The Race Against TimeThe world was coming apart around us.The walls trembled under the force of distant explosions, and the floor beneath my feet vibrated like the heartbeat of a dying beast. Alarms blared in a chaotic symphony, punctuated by the sharp bursts of gunfire. The air reeked of smoke, metal, and burning circuits.We sprinted through the ruined corridors, our boots pounding against the trembling steel. Riley kept pace beside me, her breaths ragged but steady.“This whole place is going up,” she shouted over the noise. “How much time do we have?”I didn’t answer. I didn’t have to. The countdown on the screens we’d left behind had been clear—three minutes until the facility collapsed in on itself.Three minutes to get the hell out.Julian’s voice crackled through the facility’s speakers, smooth, calculated, and laced with amusement.“You think you won?” His words slithered through the chaos, crawling under my skin. “This was never about control, Nathan. It was about survival

The Rescue GambleThe explosion ripped through the facility, a wall of fire swallowing the corridor behind us. Heat licked at my back as Riley and I sprinted forward, dodging falling debris. The structure groaned, steel beams twisting like dying limbs.We had seconds.Riley grabbed my arm, pulling me forward. “Move, Nathan!”My ears were still ringing from the blast, but I forced my legs to keep going. The world blurred in smoke and chaos, the only clear thing ahead—the exit.Then—a shadow moved in the flames.I skidded to a stop, yanking Riley back.From the inferno, Julian emerged.Burned, battered, but still standing.A twisted smile curled his lips, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. “You always did have a habit of surviving, Nathan,” he said, voice hoarse but steady. “But you still don’t understand, do you?”I raised my gun. “Try me.”Julian took a step forward, unfazed by the weapon pointed at his chest. Behind him, the walls groaned—seconds from collapse.“You think t

Unraveling the TruthThe safe house was suffocatingly quiet, the only sound coming from Riley’s frantic typing. Each keystroke echoed through the dimly lit room like a ticking clock, measuring the time slipping through our fingers. The adrenaline that had carried us through the last seventy-two hours had long since burned out, leaving behind exhaustion, paranoia, and an undercurrent of something heavier. Something neither of us had spoken aloud yet.We had won. Hadn’t we?I sat on the edge of the worn-out couch, elbows resting on my knees, my gun sitting within reach on the table. I could still feel the heat of the burning headquarters, the scent of smoke and death clinging to my clothes. We had destroyed The Oath’s base of operations, left nothing but rubble and bodies behind.And yet—we both knew it wasn’t over.Not even close.Riley’s shoulders were hunched over her laptop, her fingers moving like a blur over the keyboard as she worked to decrypt the stolen files. The ones we had r

The Enemy’s Next MoveI barely had time to process the message before everything started burning.The first explosion hit in the middle of the night. A safe house in Berlin—gone in a cloud of fire and rubble. The second came an hour later, a facility in Bogotá, one we had stocked with weapons, intel, and resources. Reduced to ashes. The third?That one was personal.It was Ramirez.An old friend. One of the few people I still trusted.They didn’t just kill him. They sent a message.A grainy video landed in my inbox, sent from an anonymous source. The second I clicked it open, it played.Ramirez was on his knees, bloodied, his breathing ragged. The camera shook slightly, the dim glow of fire reflecting off his face. Someone stood behind him, but the angle hid their identity.Then came the voice.Cold. Detached. Familiar.Julian."You thought this was war?" His voice was calm, almost amused. "This was just the opening act."The gunshot was deafening.The screen went black.I clenched my

The Hidden TruthJulian sat calmly in the dimly lit interrogation room, his hands cuffed to the steel table. His expression was infuriatingly composed, a slow smirk curling at the edges of his mouth. The bastard wasn’t afraid—if anything, he was enjoying this.I paced back and forth, forcing myself to breathe evenly, to keep my emotions in check. Riley stood against the wall, arms crossed, her eyes narrowed as she studied him. I could feel the tension in the room, thick and suffocating, pressing against my chest.“You let us take you,” I said finally, my voice low and controlled. “Why?”Julian tilted his head slightly, watching me like I was the one in chains.“I told you,” he murmured, his tone almost amused. “Because now you know.”I hated the way his words slithered under my skin, planting doubts like landmines in my mind.“Know what?” Riley snapped.Julian’s smirk deepened. “The truth.”I slammed my hands on the table, making the metal rattle. “Enough games.”He didn’t even flinch