The night air was crisp, carrying the faint scent of rain from the city below. Dream Hill stood tall above Cresmont, its winding roads lined with mansions that belonged to the wealthiest, the untouchable. And at the very peak of it all—Kael’s villa.Selene stood outside the iron gates, her patience wearing thin.She pressed the intercom button again, her finger jabbing into the metal. “I know you’re in there, Kael.”There was Silence.The security cameras above tilted slightly, their lenses focusing on her. He was watching. Of course, he was.Selene exhaled sharply. “You’re not getting rid of me this time,” she muttered.She crossed her arms, determination hardening in her chest.For weeks, she had been chasing shadows, following leads that led to dead ends and erased records. But no matter how much she dug, Kael’s name kept surfacing in places it shouldn’t.A lowly quarry worker had no business owning a villa in the most expensive district in the city.A nobody didn’t just appear in

The message came at 3:47 AM.Kael sat in his villa’s study, the faint glow from his laptop screen the only light in the room. He had been reviewing the latest reports on Deep Space’s arms operations, his mind already plotting the next strike.Then his phone vibrated once.A single encrypted message flashed onto his screen.Unknown Sender: Play it.Kael’s eyes narrowed. His fingers hovered over the keyboard for a second before clicking the attachment.The video loaded in seconds.The first thing he saw was Pamela.She was tied to a chair in the center of a faintly lit room, her wrists bound behind her back. Her head hung forward, strands of hair falling over her face. A thin trickle of blood ran down her temple, disappearing beneath her collar.Kael studied her expression.Bruised, but unbroken.Pamela lifted her head slightly, her breath unsteady. The camera tilted, revealing a tall figure standing behind her. The angle didn’t show his face, but Kael recognized the voice immediately.

The night was thick with tension, the kind that wrapped around the city like a noose. The streets surrounding the Deep Space compound were eerily quiet, but Kael knew better than to trust the silence.They were waiting for him.Inside the armored SUV, Marcus was checking his weapons, loading magazines with precise, methodical movements. His usual smirk was gone, replaced by a rare grim focus. Across from him, three of their most trusted men—killers, not soldiers—silently prepped their gear.Kael sat in the front seat, eyes locked on the warehouse ahead.Pamela was in there.Alive.For now.His fingers tightened slightly around his gun.Deep Space thought they were holding the leverage.They had no idea what was coming.Marcus exhaled through his nose. “I don’t like this.”Kael didn’t look at him. “You never do.”Marcus huffed. “No, I mean I really don’t like this. It’s too quiet. Too clean. Deep Space doesn’t work clean. They should be sending us threats, body parts, something to piss

Kael sat in the lit safe house, the dull ache in his ribs was crazy and it served as a reminder that he had barely survived the last encounter. The explosion had taken more out of him than he’d admit, but there was no time for rest. Pamela was still out there—somewhere—and every second wasted was a second closer to her being beyond saving. In fact he was even more angry and furious than before. What he wanted now was the taste of blood.He clenched his jaw, pushing through the pain as he looked over the gathered team. Marcus was bandaged but standing, ever the reckless bastard. A handful of their best men remained, but their numbers were thin. Deep Space had been cutting through their ranks, tightening their grip.Kael didn’t need a reminder that they were outgunned and outnumbered. He already knew.“We move soon,” Kael said, his voice calm, but the weight behind it sent a chill through the room.Marcus exhaled, shaking his head. “You’re half-broken, half our men are dead or scattered

The black site stood like a fortress at the edge of the city—a steel monolith surrounded by razor-wire fences, high-security watchtowers, and a rotating patrol of armed guards.Most people didn’t even know this place existed.The ones who did? Never left.Kael crouched in the shadows of a distant rooftop, his eyes were locked on the facility below. He could feel the weight of the mission settling onto his shoulders, but he pushed the tension aside.This wasn’t just another operation.This was Pamela and her father had placed the burden of him protecting her on his shoulders.“She’s in there,” Marcus muttered, adjusting the scope of his rifle. “But so is an entire damn army.”Kael didn’t respond, his mind already dissecting every angle, every weakness in the facility’s defenses.Selene stood a few feet away, silent, observing. Unlike Marcus, she wasn’t questioning the mission.She had already made her choice.“Let’s move,” Kael said finally.And the hunt began.———Inside the black sit