Chapter 2: Blood DebtsThe back hallway of Eclipse reeked of vodka, sweat, and secrets.Lyra led Jaxon to a private room above the club floor—one Kade used for personal meetings. She didn’t speak until the door shut behind them, her heels clicking softly on the marble tile.“You’re either the bravest bastard in Cape Heights…” she said, pouring herself a glass of whiskey without asking if he wanted one, “or the dumbest.”Jaxon didn’t blink. “I didn’t come back to play smart.”She turned, crossing her arms over her chest. “Five years. No word. No message. And you walk in like nothing’s changed?”He stepped closer. “Everything’s changed. That’s why I’m here.”Her expression cracked for half a second. Beneath the makeup and tough facade, there was something else—hurt, maybe. But she hid it fast.“They told us you sold the whole operation,” she said. “That you were paid to disappear. That the Russians caught you trying to flip the network.”Jaxon laughed, low and bitter. “Of course they di

Chapter 4: Back Alley Baptism Midnight wrapped Cape Heights in a dirty blanket of rain and shadows. Thunder rolled somewhere above the skyline as lightning cracked between skyscrapers, bathing the city in a moment of truth.Jaxon Creed didn’t flinch.He stood in the alley behind Iron Hand Casino, arms loose at his sides, a cigarette dying between his fingers, the rain dripping from the edge of his leather coat. The streetlights above buzzed and flickered, like even the power grid feared what was about to go down.Word had spread fast.He’d sent a whisper through the veins of the underworld:“Meet me behind the Iron Hand at midnight. No masks. No mercy.”He didn’t bring back-up. Didn’t need to. His backup was pain, anger, and five years of betrayal hardening into bone.And they came.Six men stepped into the alley—muscle-bound, all in black, each wearing a red armband marked with Kade Creed’s insignia: a bleeding fang. Executioners. Street-cleaners. Men who didn’t hesitate.The kind K

Chapter 6: Underworld PoliticsThe Chimera Hotel didn’t appear on maps.From the outside, it looked like a forgotten relic—a crumbling high-rise in the industrial district, its windows blackened and its name worn to rot. But inside, deep beneath the fake lobby and cracked marble, it housed the true rulers of Cape Heights.The Syndicate Council.Seven bosses. Seven empires. Drugs, weapons, tech, flesh, politics, data, and blood.Jaxon Creed had been one of them—once. Before betrayal. Before exile. Before Kade.Now, he walked through the armored double doors like a ghost risen from the past. His boots echoed on the polished concrete as two armed guards escorted him down a private hallway to the council chamber.Jaxon didn’t flinch when the biometric scanners clicked, or when the inner gate buzzed open like the jaws of a beast.He stepped into the room.It was cold, circular, windowless—each boss seated in a throne-like chair positioned like a crescent moon around a hollow center. The wa

Chapter 8: The Price of PowerRain hammered the windshield of the black van like a thousand ticking clocks counting down to war.Jaxon sat in the passenger seat, gloved hands resting on his knees, face cold and unreadable. In the back, Miko checked the last of the gear—earpieces, smoke grenades, silenced pistols.There were only three of them now.Jaxon. Miko. And Cain.Cain was a former merc who owed Jaxon his life—and tonight, he was repaying the debt in blood. Built like a tank with scars on every inch of his hands, he loaded rounds with a slow, professional calm.“You sure about this?” Miko asked without looking up. “Zenith’s got motion sensors, facial recognition, biometric locks. Kade built it like a fortress.”Jaxon stared out at the tower rising in the distance, its glass skin flashing with lightning. “Then we break the walls.”“Lyra might already be dead,” Cain said flatly.Jaxon turned his head, his voice a quiet growl. “Then I’ll bury Kade alive.”No one spoke after that.T

Chapter 10: The First to BleedThe night Cape Heights caught fire again, it started with a name.Cassian Voss.The last of Kade’s top allies, a crooked businessman who ran the city’s black-market weapons ring from behind a chain of luxury car dealerships. Slick hair, smooth tongue, and a penchant for playing both sides. He was untouchable for years—until tonight.Jaxon stood across from the auto showroom, hidden on the roof of a pawn shop, cold wind biting his face. Through his scope, he watched Voss laugh with two clients inside, the glass walls giving him a perfect view.“He doesn’t even know he’s already dead,” Cain muttered beside him, crouched low with his AR-15 primed.“Let him laugh,” Jaxon said. “He’ll choke on it soon enough.”Inside a van parked below, Miko waited with Vera’s tech crew, jamming signals and monitoring heat signatures. Their job was to trigger a blackout at the right moment.Lyra was at a nearby rooftop—eyes on the rear exit, pistol steady, nerves sharper than