CHAPTER SEVENTY-ONEDeclan dropped back through the grate, landing with a muted thud that echoed through the damp chamber. His arm burned where the bullet had grazed him, but he ignored the pain, focusing instead on the two faces staring up at him from the shadows.Zara rose instantly, eyes widening at the fresh blood on his sleeve. “You’re hurt.”“It’s nothing,” he muttered, pressing the wound with his palm. “Just a scratch.”Stefan’s breathing had grown shallower, each inhale a labored rasp. “Did you… leave it?”Declan shook his head, pulling the real folder from his jacket. The decoy was gone, taken by the stranger in the night, but the true prize remained pressed against his ribs like a live wire. “No. Someone else did. And he knew too much.”Zara helped him tear another strip from Stefan’s shirt to bind the graze. Her hands were steady despite the tremor in her voice. “What happened out there?”“He was waiting. Professional. No lights, no noise. I swapped the envelopes, but he di

CHAPTER SEVENTY-THREEThe forest seemed to inhale, holding its breath as Elena’s words hung in the chilled night air. Declan stood frozen between the fallen log and the woman who claimed to be his mother, the folder clutched so tightly his knuckles ached. Viktor’s remaining men shifted uneasily, their weapons half-lowered, caught between loyalty to their boss and the sudden appearance of a ghost from the past.Elena’s hood slipped back just enough to reveal sharp cheekbones and eyes the exact shade of Declan’s own—cold steel with flecks of green that had haunted his childhood memories in faded photographs. She looked older than the images, etched by years in hiding, but the posture was unmistakable: regal, unyielding, dangerous.“Elena,” Viktor spat, his pistol still trained on her chest. “You’ve got balls showing your face after you sold out half the network and vanished. Elias has a price on your head bigger than the national debt.”She smiled, thin and razor-sharp. “And yet here I

CHAPTER SEVENTY-FIVEThe rickety mining bridge groaned under their combined weight like a dying animal as Declan, Zara, and Elena staggered across its weathered planks. Below, the ravine plunged into absolute darkness, a sheer drop lined with jagged rocks and rushing water that roared like distant thunder. Stefan’s limp body dragged between Declan and Zara, his blood leaving a slick trail that made every step treacherous.Gunfire chased them relentlessly. A Consortium bullet punched through the wooden railing inches from Declan’s head, sending splinters exploding into his face. He tasted blood on his lips and kept moving.“Faster!” Elena shouted, firing blindly behind them with her pistol. One round found its mark—a Veil operative who had just crested the ridge exploded backward in a spray of crimson, his body tumbling over the edge and vanishing into the abyss with a fading scream.But the enemy was everywhere.A Veil soldier vaulted onto the far end of the bridge, submachine gun cha