She tapped a quick sequence on the key pad, holding the phone to her ear."Ma'am?" a crisp, professional female voice answered on the third ring. "This is Julia.""Julia," Clara spoke into the receiver, her voice dropping into a calm, authoritative register that Nancy had never heard before. "Initiate Protocol Zero on the Colton Conglomerate."On the other end of the line, Julia paused for a fraction of a second. "Protocol Zero, ma'am? Absolute liquidation?""Crush them," Clara ordered flatly, her eyes staring out at the passing streetlights. "The Colton family built their entire corporate brand on bullying, exploiting, and destroying innocent people. Shut down every subsidiary, freeze every asset, pull every investment, and release their shadow ledgers to the press. I want the Colton Conglomerate completely erased by noon.""Consider it done, Ms. Lancaster," Julia replied smoothly. "The Rhein Group will absorb their market shares immediately."Clara ended the call and slipped the pho

Even though Clara had acted out of a mother's desperate love to save her teenage daughter from a corrupt billionaire and a kidnapping plot, her legal standing with the federal government was completely revoked. In the eyes of the law, she had broken the sacred terms of her freedom and become the most wanted, dangerous criminal on the continent once again.Fifteen years ago, Clara had signed a top-secret, binding amnesty agreement with the highest council of the state. In exchange for her complete, permanent freedom and a clean identity to raise Nancy, Clara had agreed never to commit a single crime, never to touch a weapon, and never to step into the shadows again.She had been granted that priceless amnesty for one single, heroic reason: she had helped the federal government infiltrate and destroy the legendary Obsidian Syndicate, a ruthless, global criminal empire run by a man known only as "King."Before King took over, Clara had worked for a shadow council of ten members who ran t

"I have been in prison before, Nancy," Clara revealed smoothly. "Fifteen years ago, after your father passed, I made a secret deal with the highest government council to lay down my arms forever. They gave me a clean name, a quiet house, and complete freedom so I could raise you in the light. But the agreement was simple: I was never allowed to touch a weapon or break a law again. Unfortunately... because of the chaos over the last three days... that deal is officially over."Nancy sat completely still in the quiet kitchen. The terrifying monsters, the military bases, the way Uncle Dorian and Uncle Thomas looked at her mother, the sheer, god-like power her mother possessed—it all suddenly clicked together like pieces of a massive, tragic puzzle.Nancy reached across the table, wrapping her small fingers around Clara's hand."I know, Mom..." Nancy whispered, tears dripping off her chin onto the tablecloth. "I know that whatever happened in your past... whatever you did... you had no ot

The heavy iron doors of the federal transport vehicle slammed shut with a hollow, echoing THUD, sealing Clara away in the dark.Standing near the edge of the manicured lawn, framed by the flashing red emergency lights and the blinding searchlights of the hovering military helicopters, Thomas and Dorian stood in absolute silence.The cold rain beat down mercilessly against their shoulders, soaking through their jackets, but neither man moved a muscle. They watched the convoy’s heavy engines rumble to life, exhaust fumes rising in thick white clouds into the damp morning air.A sharp, hollow ache settled deep inside Thomas’s chest. He squeezed his broad fists so hard his knuckles turned ghostly white, his jaw locked in a tight, pained line."She took it all," Thomas muttered, his deep voice barely audible over the deafening thrum of the helicopter rotor blades above. "Every single bit of it."Dorian didn't reply immediately. He stood with his hands jammed deep into his coat pockets, his

Moving with unnatural, terrifying speed, the Crimson Gang operatives sprinted straight through the storm of small-arms fire coming from the secret service agents! Standard military rounds struck their tactical vests and arms, but the empowered fighters didn't even flinch. They ignored bone-shattering impacts, vaulting onto the hoods of the moving SUVs, ripping bulletproof car doors off their hinges with their bare, bare hands!Overhead, one of the military attack helicopters pivoted to bring its heavy minigun to bear on the road below—WHOOSH-BOOM!A shoulder-fired kinetic rocket streaked out from the foggy treeline, striking the helicopter's rear rotor blade! The aircraft spun violently out of control in the foggy sky, trailing thick black smoke and fire, before crashing into the mountain slope in a massive, thunderous fireball!BOOM-CRASH!Inside the rear armored transport, the entire heavy chassis shook violently from the impact of the crash, throwing Vance and Phyna slightly off t