp.When it came back, the men were on the ground. Unconscious. Sora was on her phone. Security guards arriving.Victor replayed it. Same result. The critical moments were completely missing."Interesting," he murmured. Pulled up the metadata. The file had been accessed. Modified. By someone with high-level clearance."She has good security teams," Victor said. "Very good. The

"Not long. Few weeks maybe.""And the superhuman strength thing? The throwing cars? When did that happen?""Even more recent than that.""Man." Tommy leaned back. "I feel like I missed like three seasons of your life. Last time we talked you were washing dishes. Now you're a superhuman bodyguard intern with a scary CEO boss who can apparently fight better than you.""She can't fight better than me," Jake said. Then paused. "Actually. I don't know. Maybe she can. I've never fought her.""Please never fight her. I feel like that would destroy the city."Jake almost smiled. "Probably."They reached the hospital. Jake took Tommy inside. Got him checked out. Bruises. Minor cuts. Nothing broken. The doctors wanted to keep him overnight for observation."I'll be fine," Tommy said from his hospital bed. "You should go. Get some rest like your terrifying boss ordered.""You sure?""Yeah. Besides, I need time to process everything. My brain feels like scrambled eggs right now." Tommy grinned. "

Fifteen minutes that felt like fifteen years. Finally. Titan Enterprises building looming ahead.Jake slammed on the brakes. The car screeched to a stop in the parking garage. Smoke pouring off the tires. Burnt rubber smell everywhere.Tommy lurched forward against his seatbelt. "Jesus Christ, Jake!"But Jake was already out of the car. Running toward where Sora's car should be parked.His heart was pounding. Ring burning hot on his finger. Mind racing with worst-case scenarios.'Please be okay. Please be alive. Please.'He turned the corner. Expected blood. Bodies. Kidnapping. Terror.What he saw instead made him stop dead in his tracks.Sora stood calmly next to her car. Hair slightly messed up. Business jacket torn at the shoulder. Blood on her knuckles. A bruise forming on her left cheek.But she was checking her nails like she'd just finished a boring meeting.Around her. Six men. All unconscious. All in black tactical gear. All sprawled on the concrete in various positions that

"Y-yes. I understand. I'll tell him.""Good."Then Jake turned. Pivoted on his heel. And threw the SUV.It sailed through the air like a toy. Twenty feet. Thirty. Forty. Crashed into a stack of shipping containers with a sound like the end of the world.Metal screaming. Glass exploding. The containers crumpling like aluminum cans. The SUV's frame twisted into something that didn't even look like a car anymore. More like abstract art. Violent art.Alarms started blaring. Loud. Echoing across the pier.Jake turned back to the leader. "Go. Now. Before I change my mind about letting you live."The man didn't need to be told twice. He ran. Stumbled over his own feet. Fell. Got back up. Kept running. Disappeared into the darkness.Jake went back to Tommy. "Come on. Let's get you checked out."They walked toward Jake's car. Tommy kept looking back at the destroyed SUV. At the wreckage. At the eleven men still groaning on the warehouse floor."Dude." Tommy grabbed Jake's arm. "DUDE. You just

"Let him go first."The man laughed. Harsh. Mocking. "That's not how this works. You give us stone. We give you friend. Maybe. If boss is feeling generous.""That's not a deal. That's you asking me to trust criminals.""You have no choice." The leader gestured at Tommy. At the other eleven armed men. "We have guns. We have your friend. You have nothing. Give us stone or we start breaking your friend's bones. One at a time. Starting with fingers."Jake looked at Tommy. Really looked at him.His friend was trying to stay brave. Trying not to show how scared he was. But Jake could see it. The tremor in his shoulders. The way his breathing was too fast.'He's terrified. And it's my fault. He got dragged into this because of me.'Then Jake looked at the twelve armed men. At their weapons. At their confident stances. They thought they had this in the bag. Twelve trained killers versus onep unarmed guy.And Jake smiled.Not a happy smile. A predator's smile."You know what?" Jake said. His v

The call came at 2:47 AM.Jake was in his training room. Meditating with the three stones. The Dragon's Heart Crystal. The Midnight Tear. The Crimson Heart pendant. All glowing softly. All pulsing in sync with his heartbeat.His phone rang. Loud. Cutting through the quiet.Jake opened his eyes. Reached for it. Unknown number.He almost ignored it. Unknown numbers at 2 AM? Never good news. But something in his gut made him answer.He picked up. "Hello?"Heavy breathing on the other end. Ragged. Scared. But not Tommy's breathing. Someone else's. A voice Jake didn't recognize. Rough. Cold. "Jake Morrison?""Who's asking?""We have someone you care about. Someone from your past. Tommy Owen. Remember him?"Jake's blood went cold. Tommy. His mind flashed back instantly.Tommy Owen. The only real friend Jake had from the orphanage. They'd grown up together in that horrible place. Shared a bunk bed. Stolen food from the kitchen when the older kids took their portions. Watched each other's ba