Novels by Rachel Holt

Dust and debris rained down around them as Jacob and Anna sprinted through the collapsing tunnel. The ancient passage groaned under the force of strategically placed explosives, each detonation sending new cracks racing through the stone ceiling. "Keep moving!" Jacob shouted, shielding Anna's head as a chunk of rock crashed down beside them. They had covered perhaps fifty meters when the explosions suddenly stopped. The silence that followed was somehow more terrifying than the noise had been. Jacob pulled Anna behind a support pillar, both of them breathing hard and covered in dust. Then a sound cut through the darkness—a crackling static followed by a familiar voice that made Jacob's blood freeze. "Hello, Jacob Krigg." Bishop Nico's voice echoed through speakers that had been installed throughout the tunnel system. The sound quality was crystal clear, meaning Bishop had prepared this trap meticulously. "I must admit, I am impressed," Bishop continued, his tone conversational

The tunnel entrance swallowed them into complete darkness. Jacob led the way with Anna close behind, their headlamps casting narrow beams through the musty air. Leo monitored their progress from the safe house, his voice crackling through their earpieces. "Signal is strong. You are approximately two hundred meters from the compound perimeter," Leo reported. Jacob moved carefully, testing each step before committing his weight. The tunnel was narrower than the maps suggested, forcing them to crouch in several sections. Cobwebs brushed against their faces, and the smell of stagnant water filled their nostrils. "Grandfather's meeting started ten minutes ago," Anna whispered. "Bishop will be focused on him now." "Good. We need that distraction to last another thirty minutes minimum," Jacob replied. They reached the junction point Anna had identified on the historical maps. Three passages branched off in different directions, each disappearing into deeper darkness. "Left passage," A

Anna spent the entire night after Ben's meeting studying every piece of information they had gathered on the Nico compound. While Jacob and Leo focused on security protocols and guard rotations, she concentrated on something different—the building's history. "What are you looking for?" Jacob asked around midnight, noticing her intense focus on old city records. "I am not sure yet," Anna replied, scrolling through digitized construction documents. "But grandfather mentioned something that keeps bothering me. He said Bishop's compound was built on the foundation of an older structure. I want to know what stood there before." Jacob left her to her research, trusting that Anna's instincts had proven valuable before. He returned two hours later to find her staring at the screen with wide eyes. "I found it," Anna breathed. "Jacob, come look at this." The document on her screen was a city planning record from ninety years ago. It showed the original structure that had occupied the land

Jacob assembled his core team in Leo's secure facility the following morning. Roseline attended via video link from her recovery location, her gunshot wound healing but still limiting her mobility. Carl stood beside the holographic displays showing the Nico compound layout. Anna sat close to Jacob, studying the security specifications with focused intensity."We have a fortress problem," Jacob began, gesturing at the compound schematic. "Bishop's vault is protected by technology specifically designed to stop people like me. Mystical dampening fields, biometric locks, armed guards stationed inside. Even if we breach the outer compound, the vault itself is impenetrable.""Then we do not breach the vault directly," Roseline suggested through the video feed. "We make Bishop open it for us.""How?" Carl asked. "The man is paranoid. He will not open that vault unless he believes it is completely safe."Leo pulled up additional intelligence on his display. "Bishop opens the vault every three

Two days after Bishop's museum announcement, Leo initiated the most dangerous phase of their counter-operation. He needed to infiltrate Bishop's organization from the inside, posing as a low-level information broker seeking employment."This is too risky," Jacob protested during the planning session. "If they discover your true identity, Bishop will kill you.""If I do not do this, we go into the museum blind," Leo countered. "We need to know Bishop's real plan, not the public version he is selling to Seron."Jacob reluctantly agreed. Leo had the best chance of anyone on their team to successfully penetrate Bishop's network. His skills in intelligence gathering were unmatched, and he could adopt cover identities seamlessly.For three days, Leo worked his way through Bishop's outer circle. He posed as a former government analyst seeking lucrative private employment, offering his services in exchange for modest payment. Bishop's lieutenants were always looking for skilled people willing

Six hours was not enough time to plan a perfect assault, but Jacob had learned long ago that perfect plans rarely survived first contact with reality. Sometimes you had to trust training, trust your people, and adapt as chaos unfolded.The team assembled in Leo's secure facility—a warehouse converted into a tactical operations center. Monitors displayed live feeds from cameras positioned around Bishop's compound. Maps covered tables. Weapons were being checked and loaded.Jacob stood at the center of it all, no longer the man consumed by rage but the general who had earned his legendary reputation. Carl's team of eight soldiers stood at attention while Roseline participated via video link from her overwatch position."This is not just about tonight," Jacob announced, his voice carrying to every corner of the facility. "Tonight we strike Bishop's headquarters. But that is only the beginning of a larger campaign."He pulled up a holographic display showing a network of interconnected or

The observation deck at the top of the crystalline spire had become Jack's favorite place to think. From here, he could see the entire city spread out below—rebuilt stronger and more beautiful than it had ever been, filled with people living lives that would have been impossible without the protection his network provided.But tonight, as the dual moons cast silver light across the transformed skyline, Jack wasn't admiring their achievements. He was remembering where it all began."Hard to believe it started with Charles Oliver's execution," he said aloud, knowing his friends would hear him through their permanent mental link even though they were scattered across different dimensions on various missions."You mean it started with a weak boy nobody wanted," Lucy's voice replied warmly through their connection, her protective instincts wrapping around the memory with fierce affection.Jack smiled, pressing his hand against the medallion that had become part of his chest. The golden sur

The war room deep within the crystalline spire had become the nerve center for the most ambitious defensive project in dimensional history. Holographic displays showed the status of their entire universal cluster—thousands of realities connected by the portal network, each one now monitored by their expanded consciousness.Jack stood at the center of it all, no longer the weak boy who had once struggled to survive in a world that saw him as worthless. The medallion had become so integrated with his being that its golden surface was visible beneath his skin, pulsing with the rhythm of dimensional currents across countless worlds. But unlike the corrupt artifacts that had consumed previous wielders, his medallion was sustained by the bonds that connected him to his friends."Protocol Seven is now fully operational across all monitored dimensions," Sierra reported, her tactical awareness coordinating defensive measures on a scale that would have been incomprehensible months ago. "Early w

Six months after the dimensional crisis, their city bore little resemblance to the place that had nearly been destroyed by Vale's invasion. The rebuilding hadn't simply restored what was lost—it had created something entirely new.Where the old council headquarters had stood, a crystalline spire now reached toward the sky, its faceted surface designed to detect dimensional anomalies from hundreds of miles away. The building served as headquarters for the Dimensional Monitoring Initiative, the organization Jack and his friends had established to prevent future crises."Seventeen minor rifts detected across the northern sectors this week," Sierra reported during their morning briefing, her tactical awareness processing data streams that would have overwhelmed any individual mind. "All within normal parameters, but the frequency is increasing."Jack nodded, his consciousness simultaneously monitoring the reports while maintaining awareness of dimensional currents across their entire real

As the final seconds of his transformation ticked away, Jack felt his consciousness crystallize around a revelation that changed everything. The medallions' power didn't have to choose between perfect guardianship and human connection—it could create something entirely new."What if the burden doesn't have to be mine alone?" he said through their shared mental link, his voice carrying wonder despite his fading physical form. "What if we've been thinking about this wrong from the beginning?"Through their psychic connection, his friends felt his idea taking shape—not one guardian managing impossible responsibilities, but a network of consciousness that could handle the dimensional network's complexity while remaining anchored to humanity."You mean permanent integration?" Sierra breathed, her enhanced understanding immediately grasping the implications. "All of us linked directly to the dimensional network?""The ancient guardians failed because they became isolated from the people the

Jack's consciousness spread like spilled mercury across the dimensional network, his awareness touching worlds he'd never imagined. He could feel the pulse of life on countless planets, sense the delicate balance that held reality together, perceive threats to dimensional stability that existed light-years away.It was overwhelming and magnificent and terrifying all at once.Through his expanded perception, he could see their own world as just one node in an infinite web—small, fragile, but pulsing with the fierce determination of beings who refused to surrender to despair. He could feel Mrs. Sophie organizing relief efforts in the ruined city, Lord Rasmus's surviving soldiers helping with rescue operations despite their old conflicts, even the corrupted treasure hunters slowly recovering their humanity as the dimensional toxins were purged from their systems.But he could also feel himself slipping away from all of it. His connection to individual human concerns was fading as cosmic

The moment Jack's hand closed around Vale's dark medallion, reality screamed.Two opposing forces—one meant to protect, one designed to consume—collided within his consciousness with the fury of colliding stars. Jack felt his sense of self being torn apart and rebuilt simultaneously, his awareness expanding beyond the boundaries of single-dimensional existence.Vale's eyes widened in shock as his dark artifact began resonating with Jack's medallion, the two pieces fighting for dominance within the same host. "What are you doing, you fool? You'll destroy us both!""Maybe," Jack gasped, feeling the competing energies threaten to tear his mind apart. "But at least I'll take you with me."The dark medallion's hunger crashed against Jack's consciousness like a tidal wave of pure malevolence. It whispered promises of power beyond imagination, showed him visions of ruling infinite realities, offered him the ability to reshape existence according to his will. The corruption was overwhelming,