Novels by Thrust X

And across the city, in a dark office, Neo watched through hidden cameras and smiled wider than he had in weeks.'Murderers planning their next move with blood money. This is—'This was poetic justice.Neo replayed the conversation five times. Took detailed notes. Saved everything.'They killed me. All of them. The whole family. Planned it together. Executed it together.'The rage that burned in his chest was cold now. Focused. Sharp as the knife that had pierced his ribs.'Alina married me for money. The family needed my insurance payout and my crypto. So they staged a robbery and had me murdered.'Except they'd underestimated him. Underestimated what he'd do to survive. What he'd become.'And now they're turning on each other. Planning escapes. Building contingencies. Because they know—they know that reporter's getting close.'Neo pulled up Lyra's latest article. Read it again.She was closer than the Carvers realized. Closer than even she realized.'But she's asking the wrong quest

Mark woke at 6 AM to his phone pinging.Transaction complete.He grabbed it with shaking hands.Balance: $260,000.His heart stopped.Sixty thousand profit.In eight hours.While he slept.'Holy shit. Holy shit!'He jumped out of bed. Paced. Laughed.This was real. This was actually real.'I did it. I actually did it.'He pulled up the transaction history. Watched the money move. Watched the algorithm work its magic.'If I made sixty thousand on two hundred—what if I invest more? What if I leverage everything?'The family business had liquid assets. Emergency funds. Money set aside for expansions and opportunities.About a million dollars.'If I invest a million at thirty percent—that's three hundred thousand profit. That would solve everything. Would put us ahead of Ames Digital. Would prove—'Would prove he wasn't useless.Mark pulled up his laptop. Opened the family business accounts.He had signing authority. Had access to the funds.'I could do it. Could invest without telling an

Neo pulled up the Helix Coin whitepaper. Third revision. Getting closer.'Needs to sound revolutionary without being too technical. Mark understands just enough to be dangerous. That's the sweet spot.'He typed."Helix utilizes quantum-resistant lattice-based cryptography combined with AI-optimized transaction routing. This creates a self-healing blockchain immune to traditional attack vectors."'Bullshit. Complete bullshit. But impressive-sounding bullshit.'The key wasn't making it real. The key was making it believable.And for that, he needed proof of concept.Neo pulled up three different crypto exchanges. Set up accounts on each. Moved small amounts between them, exploiting price differences.Basic arbitrage. Nothing revolutionary. But when wrapped in fancy terminology—'Cross-exchange quantum optimization.'He documented everything. Screenshots. Transaction histories. Profit margins.A thousand dollars became thirteen hundred in forty minutes.Thirty percent returns.'That'll g

Neo pulled up the Helix Coin whitepaper. Third revision. Getting closer.'Needs to sound revolutionary without being too technical. Mark understands just enough to be dangerous. That's the sweet spot.'He typed."Helix utilizes quantum-resistant lattice-based cryptography combined with AI-optimized transaction routing. This creates a self-healing blockchain immune to traditional attack vectors."'Bullshit. Complete bullshit. But impressive-sounding bullshit.'The key wasn't making it real. The key was making it believable.And for that, he needed proof of concept.Neo pulled up three different crypto exchanges. Set up accounts on each. Moved small amounts between them, exploiting price differences.Basic arbitrage. Nothing revolutionary. But when wrapped in fancy terminology—'Cross-exchange quantum optimization.'He documented everything. Screenshots. Transaction histories. Profit margins.A thousand dollars became thirteen hundred in forty minutes.Thirty percent returns.'That'll g

Adam came to Neo's office an hour later. Sweating. Nervous."How'd I do?"Neo pulled off his sunglasses. "Fine. You did fine.""She was asking about—about the ownership structure. About connections. I didn't—""You didn't say anything wrong. She's fishing. Throwing out names to see if you react.""But the timing thing. About that Noam guy. That's—""Coincidence. Which is what you said." Neo's voice went cold. "Unless you think there's a connection?""No! No, of course not. I just—she made it sound suspicious.""That's her job. To find patterns that aren't there." Neo stood. Walked to the window. "Forget about it. Focus on the company. On the Series A. On growth."Adam nodded. Still anxious. "Right. Yes. Of course."He left.Neo waited until the door closed. Then pulled up Lyra's location through her phone's GPS.She was at a coffee shop. Typing.He hacked her laptop's camera. Angled it so he could see her screen.Article draft. Title: "Ames Digital: Success Story or Something More?"N

"Ames Digital. They just announced a Series A. Fifty million valuation."Mark grabbed the tablet. Read. His jaw tightened."Who the hell are they?""That's what I want to know. They appeared out of nowhere. High-frequency trading. Crypto focus. Sound familiar?""There are dozens of firms doing that.""Not ones that undercut our prices and poach our potential clients." Douglas paced. "Three deals we lost this month. All to Ames Digital. They're either incredibly lucky or—""Or what?""Or they know something we don't."Mark stared at the screen. Neo zoomed in on his expression.Suspicion. Paranoia. The gears turning.'That's right, Mark. Wonder who they are. Wonder how they knew. Wonder if maybe, just maybe, someone's targeting you specifically.'"I'll look into it," Mark said finally. "See who's behind them.""Already tried. Ownership structure's a maze. Shell companies and offshore trusts. Very deliberate.""So they're hiding something.""Or they're smart about tax law." Douglas shrug

"They're here," Tommy said. Looking out the window. Black SUV pulling up. Harrison's people. Professional. Armed. Ready."Go with them. Let them protect you. I'll figure this out. I promise.""You keep promising. But people keep getting hurt. My shop burned down twice. I got kidnapped. Now my cousin's family is being threatened. When does it stop, Jake? When do the people around you stop paying for your war?"Silence. Heavy silence.Then: "I don't know. But I'm going to try. That's all I can do. Try."Tommy hung up. Grabbed his go-bag. Went upstairs where his cousin was putting Lucas to bed."Mark. We need to talk. Right now. It's important."His cousin looked up. Saw Tommy's face. Knew something was very wrong. "What happened?""We need to leave. All of us. Tonight. Right now. There are people outside who are going to take us somewhere safe. Don't ask questions. Don't pack anything we don't absolutely need. Just trust me."Mark's face went pale. "Tommy. What the hell is going on?""I

"Tell him he has forty-eight hours to surrender all the Hearts he possesses. The Dragon's Heart Crystal. The Midnight Tear. The Crimson Heart pendant. All of them. Delivered to a location I'll specify.""And if he refuses?""Then I don't kill you, Tommy. That would be too simple. Too quick. Too merciful." Marguerite's voice stayed perfectly calm. Perfectly pleasant. Like she was discussing the weather. "Instead, I kill everyone in that house. Your cousin Mark. His wife Sarah. Their two children. Emma age seven. Lucas age four. I'll burn that house to the ground just like Victor burned your shop. Just like my people burned it the second time."Tommy couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. The room was spinning."And then," Marguerite continued. Still calm. Still pleasant. "I'll find the next person Jake cares about. And the next. And the next. Until there's no one left. Until everyone he's ever known. Everyone he's ever cared about. Everyone who's ever mattered to him. Is dead.""You're insa

Tommy Owen sat in his cousin's living room. Small house. Three bedrooms. Quiet neighborhood. The kind of place where everyone knew everyone and strangers stuck out like neon signs.Perfect for hiding. Terrible for living.Two weeks. He'd been here two weeks. Working remote IT support for his cousin's small business. Fixing computers over video calls. Troubleshooting software bugs. Pretending everything was normal.It wasn't normal. Nothing about this was normal.The house smelled like cinnamon. His cousin's wife baked constantly. Stress baking apparently. She knew something was wrong. Knew Tommy was hiding from something dangerous. But she didn't ask. Just baked.Cookies. Brownies. Three different kinds of pie. The whole house smelled like a bakery.Tommy's laptop sat open on the coffee table. Remote desktop session. Some client's computer running slow. Probably malware. Always malware.His phone buzzed. The encrypted one. The military-grade secure app Jake had set up for him.Message

"Lily is new. A recent friendship. Tommy Owen is foundational. Brotherhood forged in shared trauma. That kind of bond runs deeper than blood." Keys clicked. Marguerite typing something. "We force Tommy out of hiding. Make him visible. Make him vulnerable. Then we use him." Derek shifted uncomfortably. "Victor already tried kidnapping him once. Morrison destroyed twelve armed men to save him. What makes you think trying again will work?" "Because last time Victor used brute force. Crude. Predictable. Expected." Marguerite's voice held amusement. Dark amusement. "This time we'll be smarter. We won't kidnap Tommy. We'll give him a reason to come to us. Willingly." "How?" "His family. Tommy Owen has a cousin. Wife. Two children. Emma age seven. Lucas age four. All currently safe. All currently alive. All currently unaware they're being used as leverage." Derek felt cold. Actually cold. Like ice water in his veins. "You want to threaten children?" "I want to threaten the possibility

"No angle. Just. Keep an eye on him. Watch for signs that he's in trouble. In real trouble." Derek pulled out a business card. Set it on the table between them. "If you see anything weird. Anything dangerous. Anyone following him. Anyone threatening him. Call me."Lily picked up the card. Plain white. Just a phone number. No name. No company. "Why would I call you instead of the police?""Because if what I think is happening is actually happening, the police can't help. They're outmatched. Outgunned. Out of their depth." Derek stood up. Adjusted his jacket. "But I have resources. Connections. People who can actually do something if Jake needs help.""Resources from where?""Don't worry about that. Just. Keep the number. Use it if you need it. That's all I'm asking."He started to leave. Stopped. Turned back."One more thing. Jake mentioned Ms. Chen a lot when you visited him, right? How she was handling things. How she was in control. How everything was fine.""Yeah. So?""Did he ment

Derek settled into his chair. Got comfortable. Like he was about to have a friendly chat with an old buddy instead of manipulating someone's friend.Lily kept her laptop open. Hands on the keyboard. Ready to close it and leave if this went south. "Clock's ticking. You said five minutes.""Right. Straight to business. I like that." Derek pulled out his phone. Started scrolling. "Look, I know Jake probably told you I'm the bad guy. That I'm terrible. That you shouldn't trust anything I say.""Pretty much.""Fair enough. We had a falling out. Got physical. I'm not proud of it." Derek's expression shifted. Regret. Shame. Well-practiced shame. "I was going through stuff. My family was falling apart. I took it out on the wrong people. Including Jake."Lily didn't say anything. Just watched him. Waiting for the catch."But here's the thing." Derek leaned forward. Lowered his voice like he was sharing a secret. "Even after everything. Even after our fight. I still care about what happens to h